We love visiting the ocean. We have been blessed a few times to experience this amazing place that Father God has created. There is nothing quite like standing on the edge of land and the edge of the vast ocean. You can’t walk any further and the water lifts you up and down, and with the pounding waves, you can only swim for so long. It doesn’t take long to realize your body was meant for land. It is like standing between two worlds. There is a very distinct boundary where these two worlds meet and life in one is completely different than life on the other. Yet the two are intimately intertwined by a great Intelligent Designer, our Creator, Father God. WOW!

We were very excited to learn about a Marine Biology science course that we can use this school year that focuses on life in the oceans so we can understand this amazing water world. We are currently reviewing Exploring Creation With Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set and the Marine Biology 2nd Edition Audio CD by Apologia Educational Ministries. This course is the perfect addition to our homeschool learning journey.

EXPLORING CREATION WITH MARINE BIOLOGY — ADVANTAGE SET

Textbook 2nd Edition

Hard Back Book

557 pages

Illustrated

16 Modules

Lessons, Questions, Answers,

Lab Experiments

Student Notebook

Spiral Bound Book

505 pages

Illustrated

Notes, Questions, Study Guide, Module Summary,

Lab Experiments.

Test Book

Soft Back Book

50 pages

Module Tests and Quarterly Tests

Solutions and Tests Manual

Soft Back Book

211 pages

Answers for Text Modules & Tests:

Study Guides, Summaries,

Module Tests, Quarterly Tests, and all Solutions.

Highschool Science

College Prep

Prerequisite: Biology

This is an award winning college prep science course for highschool students who have taken biology. The Advantage Set includes a Textbook 2nd Edition, Solutions and Tests Manual, Tests Book, and a Student Notebook.

Additional supportive materials for this Marine Biology course are also available at the Apologia website, including an MP3 Audio CD of the text, an Instructional DVD that contains the entire course and demonstrations of the lab experiments, as well as Super Science Kit and Science Supplies like the Dissection Kit. If you prefer to buy just the Textbook or other items as a single item instead of as a “set”, they are also available for individual purchase too.

The Exploring Creation With Marine Biology Advantage Set is intended to be used for 34 weeks (that is 2 semesters, an entire school year of science!). It contains 16 Modules for approximately 230 +/- lessons, study guides, questions, vocabulary, and module summaries that dig deep into the ecology of the oceans on earth. The Lesson Plan schedule is designed for 45 minutes per day for 5 days a week. At this pace, students complete 1 Module, including the related lab experiments and tests, every two weeks.

Module 1: The Oceans Of Our Planet
Module 2: Life In The Sea
Module 3: The First Four Kingdoms
Module 4: Marine Invertabrates 1
Module 5: Marine Invertabrates 2
Module 6: Marine Vertabrates 1
Module 7: Marine Vertabrates 2
Module 8: Marine Ecology
Module 9: The Intertidal Zone
Module 10: Estuary Communities
Module 11: Coral Reefs
Module 12: Continental Shelf Communities
Module 13: The Epipelagic Zone
Module 14: The Deep Ocean
Module 15: Ocean Resources
Module 16: Effects Of Humans On The Sea

This course has a biblical world view of marine science. Through out this course, students learn about the oceans and the relationship between ocean habitat and the animals and plants that live there and it points to Father God as the Creator of all life. This course is filled with fascinating information about the oceans, creatures that live in the water including some bizarre creatures. All of the creatures in this course have amazing abilities created by our amazing Father God to bring him glory.

Even though learning about Marine Biology and Ecology can be a challenging subject to learn, this course through Apologia is written in conversational style and contains many helpful resources to help students understand and master the materials. There is an additional online learning aid called “Book Extras” available to help students master the course. Information about the Book Extras Website and the access code is available in the textbook.

Sherri Seligson

Author Sherri Seligson, scientist and homeschool mom, has created a user-friendly course homeschoolers will love. She is the author of several science courses. She is experienced and excited to share her knowledge about life in God’s oceans and helps students get excited about learning. Check out this video with Sherri Seligson and her Marine Biology Course.

Our Experience

We received the Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set that includes the Textbook, a Student Notebook, the Tests Book, and Solutions and Tests Manual written by Sherri Sheligson. We also received the Marine Biology 2nd Edition Audio CD of the text read by Marissa Leinart for the purpose of this review.

This course is very well designed and is intended to last for an entire school year. It contains tons of information in the 16 modules with nearly 230 +/- lessons, reviews, workbook assignments, labs, and tests, etc. I was very pleased to learn this course will count for a full highschool science credit, and it also counts as an advanced college prep course at the same time.

