Cambridge International Exams using integrated math texts. Here is the link to the IGCSE math text published from Oxford: http://www.amazon.com/Extended-Maths-Camb-Igcse-3e/dp/0199138745/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1339385444&sr=8-10 Ruth in NZ

Scientific American. Since the new editor a couple of years ago, it is easier to read. Perfect for a teen interested in science.

6th grade: Text for ds's poster. 2 tables are missing because their formatting was difficult. Will post poster photos in a week when the posters are done. Introduction Beaches move over time. Shorelines evolve due to physical processes such as longshore transport. Longshore transport is the movement of sand parallel to the beach. It can destroy houses or roads that are too close to the beach by undercutting their foundations. Longshore transport is mainly affected by the prevailing wind direction. Wellington has both Northerlies and Southerlies, and I predicted that beaches with different orientations to these prevailing winds would be acted on differently by longshore transport. I was also interested in using these relationships to predict the net direction of sand movement at my study sites. PART 1 Questions: 1) How do wind speed and direction affect longshore transport? 2) How does the orientation of the bay affect this relationship? Methods Independent Variables Bay Orientation – Selected 2 study sites with different orientations (Photos 1 and 2). Wind Direction – Checked Metservice and verified locally. Wind Speed – Checked Metservice and verified locally using the Beaufort scale. Classified as Low Wind or High Wind (Photos 3 and 4). Tide – Controlled for tide by only taking samples during incoming tide. Dependent Variables Distance and Direction of Sand Movement – Took 3 measurements per visit and averaged them creating one data point (Photos 5 and 6). Table 1: Experimental Design ................................ Number of samples obtained wind direction/speed ...Worser.... Seatoun Northerly Low Wind .......2........... 2 Northerly High wind ........4......... 4 Southerly Low wind ........4.......... 2 Southerly High wind .......2 ..........2 *Each sample included 3 measurements. Four additional samples were attempted but visibility was poor. Photo 1: Seatoun Beach faces NNE. It is very exposed to Northerlies and protected from Southerlies. Photo 2: Worser Bay Beach faces east. Northerlies and Southerlies run parallel to the beach. Photo 5: I walked out 10m past the surf zone and emptied a container of sand on a ruler. This sand was a different color because it came from Oriental Parade beach. Photo 6: I took an initial measurement of the spread of the sand, waited one minute and took a final measurement. The difference between them is the distance the sand moved. Photo 3: Low Wind is 2 to 3 on the Beaufort scale (5 – 19 kph). Photo 4: High Wind is 4 to 5 on the Beaufort scale (20 – 38 kph). High wind conditions required special collection procedures (see notebook for further information). It often took 45 minutes for a 30 second sample. Results The way wind speed and direction affects sand movement varies depending on whether the bays are exposed or protected from a specific wind direction. Distance of Sand Movement If a bay is exposed to a wind direction, like Worser in a Southerly, the higher the wind speed the further the sand moves. However if a bay is protected from a wind direction, like Worser in Northerly, then the amount the sand moves stays approximately the same (Graph 1). Direction of Sand Movement The direction sand moves varies depending on the direction a bay faces. Generally, sand moves the direction of the wind along the beach (Diagram 1). Worser Bay Beach On Worser when wind blows to the south (a Northerly), the sand moves south (and vice versa) because Worser is oriented north to south (faces east). Seatoun Beach On Seatoun this relationship is more complicated because the beach faces NNE. When wind blows to the north (a Southerly), the sand moves to the north along the beach which is WNW. Northerlies hit Seatoun beach straight on, and small variations in wind direction yield a complete reversal of the direction of the sand movement (Graph 2). Unexpectedly, when the wind is perpendicular to the beach, the sand instead of moving in either direction, it moves strongly left along the beach. Discussion For the complex problem of High-Wind Northerlies on Seatoun beach, I approximated a curve to describe the distance and direction of Sand Movement, and found that the curve was shifted left along the beach (Graph 3). I hypothesise that this is caused by the tide coming in and pushing the sand against the wind direction. To prove this hypothesis I would need to collect data when the tide is going out. PART 2 3) Question: Are Seatoun and Worser Bay beaches moving? Methods Collected wind data in May. Classified each half-day into 4 wind categories (see Table 2). Calculated average sand movement at each beach for each wind category. Used a weighted average to calculate the net sand movement of each beach in May. Results Worser Bay beach is moving north three times faster than Seatoun beach (Table 3). Discussion My model excludes the effect of extremely high wind situations and the effect of outgoing tide. Worser Bay Beach Although Worser is not likely affected by tide, the net effect of high wind situations is that they likely make the beach move further north because Worser Bay beach is protected from high wind Northerlies but not high wind Southerlies. After completing this model, I checked Google maps and found that the road follows the beach closely except at the north end of Worser Bay beach, where sand appears to have accumulated (Photo 7). Seatoun Beach Although Seatoun is not affected by high wind situations, it is likely affected by tidal movement. Because I excluded outgoing tide, my results are likely skewed left along the beach (WNW) because ingoing tide likely pushes the sand left and outgoing tide likely pushes it in the opposite direction. Thus, Seatoun beach is likely not moving at all. Conclusions I have found that wind can be used to predict the amount and direction a beach moves through longshore transport. These relationships can be used to help city planners to place houses and roads in safe locations where the ocean will not undercut them.

