What else do I need to purchase besides the course?
Elementary Experience Biology: Level A
Most of the activities use items easily found around your home or at the supermarket. Check out the complete supply list here.
There are no required textbooks, but a list of books for recommended reading can be found here. These books are used to help students continue to dig deeper into the topics we’re studying, but are not required reading.
We encourage you to look for these at your local library or use an interlibrary loan, and only purchase the ones you wish to add to your home library. You do not need to find all of these books and you’re certainly welcome to supplement with other books you may already have on hand.
The student adventure guide and memory cards are included with the course as a free PDF download, but you can also purchase hard copies here.
Elementary Experience Astronomy: Level A
Most of the activities use items easily found around your home or at the supermarket. Check out the complete supply list here.
There are no required textbooks, but a list of books for recommended reading can be found here. These books are used to help students continue to dig deeper into the topics we’re studying, but are not required reading.
We encourage you to look for these at your local library or use an interlibrary loan, and only purchase the ones you wish to add to your home library. You do not need to find all of these books and you’re certainly welcome to supplement with other books you may already have on hand.
The student adventure guide and memory cards are included with the course as free PDF downloads, but you can also purchase hard copies here.
Experience Astronomy: Level B
This course is a “naked-eye” astronomy course. That means you won’t need to purchase any telescopes, binoculars, or other specialized equipment for your student. However, if you wish to purchase one, you can check out our buying guide.
Though not required, your student would benefit from a small red flashlight. Since students will be outside in the dark, drawing what they see in the sky, a red light will help them see their paper without destroying their night vision. You can easily purchase one online, or there are a variety of apps you can download that will turn a smartphone into a red light. The first class of this course gives students instructions about how to make their own from a regular white flashlight.
It is highly recommended, though not required, that you purchase the textbook Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy, by Jay Ryan*. This is the finest textbook on the market for learning about the motions of the heavens.
*Signs and Seasons is available for purchase in our store.
The student guidebook and field guide are included with the course as free PDF downloads, but you can purchase hard copies in our store if you’d prefer.
Experience Astronomy PLUS: Level C
This course is a “naked-eye” astronomy course. That means you won’t need to purchase any telescopes, binoculars, or other specialized equipment for your student. However, if you wish to purchase one, you can check out our buying guide.
Though not required, your student would benefit from a small red flashlight. Since students will be outside in the dark, drawing what they see in the sky, a red light will help them see their paper without destroying their night vision. You can easily purchase one online, or there are a variety of apps you can download that will turn a smartphone into a red light. The first class of this course gives students instructions about how to make their own from a regular white flashlight.
We provide a recommended reading list from the textbook Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy, by Jay Ryan. You may substitute another textbook or skip textbook reading altogether, but we believe this textbook does a wonderful job reinforcing concepts we cover in the lecture. This is the finest textbook on the market for learning about the motions of the heavens. Signs and Seasons is available for purchase in our store.
The student guidebook and field guide are included with the course as free PDF downloads, but you can purchase hard copies in our store if you’d prefer.
Experience Biology: Level C
Students will need a number of different supplies to complete the laboratory work. See the complete lab supply list here. Home Science Tools has partnered with us and offers complete lab kits for Experience Biology students or you can purchase items a la carte for families who want to pick and choose which labs they’ll complete.
A compound microscope is highly recommended (see our Home Science Microscope Buying Guide here). However, if it’s cost-prohibitive we will make images available online for students to use in lieu of looking at organisms under the microscope. Please keep in mind, this is not ideal because an important part of taking a lab biology course is learning how to use a microscope.
We provide a recommended reading list from the textbook The Riot & The Dance: Foundational Biology. You may substitute another textbook or skip textbook reading altogether, but we believe this textbook does a wonderful job reinforcing the concepts we cover in the lecture. The textbook Riot and the Dance is available to purchase in our store.
A pdf download of the Student Guidebook and Lab Guide are included free with the course. However, if you’d prefer a physical copy, they can be purchased separately here.