Fascinating Chemistry, Fascinating Biology, and Fascinating Physics are all designed to cover what you would normally expect to find in a high school course. That said, we have many students in middle school who take Fascinating Chemistry and Biology and do very well.

The later lessons in the Chemistry curriculum are a little more involved and might be too advanced for younger students; however, the principles underlying the mathematics of chemistry are readily understandable by 6th and 7th graders.

Fascinating Physics requires a student to be somewhat proficient in mathematics. You don’t have to know everything, Dr. Margulies will introduce concepts and explain how to work problems, but your student should be comfortable with mathematical concepts and how to apply them. In particular, it will be helpful to have taken algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus, but it is not mandatory in order to understand the concepts underlying Physics.

The Intro to Chemistry course is 13 short lessons with reviews that gives a very good intro to Chemistry – basically teaching the four intramolecular bonding methods.  Learning these will give any student a good head start on learning Chemistry (or Biology) because if they truly understand those bonding methods, they can predict more of what will happen in different scenarios during Chemistry.

The material is covered in the full Chemistry course, but introduced a little more slowly in Intro to Chemistry.  The lessons are much shorter – 15 minutes or so – include reviews and quiz. They are designed for middle school, but any student who doesn’t have a strong background in science will benefit in taking this course before Fascinating Chemistry or Fascinating Biology.  The course is only $10 when ordered with another course.

Dr. Margulies believes that since much of biology is based on the chemical properties of the components of cells, it would be smart to start with Fascinating Chemistry. If you prefer to take biology first, we offer the Intro to Chemistry course.

The Intro to Chemistry course is 13 short lessons with reviews that gives a very good intro to Chemistry – basically teaching the four intramolecular bonding methods.  Learning these will give any student a good head start on learning Chemistry (or Biology) because if they truly understand those bonding methods, they can predict more of what will happen in different scenarios during Chemistry.

Science views the world one way and religion another way. The origin of man is probably the best example of how the two approaches differ. Dr. Margulies believes it’s important to understand each viewpoint. Acknowledging another perspective does not mean you adopt it. Reconciling scientific opinions and Biblical pronouncements is possible, but has not yet occurred. One thing is clear: without understanding both views, they never will be.

Yes. You can view and obtain copies of the course outlines and a free sample of each from this page:  Free Sample science lessons

Fascinating Chemistry, Biology, and Physics each have on-line tests that cover all lessons. The Intro to Chemistry course also has tests. Currently, the Anatomy and Physiology course does not include tests, but they will be added in the future.

We do not store results, but the online tests can be printed out along with the test results. Correct answers are given at the end of each test. In addition to the online testing, we provide pdf versions of both the tests and the answer keys. This allows parents to self-administer if desired (and another option for keeping a record of the tests).

In Fascinating Chemistry and in Fascinating Physics, there are help tutorials included on each question of the test for use by the student if they get stuck trying to answer a question. Dr. Margulies believes that testing is another opportunity to ensure the student grasps the material. By providing help, we ensure that the student is always succeeding.

Please see the tutorial video for more information.

Some of the experiments described in this course may use chemicals that are dangerous if handled improperly, use an open flame or other heat source, or include use of glassware. At all times, you should have the permission and presence of a responsible adult. You will find all sorts of information on the internet regarding laboratory safety – including use of proper clothing, protective eye-gear, etc. Discuss safety instructions with a responsible adult before beginning any experiment. If at any time you have a specific question regarding safety – please let us know.

The Fascinating Education curricula are designed to cover what you would normally find in a high school course for each of the subjects and we believe are rigorous enough to be considered as high school credit, in most cases.

For high school credits and transcripts, we can’t advise how each course should be credited, as each state and or college could have different requirements for credited hours. Some use total hours, some use percentage of course, some use mastery…so it’s just hard to say how you would “credit” a particular course of study.

We feel that the goal is for the student to “master” the material and we teach what you would expect to find in content for a high school course. That said, we would expect that mastery of the Fascinating Education courses should warrant a “credit” for mastery of the high school subject matter for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, but again – you would need to check the requirements in your state or the college you are planning for.  If after checking the requirements for your school or college you still have a question, please contact us.

We currently have correlations for the Next Generation Science Standards. To access, please click here.

If a student does 1 lesson a day in chemistry (assuming about 1.5 hours to complete each lesson and test) – a student could finish in 24-27 total hours. We also have labs for chemistry which are an hour or so each – so you could add those additional hours.  We are in the process of adding additional review material – which will add some time to each course.

Each biology lesson could take twice as long, but that’s still only about 30 hours to complete the course.

Each physics lesson could conceivably take about three hours, so that’s about 45 hours.

Each family approaches it differently – we have had some families do only one lesson per week and we have had students complete an entire course in a month. It’s really just up to the student and the family.

Fascinating Education curricula focus on scientific facts while eliminating unnecessary complexity. Dr. Margulies engages the student by bringing a real life touch to all the lessons so that the student understands why the material is important for them.

In a trial at Dunbar High School where passing Biology is a requirement for graduation, the standardized test scores rose from 40% passing  to 87% in one school year.