Weeks 12 and 13. 6th grade So for the last 2 weeks, ds has been analyzing his data and writing up the results and discussion. For part 1 (determining the correlation between weather and sand movement), we ran into a major problem with his very "beautiful" graph. To remind you We decide that he should show the wind and sand movement as arrows on a map of the area, so you can see the relationship. But what we find is that the coast does not face straight to the north, it faces NNE!! So his very tidy relationship now makes no sense.:confused1: Wind hitting the beach from the north should push the sand to the right because it is hitting the beach at an angle. Why in the world have we not looked at a map before? I have no idea.:001_huh: After calming him down, I suggest that we verify his data, check that he calculated the averages correctly, check that he has graphed it correctly, look for outliers, etc. We find nothing. So now is the exciting part. Why did he find the unexpected? We start brainstorming. The most obvious reason that comes to mind is the effect of the tide. He controlled for tide and only collected data when the tide was coming in. We draw some pictures and hypothesize that the incoming tide is working counter to the wind direction and actually shifting the entire curve to the left (I know this probably makes no sense without the graphs, but I will post them next week when I have time.) It is very logical that the tide near an inlet is very important to longshore transport. He hypothesizes that tide will have little effect on the east facing bay because it would be perpendicular to the beach. On June 1 he starts his calculations for part 2 (calculating the total directional movement of the sand in May at each beach). These calculations take some time because he needs to figure it out on his own. What he has to figure out is that the calculations will be a weighted average of how far the sand moves in each category (LS, LN, HS, HN: low wind southerly, low wind northerly, etc) based on how many half-days of weather he has in each category. He starts with the raw data: the wind speed and direction for morning and eventing in May, and sand movement data. Ok, what does he need to do? These types of real life problems are really difficult for kids, even mathy kids like mine. So for me the real question is how to guide him through the thinking process without telling him the answer. My approach is to suggest general ideas. For example "most scientists start with tables, what kind of table would you need?" or "What kind of numbers do you need to put into a weighted average calculation? If you know what kind of numbers you need at the end this can guide you to figure out the first step in dealing with the raw data." There are a few key terms that I have to suggest to him, ideas like "half-days" or "extrapolating missing data." I won't go through his whole thinking process, but just note some issues that came up. 1) He is missing one day of weather data, so I suggest to him that he extrapolates it from the day before and after. He baulks. "I can't do that. It's not allowed," so I get to tell him that it is allowed as long as he documents it in the text. 2) He gets confused and thinks that the weighted average is divided by 4 categories rather than 62 half days. 3) he needs to average NET directional movement, so he has to figure out how to deal with the beach where the sand moves in different directions depending on slight changes in northerly direction. In the end, he figures it out, but it takes a while, and requires 2 additional tables. He finds that one beach is moving north and the other is not moving at all. Now, can we verify this? We look at google maps, and find that compared to the road which follows the coast, the sand has clearly accumulated on the north end of the beach, just where his calculates show it to! :hurray:Really really cool. He also wants to get a historical photo to verify his predictions further. He needs to approach the historical library and ask them to do research. I have refused to do it for him, but he is very squimish. He won't get it by the homeschool science fair, but perhaps by the regionals. We will see. Finally, the write up. OH MY. The write up was incredibly difficult. This project expanded in scope over time, and because he is interested in the regional fair, he has to write the "full" version for his notebook and the summarized version for the poster. The full version is pretty easy. But because he a slow writer, I agree to type some of it while he dictates. The summary, however, is impossible. How do you summarize so much? I don't want to do it for him, so I let him stumble. Over and over again. We work together for hours, typing and retyping. Each taking turns at the computer. Trying this approach, trying that. I tell him it is iterative. Every time you write something, you learn more about how to shorten and explain better. As you can see below, writing and discussion take 28 hours over 2 weeks! In the end, I think he has it. I will post it for you to see. To do next week: finish poster, finish notebook, design and practice presentation. Science Fair is on Friday! Week 12 Graphing: 4 hours Pick photos and develop them: 2 hours Writing: 4 hours Discussions: 4 hours Calculations: 4 hours Total: 18 hours Week 13 Graphing: 2 hours Writing and discussion: 20 hours Layout: 2 hours Making poster: 3 hours (not yet completed) Total: 27 hours:001_huh:

