Supercharged Science

Supercharged Science is a K-12 online science program built around video demonstrations, hands-on experiments, and live teleclasses, developed by former NASA engineer Aurora Lipper. It is one of the few homeschool science options that emphasizes experimentation over textbook reading.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Subject-specialist, hands-on, video-led
Worldview	Secular
Grades	K-12 (banded by topic and complexity)
Formats	Digital, video, hands-on kits, live teleclasses
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	2
ESA-common	Yes (digital + materials accepted on most marketplaces)
Accredited	No
Established	Aurora Lipper began Supercharged Science in the early 2000s
Website	superchargedscience.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Strong on experimentation; weaker on conceptual depth at upper grades
Ease of teaching	4	Video-led; parent role is logistical and safety-focused
Content quality	4	Genuinely engaging experiments; production quality solid
Flexibility	5	Topic-based; use as primary or supplement
Value for money	3	Membership reasonable; experiment supplies add up
Worldview scope	5	Secular; mainstream scientific consensus throughout
Visual/design	3	Functional video and member portal; not flashy
Support resources	4	Live teleclasses, email support, active community

Who the publisher is

Supercharged Science is the work of Aurora Lipper, a former mechanical engineer who worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory before transitioning into education. Lipper began producing science content for homeschool families in the early 2000s, initially as standalone video courses and curriculum-in-a-box kits, and built the e-Science membership platform over subsequent years to consolidate her video library, experiment instructions, and live teleclasses into a single subscription.

The pedagogical thesis behind Supercharged Science is straightforward: science is what scientists do, not what scientists have concluded. Lipper's editorial framing, visible across her video introductions and her About materials, argues that homeschool science programs leaning heavily on textbook reading miss the actual practice of experimental science, and that hands-on experimentation should be the spine of a science education rather than a tack-on. The program is built around this conviction.

Supercharged Science is secular and teaches mainstream scientific consensus throughout, evolutionary biology, deep-time geology, modern cosmology, contemporary chemistry. There is no creationist content, intelligent-design content, or worldview-overlay material. The program also does not actively criticize religious worldviews; it teaches the science as scientists practice it and leaves theological integration to the family. This positions Supercharged Science distinctly from young-earth-creationist programs like Apologia and from old-earth-creationist programs like BJU Press's higher-grade sciences.

The core pedagogy

Supercharged Science delivers science through video demonstration plus student replication. Each lesson typically pairs a short video. Lipper performing an experiment or explaining a concept, with detailed written instructions for the student to replicate the experiment at home. Most experiments use household materials or items from a Supercharged Science kit sold separately. The student watches, performs the experiment, records observations, and works through follow-up questions.

Scope and sequence is topic-based across physical and life sciences, with content spanning K-12 grade levels. The e-Science membership organizes lessons by topic (mechanics, electricity, magnetism, sound and waves, chemistry, biology, earth science, astronomy) and lets families choose the level appropriate to their student's age. There is no fixed K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 sequence; instead, each topic has lessons banded by complexity, and the family chooses entry points.

Signature mechanics: (1) Video demonstrations. Lipper performs each experiment on camera, narrating the steps and the underlying concepts; students watch, then replicate. (2) Hands-on experiments at scale, the platform offers hundreds of experiments across topics, more than most homeschool science programs. (3) Live teleclasses, periodic live online sessions where Lipper teaches a topic and answers student questions in real time. (4) Optional kit purchases, supply kits are available by topic, removing the need for parents to source individual materials.

A day in the life

A fifth-grader doing a physics-and-mechanics unit through Supercharged Science starts a session by logging into the e-Science portal, watching the day's video lesson (typically 8-15 minutes. Lipper introducing a concept like simple machines and demonstrating an experiment using a lever), then setting up the experiment at the kitchen table. The experiment runs 20-40 minutes depending on complexity, measuring forces with a spring scale across various lever arrangements, recording the observations in a science notebook. The student then works through follow-up questions in the lesson PDF, and may watch a second short concept video reviewing what the experiment demonstrated.

For high school physics, the rhythm extends. A 9th-grader doing a Supercharged Science physics sequence might spend 45-90 minutes per session: longer videos, more substantive experiments, more developed lab reporting. The parent's role is primarily safety oversight and supply procurement; the instructional content is delivered by video and the experiment instructions. Students working through the high-school content typically pair Supercharged Science with a separate textbook (Conceptual Physics by Hewitt, or a similar reading-oriented physics text) for conceptual depth and problem-set practice that the video-and-experiment format does not fully cover.

What they do exceptionally well

Experiment density. This is Supercharged Science's signature strength. The platform offers a substantial library of hands-on experiments, far more than most curriculum-in-a-textbook science programs, including many that families would not think to attempt independently. For families whose science philosophy is "do, then learn from doing," this density is genuinely category-defining.

