Are you looking for online homeschool high school biology options? Looking for something that is visually based and easy to use? Then Fascinating Biology from Fascinating Education might be for you!

Fascinating Education uses an audio-visual technique to teach science in a step-by-step manner using plain English and clear illustrations. This “right-hemispheric” learning approach takes advantage of the brain’s ability to process images more efficiently and more effectively than just reading text.

{I received free access to Fascinating Biology and was compensated for my time in writing this review.  All views are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for more details.}

The Fascinating Education curricula focus on scientific facts while eliminating unnecessary complexity. Dr. Margulies (owner and developer) 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.

About Sheldon Marguiles Owner/Developer

Sheldon Margulies is the owner and developer of Fascinating Education. He is a neurologist who has taught over 2500 medical students and residents in his career, and I has since turned his attention to younger students with online courses in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Anatomy and Physiology, and the Logic of Medicine.

In my curricula, I don’t just teach. I explain, in plain English, one step at a time, using images that I’ve created and narrate. I want students to see exactly what I’m saying, and for today’s students who are so comfortable with audio and visual learning, narrated images are a great way to learn science.

Sheldon Margulies owner and developer of Fascinating Education

Online Homeschool High School Biology with Fascinating Education

Fascinating Biology covers the basic principles of biology, including the components of life: cell membranes, taking in nutrients, creating chemical energy, growing and repairing, reproducing, maintaining a stable internal environment, and adapting to a changing external environment. You can see a full breakdown of the Fascinating Biology Course Content right on their website.

The course consists of 3 major components:

The cool thing is that each one of these components has an online component AND a printable component option. Your student can do it all online, or they can choose to do some of it with pen and paper.

Video Lessons – There are 18 video lessons.

Review – The awesome thing about the review sections is that each question is read to the student, and each answer is read and demonstrated with a corresponding image.

Tests – When done online the test end by giving the students their score, and options to Review, Print, and Retry the quiz. You can also choose to print the tests out ahead of time and have them do them offline.

Key Features of Fascinating Biology

1. A Note About Secular vs. Religious

When it comes to science curriculum the first thing most people want to know is if it is secular or religious, creation vs. evolution. I like that Sheldon tackles this question first before anything else in the biology course. Below you will find a brief video clip of him explaining his view and how that impacts the curriculum.

I really appreciate his point about how understanding different viewpoints does not mean you have to adopt them. In our home we have always tried to talk about both sides of the coin so they can decide for themselves.

2. Great for Visual Learners

The Fascinating Education courses are very visual. All 18 lessons are video lessons with tons of images, diagrams, etc. Plus there are print out options for all the components so your students can have them in hand too if they want.

3. Lesson Scripts

Can I just say that the super type-A in me LOVES these. They are literal replicas of the video lessons, complete with images and text! I like printing them out along with the review printables and tests so that we have a visual representation of the work complete.

4. Review & Tests as Learning Devices

Both the review sections and tests are used as an additional opportunity to teach the material and to ensure the student is progressing appropriately.

The review questions have corresponding full image answers, giving students another opportunity to understand and absorb the concepts taught in that lesson.

The tests give students an opportunity to go back and review their answers alongside the correct answers and to retake them. This allows students to go back and look at where/what their mistake was and learn the material correctly.

My Thoughts

I love the different teaching approach to the Fascinating Education science curricula. The lessons are not too long, I’d say they take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, and they are easy to understand. There is plenty of reinforcement built in with the reviews and tests, giving students plenty of exposure to the concepts so they can more readily learn and understand them.

My main concern when calling this a curriculum is that most would assume it was a full year and thus a full credit course. When looking at the FAQ Page it states, “The lessons differ in length; however, each presentation is about 45 minutes long (on average). 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.”

This is significantly lower than the standard of a high school course being 120 hours. So my suggestion would be to add labs and extra readings or research on topics of interest throughout the year. OR I also think these make great summer review courses! You could do them before taking a full year to get a head start on the concepts, or take it after as a review/reinforcement.

Free Trial

Click here for a FREE Trial!

You can sample any one (or all) of the following courses:

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics
• Medicine

Discount & Giveaway

DISCOUNT: 25% off any single or multi-course package with coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL. Valid July 1 – Aug. 15, 2021.

GIVEAWAY: Open to anyone worldwide. 3 winners will get their choice of course (1 year subscription.)