missesd Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I have another thread going right now, and I am a bit freaking out. Deciding to HS all 7 kids was a late Summer decision. Because hubby's job held back a portion on his pay, which is ear marked for schooling, I wasn't able to buy anything until November. Then we had holidays. I have Math, LA, and History covered. But Science went to the wayside for a while. I am now looking at buying it this weekend, but if through my other thread I find it will take us into NEXT year to finish it, would it be terribly awful if we nixed Science for this year altogether?? We are looking at 8th, 9th, and 10th graders. The 10th grader did IPC last year, but I thought he could really use (and enjoy) a full Chemistry course. But since he's had IPC, it wouldn't kill him to be without either. The 8th grader was going to do Bio with his 9th grade siblings. Thanks :) *Sorry for all the cross posting, the "Curriculum" part of the K-8 throws me, then they added Logic Stage, which I have one of... so I hopefully got this right this time ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I would have each child work on a lengthy science fair type project. Your library and online sources will provide everything you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) I agree with Hunter. At this point, I wouldn't start a curriculum for science. Just finish everything you have for this year, and start the next grade level with a full-on science course. Your 10th grade will still have time for two years of science. A good science fair project can be a 1/4 credit, and your children will learn from the research. Here is a simple guide for a science fair project: Problem: What is the effect of... Research: After developing the problem, the next step is the library. The research should include information about your problem statement that will enable you to make an educated guess and create an experiment to solve your scientific problem. This portion of the project is required to be a miniminum of 3 -4 pages typed. MLA documentation. You are required to use 3 to 4 academic sources. Hypothesis: Educated guess to the solution of your problem. Experiment: I. Materials: Listed in a column. Tell how many and how much of each piece of equipment or materials. II. Procedure: Your procedure will be written in paragraph format and should be an explanation of the methods used. The materials will be incorporated in the procedures. All procedures should be detailed and clearly stated to allow for duplication of the experiment. The number of times you repeated this experiment and the sample size should be included. Note: Your experiment must have a control experiment. Be sure to include this in the procedure. List: Independent variable Dependent variable Control experiment Constant variable - at least three Results: This section will contain all information/data that you have gathered while performing your experiment and observing/measuring what happened. Take accurate notes. Plan to keep a logbook where you can record daily measurments, list materials used, amount of material used, etc. This will be collected in your final paper. Your results will contain a chart with your actual data included and a graph that displays the relationship of your data. All graphs will be computer generated. You are welcome to use photos to record your progress. No blurry pictures please! All measurements will be in metrics. Your results are to be followed by a minimum of one paragraph summarizing your date. Conclusion: This will be written in paragraph from and will include (1) an explanation of why you got the results you did and (2) a discussion on whether your results supported or did not support your hypothesis. It is very important that you explain in detail why this is true. Remember, it is not important if your results support your hypothesis or not, it is whether you can explain why! Application: This is where will discuss how your experiment can be applied to everyday life. You will want to include those people who may be able to use your information. This is just one way of putting together a science fair project. I am sure there are better ways, but hopefully, this will give you ideas. Also, check out TOPS Learning Systems. TOPS has many science units at high school level. You could use three or four TOPS units to finish out the year. Edited January 22, 2011 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The other thing to realize is that it takes more than a year for many high school students to finish a science text. It might take your high schooler the rest of this year and all of next to finish whichever text you pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 your high schoolers do need science, but if you have planned out what they need and can get it done in time remaining. I wouldn't worry about it if you can. For the youngers, I had a friend who did Magic school bus videos for the year. That year her children scored higher on the science portion of the standardized test than any other time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emubird Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Yes and no. We've skipped formal science, but we always had informal stuff going on such as videos and books and reading science articles on the BBC and whatnot. For your younger kids, I wouldn't worry too much. Just get some library books and videos and go with that. For the older kids, if they have any inclination at all to go into the sciences, I would try to make sure they at least got in biology and chemistry and physics in the high school years. You might have to double up in future years if you don't get any science done this year. On the other hand, my daughter waltzed into college physics with absolutely no high school physics at all and did just fine. She'd had a lot of math, though. That's essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 What are your high schooler's plans for after high school? Neither of my boys completed a high school level science textbook and they did just fine with strong math and reading skills and basic scientific literacy and an understanding of the scientific method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 That would depend on your children's plans after school. If they wanted to go into science or engineering and/or get into a selective university, I consider four years of rigorous science in high school a necessity. If OTOH the wanted to study English at community college, you can safely skip a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 That would depend on your children's plans after school.If they wanted to go into science or engineering and/or get into a selective university, I consider four years of rigorous science in high school a necessity. If OTOH the wanted to study English at community college, you can safely skip a year. :iagree: We are skipping history this year with my junior level son so he can have 3 science courses. I checked with colleges he is interested in and all said that would be fine - esp since he wants to head into the sciences. If your students were not heading into a science field - even at a 4 year school - skipping a year likely wouldn't hurt them. It might hurt them if they want to major in science. And, as others have suggested, even though we're skipping a formal history course, we still watch various videos (via the History Channel and otherwise) dealing with aspects of history just to do so for personal edification. Learning is a life long process. You could do the same with science. Our public school only requires 7 math/science credits to graduate. Three must come in each discipline. The last can be one of either. Therefore, many ps graduates will graduate with just 3 science credits, but it will still be those who don't choose to pursue science later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 One other possibility would be to do a half year (half credit) science course. Astrology? Rocks and Minerals? Ornithology? Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Alpha Omega has a couple 1/2 credit courses I think? Astronomy and Geology maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missesd Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Alpha Omega has a couple 1/2 credit courses I think? Astronomy and Geology maybe? Thank you, I might have to look into that :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at the beach Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Maybe MIT Open CourseWare Kitchen Chemistry would work as a one semester course for your children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Good suggests were already given. Another possibility is to just begin now, and try to move a little more quickly and see how far you get. You still have five months left 'till "summer" usually begins. If you worked with science through the summer, you'd likely finish before the next school year and wouldn't have missed science at all. For some science courses, or texts, this would be easier to do than others. My dd prefers to move at a quicker pace in science as it's easier for her to retain the info that way. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.