Can we study Apologia's Anatomy without the notebooking journal?

There are notebooking pages on Apologia’s “book extras” website in the front of your book.  We used those when we did it with my first.  The journals were not out back then.  I have since seen the journals and I agree with you, lots of busywork.  I will not buy them for my son, I don’t think they add that much to the study.  Maybe someone else thinks differently.  Living boooks with beautiful photographs are a great addition to the Apologia!

You can certainly do the course without the journal.  You can do written narrations and drawings if you want to keep a notebook.  There was at least one website I found with free printable activity pages for labeling the bones of the skeleton (for example); if you have the time and inclination, you can probably find some other similar great resources.  I did break down and buy the notebooking journal a few weeks into our school year, primarily to save me work and provide inspiration for my daughter.  Sometimes she’ll use the “fascinating facts” pages for written narration, although again, that’s easily done without the journal.  My children primarily use the journals for review after completing a lesson.  I’ll have them do the vocabulary crossword and then let them choose one or two other activities.  We’ve never used every page or activity in the journals; for me, it’s still worth it.