Emma Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 We're looking forward to our high school years, but I have NO idea what to do for science. I know I don't want to use Apologia (for several reasons.) I need (NEED) a science program all written out for me:001_smile: with all the supplies too. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 nt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 :lurk5: Interesting in the suggestions too! I'm looking for 8th (but more on a high school level) Physical Science. We are secular and I think Apologia would be too much for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 There are a lot of options for high school science. My children started using college textbooks in 7th grade for most science coursework. We used it like we used our history texts; as a spine, and continued reading, writing, and experimenting on the selected "topic of the week" while using our text as a resource. So, for 7/8, we spent one semester each on life, earth, physical science and astronomy, following a typical scope and sequence for those topics. Then, 9th grade we did Biology (using Campbell's text), 10th grade we did Chemistry (using a college text), 11th grade we did Conceptual Physics, and 12th grade she took Chemistry and Physics (with labs) at the CC. We continued our astronomy study throughout high school when the skies cooperated, and added in extra earth science when it didn't (with a focus on geography and geology). We also spent at least six weeks each year of high school on some environmental science topics, including composting/gardening and recycling, with an emphasis in junior high on ocean science (erosion issues, etc.). Our goal in science was not to specialize, but to be familiar with all the fields of science from a historical context and to understand contemporary issues in science. It was about vocabulary, relationships, and ways to think about problems, and to raise our awareness of the physical world. I say all that because I'd like to encourage you to think about your goals for science study before you arbitrarily pick a textbook series. Do you want your student to specialize? Does your student want to specialize? Is he thinking about a career in engineering? Neither of my children were, or else we'd have spent much more time in the lab. As it was, we only performed two labs per month, and generally as an observation of a textbook-described phenomenon, not to invent a new process. We did quite a few dissections, because my girls were fascinated by life science, but fewer chemistry labs (until CC) because color changes that didn't involve chocolate chips just didn't impress them. GRIN. I'm teaching 6-8th grade science (in the classroom this year) but am really looking forward to developing the curriculum plan for our high school science here at our classical Christian school. I doubt I'll get to use college textbooks (!), so I'll let you know if I find anything outstanding. I won't teach high school science until 2011. Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Well, we don't start science until next year, but we already have our first two years of science picked out, bought and sitting on the shelf (thanks, in great part to the help on this forum and to my brother-the-physicist who had a free sample of one of the texts we wanted.) Gr. 9 Conceptual Chemistry by Sudocki along with used copies of CD-Roms, Chemistry Alive! (lectures on the first 12 chapters of that text) and Thinkwell's Chemistry. Gr. 10 Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt. He has several versions of this. We got a free copy of the 9th edition of the college course, but there is a high school one for gr 9/10 out there. We also have his book Conceptual Physics for Everyone that is much simpler for our dc to read first. There is a TM, but dd learns on her own for most of this. I may need the TM for my younger children. Gr. 11 Biology. Up in the air as we don't want Apologia, but aren't keen on one that preaches evolution, either. We'd prefer one that is neutral (no biogenesis, no ID/evolution/creationism) but that hasn't been written yet. It may be in the works, though, in the future...(we hope so!) There is a TM, but we don't have that at this time and may not get it as dd will learn from reading and, ideally, the Feynman lectures. Dd will also do AP science, but we're not sure how we'll get both AP biology and chemistry in there (she wants to be a biochemist) and what we'll do to get the physics math in there (may not need to do that until univerisity--we have to research it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Well, we don't start science until next year, but we already have our first two years of science picked out, bought and sitting on the shelf (thanks, in great part to the help on this forum and to my brother-the-physicist who had a free sample of one of the texts we wanted.) Gr. 9 Conceptual Chemistry by Sudocki along with used copies of CD-Roms, Chemistry Alive! (lectures on the first 12 chapters of that text) and Thinkwell's Chemistry. Gr. 10 Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt. He has several versions of this. We got a free copy of the 9th edition of the college course, but there is a high school one for gr 9/10 out there. We also have his book Conceptual Physics for Everyone that is much simpler for our dc to read first. There is a TM, but dd learns on her own for most of this. I may need the TM for my younger children. What kind of math level does Conceptual Physics require? