I recently came across this online lab option and thought I'd post it out here in case anyone was interested. Here is the link - http://www.sciencecourseware.com/BLOL/ It's offered free by the California State University system. It states it is AP or college level.

I'm interested in hearing how many labs your student did/is doing for biology. I'm interested in collecting the full range of possibilities, for all different class types/locations/formats. Did your student do biology at public school, at home, or via an online class? Or at a CC or coop? And finally, is this an area of interest for your student, or was this more of a box check/fulfill the requirement kind of scenario? TIA!

Ok, this is going to sound very ignorant, and kind of odd from someone who has actually done science in a couple of different fields during her professional life, but what the heck is a high school science lab supposed to be, anyway? I keep using that word, but I do not think it means what I think it means. ;) When I think about a lab, I think automatically about doing an experiment - coming up with a question, doing some research, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and writing up a lab report. But when I look at curricula, books, online description of labs, I see a lot of other things being done that I'd call something different - demonstrations, dissections, observations, collections, projects, investigations, analyzing data sets. Do those things all count as labs? How do you define labs for the different sciences? Can you give me examples of things that you've done for labs for the different sciences? And how many you've done in a year? I like the idea of doing experiments, but those suckers can take some time. I can't imagine doing one a week. One every two weeks if that's all you are doing, maybe. One a month sounds more civilized. But are there a bunch of things that count as labs that maybe I'm not thinking of that way? I'm kind of hoping so. I want to do a bunch of those things, too, and if they are also considered labs, I'm golden. :)

The Well-Trained Mind (2004 edition) recommends the Smithsonian Microchem XM 5000 Chemistry set for 7th grade chemistry. Does anyone have experience with this or with other packaged chemistry sets? They are not cheap, so I'd like to have some more feedback before I purchase one. I'm also curious if the later edition of The Well-Trained Mind recommends anything different. Thanks so much! Laurel Stevens mom to Elisabeth (11 yrs) and Henry (8 yrs)

I have seen posts, if not entire threads, about this.... If someone could toss out a link or send me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. I can see certain posts in my mind, but can't find them! I'm wondering how many labs and lab reports are typical/expected. I read the thread about Arizona schools expecting proof of labs. Do other places? Should we do fewer labs all with write-ups or lots of labs, but only a few write-ups? I'm sure the answer is probably it depends on the school..... ;) Any thoughts?

Does anyone use Aurora Lipper's Super Charged Science? I found an offer in my email for some DVD's so I went ahead since they are guaranteed to please. I signed up for emails over a year ago, but our internet is so bad, I have never watched a sample or one in the emails. I also signed up for the Teacher Guide to download for free. I have to do that after midnight one night or go to a wifi hot spot to download it. If anyone has an opinion or any suggestions on at home labs with this program, please chime in. TIA! Here Is the link if anyone is interested too: ihttp://www.superchargedscience.com/opt/usc-pack4-slp-brg09-2014/?inf_contact_key=549109de3918b36c545d4c9e4b3432511edef50df4addc80c3065403043f391e

If we complete the majority of the labs included in the Apologia Biology curriculum, will that be counted as "lab" credit?

What to do? If your student was unable to take a lab while studying BJU Chemistry and had watched all the videos on the education portal site, would you still have him take a Chemistry lab the following year if one came available? I'm trying to decide if it is really necessary or not? He is still undecided as to the career path he will choose but is leaning towards computer science or engineering. He has only had one true lab experience, which was with Biology.

Stephanie's comment got me wondering... And I remembered the link Jane in NC posted years ago to AP Biology labs....(at least I thought these were supposed to be AP level but don't see that on the page now) http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/ so I'm wondering if the biology teachers/ degree holders/ self-studiers among us could come up with a list of the most important labs to do - about 10 or 12 of them for an honors level biology course? The basics that students should have going into AP biol with perhaps some optional ones to do in place of ones that require special equipment that many wouldn't have? Or if this list already exists on the WTM, could someone point me to it? Thanks! Joan

My DS is going to be using Miller/Levine Biology book and we are going to be roughly following the kolbe syllabus. I'm lost on the lab component though. I'd rather not buy a lab kit or lab-in-a-box type thing. I'd like to be able to customize our labs. First- where do I get the lab ideas from? I know there are some in his bio book but where can I find others if we don't want to do those particular ones? Second- Do you have your child do a formal lab report for every lab or just certain ones? Third- I've heard of a "lab notebook" where they keep rough sketches/ideas. What does that "look" like per se? Fourth- How many labs should he do throughout the year? One a week? One a month? I've always loved biology so I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with this. I guess I'm just afraid I'm going to miss something and DS will be shortchanged, kwim? Any other advice will be greatly appreciated:).

... to have the lab component? Isn't the "usual requirement" 3 sciences with two of them being labs? If so, and the student has at least two other lab sciences, is it okay to skip the biology labs? Obviously this would be for a student not interested in the medical field.

My son is doing Apologia Biology this year and we do not have the money to buy a microscope etc. for the experiments. What should I do? Anyone in the same boat? Renee

I've been working on a syllabus for our science for the year (one semester of meteorology and one of earth science - focused on geology). [This is for a 7th and 8th grader, partly for content and partly to teach them how to do science lab reports.] We're using the JetStream online course from the National Weather Service. It has a set of "Learning Lessons" that range from simple demonstrations to what I would consider to be a hands on experiment. It made me wonder what in a science lab makes it stringent enough to be considered "with lab" on a transcript. Is it a matter of level of difficulty? Hitting standard lessons (like dissection for biology)? Or maybe how the activity is written up? Thoughts? ETA: These are musings for when they are in high school, prompted by thinking about the activities in JetStream, which are labeled as "learning lessons" but that could be either demos or labs depending on how they were presented (imho).

We attempted to find a co-op for my will-be 9th grade son and it's just not working out schedule-wise. Is it possible to do high school science and labs (without going broke) without a co-op? I want him to be prepared for college.. but I'm not willing to put him back in school. We are Christians and would want a Christ/God acknowledging curriculum but with a good solid science foundation. I looked at Apologia but I'm still terrified! HELP!

Is it just me, or do you sometimes wonder if science is "dumbed down" for all of us homeschool parents who have trouble understanding it? I think homeschoolers have a reputation for being really bright in the English/literature area but severely lacking in the sciences. I bought RS4K Chemistry this year thinking it would be a great program. My husband took one look at the book and said, "I could teach this whole book to ds in about a week." Granted, I was only expecting it to last 1/2 a semester, but boy that was an expensive program to be so "meatless"!! Has anyone found a science program for the middle grade that you feel is competitve with what the public schools are using?

I'm looking for lab books or kits. We'll be using Exploring Life and Thinkwell Chemistry if that matters.