Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments

Curriculum details

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This is a well-written, in-depth book of chemistry lab experiments designed especially for homeschoolers and DIY enthusiasts. It fulfills the lab component of the high school chemistry course, but can also be undertaken by any interested homeschooler.

The book contains two years' worth of experiments. How many you do is up to you. If your student is especially interested in chemistry, by all means do all of them. Otherwise, one 60 - 90 minute lab session per week is fine.

Instead of doing the experiments in the order given in the book, you should complete the introductory unit on lab safety and microscope use, then choose lab sessions that correspond to the most recently covered section of the CK-12 text or other framework you are using for biology.

You will need various supplies and equipment in order to do the experiments. Supplies can be purchased as a kit at thehomescientist.com/kits.php. (This page includes two options, one intended for honors courses and one for regular courses. Choose the one that fits best with your student's interest and desired level of challenge.) If you prefer to purchase supplies individually, www.homesciencetools.com is a good source. It is fine to skip or curtail some of the experiments if the materials seem expensive or hard to obtain, but aim to complete at least half of them to qualify for the chemistry lab credit.