HS science sequence

[Kim in SouthGa]

Is this an acceptable HS science sequence? My son is weak in math, and had a really hard time with Physical Science this year (8th grade), still not finished with the book. His passion is history, and he is gifted in languages, so I seriously doubt he will choose a science-oriented career. He definitely wants to take a forensics class as he is very interested in law enforcement.

 

9th-retake Physical Science, while taking Abeka Health at coop

10th-Chemistry (coop is doing Biology this fall, so Chemistry will be next)

11th-Biology

12th-Human Anatomy & Forensics (maybe WinterPromise or something else)

 

Physical, Chemistry, and Biology all have labs, the WP has some but not enough that I would call it HS lab.

 

I should add that he is taking the SMARR Ancient Lit class and Spanish 2 at a coop, and an online Ancient History class, so he is going to have a pretty heavy load. Another reason I thought retaking Physical might be a good idea.

 

What do you think??

Thanks!

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

If he is weak in math will he be ready for Chemistry in 10th grade?

[mjbucks1]

Is he planning on attending college, or going straight into a law enfrocement academy? If he is going to college, I would first check some colleges that are possibilities and look at the science requirements for those schools. I really am not sure I would repeat physical science. My son is 1/3 of the way through Apologia Biology, and there has been no math yet (there was more in physical science). If your son could take the class at the coop, it might make it more interesting for him and he could really get in a full four years of science (I am thinking if he is interested in forensics, he might like to take physics by the time he is a senior and has more math under his belt, so to speak). I gues my bottom line is I wouldn't hold back on biology because of his math skills, as most of biology is learning about cells, bacteria, plants, animlas, ertc. Just my two cents, whatever that might be worth :)

[Kim in SouthGa]

Well, the reason for holding back on Biology is not the math. I just don't really think he got much out of Physical Science. At all. He was able to get high B's or A's on the tests only because we went over the test right before he took it and I gave him "hints" for some of the vocab questions. He really needs to work on writing better lab reports and taking notes and study skills, too. I also know that most colleges require Biology even for non-science majors, so I thought he would remember more if he took it later. And I have read several arguments for taking Chemistry before Biology. Also, several schools and hs programs (like Classical Conversations) teach Physical in 9th grade. My thought was that-if we feeel he needs more science as HS progresses-he could take a Biology course that includes anatomy and then take Physics his senior year, or take Physics as dual enrollment in the summer before his senior year.

Thanks! Keep it coming!!

 

Oh, yeah, I also thought that by doing it this way, we could take a few weeks and go over microscopy before he really gets into it in Biology. I don't think any of my kids have even ever touched a microscope-sad, I know.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Kim in SouthGa

[Jen in DE]

I checked the requirements for my daughter's top college choices, and all three require at least Chemistry, Biology and Physics with labs. These were not high end schools. I've heard that this may be the direction things are moving. Hope that helps.

[Musicmom]

Well, the reason for holding back on Biology is not the math. I just don't really think he got much out of Physical Science. At all. He was able to get high B's or A's on the tests only because we went over the test right before he took it and I gave him "hints" for some of the vocab questions. He really needs to work on writing better lab reports and taking notes and study skills, too. I also know that most colleges require Biology even for non-science majors, so I thought he would remember more if he took it later. And I have read several arguments for taking Chemistry before Biology. Also, several schools and hs programs (like Classical Conversations) teach Physical in 9th grade. My thought was that-if we feeel he needs more science as HS progresses-he could take a Biology course that includes anatomy and then take Physics his senior year, or take Physics as dual enrollment in the summer before his senior year.

Thanks! Keep it coming!!

 

Oh, yeah, I also thought that by doing it this way, we could take a few weeks and go over microscopy before he really gets into it in Biology. I don't think any of my kids have even ever touched a microscope-sad, I know.

 

Just my two cents, but I really wouldn't worry that he didn't get much out of Physical science--and I certainly wouldn't have him retake it. If it were me, I'd have him move on to biology (which requires no math--that's why it's typically done in 9th grade.) After doing all kinds of college research over the past couple of years for my ds, I can tell you that truly, what colleges want to see is biology, chemistry and physics, all with labs. Plus, biology may be a breath of fresh air for him. He'll also have plenty of opportunity to hone his lab write-up skills in these other classes. I'd suggest considering something like this:

 

9th Biology (a good intro course, like Apologia, will introduce microscopy, so no worries there--my kids didn't touch a real microscope before biology either, and it was no big deal.)

10th Chemistry (this will require math--algebra--just so you know! :D)

11th Human Anatomy and Forensics (which I think would look really cool on the transcript--and just in time for college apps! :001_smile:)

12th Physics (requires a lot of math--and by 12th he should be ready)

 

The other thing you could maybe do is swap the Chem and Human Anatomy, so Chem comes later (because of the math), but then again, he might need the chem first...

 

Anyway, this is just an idea, fwiw. Good luck!