So, how much of Life Science is really Biology, and is there a ton of overlap?

[Chris in VA]

We did Apologia Bio with ds when he was in 9th, and I think I could use it pretty easily with dd for 7th. The labs are almost identical with what our middle school does--they do even more, actually.

 

But what I wonder is, how much of Life Science (say, BJU or Science Shepherd--leaning towards the latter) is Bio, and will Apologia (if we do use it in 9th) just be a rehash of life science? I mean, I know life sci covers botany and other stuff, but so much seems like an overlap.

 

Should I just start with bio and then go to botany and then to chem, and so on? Why do life sci, I guess--so much will be covered in bio.

 

(Sorry it's taking me so long to formulate this question...)

[KarenNC]

We're using Holt Life Science. It covers the following:

Unit 1: world of life science, is it alive?

Unit 2: cells

Unit 3: heredity, evolution and classification

Unit 4: simple organisms (bacteria, viruses, protists), fungi and plants

Unit 5: Animals (animal behavior, invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals)

Unit 6: ecology (interactions of living things, cycles in nature, ecosystems, environmental problems and solutions---I'm actually shifting this to use as a bridge to earth science for next year)

Unit 7: human body systems (organization and structure, circulation, respiration, digestive, urinary, communication, control, reproduction and develpment)

Unit 8: human health (body defenses, disease, staying healthy)

 

My understanding is that, like all the other subjects, you are hitting it more in-depth at the high school level. Middle school is intended to be more of an introduction and overview, to help make connections.

Edited November 26, 2011 by KarenNC

[kiana]

I view life science before biology kind of like pre-algebra before algebra. Some people don't need it, but many can use some base rather than trying to learn everything in one year.

[Mom22ns]

Pretty much everything in Life Science is covered in Biology in greater depth and with more memorization. I think Biology without Life Science would be very difficult and just couldn't cover as much. I like the analogy of Pre-Algebra to Algebra.

 

Because we do BJU Life Science, we are able to cover Biology at what is considered by our area high schools as an Honors Biology pace. If we hadn't done Life Science, we would be covering the standard Biology course in 9th grade (same book, fewer chapters). If you have a student with the aptitude and desire, you can even make the jump from Life Science to AP Biology if you have done an thorough enough Life Science.

 

I can't comment on the rigor Science Shepherd. We use BJU in spite of being OE.

[Chris in VA]

We're using Holt Life Science. It covers the following:

Unit 1: world of life science, is it alive?

Unit 2: cells

Unit 3: heredity, evolution and classification

Unit 4: simple organisms (bacteria, viruses, protists), fungi and plants

Unit 5: Animals (animal behavior, invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals)

Unit 6: ecology (interactions of living things, cycles in nature, ecosystems, environmental problems and solutions---I'm actually shifting this to use as a bridge to earth science for next year)

Unit 7: human body systems (organization and structure, circulation, respiration, digestive, urinary, communication, control, reproduction and develpment)

Unit 8: human health (body defenses, disease, staying healthy)

 

My understanding is that, like all the other subjects, you are hitting it more in-depth at the high school level. Middle school is intended to be more of an introduction and overview, to help make connections.

 

This is helpful. She's had all of this, with the exception of the human body stuff (first grade doesn't count :D). They have actually gone pretty deep in ps 6th grade this year, and even in 3rd grade she was studying cells, cycles and classification, but not as deeply as Bio does.

 

I guess I'm just not familiar with Life Science. Logic stage is new to me--I started homeschooling with 2 kids, one in K and one in High School, and am just now getting to the logic stage stuff!

 

What I did find was that ds had a lot of what was covered in Apologia Bio already, in public middle school. I was thinking maybe we could just do that, but I get the pre-algebra analogy--good one.

 

Hmmm. I have more thinking to do. Thanks for your help, everyone.

[HiddenJewel]

The BJU Biology is definitely more in depth than the BJU Life Science. You can see the table of contents for both on the BJU website.

[kiana]

If you find a significant amount of overlap, you have a few other options. You could test through modules she already knows, and:

 

a) Finish faster, and begin an advanced biology course as well.

b) Finish faster, and use the extra time to explore a different topic of interest (maybe a short elective in, say, botany, astronomy, something else.)

c) Treat the course as a "light" course that allows more attention to be paid to the other subjects.

d) Do additional reading around the subject, maybe history of biology or history of medicine... just throwing out ideas here.