Real Science Odyssey Biology 2 Review

Finding a solid secular science program for middle school took us a while, but Real Science Odyssey quickly became the one that actually worked in our day-to-day homeschool.

This Real Science Odyssey review comes after using Biology 2 across sixth and seventh grade with my son, and it’s been one of the few science curricula that has consistently kept both of us engaged.

The mix of labs, reading, and guided practice feels manageable, and the pacing has been flexible enough to work around real life, wins all around.

If you’re trying to decide whether Biology 2 is a good fit for a middle-grade learner, here’s what the program looks like in practice, what we liked, what stretched us, and how it compares to other secular options we’ve tried.

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Real Science Odyssey Biology 2: What It Actually Includes

Real Science Odyssey Biology 2 is the Level 2 middle–high school option from Pandia Press, built around three core pieces: the student textbook, the workbook, and the teacher guide.

Each part has a clear purpose, readings, hands-on work, and structured teaching support, and you buy them separately.

Biology 2 is the program we chose for sixth and seventh grade, and it’s designed to work for a wide range of ages depending on your pace and comfort level with labs.

How Biology 2 Is Structured

Biology 2 is laid out as a full-year course with 32 chapters that move through seven major units: organisms, cells, genetics, anatomy and physiology, evolution, ecology, and classification.

The pacing is flexible, doing it in sixth grade meant it stretched closer to 18 months for us, which felt completely manageable.

Each unit ends with an optional exam in the workbook, and the lesson flow mixes reading, labs, notebooking, and short assessments to keep the work varied.

What You Actually Need for Biology 2

The materials list looks long at first, but most of what you need is already in a typical home, basic kitchen items, paper supplies, and simple tools.

Biology 2 does include microscope-based lessons, but you can skip those in middle school if you’re not ready for that level yet.

We chose to buy a microscope and slides anyway because my son enjoys the hands-on work, though it’s not essential unless you’re aiming for high school credit.

Beyond that, we only picked up a few small extras like graph paper and a cutting tool, and everything else was easy to pull from around the house.

Our Experience With Real Science Odyssey Biology 2

Once we got into a routine, Biology 2 was a good fit for middle school. The mix of reading, labs, and quick quizzes kept the work from feeling repetitive, and the teacher guide made it easy for me to stay on track even on busy weeks.

Some labs took more prep than others, but most were straightforward and used things we already had at home.

My son liked the variety, especially the microscope work and the hands-on activities, and the pacing felt flexible enough to stretch when we needed more time on a unit.

Pros and Cons

Biology 2 has worked well for us overall. It’s secular, thorough, and has enough variety to keep a middle-schooler engaged without feeling overwhelming.

The flexible pacing has also made it easy to adjust the workload when we needed a slower week.

The only drawbacks for us were the initial materials list, which looks a bit intimidating until you realize you already own most of it, and the handful of labs that took more prep than I expected.

We’ve had a good experience with Biology 2, and it’s made me more confident about using Pandia Press for upper-level work. We also picked up History Odyssey for the following year, and you can read about that experience if you’re comparing programs.

If you’re exploring other options, I’ve reviewed quite a few secular curricula over the years, and those posts might help you narrow things down.

Last Updated on 2 December 2025 by Clare Brown