Physical Science

[Country Girl]

I have gone round and round about our science plans for next year, and after talking with dh, I think we have decided to go with physical science. Our tentative long term plans are:

 

6th: Physical Science

7th: Life Science

8th: Alg. based Physics

9th: Chemistry

10th: Biology

11th: AP Physics (probably calc based) (or a different AP class if his interests change by then)

12th: Specialized science of his choosing/college science course

 

He will be doing Saxon Alg. 1 this fall and then following through the Saxon sequence.

 

So, I am looking for recommendations for physical science courses. Here is what I want:

 

1. Something that is easy for me to implement and schedule.

2. A lab kit would be awesome. However, if one isn't available for the specific materials we choose, I'll use this lab kit: http://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/physical-science-labs/microphysci-kit-standard-edition/.

3. DS likes independent, no-nonsense stuff. He says he likes textbooks that he can read himself and do at his own pace. However, he has never tried a video based course or live course, so even though he says he doesn't like these, he doesn't really know:tongue_smilie:.

4. Support materials like tests, answer keys, etc.

5. I'd like it to include a bit of earth/space, but this isn't a major requirment.

6. We are planning on having him take a full-fledged, highschool level, algebra based physics course in 8th grade. So I want something that is a challenging for a 6th grader who has had quite a bit of exposure to physical science topics so far, but still leaves somewhere to go with the physics course in 8th grade.

7. He will be taking Algebra concurrently (although he is 1/2 way through the LOF Alg. right now), so something that is approriate math-wise.

8. Don't need outside teacher support.

9. Secular or Religious based are both okay

 

I'm looking at Derek Owens purchased program as a serious contender. I think he'd like the "fill in the notes as you go" set up. Plus, the Derek Owens videos seem to be straightforward when compared to something like BJU's videos. A few others I'm considering are BJU, DIVE, PH Concepts in Action, and anything else you guys can tell me about. I'd love to hear from users of any of these programs, particulary in regards to scheduling, hands-on teacher time, independent-ness (yes, I made that word up:D), and how the content and rigor (for lack of a better word) stack up against each other and against an actual physics curriculum.

[REv1053]

http://www.explorationeducation.com/index.htm#TBC

 

Good luck.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

My 6th grader used Exploration Education this year. http://www.explorationeducation.com/

 

The advanced version is written for late jr. high and early high school. I think it meets all (or most) of your requirements. I've only seen a few samples of the other choices you mentioned, but just based on what I've seen, I would expect the others to be much more difficult and definitely written for high school. EE gets the job done and includes an element of fun... I hope that isn't a turn-off. My ds loved building the projects. I think your other choices might be a stretch for 6th grade, but EE is perfect, and you can choose between the Standard and Advanced versions to adjust for difficulty.

 

The Standard and Advanced versions are identical for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The Advanced version adds work for Thursday and Friday that is more intense. We have the advanced version because I wanted my ds to have all of the experiments to build. In truth, he didn't do more than the Standard version's load. The Thursday and Friday work is what kicks it up to early high school level. If I remember correctly, there is more analysis (maybe an additional experiment) and a lab report on those days. Check the samples.

[redsquirrel]

Here is a thread from a few weeks back

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=373487

 

and don't forget TOPS science. They have great labs! A good physical science text and some TOPS units can make a great year.

[Country Girl]

REv1053 and Sweet Home Alabama~

Thanks for the recommendation for Exploration Education, but I think we've ruled it out. The content and labs look good, but the format of reading the text off of the computer screen really doesn't work well for ds.

 

Redsquirrel~ Thanks for pointing me to the other thread, I'm off to take a look.

[regentrude]

I do not have labs or auxilliary materials for it, but we really liked Conceptual Physics Science by Hewitt and Suchocki (the authors of Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Chemistry, resp.).

http://www.amazon.com/Conceptual-Physical-Science-Paul-Hewitt/dp/0321051734

 

(There are newer versions, but I always buy older editions for just pennies)

 

I have seen that a lab manual exists, you might want to google.

[HollyDay]

Do you know what colleges/universities your dc wishes to attend and what their science requirements might be? I'm assuming from your list you will use: biology, chemistry, and physics for credits. Then your dc will pick an additional science for credit. Sounds solid to me.

[Country Girl]

I do not have labs or auxilliary materials for it, but we really liked Conceptual Physics Science by Hewitt and Suchocki (the authors of Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Chemistry, resp.).

http://www.amazon.com/Conceptual-Physical-Science-Paul-Hewitt/dp/0321051734

 

(There are newer versions, but I always buy older editions for just pennies)

 

I have seen that a lab manual exists, you might want to google.

