I agree with RootAnn - "easy" and "AP Chem" don't usually end up in the same sentence. 🙂 It is, arguably, one of the most difficult of the AP exams. If your daughter has a VERY strong chemistry background (say, has done an extremely rigorous honors chem course recently) and is very mathematically adept, she may be able to just self-study for the AP Chem exam. Without labs and without passing the audit through the College Board, you couldn't called it AP Chemistry on her transcript but you could call it "Chemistry with AP exam" or something like that. The self-study route may not necessarily be less time-consuming than taking a course but she would have more flexibility as to when she could do the work and that might help with scheduling. If you're looking for self-study that's completely asynchronous, you could look at Thinkwell Honors Chemistry that's aligned to the AP Chemistry syllabus: https://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/chemistry-compatible-with-ap It's not an audited AP Chemistry course so you can't claim that on a transcript. It's not going to be "easy" in the sense of the work will be easy (that just isn't compatible with prepping for AP Chemistry) but it might be a better fit workload-wise. If she would rather just self-study using prep books, there are a number of them out there. I like the "5 Steps to a 5" book for AP Chem. There is also Adrian Dingle's "AP Chemistry Crash Course" book and he usually holds online workshops in the spring for students (not this year). This is a link to his blog post about his 2019 session: https://www.adriandingleschemistrypages.com/ap/online-ap-chemistry-review-courses-2019/ Hope that helps!

If I would have posted a pic of my yard a few weeks ago, there still would have been snow! 😄

You're welcome! This is the one I suggest my organic chem/biochem course students get: https://www.amazon.com/Molymod-MMS-008-Organic-Chemistry-Molecular/dp/B007FAZOVS/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1589330726&sr=8-1&srs=3513540011 It's relatively inexpensive, it has enough carbon atoms to build most simpler organic molecules, and it also has a few phosphorus and sulfur atoms so students can see the trigonal bipyramidal and octahedral VSEPR shapes of molecules that have central atoms with an expanded octet. Ack! Don't take apart your nucleotides - they'll take forever to rebuild! 😄 The space-filling models would be fine for chemistry, too. Because chemists tend to draw Lewis diagrams with sticks for covalent bonds, there is some benefit in having the ball and stick model kit as the molecules they build more closely "match" what they see when they draw. It's not a big deal, though, and students should be able to recognize a ball-and-stick model and a space-filling model of the same molecule as just two different representation of the same thing. 🙂 In fact, you can use the tiny short white connectors in the above linked kit to produce space-filling models as opposed to ball-and-stick. You can't use those short connectors for multiple bonds, though, so you'd have to use the longer grey multiple bond connectors for multiple bonds no matter which type of model you're building. Those look cool, daijobu! 🙂

I'm quoting myself as I just now realized what this is referring to - ugh. Goes to show how dense and obtuse I am when it comes to poetry. It definitely makes me think less of the whole poem. Although I'm still glad I had a mother who read to me. Congratulations on the new house, @Lady Florida.!! Ooooo... Thanks for the link, @Robin M!! I don't know what it is about creepy books but I love 'em. Beautiful, @Junie!! So green! We're still regularly getting temps at night here WELL below zero. Teeny, tiny buds on trees and our grass has greened-up but that's it. Love seeing pics of everyone's yards/green space!

Hi Dana, Is he doing AP Chemistry at home with you next year? Have you looked at the microchem kit from QSL for AP Chemistry? https://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/advanced-chemistry/advanced-microchem-kit/ I know that microscale labs aren't everyone's "cup of tea" 🙂 but for home use (safety and easy of disposal), I really like them. QSL has based the kit and the lab manuals on the new (2013) guidelines for labs in AP Chemistry. This shows how the labs are aligned with the curriculum: https://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/advanced-curriculum-chemistry-framework The kit comes with a student lab manual but you have to purchase the teacher's manual separately: https://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/advanced-chemistry/advanced-microchem-teachers-handbook/ I use the high school level chem kits from QSL in my online courses and I like them. 🙂

The Graveyard Apartment! 🙂 Interested to hear what you think, @Robin M. If you end up not liking it, that's completely ok. I don't want to be one of those folks who suggest a book and then everyone feels all uncomfortable to tell that person that they really didn't care for the book. Beware the creepy butterfly! Happy belated Mother's Day to you, too, Robin and to everyone else! I've always liked the last verse of this poem. The Reading Mother by Strickland Gillilan I had a mother who read to me Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea, Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth, "Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath. I had a Mother who read me lays Of ancient and gallant and golden days; Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe, Which every boy has a right to know. I had a Mother who read me tales Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales, True to his trust till his tragic death, Faithfulness blent with his final breath. I had a Mother who read me the things That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-- Stories that stir with an upward touch, Oh, that each mother of boys were such! You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be-- I had a Mother who read to me. As to my favourite literary mother... The final scene in The Grapes of Wrath with Rose of Sharon and the starving man has stuck with me ever since I first read it. She is a mother in the most tragic sense and I suppose I don't know if I can say she's my favourite literary mother because I don't know what she would have been like as a mother. Her act at the end, though, seems to me to sum up the selflessness of motherhood.

