Real Science Odyssey Review | Best Secular Science Curriculum
If you are looking for the best secular homeschool curriculum for science you are going to love our Real Science Odyssey review.
Real Science Odyssey is perfect for both elementary right through to high school.
For this review, we are using Real Science Odyssey Biology 2 in grades 6 and 7.
So what is REAL Science Odyssey? Read, Explore, Absorb, Learn! (I only actually realized that it was an acronym while I was writing this post!).
Keep reading for our honest Real Science Odyssey review.
**This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and a participant in other affiliate programs, I earn a commission on qualifying purchases.**
Real Science Odyssey Biology 2
Real Science Odyssey is a fantastic secular homeschool biology curriculum for both middle and high school homeschoolers.
There are two levels either level one which is elementary grades, and level two which is middle school to high school.
We opted for Biology 2 which consists of three of the best science books for homeschooling (which you purchase separately, for some reason they don’t have a combined purchase?):
We could however have chosen Astronomy level 2, but I think we will take that when we have finished Biology. (Grab our planet coloring pages for free and start learning about the solar system.)
What I LOVE about Pandia Press is that you try before you buy!!
This is why it is the best homeschool science curriculum. You can literally check out a few sample pages to see if you think it will be a good fit.
Biology 2 is designed to be a year-long curriculum with 32 chapters. If I am honest though as we are doing this in 6th grade I think it might take us 18 months. But that is absolutely fine, we are in no hurry!
The course is divided into seven units:
- Organisms
- Cells
- Genetics
- Anatomy & Physiology (check out the best anatomy book for kids)
- Evolution
- Ecology
- Classification
At the end of each unit, there is an end-of-unit exam (they are at the back of the student workbook, so they are completely optional.)
Homeschool Biology Curriculum For Middle & High School
We didn’t need to buy much for this curriculum, as we already had a lot of it, but I will share with you what Real Science Odyssey recommends for Biology 2:
** You do not need the microscope in middle school (like we are) and you can skip these lessons. But you will NEED it if you are studying it for High School. We decided to buy it though.**
- Microscope – I actually wish they recommended one, as it took me an age to research them. But I believe this is the best homeschooling microscope: AmScope M150C-I 40X-1000X All-Metal Optical Glass Lenses Cordless LED Student Biological Compound Microscope
- Microscope Slides as the above microscope doesn’t come with any slides, we had to purchase these as well.
- Tape Measure I am sure you already have one somewhere, but if not I have linked to the cheapest one I could find on Amazon!
- Graph Paper – we got ours in Walmart when we popped in, but if you want to order it on Amazon for a lifetimes supply check out the link.
- Clipboard
- X-Acto Knife with Safety Cap – we had to buy this as we didn’t have anything suitable.
- Cutting mat – I think we are just going to use leftover Amazon boxes (I have a lot!) but if I change my mind we will use this one.
I have just discovered that you can buy the entire lab kit for Biology 2 from Home Science Tools, which is significantly cheaper than if buying it all individually.
There are two full pages of material lists, however, I think everything else included you will have at home already. For example, oven, bowl, water, glass!!! They really have listed everything you are going to need!
For elementary grades why not check out this homeschool biology curriculum from Doc Robins?
What did we really think of Real Science Odyssey?
There are lots of things I LOVE about Pandia Press Real Science Odyssey.
The teacher guide is really detailed, which is great for me, I hated science in school!!
The student textbook is really varied too, so one page might be microscope work, the next a lab report, the next a multiple-choice quiz, etc.
So the kids never get bogged down doing the same work all the time.
There are lots of experiments to do as well, so it is really engaging.
My son honestly loves it.
Other benefits of Pandia Press Real Science Odyssey
- You can try before you buy
- It’s a secular science curriculum
- You can either buy in print copy (like we did) or you can buy the e-book
- You can use the curriculum for both middle school and high school students, perfect if you have multiple children.
We highly recommend real science odyssey biology 2, so check it out for yourself.
Real Science Odyssey is featured in our best homeschool curriculum for high school we love it that much.
In fact, we love it so much, that we ordered the History Odyssey curriculum too, you can read our History Odyssey review for more information.
If you are looking for even more homeschool curriculum reviews check out all of the others we have reviewed over the years.
Last Updated on 1 December 2024 by Clare Brown