Review “Go Science” DVDs from Library and Educational Services
Volume 1: Sound, Gravity, Space
Volume 2: Life Science, Weather
Volume 3: Air
Volume 4: Motion, Friction, Electricity, Light
Volume 5: States of Matter, Water
Volume 6: Chemistry
Volume 7: Engineering, Design, Flight
I’ve been interested in checking out these DVDs ever since I first saw them at LibraryandEd.com. (If you haven’t joined that site, be sure to do so! They have great prices!)
What you will find on the DVDs are vignettes of science demonstrations by Bob Roy. He is always with a group of kids and uses several of them to help in the demonstrations and experiments. Bob has very good rapport with the kids and asks them questions so we get to know the kids a little bit, too. The ages that these DVDs are best for is 4-12, but my 2-year-old and 3-year-old watched them, too! I would not say that these science DVDs give enough information to be used as a science curriculum, but they might definitely spark an interest in science for your kids. You’ll see some interesting and cool science experiments and might even get some ideas for science fair projects! But Bob’s main focus is, “When we learn about science, we learn more about our Creator, God.” He often ties each experiment in with a spiritual lesson.
Review of Go Science Volume 7: Engineering, Design, and Flight:
This DVD has eleven demonstrations lasting a total of 56:09 minutes. Demonstration 1 was about volume. We saw how two pieces of plastic folded different ways will hold different volumes. The spiritual lesson was that things are not always what they seem and we shouldn’t judge people. Next was about Balance and they kids did the “Leaning Tower of Lyra,” where they stacked flat sticks on a table and the top one was completely suspended off the table. The third experiment was to balance 10 nails on the nail of one. The lesson was that everyone has a purpose, to do God’s work and to work together with others.
Next, we moved into a gym at a school and the kids used a large trebuchet. I liked how Roy talked about being safe–using safety glasses (and at other times he said to use bike helmets and not to play with fire). He told the story of Jabez from the Bible who asked God for a blessing. The fifth experiments and several after it were done outdoors. He made a pump that sprayed water with a straw, skewer, tape, and container of water. It’s fun that so many of these projects can easily be recreated at home. Next several kids walked on eggs, and we saw how eggs are weak on the sides, but strong on the ends. Pray to God, and He’ll make us strong so we won’t break. The next one was really interesting. We saw how pressing a balloon on a nail causes it to break, but pressing it on a bunch of nails didn’t because the force was spread out.
The final section of demonstrations had to do with flight. Bob used some special rocket balloons that squealed as they flew through the air, but didn’t make sounds when the valve was cut off. He encouraged the kids to listen to pleasing sounds and not too loud of music which can hurt our ears. Next they made rockets. These were really fun. The baking soda and vinegar reaction caused the water bottle rocket to fly off the table. The spiritual lesson was to help others– a little bit of kindness can make a difference in others’ lives. Demonstration number 10 had two sizes of toilet paper (almost empty and almost full) on paint rollers. The more mass meant inertia could keep it more still. And last on this DVD was the film canister rocket where using water and a tablet of Alka Seltzer caused enough pressure to blow the top off.
For this DVD I’ll just share my favorite demonstations. This particular DVD had 15 demonstrations in 1 hour 18 minutes. The first one was getting to see the inside of a piano. Bob explained to the kids how a piano worked–with hammers hitting the strings causing them to vibrate and dampers stopping the vibrations. The longer the string means the lower the sound. Another experiment was to blow a straw in between two empty pop cans, causing a loud speak! I know my kids are going to do this one at home! My very favorite from both DVDs was the Ruben’s tube experiment. Bob had a muffler pipe with holes in the top. He set a flame through it, which caused little flames to come out the top. Musical instruments were played and singers sang, and we could “see” the sound! I had never seen that before, and it was really incredible. Three more I enjoyed were the UV Beads, special white beads that turn colors when the ultraviolet sun rays hit them; the Solar Bag which when filled with air and heated by the sun will fly; and the Bang Barrel which had a 2-liter plastic bottle filled with liquid nitrogen and when capped and placed under a plastic barrel burst and shot the barrel way up into the air!
The following YouTube video shows another of my favorites–breaking glass with sound!
(Click through to I Choose Joy! if you don’t see the video.)
Overall, I would say that my kids enjoyed watching these DVDs. They aren’t highly scientific, but they are fun and interesting. The only thing I didn’t like about these demonstations is that he didn’t go into much detail about the science behind what was happening. I think his main goal was to simply get the kids excited about science and to teach the spiritual lessons. And that’s exactly what happened with my kids!
The Go Science DVDs are only $8.97 each or $59.82 for the set of 7!
You can get Ben Roy’s Science Kits and materials at Go Science LLC.
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