@SusanC - this is in response to your comment in last week's thread. I didn't get logged in to comment and then was locked out along with most everyone else. 🙂 "Could you satisfy my curiosity on what this means? My grandma used to occasionally day her teeth were floating when she really need to use the restroom, but from content I don't think this is the same thing? The boxed set looks so cool. Are the books inside hardbound? What do you envision the future to be for that set?" Domestic horses need to have their teeth filed down every now and again. Because of uneven wear on the back molars, sharp hooks or points can develop that can cut the inside of the horse's mouth and make them difficult and cranky and obstinate (I would be, too, if my teeth were cutting up the inside of my mouth!). The file used in the procedure is called a float so... floating a horse's teeth. 🙂 https://www.thesprucepets.com/essential-dental-care-for-horses-1886863 The beat up "Chronicles of Narnia" box set that is my oldest purchased book(s) is, sadly, not hardbound. It's fairly cheaply bound paperbacks from Puffin. I'm not sure what I intend for it but just looking at it makes me happy. 🙂 If it really starts to fall apart maybe I'll turn the box artwork and covers of the books into some kind of display in a frame for my wall. 🙂

I don't think I've updated my "Finished Reading" list in quite a while. I haven't managed to read that much and what I have read has been light and fluffy. Final exam time is here for students so after I get those graded, returned, and final reports issued, I can settle into the reading porch and get some serious readin' done! 😉 Since I last updated (heaven knows when that was), I've finished 5 books: Books read in 2020 14. The House at Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway, #3) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery – 4 stars 13. Storm in the Village (Fairacre, #3) by Miss Read *Historical fiction – 4 stars 12. The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon *Horror – 4 stars 11. The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway, #2) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery – 4 stars 10. The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery – 4 stars 9. Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction – 3 stars 8. Village Diary (Fairacre, #2) by Miss Read *Historical fiction – 3 stars 7. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann *Nonfiction – 5 stars 6. Crooked River (Pendergast #19) by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child *Mystery/Thriller – 4 stars 5. Village School (Fairacre, #1) by Miss Read *Historical fiction - 4 stars 4. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike *Horror - 5 stars 3. Daughters of the Grail by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction/romance - 4 stars 2 1/2. Extraction (Pendergast #12.5) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child *Fiction (short story) - 4 stars (I didn't think that a short story would count but I did finish it 🙂 ) 2. The Case of the Chocolate Cream Killer: The Poisonous Passion of Christiana Edmunds by Kaye Jones *Nonfiction (history) - 4 stars 1. The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction/romance - 3 stars Since this is week 19 of 2020, I'm not keeping up with a book a week but I hope to remedy that come summertime. As usual, I've got a number of books on the go so we'll see which ones I feel inclined to work on/finish in the next bit. 🙂 Oh! I never did share the oldest book in my house (by purchase date) so I hope it's ok that I share it here. Everyone probably can guess the series without my having to name it... My family didn't have much money when I was growing up so I remember saving and saving to buy this box set. The set isn't terribly well bound (it's not an expensive set) so I don't dare open the volumes up now as I'm afraid the binding would just give way. But it makes me happy just to look at the box. 🙂 I read these books over and over when I was young. I'm guessing the purchase date was around 1979-1980? The oldest book I have in my house by publication date is a charming little botanical book - in Swedish. Which I can't read. 😄 My mother's family is from Sweden and I found the book at a flea market and bought it for $2, I think. It has sketches of plants along with (what I assume are) descriptions and other information. I can recognize some of the plants from the drawings like the one below. The publication date is 1874. I'm glad to hear the everyone is weathering the current state of affairs as best they can and that access to libraries is starting to open up. Yay! The vet was out yesterday to give the annual vaccinations for the horses and she's a reader, too. We had a lovely bookish conversation (from 6 feet apart) after she was done vaccinating and checking the horses. They didn't need to have their teeth floated this time - if they had, we could have had even longer to talk books. 🙂

I have a Kindle Voyage (which they don't make anymore 😞 ) but I only have books on it, not audio books (Kindles in Canada can't do audiobooks - it's very frustrating). With over 300 books, I'm still at only 1.3 GB of storage used (with 1.74 GB free). Audio books must take up much more space. 🙂

Did you try changing the theme, Stella?