The field is huge from narwhals in the Arctic to colonial spiders in the Amazon. I have seen or read about it all. Behavioural studies of primates on Caribbean islands to genetic studies of endangered fish. All sorts of questions are possible. Either the scientists live near their study sites and go out a few times a week (what I did in Nevada), or they get research grants and travel to and live at the study site for 4 months during the summer every year (or possibly for a 1 to 3 year sabbatical depending on the grant money). This is very very different from having an office where people bring in their pets, and you help them with medicine or surgery. I personally have helped with studies on marmots, porcupines, fish, kangaroo rats and mice, endangered rodents, field mice, octopus, sea gulls, and the endangered piping plover. I was interested in big game, but the professor I wanted to work with was the one who went to Africa, and I ended up getting interested in population dynamics and statistics. Ruth

Does she want to work with animals in a general sense or is she clearly interested in being a vet? A vet is a doctor, not a scientist. Vets fix animals; they do not study them. If her interest is more broad, there are many scientific fields that work closely with animals I am an ecologist and have had many friends over the years who have studied and handled all sorts of animals. Here are 2 examples just to get you thinking: I had a friend who studied wild porcupines and how they responded to physical threats. He had to capture them, sedate them, attach radio tags, and check their health, and then released them back into their habitat. He then tracked them over a series of years and studied them. I had another friend who studied the effect of horn removal on white rhinos. This friend did his work in Africa (obviously) and was curious how the rhinos handled social competition without a horn. (horns being removed to protect them from poaching) I could list many more examples if you are interested. This field is conservation biology or wildlife ecology. It is not as competitive a field as veterinary medicine, and allows you to follow your interests, study what you want, answer questions, and make a difference to possibly an entire species, rather than just one injured individual. Just something else she might consider. Ruth in NZ

I just received a chemistry book from Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop in a Priority Mail United States Postal Service Flat Rate Mailing Envelope for $16.95. Weight does not matter. If it fits in the envelope (it is 12.5 by 9.5 in), it costs $16.95. They also have flat rate boxes of various sizes. If you plan to stuff it full, the key is to put box tape all the way around it in both directions, because they often pop open. Ruth in NZ

I think Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and parts of China are in its path. Next opportunity is in 2117. Of course we are expecting rain all day. :( We even bought the special glasses. Ruth in NZ

These science books fill those requirements The Cartoon Guide to Genetics (there are many in this series) The Way Things Work The Way We Work The Way Life Works All are excellent, in-depth, fun, and challenging. My ds has read them all and really enjoyed them. These are not short reads, you should expect at least a month for some and 3 months for others. Ruth in NZ