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 What kind of math level does Conceptual Physics require? Thanks! Basic algebra for the most part. Some understanding of quadratic equations, but nothing so hard my not-quite-finished with Algebra II kid couldn't understand. I had to do a small amount of just-in-time math tutoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Basic algebra for the most part. Some understanding of quadratic equations, but nothing so hard my not-quite-finished with Algebra II kid couldn't understand. I had to do a small amount of just-in-time math tutoring. This is one of the reasons we chose this. Dd will have finished Algebra 1 and Geometry by the time she starts this, and will be doing Algebra 2 with Conceptual Physics. She'll have only had Alg 1 for the Conceptual Chemistry, but that will be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Much thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Science for High School I think I found this page through this board? Can't vouch for it, though, as we have not used any of these materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 What kind of math level does Conceptual Physics require? Thanks! To use Conceptual Physics successfully, students need to know how to solve literal equations and manipulate expressions (multiply/divide) with terms using scientific notation. This is material form Algebra I or even a good pre-algebra course. We are big fans of Conceptual Physics which gave my son a foundation that I do not have. I can solve the mathematics of physics problems until the cows come home, but I often fail to grasp the meaning of what I am doing. I wanted my son to have an intuitive handle on physical processes. Hewett provides it. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Are you all using the high school level CP or College? And if I don't find a TE will I be OK? Mac is more than half way through Foerster's Alg 1 and doing great, so it sounds like she will have the math. I never took physics in high school (just bio/chem), so I will be learning right along with her. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Are you all using the high school level CP or College? And if I don't find a TE will I be OK? Mac is more than half way through Foerster's Alg 1 and doing great, so it sounds like she will have the math. I never took physics in high school (just bio/chem), so I will be learning right along with her. :confused: I used the high school text which I purchased ages ago off Ebay as a bundle: student book, teacher text (with answers--you want them!), lab manual and a binder of chapter tests. The college edition has essentially the same material as the high school book--fewer chapters so I think they have combined some of them. After each chapter, there are different types of problems. Review questions usually require a conceptual sort of response: the name of a law, definition, etc. Then there are the "plug and chug" questions which involve solving for numbers or variables. Nice to have solutions for these, but probably not the end of the world if you don't. It is the "Think and Explain" and "Think and Solve" questions for which we sometimes needed that teacher's edition for either the answer or a hint on setting up the problem. You don't need the latest edition of the book if it is simpler to find the teacher's edition of an older book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thank you! Off to see if I can find the bundle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I agree with Jane. We used Conceptual Physics - The High School Physics Program with our co-op several years ago. The grade level ranged from 8th to 12th. I think a basic grasp of algebra is necessary in order to solve the equations. There were a couple of equations which required a bit more, but it was not necessary for the students to solve anything using that - it was just sort of a proof type problem. We had a fabulous time with this course. I implemented labs from the lab book, off the internet, out of other physics sources, etc. One doesn't need a lot of specialized equipment to make this work. Access to a good hardware store works fine. Someone posted a list of physics links a week or so ago (I did a search and can't find it but maybe someone has bookmarked it) and it contained quite a few of the ones we used. In addition the Teaching Company has a series titled Physics in Your Life which is an excellent supplement to any physics program. I would recommend finding a TM because it has a lot of teaching ideas in the side bars as well as the answers in the back. Very handy :-) My oldest is now taking college level physics and is very happy he has been exposed to the conceptual aspects of the course before tackling the concepts along with the math in college physics. And just a note about editions: I compared the high school text with the college level text. The material covered is essentially the same. The main difference is that the high school text has more explanation and more pictures. It is highly visual compared to the college level. Either edition will work fine. I chose the high school edition because we had younger kids and it was more visually appealing as well as having more explanatory material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4wildberrys Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 What about Dive Into Science? It is a complete program, includes labs and he is offering lab kits too. You can use Bob Jones books, Abeka books or the internet for supplemental reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thank you everyone who took the time to answer my science question. I'm looking into ALL of the links and books recommended. I don't particularly enjoy science, so it's always been easiest to "forget" to do it... :001_smile: I'm looking forward to more recommendations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Someone posted a list of physics links a week or so ago (I did a search and can't find it but maybe someone has bookmarked it) and it contained quite a few of the ones we used. Here is the thread, I believe. I just created a "conceptual physics" tag. Those of you who have bookmarked posts relating to the program may want to add the tag to those threads. Thanks, Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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