Crossing The Boundaries With CrossWired Science {A Curriculum Review}

Our latest review product is one that has me challenging even myself. Yeah, you read that right. In fact, the decision-maker for this one was not me but my oldest son. From a young age he has always been passionate about science and we have worked hard in our homeschool to ensure he has access to materials that spark his interest, challenge him accordingly, and allow him to grow. When CrossWired Science came on the radar with two courses available covering Sound, and Fluid Dynamics, I asked my oldest son to check it out and tell me what he thought.

As I suspected, even a brand new website with limited access, piqued his interest. He definitely needed to know more and most certainly wanted to try this unique approach to science out.

What Is CrossWired Science?

CrossWired Science is a new program that approaches science in a different way. Rather than dividing the material up into Earth, Life, and Physical science it teaches based on subject matter under headings called Global Topics. Currently there are two Global Topics available, Sound, and Fluid Dynamics, but the goal of CrossWired Science is to add additional topics and cover years worth of science material.

The program is recommended for students of all ages. Anytime a program advertises multi-age use I’m immediately drawn simply because I teach a 10-year age gap and four different grades. The ability to teach multiple grades is one that we really enjoy as it makes it easier on the kids and myself.

There are 17 goals of CWS but perhaps the most important one is this: “Our goal is to help many young people and many parents here in our country and in many nations to see the glory of the Lord. The wonderfulness of God is clearly seen the more a person knows about what He has done. (Romans 1:20)” This is acheived through the 12 different types of lessons available:

• Core Videos
• Experiments
• General Links
• Unit Links
• U-Choose
• Field Trips
• Reinforcement
• Research
• Reading
• Gold Digs
• Digging Deeper
• Devotions

A Brand New Program

We knew heading into this review that this was a brand new website, and as with all new things, there may be some bumps along the way. Yet the enthusiasm of both my 15-year-old and 8-year-old was enough to have me cautiously optimistic. Science is not a subject I enjoy and even the sample videos had me personally confused. However I have learned in homeschooling, it can be best for all of us to follow the interests of my kids and trust the process. I do not have to personally enjoy a topic or program for it to be benefitial to my children.

We decided to approach this review by having each of the boys work on different subject matter. This way, we could cover both the Sound and the Fluid topics. My younger son chose fluid so that left my older one with sound.

The fluid dynamics section of the program contain videos, experiments, additional reading options, and more covering a wide variety of information. This is where I first realized the idea of crossing science and the reality of it were two very different things. Video 1 covered just what is fluid dynamics and Bernoulli’s principle. It was only a few minutes long (the videos are all under 10 minutes each) and jam-packed with information.

My brain was struggling to keep up.

My son and I attempted to work on the quiz for the lessons, but quickly found we needed to rewatch the video while working on the quiz. This made the quiz easier to complete and gave us another opportunity to learn the material. After successfully completing the first quiz, we kept our winning method of watch, rewatch, and complete the quiz.

While we were doing this, my older son tackled Sound Dynamics independently.

Topics Covered in Fluid Dynamics

Aerodynamics, Hydrodynamics, Bernoulli’s Principle, Vortices, Turbulent and Laminar Flow, Daniel Bernoulli, Orville And Wilber Wright, Ailerons and Their History, Kingfisher Hydrodynamics, Penguin Hydrodynamics, Dolphin Hydrodynamics, Fin Types and Swim Patterns, Bird Flight, Bird feathers, Insect Flight, Avian Lungs,  Box Fish Swimming,  Animal And Insect Drinking, Shark Denticles, Nose Turbinates of People and Animals, Cavitation, Cavitation and Ship Propellers, Cavitation Erosion, Mt. Saint Helens, Cavitation and Sedimentation, Air Foils, Hydrofoils, Venturi’s, Rocket Aerodynamics, Carburetors, the Space Station, Piezoelectricity.

Topics Covered in Sound

What Sound Is, Sound transfer through Solids, Liquids and Gases, Ultrasound, Infrasound, Decibels, Microphones, Vocal Cords, Voice Making, Larynx, Babies Crying, How Ears Work, Cochleas, Sonograms, Speakers, Animal/Insect Hearing,  Lion Roars, Alligator Infrasound, History of Sonar, Dolphin Sonar, Bat Sonar, Orienting by Sound (non-sonar), Sound Making of other Animals/Insects, Syrinx, Bird Songs and Calls, Whale Songs, Elephant Infrasound, Ultrasound Devices, Ceramic Piezoelectric Crystals, Piezoelectric Speakers, Sonar,  Laser Sound Transmission, and Musical Instruments.

Understanding CrossWired Science

While I can fully grasp the concept of teaching based on topic rather than by science branch, my brain had a hard time with this program. As my 8-year-old and I progressed through the videos in the Fluid Dynamics section I found myself wondering “why?” Why the apparent randomness to the videos? Why were the items presented in the order they were? How could this program, that seems pretty amazing on the surface, actually be used?

