non-traditional science sequence

[Kim in SouthGa]

Me again:0)

My son took Apologia Physical Science at a coop this year (lab) for 8th grade. I was all set to follow with Apologia Biology, but now I am not sure. I read some people saying they suggested Chemistry before Biology? Also, my son struggled with Physical and I'm considering making him retake it. Our state requirements include 4 science credits. These are the classes I think he needs and will enjoy (he plans to major in history or international studies and go into gov. law enforcement).

Physical, Biology, Chemistry, and I'm really looking at WinterPromise Human Anatomy & Forensics, especially since Apologia Biology doesn't include Human Anatomy. So, I guess my question is, what sequence should we put these in? Can I count the Physical science he did this year (many in his class are either already in high school or in 8th and will be counting it). He did as much work as they did, so shouldn't he get credit? If he doesn't retake the whole class, we are going to go back over the chapters he had a lot of difficulty with this summer, about 4-5 chapters.

Clear as mud???

Thanks a ton for your help!

Also should mention that we have coop opportunities for Bio this fall and Chemistry the next, but they are pricey and I am undecided if we would take advantage of them anyway. Which leads me to ask another question-how important is it to get a "real" lab experience? Will they do just as well with doing labs at the kitchen table as they would in a real lab?

thanks!

[Granny_Weatherwax]

My DS is doing Apologia Phys. Science this year, too. I am not counting it for high school credit even though he will probably have completed more work than a typical Phys. Sci. student. He has watched extra videos, completed outside experiments and read deeper into specific topics. I also found complimentary assignments (charts, drawings, labeling exercises, etc) and created more difficult tests to go along with the text and additional information from the videos and readings. I would say when everything is finished DS will have completed the entire Apologia workload plus another 30-40%.

 

DS will have more than enough science courses to complete in high school without including Phy. Science as a science credit.

 

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IMO - If your DS struggled with 4-5 chapters I certainly wouldn't count it. Four to five chapters is 20-25% of the coursework. I would have him retake the class next year and then maybe count it as a science credit.

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As far as the sequencing goes: I am right there with you. I have no idea what we are going to be doing for science.

Edited April 22, 2010 by The Dragon Academy

[Kim in SouthGa]

Well, the coop teacher added in quite a bit of stuff too, and her son is the same age as mine and she is going to count it. But I'm still not sure. Maybe we should do Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy & Forensics, and another elective like Marine Biology or something. We both want to avoid Physics like the plague:0)

[FaithManor]

Did your son take Algebra 1 in 8th grade and how confident was he?

Apologia chemistry is math intensive.

 

Also, will he take advanced chemistry? For retention's sake, I don't recommend putting biology between chemistry and advanced chemistry. He will need a semester of Algebra 2 and that means a semester that doesn't include a huge amount of Algebra 1 review but is solidly new information, in order to complete the advanced chemistry book. So, if he is considering advanced chem at all, then you need to match this up to his math sequence.

 

Apologia Advanced Biology (Anatomy and Physiology) has a pre-requisite of chem 1.

 

Apologia does offer a Marine Biology course if you need to plug another non-math based science into his plan. I can't recommend beginning Apologia Physics without a semester of trigonometry unless your student is a very confident mathematician. DD completed almost half the book before she began her trig but DH was teaching her some math processes along the way.

 

The reason that Apologia Biology does not include A & P is because the basics are covered in general science. This was the way it was done when I was in school. I had all of my basic A&P in 7th grade and then advanced biology in high school was anatomy intensive. Apologia covers botany and microbiology fairly well in the basic biology course. This is the way it is still covered in our local public and private schools. I am not certain when the scope and sequence for separating A&P out of 9th grade biology, but it seems to be somewhat common and a long standing practice, at least around here.

 

Faith