Hello! I am completely new to the world of college applications but I get the feeling I will be spending a lot of time at the hive over the next few months. :D For those of you who are providing course descriptions, is there a place for that on the Common App or do you send that in separately via snail mail? Also, for colleges who do not request course descriptions, did any of you submit them anyway just to be thorough? Thanks!

Absolutely. My dd just finished that course and she used her graphing calculator extensively. She is very happy with her Casio FX-975GII-WE. The TI ones are nice, but pricey. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube so you can learn how to use the Casio. It can be a little tricky at first if you are used to conventional calculators. I think I remember her using it more after the first part of the year, but in the end, she used the graphing calculator with almost every problem.

We are doing Campbell's Concepts and Connections (Baby Campbell) and let me just tell you it is plenty difficult and will definitely prepare you for Bio SAT and/or AP. It is exceptionally rigorous. Daddy Campbell is beyond intimidating from what I can tell and Concepts and Connections gets the job done. But it is no walk in the park. blossom12

nynyny... Thank you so much for this as it made me realize that the reason that I think that the Test Bank questions are $99 is because the Printed Test Bank that you speak of is not available with the Concepts and Connections (Lemur cover) version for 2012. I don't know why this link is so long, but this is what I am offered for Concepts and Connections, 7th edition: http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZu6t&PMDBSUBCATEGORYID=23496&PMDBSITEID=2781&PMDBSUBSOLUTIONID=&PMDBSOLUTIONID=6724&PMDBSUBJECTAREAID=23542&PMDBCATEGORYID=811&PMDbProgramId=80661&elementType=programComponents Test questions are part of an Instructor Resource DVD with TestGen in the 7th edition and it does not look like they offer the printed bank anymore. SO, what I am wondering is if you have any idea if the test questions would likely change with different editions? I have the 7th edition. You have the 6th. I can't imagine much has changed, but I would hate to buy the Printed Test Bank for the 6th edition and have it not apply to the 7th edition!!! Thanks! blossom12

nynyny... So happy to hear that you used the test bank and congrats on that score! With the test bank going for $99 I wasn't sure if it was worth it. I am very curious if the tests were similar to tests in the student guide (in terms of difficulty) or if they were a different format altogether. Was it worth it for you to use these tests? Any details would be appreciated. Thanks! blossom12 DD, 14 R&S 9, BTB Spanish, Wheelock's Latin, Wordly Wise 9, Ervin Reading Comp, History Odyssey/Early Modern, Chalkdust Algebra I, piano, community theater. DS, 11 R&S 6, Henle Latin, Hey Andrew Greek, Wordly Wise 6, Ervin Reading Comp, SOTW, Saxon 8/7, NOEO Chemistry II, piano, community theater DD, 6 FLL, Spectrum Spelling, HWT, SOTW, Singapore 2A/2B, NOEO Biology I, piano

Don't forget if you are the original purchaser of the Chalkdust program you have complete access to emailing Uncle Buck. He is very prompt in getting back to you. blossom12

Well...MasteringBiology is designed to be supplemental to the text and/or teaching. There are online audio classes for most chapters. I am currently "teaching" (i.e., reading) the text to her just so she can get her sea legs. The plan is to let her go solo along with the website once she feels confident enough. If I had just said, "Here's the course, have at it!" she would have had a meltdown. To be honest with you, she is the one using the teacher's manual more than I am because it takes the very difficult text and breaks it down into more manageable outlines. She says that she would be lost without the teacher's manual. If you intend to use the tests in the student guide, they will be challenging. We are finding that the best way to approach these tests is for me to go over the "concepts" that I identify for her in the tests and this guides her preparation better for taking them. So as far as test prep is concerned, I am involved and I don't see that changing. So, to answer your question--once I got all the pieces together for this curriculum, the most difficult part was trying to figure out WHAT to use because there is so much to choose from in the MasteringBiology component. And this is what we came up with. She must read the text. She must use the online flashcards. She must attempt most of the questions at the end of the chapter. She must do the worksheets in the student guide and she must take the two tests that go with the chapter in the student guide. This is all spread out over 5 days for the most part--except for the very abstract biochemistry. Man, it is fascinating, but tough!! Had to tack on a few extra days to get through that one! :banghead: Latest decision--going to use Quizlet more where appropriate. HTH!! blossom12 DD, 14 R&S 9, BTB Spanish, Wheelock's Latin, Wordly Wise 9, Ervin Reading Comp, History Odyssey/Early Modern, Chalkdust Algebra I, Campbell's Biology Concepts and Connections, piano, community theater. DS, 11 R&S 6, Henle Latin, Hey Andrew Greek, Wordly Wise 6, Ervin Reading Comp, SOTW, Saxon 8/7, NOEO Chemistry II, piano, community theater DD, 6 FLL, Spectrum Spelling, HWT, SOTW, Singapore 2A/2B, NOEO Biology I, piano