Engineering-trained perspective. Lipper's NASA background shows up in the way experiments are designed: real measurement, real variables, real iteration. This is unusual in homeschool science, where many "experiments" are demonstrations or recipes rather than genuine investigations. Supercharged Science consistently treats students as capable of running real procedures.

Topic-based flexibility. The e-Science membership is organized by topic rather than by grade, which lets families adapt the program to their interests, current studies, or sibling spread. A family working through a unit on weather can drill into Supercharged Science's weather and atmospheric content without committing to a full year of one-grade material.

Live teleclasses. The periodic live sessions add a synchronous element that most online homeschool science programs lack. Students can ask Lipper questions in real time, see experiments demonstrated live, and engage with peers across the broader Supercharged Science community.

What they do poorly

Conceptual depth at upper grades. Supercharged Science's signature is doing experiments well; its weaker dimension is sustained conceptual exposition at high-school and AP-equivalent levels. A 10th-grader preparing for college-level chemistry will need the experiments and demonstrations Lipper provides, but will also need a substantive textbook and problem-set practice that the video-and-experiment format does not fully replace. Families running Supercharged Science as a primary high-school science program almost always supplement with reading and problems.

Supply costs. Hands-on experimentation at this density implies materials. Supercharged Science kits are sold separately ($30-$150 per topic kit as of April 2026), and families building experiments from household and hardware-store sourcing still face real per-experiment costs. The published membership price does not capture this; families should budget separately for supplies.

No formal grading or transcript output. Supercharged Science does not produce graded reports, lab reports, or transcript-ready credit. Families using it for high school must build their own assessment, lab-report system, and credit documentation. This is fine for families comfortable with parent-graded transcripts; it is a real friction for those wanting publisher-graded credit.

Production quality is functional, not polished. The videos are clear, well-narrated, and educationally effective, but they are not the cinematic-quality production of a major streaming-academy course. Students acclimated to high-end video production may find the aesthetic dated.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Supercharged Science if: you want a science program built around hands-on experimentation rather than textbook reading; you are comfortable supplementing with a textbook for high-school conceptual depth; you appreciate Lipper's engineering-trained, mainstream-consensus framing; you want topic-based flexibility rather than grade-locked sequencing; you have the budget and patience for experiment supplies.

• Skip Supercharged Science if: you want a textbook-driven, conceptually structured K-12 science scope (look at BJU Press or Apologia instead, with the worldview understood); you need publisher-graded credit and transcripts for high school; you are unwilling or unable to manage the supply burden of frequent experiments; you want a young-earth or old-earth creationist science framing (Supercharged Science is mainstream consensus); you prefer self-paced silent reading over video-led active demonstration.

Cost honest assessment

Supercharged Science e-Science membership runs approximately $37 per month or $397 per year for the full membership as of April 2026, granting access to the entire video and experiment library across all topics. Topic-specific kits run $30-$150 each depending on the breadth of materials included. A family running Supercharged Science as a primary science program for one year typically spends $400-$700 all-in (membership plus 3-5 topic kits or equivalent supply purchases).

Compared to Apologia (roughly $80-$130 per textbook plus $50-$200 in lab supplies, or $120-$330 per grade per year) and BJU Press Science (roughly $200-$350 per grade including textbooks, lab manual, and supplies), Supercharged Science is competitive when the membership covers multiple students simultaneously across multiple grade levels. For a single student in a single grade, the per-student cost is comparable to traditional textbook-and-lab-kit programs.

A realistic all-in cost for a multi-child family running Supercharged Science across an academic year: $500-$900 including membership and supplies.

ESA eligibility notes

Supercharged Science is approved on most state ESA marketplaces, including Arizona's ClassWallet, Florida's Step Up For Students, Utah Fits All, and Arkansas's LEARNS Act. The secular classification simplifies eligibility in states that restrict religious materials. The membership subscription and the topic kits are typically reimbursable as separate line items. Some marketplaces classify subscription-based digital content differently from physical materials; families should verify both the membership and the kit categories before purchase.

Alternatives

• Mystery Science, a family would choose Mystery Science over Supercharged Science because Mystery Science offers a more polished K-5 video-led science experience with simpler supply requirements, at the cost of less depth and shorter grade-level reach.
• Real Science 4 Kids (Gravitas Publications), a family would choose Real Science 4 Kids over Supercharged Science because Real Science 4 Kids provides more substantive textbook content for conceptual depth, with experiments included but not the central organizing principle.
• Berean Builders Science (Jay Wile), a family would choose Berean Builders over Supercharged Science because Wile's program offers strong conceptual chemistry and physics texts at the upper grades, paired with experiments, from a young-earth creationist framing distinct from Supercharged Science's mainstream-consensus posture.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Supercharged Science e-Science membership pages, the About / Aurora Lipper biography, sample lesson videos, and the published topic kit catalog. We cross-referenced against the broader hands-on homeschool science ecosystem (Mystery Science, Real Science 4 Kids, Berean Builders) and Cathy Duffy Reviews. Prices and program details verified April 2026.