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AP Chemistry without another chem first?


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Is is possible (and how possible?!) to do AP Chemistry in 10th grade. Or is it best to do an easier Chem (Apologia, Spectrum) one year and then AP the next? Do most public school students take two years of chemistry if they take AP?

 

I don't know. But my daughter got stuck in AP Biology without any biology background, due to the different sequences of schools. There was no regular Biology for her to take.

 

And the teacher doesn't really teach. She told me herself that there are those teachers who disseminate information (like daughter and I like) and then teachers like her, who ask you, "How do you FEEL about Biology". Wow. She is making it through but not learning a whole lot.

 

I would think Chemistry would be even harder, especially with all the math.

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The local school has "Honors Chemistry" using Zumdahl for 11th graders without a chemistry background but that's unusual. (The school doesn't do AP classes except for Environmental Sciences.) Kids do take the AP test but I have no idea how they score.

 

If the student were VERY handy with manipulating equations, it could probably be done but I wouldn't want to. There is a lot of material in there.

 

Back in the day, I did get two years of chem in high school.

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I think this is a case of (and I am misquoting) all things are possible, but not all things are profitable. With a bright, advanced student, I might consider this as a way to go onto something more in depth in a following year, but for a basic student, I'd do regular chemistry first.

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My unscientific assessment of AP science without "high school" level Chem is that I wouldn't do it. :) Chemistry is valuable for moving on in both AP Chem and AP Bio. (Although AP Bio is redesigned this year, so maybe my thoughts are unscientific and out of date :oP )

 

I had my daughter(s) do High School level Chem in 9th, AP Bio in 10th, AP Chem in 11th, and AP Physics in 12th. I think the AP Bio was much more accessible for them because they had had the Chem.

 

If he was really motivated to start out in one of the APs (and he has the math for it), he could probably get away with doing something like Georgia Public Broadcasting Chemistry quickly as an introduction the summer before jumping in the deep end. But it would have to be pretty quick!

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This has been so helpful. I am inferring from the responses, that AP Bio or AP Physics are better first time through than AP Chem? Is this correct? With 1 science a year you can't take 3 years of regular and 3 years of AP unless you do two sciences most years. I don't want to do that, but I would like to get him some AP credits with at least one in science. 4 years would do that, but no more.

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This has been so helpful. I am inferring from the responses, that AP Bio or AP Physics are better first time through than AP Chem? Is this correct? With 1 science a year you can't take 3 years of regular and 3 years of AP unless you do two sciences most years. I don't want to do that, but I would like to get him some AP credits with at least one in science. 4 years would do that, but no more.

 

 

Mine have not done any of these as a first-time class. I did want to point out though that AP Bio has a lot of chemistry in it and I would want my students to have some degree of chemistry foundation before tackling AP Bio.

 

HTH,

Lisa

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Some of my kids have done AP Chem as a first-year chemistry class, and all of my kids have done AP physics B as a first-year physics class.

 

AP Chemistry as a first-year class is challenging but doable for a bright motivated student. I would not recommend it unless there is a special reason for doing it, which there was in our case.

 

AP Physics B works well as a first year physics class. Each of my four kids has done it this way, and I wouldn't consider doing it any other way. The class is thorough but not a huge challenge.

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AP Physics B (to be renamed AP Physics 1 and 2) can be done as a first-year course as long as algebra skills are strong. AP Physics C, the calculus-based physics, would require stronger math. My ds did take C as his first physics course but his math skills were excellent and he already had a good basic physics knowledge from participating in Science Olympiad for years.

 

AP Chem would require a lot of motivation and time, assuming algebra skills to be automatic.

 

I cannot imagine AP Bio as a first-year course :eek: The entire first semester for dd has been biochem!

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My daughter did AP Chem essentially as a first-year chem. She "prepped" by reading through the first Apologia Chem book over the summer. She took the class through ChemAdvantage, which I cannot recommend highly enough, and made a 5 on the exam. So it is doable, yes, but I should include some caveats: she is a smart cookie (she did this in eighth grade); she had all of the necessary math background (she was in Calc at the same time); and she spent a lot of time on the course, probably 8-10 hours a week. The public schools around here all have AP Chem as the second year of Chem. She is actually at a STEM magnet that has a post-AP Chem class, in which she is enrolled right now as a freshman. She loved AP Chem, and it was the right choice for us, but possibly it is not right for everyone. And there is nothing wrong with doubling-up on sciences if your student wants to do more than science AP by senior year.

 

Terri

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I taught AP Chem (before homeschooling) and I agree with the above posters. It could be taken by a very bright, very motivated student as a first chem course but as a general rule, I would say no. There is a teacher in the States who has a website for his courses:

http://www.adriandingleschemistrypages.com/index2.html

He teaches AP Chem as a first chem course to 10th grade students at a private school. He rotates his materials for the course on and off his website so if you check it frequently, you can save stuff as it comes up and you'd have a fairly good set of notes and assignments. You can also buy the materials from him if you want all of it at once. I believe the AP Chem syllabus is changing for the '13-'14 year so if your student is going to be taking it starting in September, you may want to hold off buying too many resources until closer to the fall. (Note: Since I'm not currently teaching in the public system, I'm not really in the "AP loop" so if someone more knowledgable about the coming AP Chem changes wants to chime in or just tell me I'm completely full of bunk :001_smile: , I welcome it!)

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I cannot imagine AP Bio as a first-year course :eek: The entire first semester for dd has been biochem!

 

 

I'm teaching bio (using Campbells, prepping for AP test, but no approved syllabus) this year to 4 boys--my son is in 10th grade, and the other 3 are 9th graders. I taught them BJU physical science last year, and BJU life science the year before. Those 2 classes seemed to be enough prep for the biochem part, although we will see for sure after the actual test!

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Our oldest daughter took AP Biology, then AP Chemistry, and finally AP Physics in successive years starting starting the fall she was approaching fourteen. Officially these were her "first" courses in these subjects but she did have a very strong science background and had been exposed to many of the concepts in some setting prior to taking these courses. Mathematically, she was concurrently taking Algebra II and Trigonometry with biology and she worked through two years of Calculus during the Chemistry and Physics years. This worked well for her because she had a very strong science background and because she was at an appropriate level mathematically. I would be wary of this approach with a student who didn't meet both criteria. I do not think this approach would be a good fit for our next daughter who will be thirteen this fall. In her case I think she will probably do a year of biology and then a year of Chemistry and then decide (with some guidance from us and perhaps her big sister) what else would be most helpful to cover over her final two years of school. [Her final two years of school may also turn into a final three years of school. She is young for her grade and the emotional maturity may just not be at a place where we feel ready to send her off to college at seventeen as we will be doing with our oldest daughter.]

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