Zumdahl's AP Chemistry book and other AP options

[April in CA]

Good Morning Everyone!

 

For those of you who have used Zumdahl for AP Chem, can I ask which text you used? What is the name of the text, and the ISBN if you still have the book? I found a copy of an old Zumdahl chem text at a library book sale, but I don't know if that is what you all are using.

 

My younger son is finishing up DIVE Chem with Apologia (both texts) and is doing very well with it, so we are considering doing AP Chem for 11th grade (starting late August). Any and all advice is appreciated! Could we do it adequately here at home (no lab buddies this time) or should we go with PA Homeschoolers, assuming we can still get in? Thanks mucho for any advice!

Blessings,

April

[MomsintheGarden]

My dd studied the Zumdahl book in 11th grade, and did well on the Chemistry AP. Here's the one she used:

 

6th edition Text, hardcover, ISBN 6-618-26505-8

 

We also bought these but she didn't use them:

Technology Guide (CD), ISBN 0-618-22161-1. It's still shrink-wrapped!

Study Guide, softcover, ISBN 0-618-22662-X

 

She had only studied the first Apologia Chemistry book, felt she had already studied some of the material in these chapters of Z.:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17. There are 22 chapters in Z. She studied one chapter/week except she studied chapters 1 & 2 in one week and chapters 13 & 14 together in one week.

 

Here are threads which give more info on how Zumdahl is being used:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94218

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166276

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157678

 

I would say that AP Chem is pretty doable at home, but ymmv. Maybe the Microchem kit would work for labs?

 

HTH,

GardenMom

[jld]

Thanks for such detailed info, Gardenmom, and for the links. Did you say that all the answers for the problems in Z are right in the text? Or is there a separate solution book to buy?

 

Dd is finishing Apol. Chem I right now and plans to do Chem II this next year. I thought after she finishes, we could get the Z book and just see what she may have missed, or not done thoroughly enough, with Apol.

 

Once again, thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[In The Great White North]

AP Chem is definitely doable at home. Micro-chem is underwhelming. The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments is more appropriate for AP. It has a chart in the front that correlates the experiments in the book with the labs recommended by the College Board.

 

You can search on Zumdahl and the Illustrated Guide for several threads about AP Chem.

 

It really helped to have the Solution Guide.

Edited June 23, 2010 by In The Great White North

[jld]

Thanks, GWN. I should have read Angie's thread first . . .

[MomsintheGarden]

AP Chem is definitely doable at home. Micro-chem is underwhelming. The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments is more appropriate for AP. It has a chart in the front that correlates the experiments in the book with the labs recommended by the College Board.

 

You are right about the Illustrated Guide. It's a great book, but I hesitated to recommend it because it's so expensive to implement. How did you use it? Did you have to buy all of the equipment and chemicals, or did you have some things already? Where did you buy them?

 

Thanks!

GardenMom

[April in CA]

Thanks, GardenMom!

I checked my shelves and found that what I have is the Annotated Instructor's Edition, 4th edition, published in 1997. I wonder if later editions have changed much or if just the technology has changed - any ideas? I would need a student text and any solutions guides available, do you think? Plus lots of practice tests!! I wonder what text PA Homeschoolers is using... I do have the Illustrate Guide book and lots of lab equipment, but some of those experiments look pretty scary to me. Thanks!

Blessings,

April

[MomsintheGarden]

April, I just remembered that the DIVE CD demonstrates most of the AP labs. There are 22 recommended AP labs, and DIVE does the following:

1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21, and 22.

 

Only the napalm experiment from the Illustrated Guide's looked scary to me, but maybe I didn't look closely enough.

 

I don't know what to say about the 1997 An. Inst. Guide - sorry! Measurement technology marches on, but who knows how much that is reflected in the AP exam. What has changed is the exam itself, but that might not be affected by textbook choice, either.

 

We used the Princeton Review and 5 Steps to a 5 books. We bought the Cliffs guide but it wasn't up-to-date, even though it was the latest at the time. An actual released AP exam would have been nice to have for the MCs. The FRQs are available for free on the CB website.

 

It is hard to decide how many text problems to do. We did not have the solutions guide, so Dd just did the ones embedded in the chapters, covered the answers, then checked herself. Those questions, combined with the AP prep guide exercises and Chem Olympiad study were enough for her. A solutions guide would have been lovely!

 

I hope your son's study goes well. The AP Chem exam is difficult, but doable.

 

GardenMom

[April in CA]

Thank you very much! Could you tell me a bit more about your experiences with the Chemistry Olympiad?

Thanks again!

Blessings,

April

[mllehmann]

I was considering using the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments this fall. Has anyone here used it? What was your experience like with it?

[MomsintheGarden]

Thank you very much! Could you tell me a bit more about your experiences with the Chemistry Olympiad?

Thanks again!

Blessings,

April

April,

 

I found out about the Chemistry Olympiad by accident. Dd is interested in majoring in biochemistry, and we were researching colleges that were certified by the American Chemical Society (ACS - theirs is the stamp of approval for chemistry degrees). I looked to see if there were scholarships given by the ACS (not much!) and stumbled on the CO.

 

There are several levels to the CO, which you can read about on their site, but I'll sum up briefly here.

- The Local Exam is given in March at high schools. Students are invited by their chemistry teachers to participate. In the case of one high school, students had to take a preliminary exam to be allowed to participate in the Local; this high school is a very competitive one, and usually teachers are just glad for anyone to take it. I had a difficult time finding a school that would test dd. Not many schools in our part of our region participate. I finally found one that is two hours away, so it took us an entire day to do the trip.