Andrew Pudawa of IEW fame came to NZ a few years back and I had the opportunity to hear him. He has been a violin instructor for 20 years and gave great advice to encourage students to practice. He believes quite strongly that until the student OWNS the practice, you will be constantly reminding, nagging, yelling etc. He believes that this sets up a negative loop of nagging and the avoidance of practice. So his big recommendation is the 100-day challenge. If the student can practice 100 days in a row without reminding, then he gets a big reward. So if he forgets on day 87, he has to go back to day 1. It is 100 days IN A ROW. The student is motivated by the reward that he chose at the outset of the challenge. Andrew's idea is that 100 days is enough to set up a habit and some pride. Then you set the 200 day challenge with another reward, then the 1 year challenge with another reward, and then you student is so proud of having practiced every single day without being reminded for 1 full year, that he will never skip a practice because it would ruin the bragging rights. We have done this! And it works! I just asked my son and he said that he is current in his 5th year of practicing every single day. He never ever forgets now. He tells people that he has practiced every day for more than 1000 days WITHOUT REMINDING. The first reward he chose was a large lego airplane (he was 7). It cost $70, so it was a big thing. The second reward was taking the entire family out to a nice dinner. The third reward for 1 year of practice was a weekend of special time with his parents (his brother was sent to spend the night with a friend). There has never been the need for an additional reward. Now the reward is the bragging rights. I will add that his violin teacher has said "If you don't eat, you don't play." Meaning he is off the hook if he is seriously sick. Also, very occasionally on very busy days he just does "exercises" which are strengthening his fingers maybe with a bow but a pencil will also work. (they can take 1 minute if necessary) And I will also say that I made sure in the 100 day challenge that I let him fail by about day 10 or 15 to prove that I was serious (he had to go back to day 1), but then made sure in a sneaky way that he did not forget again. Like humming one of his pieces, or telling him that he had something in his teeth (the mirror hangs over the violin stand so he would have to lean over it to look), or if I was really desperate I would have my husband pick up his instrument and start playing. But we never verbally reminded him. ever. Self motivation is the key. Thanks Andrew! Ruth in NZ

Like your dd, my ds knew how to make nice letters, but just didn't, probably because he was trying to write more quickly. I found that handwriting books did not help, because he knew what to do, he just didn't do it. He needed to want to be more tidy; he needed to "own" it. The best thing I did was get out all of the old letters from his grandparents and great grandparents and have a look at all the different styles. In a very positive and enthusiastic way, I encouraged him to pick a style or develop his own that he could implement. He spent a few days trying different things until he settled on something he liked. He ended up with Getty Dubai italic cursive capitals and small print with the p and f with a small flick to the left below the line. Because it was HIS, he took pride in his writing and everything began to look nicer and nicer. I regularly commented on it (and got my dh to say something once) to reinforce the change. Very very effective. Ruth in NZ

Regarding do-overs, I know we are discussing fairness in American grading, but I thought that some people might be interested to know that the highly-respected Cambridge International Exams allow for retakes. These are high school exams. If you get a poor grade, you are given additional time to study and allowed to take the exam again. From the website: "Cambridge offers a separate retake entry deadline in the November series, in order to give students who have sat examinations in the June series additional time to consider their June results before deciding whether to enter the subject again in the November series." The goal is mastery, not a grade. Why not allow your student more time? Personally, I would HATE to have to sit a final exam AGAIN because I did poorly the first time. Who wants to do all the studying again? That is the motivation for doing well the first time. Perhaps the compromise is no do-overs for tests and quizzes, but the Final exam allows for do-overs. Regentrude appears to me to be allowing retakes by calling the first exam a "pretest" but if the student does well on the pretest, it can count as the actual grade. Subtle difference in language can make all the difference to how the student views the grading practices. In addition, with a class of 1 (your homeschooling student), you have no way to assess the fairness of the exam. Are you expecting too much or too little? In addition, different philosophies consider percentage grades to be equivalent to different letter grades. Saxon expects material to be mastered to basically 100%. Perhaps an appropriate "A" would be 95% or higher. But AoPS expects that students will not know how to do every problem, so an exam scoring 80% or higher could fairly be considered an "A." How do you know what is fair for your student? Ruth in NZ

No idea what you are talking about Born in FL, lived in USA until I was 27, then moved to NZ I'm 42 Ruth in NZ

DS has really enjoyed the Lensmen series for the past month. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman_series Ruth in NZ

:iagree: I really think that for many students the goal of all the bitsy tests/quizzes is to dilute the final exam grade.

