Exploring Creation with Physical Science, 3rd Edition, Student Notebook, helps your student:

• become more independent in his or her study of science
• learn to be an effective note-taker
• develop the skills to correctly create a lab report
• learn to write a Science Research Paper

The Exploring Creation with Physical Science, 3rd Edition, Student Notebook Includes:

• Suggested Daily Schedule at the front of the notebook
  
• “What To Do” sections, with a breakdown of the assignments, detailing exactly what to do each day, with checkoff boxes for the tasks
  
• Note-taking pages that contain prompts to help teach the student how to pull out pertinent information from the text
• Graphic Organizers to cue students to important content for their notes
• Pages to copy definitions for the vocabulary words within each daily section of the module
• Space to record their results from the “You Do Science” activities
• Space to record answers to the On Your Own questions, which help the students make sure they comprehend the text before moving on
  
• Module Study Guides with space to answer the questions. These questions serve as review and preparation for the tests
• “Personal Notes” pages where students record their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual reactions to what they are learning
• Experiment and Lab Report pages with detailed instructions guiding students through the scientific method, analysis of results, and a continuation from General Science, 3rd Edition, in completing writing both informal and formal lab reports.
• Science Research Paper in Module 15, with step by step instructions including space to write notes and the paper.

Note-Taking Tips for Your Student

Note-taking is a learned skill. While it might seem like there should be “answers” to questions and prompts found in the student notebook, we do not provide specific answers on purpose. The best way to take notes is the way that works for the student. That’s why the Student Notebook provides space for taking notes.

Here are a few tips for writing quality notes that students will be introduced to in this notebook:

• Make sure to include the main ideas of each passage and list the minor concepts under the main ones.
• Use the author’s style to guide your notes. If the author defines a term, make sure you include that definition in your notebook (you won’t miss it; you will be prompted to define it).
• If the author is comparing or contrasting two things in the text, you should compare and/or contrast in your notes (again, we’ll provide you with some diagrams to help you do this).
• If the author is classifying in the text, you should classify in your notes (and remember to include any hints you think of).
• Don’t copy the text word for word. Always write your notes in your own words and make as many connections to ideas you already know.
• If you see a word you don’t know, write it down and look it up so you can better understand what you’re reading.

Apologia encourages parents to review their student’s notebook to make sure that the student is properly engaged, however, student notes should never be graded. Mentor to them how you took notes at their age. You will see that with each notebook module we offer tips and hints. By the time your student finishes the course, you’ll see highlighting and colored fonts, personal thoughts expanded and explored, and true knowledge on how to personalize, capture, and understand new knowledge.