We had the opportunity to review the newly released science book titled Big Bible Science: Experiment and Explore God’s World by Erin Lee Green. We love hands-on science activities in our house, and combining that with God’s word was quite intriguing to me. This book can be purchased from Christian Focus Publications for £7.99. It is meant to be used with children ages 5-7 with an adult reading it, or children ages 7-11 can read through it. Though I would say it is best used with adult supervision at these ages as well.

This 96-page softcover book contains an introductory part which includes the following sections:

• An Introduction
• How To Make the Most of Every Lesson
• Chapter Components
• Safety First
• Miscellaneous
• Notebooking

Reading through this information will give you an idea how the lessons are arranged. There is also a chart that shows which activities can be done by a child alone and which will need assistance. There are also several activities that should not be done without an adult.

Following this helpful information are the actual experiments. There are 21 experiments in a wide variety of topics. Students will be learning about different physical science topics, such as gravity, Newton’s laws of motion, friction, and electricity. There are life science topics such as plants, water, and animal classification. The student will also explore beyond our earth with a lesson about Lunar Craters. There are then 7 experiments that focus on the human body, looking at the different bodily systems along with muscles and bones.

Each experiment is laid out in the same basic format. A little toolbox icon on the first page of the lesson contains a list of materials needed. The majority of these needed materials are easily found around the house, or easy to find at the store. The parent or teacher (or even the child if they are old enough) would then read the “Big Idea” which is like a little devotional story. The science topic is introduced with a modern day story or example, which is then connected to a Bible story and a Bible memory verse.  Each experiment then includes a variety of hands-on activities and discussion points. The lesson is again linked to Bible teachings and/or the memory verse. You can take the lessons further with the Apply It and Go Beyond sections.

Some of the lessons will instruct you to do a bit of a study of a scientist, or someone who helps to teach about the Bible lesson. There are short biographies in the back of the book that help with this endeavor.

So, how did we use Big Bible Science?

I used this book with all of my children, ages 9, 8, 6, and 4. We would read the “Big Idea” during our story time or during our gathering time. Throughout the week, we would find time to do some of the different activities that went with that week’s lesson. There are definitely enough suggested activities for each lesson to be stretched for a full week.

The children enjoyed watching mommy drop balls of different sizes out the upstairs bedroom window to test out gravity.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have the desired results, as both balls are supposed to hit the ground at the same time, even if they are different sizes. Some other activities we enjoyed were pretending our chairs were a van so mommy could be a crazy driver to demonstrate Newton’s First Law of motion, and turning a piece of wood into a ramp (as a substitute for a slide) to test how objects with different mass will apply a different amount of force as they roll down. The children were quite proud of their ingenuity as we didn’t have access to an appropriate slide. There are some experiments we were unable to replicate as we didn’t have the materials. However, due to the fact that the experiments all have multiple activities, it is possible to have a great learning experience, even though all the activities can not be completed.

We didn’t really explore further into the Apply It and Go Beyond sections in each experiment due to using this with younger children. Those sections would be great for older children who would like to take the lesson further, but there was quite a bit that would have gone right over my the heads of my children. For example, in the Go Beyond section for Experiment #3 the student is to “study the difference in speed and acceleration.” It goes on to mention facts that were going over my head. I could read it myself and try to make sense out of it, or an older child could be expected to learn the information, but this would be information that can be skipped for younger children.

I think Big Bible Science: Experiment and Explore God’s World is a wonderful book for multiple age children to learn about science while also learning about God and His Word. There is enough hands-on learning to keep younger children’s attention, and the lessons can be expanded upon for older children. I loved that Experiment 3, which focuses on Newton’s Second Law of Motion, delved into calling on the name of the Lord for salvation so as to not face God’s judgment. The older girls and I had a nice long talk about accepting Jesus, though they didn’t really want to pray with me, they said they were going to pray in their war rooms.

This book is great for homeschool families, and I can also see it being used in a homeschool co-op setting. It may even be appropriate for Sunday School or Children’s Church lessons.

- Product review by Karen Waide, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2016