- The National Exam is given in late April at another place. The top finishers in an ACS region are invited to take it. In our case, 20 students were invited from our region, and about 10 took it. This is a normal participation rate, as students are often busy with many other activities. The exam was on a Saturday at a major city 2 1/2 hours away from us, and took the entire day. We made it into a two-day trip.

- The top 20 scorers of the National Exam are invited to an all-expense-paid two-week chemistry camp held at the Air Force Academy in June. (dd did not get invited)

- The top camp participants compete at the international level.

 

You can look at past Local and National CO exams at the ACS website. The Local exam has only multiple-choice. The National exam has three parts: MCs, Free-Response, and Lab. I was concerned about the lab portion because I thought dd might not have had as much experience as the other participants. I needn't have been; dd thought it was fun and completed all three parts successfully.

 

The CO was a good experience for dd. Study for those exams was a terrific review for the AP.

 

HTH,

GardenMom

[April in CA]

Thank you so much, Garden Mom!

So the Chemistry Olympiad is a set of exams, right? I was wondering if it was like FIRST Robotics, which both my sons have been involved with for several years. After building and programming a robot to do certain tasks, the guys go to regional competitions. If they win a regional, they get to go to nationals! We have been able to get to nationals twice! All that to say, we might be able to fit exams in, if we can find a school that offers the local test, but I don't know if we could have found time for another team commitment - I originally thought that CO might be a competition for chem lab teams. (which actually sounds very fun to me!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions! I appreciate it so much as I try to think through what my younger son can reasonable have time for next year!

Blessings,

April

[MomsintheGarden]

A team competition where the participants work together sounds very fun, but even at the international level the CO is an individual event. I know what you mean about fitting in another activity!

 

GardenMom

[AnitaMcC]

Good Morning Everyone!

 

For those of you who have used Zumdahl for AP Chem, can I ask which text you used? What is the name of the text, and the ISBN if you still have the book? I found a copy of an old Zumdahl chem text at a library book sale, but I don't know if that is what you all are using.

 

/QUOTE]

 

 

We are using:

 

 

Chemistry, Zumdahl and Zumdahl, 6th edition ISBN 0618221565

Study Guide, Chemistry, Zumdahl and Zumdahl, 6th edition ISBN 061822162X

Experimental Chemistry, Hall, 6th edition ISBN 061822159X

 

 

[In The Great White North]

We used Chemistry, 6th edition, the student text ISBN 0618265058 and complete solution manual ISBN 0618221689.

[April in CA]

Thank you Anita and Great White North! I really appreciate the info as we contempleat the idea of AP!

Blessings,

April

 

May I ask how long your students spent on AP Chem each day or week and how they did on the exam? Also, did you add in any study guides? Thanks again!

[AnitaMcC]

Thank you Anita and Great White North! I really appreciate the info as we contempleat the idea of AP!

Blessings,

April

 

May I ask how long your students spent on AP Chem each day or week and how they did on the exam? Also, did you add in any study guides? Thanks again!

 

 

My son hasn't taken the AP exam, yet. He will be taking it in May (I think that is when AP exams are).

 

He has been self studying chemistry, geology, aerospace science this past year without a typical curriculum.

 

For Chemistry he has been watching the Teaching Company videos and using Wiley's Self Teaching Guide for Chemistry and just skimming the Zumdahl (without doing assignments from Zumdahl). For Geology he has been using "Field Guide to Geology" and for Aerospace Science he has been using Civil Air Patrol's aerospace education study materials.

 

We have been going back and forth about his schooling. He struggles with doing things "on schedule" and being organized. We are trying to meet his academics needs (advanced/accelerated) with is special needs (Asperger Syndrome, Sensory Integration Disorder, ADD). This has been our first year homeschooling and it sure has been interesting :001_huh::lol:

 

He took a computer course at CC last semester, and we have him signed up for two more this fall (astronomy, precalculus I).

 

This coming year he will be studying the Zumdahl text intensely and doing assignments from it. I expect that he will spend 2 hours a day Monday-Friday studying AP Chemistry. Lab time will be additional once a week for about 2 hrs. So probably about 12 hours a week will be on chemistry alone. More likely he will take longer. It isn't learning and understanding the material that takes him so long, it is that he takes forever doing assignments. I have the study guide for him to use... but I am not sure if he will use it. Probably he will prefer the study guide over the text book assignments.

[Julie of KY]

I was considering using the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments this fall. Has anyone here used it? What was your experience like with it?

 

I love this book, but it is hard and expensive to implement. I've done about 90% of the experiments and will probably finish this summer. I've been teaching it as a lab course in my garage for a group of students. We do it on Fridays for three hours. I estimate it will take about 40 - 3 hour sessions to complete the book (not counting the setup and cleanup time). For one student it probably costs close to $1000 to do everything, but most of this is non-consumable or chemicals that can be used by several students, so it wouldn't cost nearly that much to do with another student. The book is clear about where to buy supplies and chemicals, but it was still a lot of work to decide where everything was the cheapest and what I could buy locally.

 

Many of the labs I've had to do more than once to figure out the best way to teach to others.

 

By the way, I'm not scared to do the napalm experiment with students. I'm teaching four students right now this summer doing this book. All the students have loved this book.