Yes. You can use the NZ system, which has both internal assessment AND external exams to give a final grade in ALL courses in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The internal assessment is moderated by a national body so that all teachers grade in the same way. Teachers send in an example of tests/writing assignments and a sample of how they grade for A,B,C,D,F, and the moderators insure that there is consistency across the country in grading. You actually get a national class rank here. This is why mommy grades mean nothing, because homeschooler's grading practices are not moderated. There might be a few classes like art where you submit a portfolio to the national body, and don't take a written exam. You can also use the British system here for university entrance. These are the IGCSE and A levels Cambridge International Exams. But for university entrance using Cambridge (what we will do), you need a certain number of points which are based on the number and grades of the exams you do. For entrance using this method, you do not need to take tests in all subjects, just score an "A" on 4 A-level exams or an "C" on 8 A-levels or something like that (It is more complicated than this. A-levels are like AP exams). You don't have to take the 10th and 11th grade exams if you don't want, and can just go for the A-levels. There is nothing similar to SAT here. All exams are subject exams. Who really knows. From what I have read on the high school board, once you meet the academic requirements, getting into a top tier school is really a crap shoot. Ruth in NZ

Last year when my son started asking about external written exams and got a few butterflies, I told him that he would do as many practice tests as he wanted until his grade was up to his satisfaction. THEN he would be ready for the final, cumulative exam. So the practice tests don't *count* but they are learning tools. This removes the stress of the exam and the practice tests leading up to it. In university, there are typically just 2 or 3 grades that are in some way averaged to give you a final grade. In the British based system, High school students only take a final exam for each course - the external exam. And other tests and quizzes are used for the reasons I listed above in my previous post. So, yes, give just 1 or 2 exams for each course if that is what you and your students desire. I think that a large percentage of students in school would not do well on a cumulative final. So either a cumulative final is not given, or all the tests and quizzes taken throughout the year get averaged in to what is often a poor final-exam grade and help to bring it up. :iagree: We are really in an impossible situation. When I was in high school, I got As in every course every year. If I were to give those same grades to my ds, these mommy grades would be questioned. Ruth

We started term tests in Math because of your persuasive arguments in previous threads. But in the end, his grade will be dictated by an external exam. AoPS is the only course material I am using that is not tied to the exams, so it *needs* separate testing. The early external math exams are easier than AoPS material. Yes, cumulative long-term retention is key. It will be tested by an external exam, rather than by an average of many small quizzes and tests. I am sure I will need to give term tests for chemistry next year to encourage him to study as he goes, but in the end the course grade will be dictated by the external exam not a mommy grade. Grades on tests that I give will show him where he needs to focus his studying, but they will not "count." University entrance here is dictated solely by external exams, so there is no reason to give him a mommy grade in each course. He will take about 15 exams over the next 6 years, but not all things he is learning will be tested. For example, he loves history. We read historical fiction and nonfiction, watch documentaries, discuss, etc. I do no testing. He loves it and is clearly learning and I have no problem putting it on a transcript, but for this course there will not even be an external exam. We are early on in this process and I may find next year when he prepares for the chemistry exam that we need more testing. But in the end, a mommy grade is pretty worthless here, and I don't get the impression it is worth much to the US universities either. Ruth in NZ

I don't plan on giving course grades, ever. The purpose of grades is 3 fold IMHO. 1) to help a classroom teacher evaluate how much a student knows when there are many in the classroom, or to communicate with the parents where a student is at. -- I know what my student knows and what he needs to work on because of the intimate homeschool setting. 2) to encourage a student to learn. -- We do term tests in math and he is motivated to study and do well. But I don't give a course grade because that would not motivate him. He will be doing practice tests for external exams, but I will not count them for a course grade. 3) to help universities evaluate how well a student has done in high school. -- From what I have read, most universities ignore mommy grades and just look at external testing. So we will focus our effort on external tests. For my ds, many small tests and quizzes stress him out. The sense of constantly being evaluated is unpleasant for anyone, and for my ds did not desensitize him at all to testing (we tried one term). However, external exams taken just once a year have not bothered him so far. He has done 2 for music in the past 2 years. Just depends on the kid, I guess. Just another way to think about things. Ruth in NZ