Audio CD:

The textbook has been put on audio! This is great news for audio learners! The text is recorded on an MP3 Audio CD for optional support for student.

We found this Audio CD to be a very helpful resource and helps keep the course moving at a good pace.

My son used the CD on our computer and listened to the text being read out loud while wearing his earbuds and reading along in his textbook. When we placed the CD into the computer, it showed up on the screen as a small phone-like looking graphic, and when we clicked on it, it had each module and lesson from the text listed as well as a time counter so you don’t loose your place.

The Audio CD can be “synced” with any compatible MP3 device, however we just used it on the computer. He could stop it at anytime he needed and repeat something if he needed to hear it again. We really liked using the CD because my son was able to avoid getting bogged down with complicated words by reading right along with the text as it is being read out loud.

Textbook:

I like the textbook. It is a huge heavy duty extra large hardback book. It has bright pictures and easy to read pages and uses various colors of ink to emphasize different things for the student to pay attention to.

The pages have a variety of information, vocabulary, pictures, graphs, things to think about further, scriptures, etc. The pages are laid out in a way that is not overwhelming to the student.

Lab Experiments:

Each module contains several lab experiments. There is a list of supplies needed with each experiment and a master list of all the supplies needed for the course in the appendix at the back of the Textbook. You can buy supplies wherever it is convenient for you (online, local stores, etc), and some items you will likely already have around your house.

There are three categories of lab experiments in this science course:

Household Lab Experiments require items found around most homes.

Microscope Lab Experiments require prepared slides and a microscope. Check the website for resources.

Dissection Lab Experiments require marine animals, plants, etc. and related tools for dissection. Check the website for resources.

Lab Experiment Example:

One of the experiments my son did was learning about salinity and evaporation of ocean waters.

We had some sea salt crystals in the cupboard.

He ground the salt crystals into a fine powder.

Then he made salty sea water by mixing the ground sea salt into hot water that he heated on the stove and stirred it until it dissolved completely.

After the sea salt had completely dissolved in the hot water, he poured the salt water in to a glass bowl and let the water evaporate completely over the course of a few days.

He was left with dried out sea salt that coated the sides and base of the bowl and all of the water was gone.

There are so many great lab experiments in this course kids will have a blast learning about life in the ocean. This course and the lab experiments are very interesting and so far my son is enjoying all of them.

Student Notebook:

I love the student notebook in this course! My son loves it too. I plan to order two more notebooks for my other two older sons so they can all use this course together for highschool science credits. They will be able to share the same Textbook, Solutions Mannual, and CD, they just each need their own Student Notebook and Test Book.

The student notebook provides an organized, complete lesson plan for the entire year. Each day is listed with what my son needs to read and what activities to complete. He can check off his progress as he works his way through the course.

The student notebook has plenty of space for notes at the front of each corresponding module so he can add as notes or ideas as he reads the textbook.

The student notebook also contains a full section at the back called a Lab Notebook for all of the lab experiments listed in the Textbook.

The Lab Experiments are the same information in the Textbook modules including materials lists, instructions, pictures, charts, etc. but it also includes questions and spaces to record their scientific observations and conclusions too.

At the very back of the Student Notebook, there is a section called Presenting Research. Included are instructions and examples for making a professional presentation of your scientific research, including making posters, graphs, citing references and the supporting research, and a checklist. This is very handy if your student plans to present their experiments at a science fair, county fair, coop, or other presentation.

Tests and Solutions Manual:

The softcover Solutions and Tests Manual and Student Tests Book contains tests, test solutions, and answers to the module study guides.

Videos:

Video about Apologia Advantage Science Set and Super Science Set

Video Experiment 13 Salinity, Temperature and Density

Module 6 Rays and Skates

FREE SAMPLES

Check out this page for free course samples. To access the samples, after going to the page link below, click on “download” next to the “more info” and it will give several options for free downloads of text lessons and experiments, MP3, student notebook, and more:

FREE MARINE BIOLOGY SAMPLES

Faq: 3 pages

Table of Contents: 8 pages

Module 1 Text Sample : 40 pages

Student Notebook: 9 pages

MP3 Audio Sample

Final Thoughts

Overall, we are very pleased with this science course from Apologia. They have done a great job creating this course and all the support materials to help students master Marine Biology.

We love visiting the ocean. Now with the knowledge of Marine Biology, we will be able to understand more about the wonderful and amazing life and systems in the oceans.

We are so grateful for the wonderful products Apologia offers for homeschool families. Their products have truly enriched our lives, encouraged our faith, and we love that through out the learning adventure, they point people back to Father God. Both my son and I highly recommend the Marine Biology course! Be blessed!

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