 

Thanks Regentrude~

 

Can you tell me a bit more about this book? How is the book setup (ie. practice exercises, reviews, etc)? How have you scheduled the course and is it doable in 1 year? I also see that there is some type of online component to it..... have you used that and did you find it beneficial?

 

ETA: Oh, and if you've used or looked at any of the other Physical Science curricula, can you compare them to Hewitt's? Also, can you comment on the math level needed for this book? Landry Academy uses Hewitt's Conceptual Physics book, but says Alg. 2 is required to complete the class. I thought I read somewhere that Hewitt's Physical Science book was just a condensed version of Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Chemistry, so that concerns me that ds may not be mathematically ready for this.

 

And another thing I thought of..... would this course set him up well to do Alg. based Physics in 8th grade and then Calc. based Physics in HS?

 

Thanks!

Edited June 1, 2012 by Country Girl

[Country Girl]

Do you know what colleges/universities your dc wishes to attend and what their science requirements might be? I'm assuming from your list you will use: biology, chemistry, and physics for credits. Then your dc will pick an additional science for credit. Sounds solid to me.

 

Yep, looking at using Chem, Bio, and Phys in 9-11th as credit, and then whatever additional science he chooses in 12th. He has mentioned a few colleges and we have briefly looked at their entrance requirements, but we are so far from that at this point that we haven't concerned ourselves with them much. However, we are trying to cover our bases and schedule a solid progression to leave his options open.

[lillehei]

I must sound like a broken record here on the forums but I would take a look at ScienceFusion homeschool edition. We just got it for my 6th grader and it is so great! It doesn't come with a kit but we put one together pretty easily for one module. We are doing it all digitally. It has all of the lessons, tests, etc. online and then lots of hands on labs. We just got a good microscope from Amazon and my dh (a PhD in Chemistry) thinks the program is rigorous and complete. My dd is really excited to start.

[Country Girl]

I must sound like a broken record here on the forums but I would take a look at ScienceFusion homeschool edition. We just got it for my 6th grader and it is so great! It doesn't come with a kit but we put one together pretty easily for one module. We are doing it all digitally. It has all of the lessons, tests, etc. online and then lots of hands on labs. We just got a good microscope from Amazon and my dh (a PhD in Chemistry) thinks the program is rigorous and complete. My dd is really excited to start.

 

I would be interested in hearing more about this. Do they have a Physical Science course? Do you need internet access, or does the computer componenet come on a CD? Internet can be a bit sketchy for us, so I wouldn't want to be completely dependent on that. Is there an offline component and if so, how does it coordinate with the computer part of it? Are there practice exercises and review questions throughout the lessons?

 

Thanks!

[regentrude]

Can you tell me a bit more about this book? How is the book setup (ie. practice exercises, reviews, etc)? How have you scheduled the course and is it doable in 1 year? I also see that there is some type of online component to it..... have you used that and did you find it beneficial?

 

 

The book has review questions and exercises at the end of each chapter.

I have not used any online resources.

We do not schedule, we just go through as far as we get. We have used parts of the book only this year, because we have done a semester of biology, but I think it should be doable in one year. If not, you can always choose to omit topics.

 

ETA: Oh, and if you've used or looked at any of the other Physical Science curricula, can you compare them to Hewitt's? Also, can you comment on the math level needed for this book? Landry Academy uses Hewitt's Conceptual Physics book, but says Alg. 2 is required to complete the class. I thought I read somewhere that Hewitt's Physical Science book was just a condensed version of Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Chemistry, so that concerns me that ds may not be mathematically ready for this.

 

 

It is conceptual and does not require any math. There are a few equations, but you don't really have to do anything with them except for simple computations.

I completely disagree about Conceptual Physics requiring algebra 2. Students need to be able to rearrange a linear equation - but no systems of equations, no quadratics (which would eb algebra 1 topics). i ahve not seen anything that could require algebra 2, so I do not know where this recommendation would come from. (You can do a full algebra based phsyics course and only need alg 2 in one single chapter.)

 

And another thing I thought of..... would this course set him up well to do Alg. based Physics in 8th grade and then Calc. based Physics in HS?

 

 

Absolutely. FWIW: I had my DD take algebra based physics in 8th grade without having gone through physical science or any conceptual physics before; I do not consider this a necessary prerequisite for success.

[Country Girl]

Regentrude~

Thank you so much for answering my questions. I think I've pretty much narrowed my choices down to Hewitt's book or Derek Owen's program. I may get both, since I can get Hewitt's text pretty inexpensively and then ds would have it as a back up or to reinforce concepts.

 

Thanks!