CrossWired Science/ TOS Review

Are you looking for a whole new way to do science?

Then you might be interested in CrossWired Science. CrossWired Science is a video based science curriculum. The website is designed to appeal to any age but is primarily designed for students ages 4-18. I can tell you that I really enjoyed the videos!

For this review we were given access to the courses Sound, and Fluid Dynamics.

Each course is set up in the same way. When you choose a course you will see a screen set up like this.

This is from the Sound Course. The first row has your main video lessons. Each video lesson page will have a video to watch , an online quiz to take after watching the video and a link to print off additional worksheets. 

Here is an example of a video page. In the top left corner you will see the link to download the worksheets. 

Here is an example of the online quiz. Each quiz contains 10 questions. 

 And here is an example of the worksheets. 

The second row is all about going the extra mile with what you have already learned. 

You can pick from a list of experiments to do, find ideas to do research papers, get links to additional videos, and a list of more activity ideas. 

Here is an example of an experiment page. You can click on the links and it will tell you the supplies needed for that particular experiment. Sometimes it will have good instructions, but some of the pages don't have very detailed instructions. You may have to do a search for better instructions or you may be able to figure it out by the picture. 

The extra links given are one of my favorite aspects of the program. These are all so fun to watch. My son loves them. He is only 4 so a lot of these are more entertaining to him than the main videos are. 

The U-Choose activities page has numerous activity ideas. There are many more than what I am showing you here, but this is an idea. I love that they include field trip ideas and even evangelism ideas!

The third and fourth rows are essentially the same as the first two rows were but for lessons 5 through 8. It will give you a field trip box at the end where you can choose from a multitude of field trip ideas! 

The last part of the course page goes even deeper. Here you will find reading plans, books to read that follow the same topics, more lessons that go even deeper than you've already went plus they even have devotionals to go along with each course!

Each course also has something called First Timers and Second Timers. What this means is that there are basically two different courses for the different age levels. If your child is older they may still do the first timers if they are not already familiar with the topics, and then go through the courses again as a second timer, or if they are already familiar they can start as a second timer. 

The videos are the same no matter what timer you are, however the questions and the Digging Deeper sections and some of the extra stuff are different and on a higher level. 

Now, you may be wondering then, how can the courses be designed for 4 year olds and 18 year olds if all of the videos are the same? 

Good question. I have a 4 year old, so what we did was basically just watch the videos. We obviously didn't do any of the quizzes or worksheets, but we really did learn a lot from the videos. After watching one of the videos I was like."Hey, now I actually understand how an airplane files!" 

These videos are wonderful at explaining science concepts where everyone can understand them.

I particularly like the General Links section because they have additional links for videos to watch that are on the same topics and here I found videos that were more on my son's level. 

There is a suggested calendar schedule that can simplify things for you if you are one that needs or likes a schedule. 

 The examples I have shown you are from the Sound Course, but the Fluid Dynamics Course is set up the same way. 

While this program is not a Christian program per-say, this is what they have to say about the Christian aspects of the program. 

"For the Lord and His Glory!

We’d love to develop a significant friendship with all who join hands with us in showing the glory of the Lord to others through the things He has made.  To us this is a battle to encourage the church and to do our part in attempting to save our nation for our children’s and grandchildren’s sake.  We want to co-labor with many and be a blessing and be helped with ideas ands suggestions as well. (It’s our belief and hope in the Lord that He can use the beauty and wonder of what He has created to help many understand His reality and His love for them.)

We hope to launch nationwide to secular charters and public schools in 2-3 months.  The entire site is designed to be able to be converted to a site that can get into public schools. Our prayer is for many parents and children to come to know the Lord as they study the incredible work He has done in designing this Creation.  Our prayer is that many “in darkness would see a great light, ”and that the faith of believers would be tremendously strengthened."

"Most of the Ties to the Lord and the Word are Found in the Digging Deepers and the Gold Digs.

There are dozens of devotional sections all through the Digging Deepers and the Gold Digs. We put these in written format, because, for the way they are structured, this is the best way to convey them."

So whether you are Christian or secular, you can use this program. 

You can use this program as a stand alone curriculum or as a supplement to any science curriculum you may already be using. 

At the moment there are only two Global Topics to study; Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. Each project has two Global Topics. Right now there is only one project, but there will be 15 projects total that will cover all of science grades K-12.  Each project will be added as it is finished. You can definitely get started with the first project and another should be added before you are finished with this one. 

CrossWired Science has a goal for their program:

"For the Price of a Disney Video!

Our goal is to provide “Projects” that glorify the Lord for the same price of a Disney movie once the affiliate discount is applied.  We welcome and cherish your suggestions and help!"

The price of this program is unbelievable to me. It is only $27.95 for a whole year! And if you have more than one student it is only an additional $10 per student. 

I think it is totally worth it. Even with Brently only being 4 I still think it is worth it just for the videos. They are interesting and it gives him an introduction to Science and as he gets older he will understand the topic even better. 

I am not the only one who has reviewed this program. Please check out my fellow Crew Mates reviews to see what they thought of CrossWired Science.