In this Form 3-4 (grade 7-9) study guide, students will learn about the universal laws of science, including those for liquids and gases, matter and energy, and motion and waves.

The study guide includes reading assignments from the spine text, narration prompts, and open discussion questions. Experiments related to the reading are also included. Optional supplemental activities, such as current events, videos, and article suggestions when there is time, are also included. Finally, you will find a link to an exam for each course in the introductory material.

Pages: 54
Prerequisites: none

Spine Text

This study guide accompanies four living books from the Secrets of the Universe series by Paul Fleisher (Living Book Press, 2019), which must be purchased separately.

Books in the Series:
- Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics
- Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics
- Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics
- Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism
- (Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics is not required for this course.)
214 pages, 22 chapters (168 pages, 18 chapters assigned. This book is too long to complete in one term; some chapters have been omitted from the assigned work. Students should feel free to read those chapters during their free time.)
Reading Level: grade 7 and up

A few notes about the available versions:

The study guide denotes page numbers for the original version of Secrets of the Universe (1987) as well as the series reprints from Lerner Publishing (2001 and 2008) and Living Book Press (2019).
If you don’t already own these, the latest version, available from LivingBookPress.com, is recommended. The publisher has included the beautiful original drawings (from the 1987 version), and the original author has updated the text in a few areas. However, these are primarily literary updates, so if you own one of the older copies, you should not worry that the science is out of date.
At one point, finding a physical copy of the books for this guide became challenging, so I purchased a school license from Lerner Publishing for the four titles needed. As they have now been republished, buying the digital book is unnecessary. However, I have left the option below for people who use my guides from countries where shipping is costly. If you wish to purchase it, you will have indefinite access to the eBook, but you should be aware that I have not found any way to print it, so it will need to be read on a device. To download it to a Kindle, click the cloud button with a downward button. That brings you to an online pdf, which you can download to a computer. Then, email the file to your Kindle’s email address. By typing “Convert” in the subject line, the file is converted to the Kindle format. I have been told that the transferred file looks great on the Kindle Paperwhite.

Paul Fleisher (1948) has won numerous awards and honors for his excellence in teaching and writing. He taught science for many years in the Program for the Gifted in Virginia, which allowed him much scope for developing innovative curriculum. He is gifted himself with the ability to take a subject and open it up, allowing others to discover the fascinations and wonder within. He has written books that cover a wide range of interests: diverse science topics, nuclear arms, violin making and many more.

Mr. Fleisher’s books of tanglers and cooperative games involve a collective effort of deductive reasoning and/or math skills to solve puzzles and problems while working as a team. Indeed, unity and peace have been a theme for his life as he has done much work with peace education and international relations as well as being a musician in a community ensemble of Gamelan, which is the traditional music of Indonesia. —Michele Jahncke (source)

Other Necessary Items to Complement This Course

Review the Supply List for this course.

Schedule:

This study guide includes 33 lessons, each requiring approximately 30-40 minutes. You can either schedule it:

Three times a week for 11 weeks allowing for exams during the 12th week, or
Once a week for an entire year, allowing time for exams at the end of each term, and including other science subjects on the other days of the week.

I love the study guides for science from SMH. It has made doing science for my middle schoolers feel so much more doable and I can rest assured that they are getting a good idea of the subject while staying true to Charlotte Mason methods. Thanks so much!

—Hillary J., Northern California

Sample Lessons:

A digital version can be purchased below, but the paperback copies of this study guide must be purchased on Amazon.

The study guide includes religious content, though the accompanying spine text does not. If you require a secular version, please choose that option below.