Memoria Press Biology online

[Kalypso]

Do any of you have experience with this class? I was planning on Bio at the WTMA for my dd next year until the lab was separated into another class. Now we can't afford it.

 

At $575 with a lab included, the Memoria Press online class has become very interesting.

 

 

 

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta is taking it this year. So far, it's a solid first biology course. The labs are mainly virtual but they are from the textbook's publisher and worthwhile learning exercises. The textbook is Holt Biology, a standard secular textbook, but the teacher tends to tread very lightly to not offend young earth creationists. They do cover all the standard biology topics as presented in the textbook though. It's a weird balancing act.

 

The workload is about 5 or 6 hours a week: 2 hours of class, about 1 hour on the weekly graded homework, about 1.5 hours on reading the textbook, plus a lab or additional assignment or unit test every other week or so. The class covers the entire textbook so it keeps up a steady pace and you need to stay on top of the reading.

 

If you have any specific questions, ask here or pm me.

[Kalypso]

Thank you for this response. It is very helpful!

 

One question I have: Are lab reports written up for the virtual labs?

[chiguirre]

Yes, but they're not exactly formal reports. For example, the last project was a biome poster done in power point and presented orally to the class. A previous assignment was modeling radioactive decay with skittles and producing charts done in excel as the final product. They've also done an essay description of mitosis based on online microscopic photos. So, the labs are substantial, academic assignments but they're not bench work with a Intro-Hypothesis-Procedure-Results-Conclusion type write up. That might be because this is a biology class and not chemistry or physics which do include that type of assignment. In biology, they spend a lot of time on topics that don't lend themselves easily to 2 hour labs. 

 

I think this class is good preparation for an AP Bio class but it's not a replacement for an AP class.

[Kalypso]

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info. I think we're definitely going to take this class.

[Pink and Green Mom]

Yes, but they're not exactly formal reports. For example, the last project was a biome poster done in power point and presented orally to the class. A previous assignment was modeling radioactive decay with skittles and producing charts done in excel as the final product. They've also done an essay description of mitosis based on online microscopic photos. So, the labs are substantial, academic assignments but they're not bench work with a Intro-Hypothesis-Procedure-Results-Conclusion type write up. That might be because this is a biology class and not chemistry or physics which do include that type of assignment. In biology, they spend a lot of time on topics that don't lend themselves easily to 2 hour labs. 

 

I think this class is good preparation for an AP Bio class but it's not a replacement for an AP class.

 

Thank you for this.  My older son took Honors Biology at his private high school and they did fewer lab write ups and more projects like you explained here.  I was hoping to find something similar online for younger for next year.  Thank you so much for the info.