I don't know if this works on mobile devices (phones, etc.) but if you scroll down to the bottom of the screen when you're logged in, there should be the word "Theme" with a drop-down arrow next to it just underneath the FB, Twitter, and Instagram icons - to the left of where it says "Privacy Policy". If you click the drop-down arrow, it should give you a choice between the "Default" theme and "Well Trained Mind v4.3 (Default)" theme. If you choose "Default", the yellow help button will be gone. At least... it is on my laptop. 🙂 I changed to "Default" a few months ago as I was having problems with the layout of the forum on my laptop screen. I've just been toggling back and forth between the two themes and the yellow help button doesn't show up on plain "Default". It's also a much cleaner looking theme and layout, I think. 🙂 Hope that helps!

When I was younger, I tended to wear Birks without the back strap. It was fine - until it wasn't. 🙂 As I got older, the gripping that I had to do with my toes to keep the back-strapless ones on caused all kinds of foot pain. The back strap helped with all of that. 🙂 But I totally agree - if anyone has foot issues, definitely try before you buy.

They aren't trendy but in summer, I live in Birkenstocks. With the backstrap. And don't get any of the artificial uppers - make sure it's suede or leather. Fantastic support, super comfortable, and no blisters.

I like the looks of this one! Sadly, not free in the Canadian Amazon. But I might get the sample to see if it's worth paying for. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Kareni!

Quoting myself as I kept thinking on this. 🙂 The SI unit for molar mass is actually kg/mol but in practice, chemists will virtually always use g/mol. From Wikipedia: "In the International System of Units (SI), the base unit of molar mass is kg/mol. However, for historical reasons, molar masses are almost always expressed in g/mol. " Many, many chemical calculations will be based off of conversions using molar mass - that's why I suggested keeping the mass unit as grams for chemical calculations. Which just goes to reinforce how odd and stubborn chemists can be. 😉 😄

A small addition to the discussion... 🙂 If your student is also doing chemistry calculations, they will want to leave the mass units as grams. 🙂 I'm not sure why chemists have stuck with grams over the SI unit of kg - maybe we're just a contrary bunch. 😉 The only introductory chemistry calculation that I can think of that involves kg is the calculation for molality (a type of concentration unit for aqueous solutions with the units of moles/kg). All other chemistry calculations that involve mass will use grams. 🙂

So much great advice! Thank you, everyone! 🙂 Ah - the fact that it's more like poetry than anything else probably explains why it doesn't penetrate my thick skull. 😉 I've never managed to get the hang of poetry, either. I'm going to look for de la Mare's book and then see where it takes me. Thanks, @Violet Crown! And I never, never equate "think differently" with "wrong". 🙂 I have a completely contrary view of the value of hands-on chemistry labs at the high school level (spoiler: I don't think they're helpful and are, at worst, a hindrance to helping beginning chemists to understand what's actually happening). This view is NOT shared by the vast majority of beginning chemistry teachers/instructors. If that makes me "wrong", then "wrong" I shall be. 🙂 (I do still include labs in my courses, though, as post-secondary institutions expect high school students to have a lab component in their chemistry course. I just don't make the lab work a focus of the course. 😉 ) Ack! I forgot about this week's theme! I have a question, though, @Robin M. Are you looking for the oldest book on my shelves by publication date or by purchase date? I have a copy of Twelfth Night on my shelves. Is there a performance of this one that's recommended? Yes, thank you @Lady Florida.- will definitely keep those things in mind. 🙂 This concept of "acceptable for the times" was something I always discussed with DD when we read older books while homeschooling so it's long been on my radar. Oooo... Thanks for the link, @mumto2!

