Moody Science Classics

One of the goals my husband and I set when we first had children was to surround them with learning opportunities. We want them to love learning. And we don’t want learning to be something that just happens during “school”. Several years ago we saw an incredible special on the entire collection of Moody Science DVDs, and we knew immediately that we’d found something that we would like to own. We have not been disappointed.

Moody Classics, 19 DVDs

Each DVD is 28 minutes long, and there are 19 videos in the set. (They are also available separately.) There are a wide variety of science topics covered including many animals, plants, human anatomy and physics. Several of the videos weave in history lessons as well. All the videos end with a discussion relating the topic to a Biblical theme.

Though these are science videos, they are very unlike their modern counter-parts. Notably absent is the cool, science-geek character found in most of today’s videos. The videos don’t jump between segments with wild graphics and pop music. Each episode contains a variety of information that may not seem related at first, but the relationship between the topics is made clear by the end. They always include interesting laboratory demonstrations. Though I wouldn’t describe the videos as “exciting”, they are all very interesting. Amazing things about each topic are demonstrated and explained. They are also not strictly for children and never talk down to the watcher. My husband and I enjoy watching them and have learned something from every episode. (We’ve both got science backgrounds and my husband teaches chemistry.)

For example, we most recently watched Signposts Aloft. It was about using instruments in airplane flight. It showed how pilots could fly without instruments in good weather, but in poor weather the sense of sight is useless, and they cannot rely on their sense of direction. They did a very interesting demonstration where a blindfolded man was spun around. He reported what direction he was spinning. At the beginning he felt he was spinning in the right direction, but then he felt he had stopped and was beginning to turn in the other direction. However, it was obviously false. This false sensation was explained using a model of the inner ear. (We duplicated this experiment at home. You can watch it at A Day in the Life – Fooling the Senses.) They also visited the site of an airplane crash in World War II. The pilot had flown past his base and crashed in the Libyan dessert all because he didn’t trust his instruments. The importance of having “faith” in the instruments was stressed and reinforced in a short interview with a very young John Glenn. Finally, the point was made that faith and science are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Further, we need to have faith in the Bible, because sometimes life is like flying without visibility, and the Bible provides us with the right direction.

Over the years I have used these videos in several ways. Occasionally I have pulled one out that relates to our current science study. Sometimes I have had the children watch one for a science lesson when I was sick, or had something I needed to do. Mostly though, they’ve served as family entertainment. They really are that good.

Written by Kristen – Relaxed Classical Mom of 4. She blogs at A Day in the Life.