Another just for comparison, In New Zealand if you have enough points, you get in. You get points by passing national exams or "internal assessments" (which are grades in class but these grades are moderated by a national agency so that all teachers must grade in the same way). Different grades earn a different number of points. The number of points is an objective criterion so there is no guessing if you will get in. So if you don't have enough points you just take more classes. Certain majors like engineering require additional points. So if you get a 5 on 4 AP exam equivalents, or a 3 on 8 exams, either would get you in. I'm not fully clear on what is required if you go the internal assessment route because that option is not available to homeschoolers (because our grading is not moderated). As homeschoolers you can use the correspondence school if you want internal assessment, but from what I have heard, the materials are boring. When I first came and mentioned that I went to a top-10 school, and they just shrugged because there are only 7 universities here. :D Ruth in NZ

I found a list somewhere of the most famous 100 stories of the old and new testament. I read to my children from the bible (not using an interpretation/curriculum/retelling), and we discuss the importance of each story to society and to our family. Easy to do and completely adaptable to your own beliefs. Ruth in NZ

We started Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry and I assume that the physics book from the same publisher for the same exam would be similar. The Chemistry book has quite a lot of industrial examples so you are not just learning esoteric material but definitely putting it in context. I also like the layout. Nice summary graphs/diagrams/charts with long descriptions written out. The text flows and is not bitsy. The sample exam questions require a LOT of synthesis, and I would think it would be worth your time to do the practice exams even if you were not taking the real thing, because they bring the entire course together integrating chapter 1 through chapter 12. You also want the workbook because it covers interpretation of data and design of experiments, which is not covered in the coursebook. On the negative side, some times there is material in the chapter that has obviously been thrown in because it is on the exam syllabus, but it doesn't really fit in the chapter. Not sure how helpful this is because obviously it is not the same book! But hope it helps somewhat. Ruth in NZ

Week 11. 6th grade Ok, it's crunch time. We have continued with graph making for part 1 of his project (determining the correlation between weather and sand movement). Come June 1, we will be ready for Part 2: calculating the total directional movement of the sand in May at each beach. We worked for 45 minutes today to make up his schedule. He will need to darken and enlarge his graphs (by hand) for his poster because the originals need to be in his notebook. It is supposed to be a complete record of his project, and the poster is just a summary. M pick photos, make last graph T design methods for part 2, copy graph 1, print photos W write the results for part 1, copy graph 2 H write discussion part 1, copy graph 3 F calculate part 2 M write results and discussion for part 2, label photos T summarize methods and results for poster, copy table W summarize intro and discussion for poster H proof read, print F glue everything to the poster M design presentation T, W, H practice presentation F science fari! Graphs 2 hours Discussion and planning: 2 hours Total time: 4 hours Weeks 10 and 11. 2nd grader I have not really been focusing on his project this week, but he has drawn up his fractal diagram and finished his last graph. Today we chose the photos and went out and took a few more. Tomorrow we will print them and make up a schedule for the next 2.5 weeks. Graph and Diagram: 2 hours Write up of methods and results: 1 hour (me typing) Photos: 1 hour Total time: 4 hours over 2 weeks

This is exactly what my ds did. He has been studying AoPS Intro Algebra for 2.5 years, doing all the challengers, teaching himself, and looooving it. No hurry, no pressure, just loving learning at the perfect pace for him.

Eyeballs. Can't put on mascara and freak if I have to use eye drops. I almost fainted in the Ophthalmologist's office when they numbed my eyes and moved that big stick in to pressure test them. When I asked him if a lot of people have this kind of trouble, he said "people who are as fearful as you are about eyes, don't get their eyes checked." I guess that meant that I was the worst he had ever seen. Can't stand the part in Clockwork Orange when the hold open his eyes with clips. shudder.