Ooooo... Tom Hiddleston! Yup - definitely going to start with the Hollow Crown series! That's quite the backstory on the Polanski version! I did read some Shakespeare in my high school English courses and I believe we read Macbeth in Grade 12. Weirdly, we read "The Merchant of Venice" in Grade 9, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Grade 10, "Romeo and Juliet" in Grade 11, "Macbeth" in Grade 12, and "King Lear" in an extra senior English course I took. No Hamlet anywhere and none of the histories. And even having covered them in high school, I still didn't "get them". As soon as my courses are done for this year, I'm settling in with my tablet and The Hollow Crown in my "reading" porch with a nice glass of iced tea. 🙂

I LOVE Jeremy Irons! And I think Benedict Cumberbatch is in there, too, somewhere. 🙂 🙂 I know the history of that period fairly well (the period of the Hollow Crown series) - that might help, as well? I have a friend who is an AP English Lit teacher and she always said that the Polanski version of Macbeth was the best but I can't remember why. 😄

Thank you both!! 🙂 @Violet Crown had mentioned the Hollow Crown series and I mentioned in reply that I had purchased it a while ago but had never gotten around to watching any of them. It may be time. 🙂 And I'll look for those performances, too, @Lori D.. One can't go wrong with either Branagh or Tennent. 😉 In fact... I think I have an old DVD around here somewhere of the Branagh version of Hamlet - which I also haven't watched. Hmmmm... With which to start?

I recently came across an article and I wanted to get the opinion of the readers here... https://theconversation.com/how-to-read-shakespeare-for-pleasure-136409 I really do want to learn to read the literary stuff. And I have a copy of The Well Educated Mind that I need to sit down with and make a plan. 🙂 But does the article have merit, do you think? When I start to read Shakespeare, I feel like I don't "get it". And my science/math brain wants to understand every word. 😉 So the article's suggestion of ignoring the footnotes makes me feel all anxious. 😬 What sayeth the BaW readers?

LOVE. ❤️

The short answer - the IUPAC system should be used but in practice, chemists can be stubborn and will stick with older names if that's what they're used to. 🙂 If someone said that they were using lead dinitrate (I think you forgot the di- in front of nitrate in the first name of your last example), I would know what they meant. Typically, the Stock system of naming (the one with the Roman numerals) is used if the first element is a transition metal with more than one oxidation state or valence (i.e. more than one type of ion). The prefixes are used if the first element is a non-metal. There have been a number of sets of nomenclature rules over the years, though, and that's where you'll get slightly different names for the same compound. There's also the Classical system of naming where you use -ic or -ous endings on the name of the transition metal (often the Latin name) to indicate whether it's the higher or lower valence ion in the compound (i.e. lead(II) nitrate would be plumbous nitrate as lead(II) is the lower oxidation state as compared to lead(IV) - lead(IV) nitrate would be called plumbic nitrate and would have the formula Pb(NO3)4). In your examples, I would want the student to give dinitrogen trioxide for the first one, tin(IV) bromide for the second one, and lead(II) nitrate for the third one. The lack of the di- in your second possible name for the first compound is also a hold-over from an older time when it was thought that oxygen could only ever have a -2 valence so there was no need for the di- in front of the nitrogen. The goal of the IUPAC naming system in chemistry is that, in theory, there should be a single unambiguous name for every compound that, given just the name, allows us to derive the formula. In theory. 😉 (Chemists are a stubborn bunch.)

Satellite internet connection is SLOW. I mean - it's faster than dial-up but that's not saying a whole lot. 🙂 We have both a satellite connection and a cellular connection. We keep both as my business is run from home and if one goes out, I have the other for back-up. The cellular is faster than the satellite but neither is going to compare with fiber. If you do a lot of streaming, I think you might be disappointed - particularly with the satellite connection. You'll get maybe 2-3 minutes of something and then it will stop to re-buffer. And then repeat that ad nauseam. Note: I'm in Canada so my experience may not compare with the US experience. You guys have a much greater population density and so probably have better infrastructure overall than we do. 🙂

Completely non-usable post about a dog breed (because I do NOT think the following breed is good for first time dog owners) for the OP 🙂 but if we're talking about dogs who are bred to be independent and who WILL NOT LISTEN AND/OR OBEY if they are "on" to something, I give you... The Great Pyrenees 😄 Fabulous dogs with anything small and helpless and needing guarding. Lowest energy dogs I've ever seen (unless something is threatening their "flock"). But WILL NOT LISTEN if they think that something is "up" and it needs to be checked out. Oh, they hear you just fine. They'll turn back, look at you like, "Dude - I hear you. I'm doing stuff here." and then continue on with whatever they need to investigate. They are also giant and shed/blow HUMUNGOUS GOBS OF UNDERCOAT in the spring/summer, and I've been trying to train at least one of my Pyrs to fetch for the last 7 years. Nothing. Nada. They just lie there and look at me with a look that says, "You threw it. You go get it." I love my Pyrs. 🙂 (Note: This post may or may not have been prompted by an incident earlier this evening involving two Pyrs, an early skunk, and me YELLING AT THEM to come back to the house with them IGNORING ME COMPLETELY. Luckily, no one was sprayed.)