Sweet Home Alabama, "Biology Labs" is my current research project! My plan is to keep it simple, to doing 10 labs or less throughout the year. Right now I am looking at: http://www.biologyjunction.com/#biology II http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/index.html http://www.biologylab.awlonline.com/ There are also some good labs that can be obtained from companies for dissections--North Carolina comes to mind. Also the MasteringBio.com site has things to watch. I am no bio major, but we get through it and approach it by telling ourselves we are going to learn as much as we can. I keep telling DH that if I had done this course in high school I would have been a bio major--it is that inspiring! As to scheduling, we definitely need a solid hour every Monday, Tuesday, and Wenesday to read the material. She will then spend about a 1/2 hour each of those days doing the worksheets and/or going to the MasteringBiology site for clarification. Thursdays she spends taking the online quizzes at the MasteringBiology site and studying the chapter on her own. She also takes the practice test on Thursday that is at the end of the chapter in the book and we go over the answers--maybe an hour doing that. On Friday she takes the two tests (about 20 multiple choice for each test) that are in the Student Guide and she answers 6 out of the possible 12 essays for these two tests. This takes about an hour to take the tests and 1/2 hour to go over the answers. Then she dances around the room doing the happy dance and shouting, "I'm done with that chapter!! Yay!" :hurray: It is more work than she has ever known for any subject, but she is managing and feels an enormous sense of accomplishment at the end of each week. This course is not about wrote memorization. They expect that. It goes one step further and has you apply what you've learned and assumes that you understand multiple concepts when answering test questions and writing essays. blossom12 DD, 14 R&S 9, BTB Spanish, Wheelock's Latin, Wordly Wise 9, Ervin Reading Comp, History Odyssey/Early Modern, Chalkdust Algebra I, Campbell's Biology Concepts and Connections, piano, community theater. DS, 11 R&S 6, Henle Latin, Hey Andrew Greek, Wordly Wise 6, Ervin Reading Comp, SOTW, Saxon 8/7, NOEO Chemistry II, piano, community theater DD, 6 FLL, Spectrum Spelling, HWT, SOTW, Singapore 2A/2B, NOEO Biology I, piano

I have been researching biology for months and finally arrived at Campbell's Concepts and Connections. It is one step down from the big Campbell biology book that the high schools use for AP Biology. It is a college-level text that is used for non science majors whereas the big Campbell is used for Bio majors. But don't let that fool you; this program is plenty rigorous. Just so you can identify it, it has a picture of a ring-tailed lemur on the cover. Older versions have a picture of a leopard on the cover. My version is for 2012. I bought the student text, the teacher's guide, and the student workbook. The student text is about 23-25 pages per chapter. There is an outline at the end of each chapter. The teacher's guide has a more detailed outline of each chapter as well and suggestions for getting the student to understand the material. The student handbook is immensely helpful. There are worksheets, multiple choice test questions and essay questions. Answers are at the back of the student guide for the worksheets as well as the test and essay questions. Where this program really shines is with the online component. It is called MasteringBiology.com. It has BioFlix which is a series of videos to watch. There are also audio lectures for each chapter, online quizzes, further explanations of the text, etc. It is really more than anyone could actually use, but if you are stuck on something or really want to get more in depth with a subject, it is a treasure trove. If you buy the right version of the student text, a password is included and gives you access to MasteringBiolgy.com for two years at which point you will have to pay $20 to renew. Oh, yes, I know exactly what you are going through trying to manuever through the maze that is the Pearson Website. You have hit a commercialized bureaucracy aimed at the United States public school system in its purest form. I am sure that those in the school system feel right at home when they enter this site! You have to get a Oasis account. You need to tell them that you are a homeschooler. They are concerned that kids/college students will get access to the test bank and teacher materials so you have to verify that you are teaching your own kids. Once you get clearance, you can see examples of chapters and purchase materials all through this Oasis account. This only took one day to get and it's not that bad--it is just a very large website geared at a very large government entity. We are currently five chapters into Campbell's Concepts and Connections and what does dd think? It is hard, but she enjoys it immensely and feels very challenged. She says she is learning a ton. It is the subject that she spends the most time on per day, but she does so because she likes the program. She is working toward taking the Biology SAT in the spring and feels that this will get her there. She wants to pursue a writing career and has no aspirations to be a bio major or do any science in college whatsoever. So for this Language Arts heavy student, she likes it. As a side note, I would not even attempt this course if you have never touched Biology on a middle school level before. It definitely assumes a basic understanding of the natural world. HTH!! :D blossom12 DD, 14 R&S 9, BTB Spanish, Wheelock's Latin, Wordly Wise 9, Ervin Reading Comp, History Odyssey/Early Modern, Chalkdust Algebra I, piano, community theater. DS, 11 R&S 6, Henle Latin, Hey Andrew Greek, Wordly Wise 6, Ervin Reading Comp, SOTW, Saxon 8/7, NOEO Chemistry II, piano, community theater DD, 6 FLL, Spectrum Spelling, HWT, SOTW, Singapore 2A/2B, NOEO Biology I, piano

My favorite Alan Rickman movie is "Snow Cake" (2006). If you aren't familiar with this one, you are in for a real treat. The whole movie draws you in, but it is Alan who is particularly magnetic and carries the entire film. Tremendous acting by everyone and despite Alan's age, the scene with the next-door neighbor, Maggie, is sizzling. Yum.

I have a wonderful edition printed and bound in Germany with original pen and ink drawings (very few). Here is the link at Amzaon. http://www.amazon.com/Robinson-Everymans-Library-Childrens-Classics/dp/1857159330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253603730&sr=1-1

We are in northeast Ohio, Geauga County dd, 12...Singapore 6B, Latin Prep, Elem. Greek, R+S Grammar, History Odyssey, NOEO Biology II, Wordly Wise, VfCR, Logic-Critical Thinking ds, 9...Singapore 4B, LC I, R+S Grammar, SOTW III, NOEO Chemistry II, Wordly Wise, Mindbenders-Logic, HWT dd, 4...Horizons Math-K, Phonics Pathways, HWT pre-K, Spelling Workout A, making lots of art!