Some of my questions were answered during the course of this review. The entire time my family was using this program, the CrossWired Science website was being updated. New information, such as the calendar and video worksheets were added. These worksheets actually came in super handy for my 3rd grader and I. We used them before watching the video to review the material that we would be learning about. For both of us, it helped us to remember more of the information presented.

As for some of my other questions, my 9th grader said it best when he mentioned that everyone learns in different ways. Me? I need information presented in an orderly manner and I need to be able to connect that information to something. Otherwise, it’s just facts that don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

My son though? He loved it. He has a science-wired brain and has been able to understand concepts that I don’t since the 6th grade. His mind works well with a rapid pace of information and is able to connect the dots. In fact, after he completed the videos for the sound section he began watching the ones for fluid and trying to explain to me the answers my stubborn brain still had.

The student becomes the teacher, every homeschooler’s dream, right?

He also checked out the quizzes in the second timers section of the program. This would be for students working the program for a second time. He said that while the videos were the same, the questions were much more challenging and they did not follow the order the information was presented in. The only addition he would like to see to the second timer section of the program would be a cumulative review of all video concepts.

Time For Experiments and Science In Action

After viewing the videos and checking out some of the other information contained on the website, we decided to give the experiments a try. This is one aspect of science my boys love – getting to see science in action. I had my older son pick two experiments or activites, one from sound and one from fluid. I asked him to be sure to select a fluid one that his younger brother could also work on.

For the sound experiment, we opted to build a speaker. The list of items, a foam bowl, button magnets, a paper place, wire, alligator clips, and computer paper, were all easy enough to acquire. The process, however, was a bit more challenging. This particular experiment is based on a YouTube video and the directions are given quite quickly. After a lot of pausing and rewinding we had a speaker though and hooked it up.

We thought we saw it moving, but only once. So we tried again with a different song. Again, we thought we saw it move but it wasn’t enough to declare success. Refusing to give up, my son first verified his connections were good. Then he moved to a different location to hook his homemade speaker up to a more powerful speaker set-up. This time he returned a little more confident, but not completely convinced in the power of a styrofoam bowl speaker. However, he is determined to make this work and plans to modify and try it again.

The second activity we attempted was to build an airfoil wing. This goes along with the fluid dynamics that were taught throughout the course. This activity simply required a large piece of foam board, a ruler, and something to cut with. Together the three of us followed the video directions and created our own wing.

And then my 8-year-old attempted to fly with it, something his older brother encouraged. Boys!

Overall Thoughts on CrossWired Science

Let me start by stating this – science is not a subject I enjoy. It is necessary and we do cover it, but as a homeschooler I need everything laid out nice and neatly, in order. I need a scope and sequence, a rubric and answer key for grading, and a book that I can repeatedly read and look over.

Or, I need a program that my kids understand and can learn from that needs little to no assistance from me what-so-ever.

I think CrossWired Science fits better into that second category. As much as I want to like it, I’m not quite there yet. I do see the potential in the program and the methodology and I grasp that the program is new and the company is still working out quirks while attempting to add additional information. Their desire to create something that is easy to use, educational, fun, and relevant is apparent in the response from the company during this review periods. In just the few short weeks my sons and I have worked with the program, changes and additions have been made. And more are sure to come as they work to complete this program.

However, there were some quirks. On more than one occasion we ran into questions that were not answered in the video. And many of the links to additional activities are not yet working. The videos play at such a rapid speed and include such a wealth of information that at times it can be overwhelming. My older son caught a theory being presented as fact in the sound video. Some of the questions in the quizzes were worded oddly. Also, as they are all true/false, you really need to pay attention to the details because while true might seem like the obvious choice, often one fact was written incorrectly making the whole sentence false. While this might be helpful for older kids, my 3rd grader was frustrated with what he felt were “trick questions.”

Yet, overall when I ask my boys for honesty they unquestionably state they enjoyed this program. Their sciency-brains soaked up the details and made connections mine did not. Their young brains adapted and absorbed the new information while my not-so-young brain simply went, “huh?” They eagerly hung onto information that crossed multiple branches of science which if that is one of the goals of CrossWired Science, then I think they nailed it.

Want To Try CrossWired Science In Your Homeschool?

While there are currently only two options available, Sound, and Fluid Dynamics, CrossWired Science will be adding additional topics of study. This program is far from complete and the people behind the program are excited for what’s to come. If you want to check it out for yourself, either as a suppliment to your current program, a change to what you are doing now, or even as a fun summer addition, use this link here and promo code hope30 to save $5!

Check out the other Homeschool Review Crew reviews