chemistry labs

[Only me]

My 17 year old daughter is graduating from high school in May. She has had a complicated high school career due to medical reasons. She was homeschooled 9th and 10th, went to a private school for 11th and is home again for 12th. She does not know what she wants to major in for college so she has decided to continue at the communicty college. My understanding is that once the student takes a certain amount of credits at a community college then 4 year schools don't really look at the high school coursework or have the same requirements.

 

She already took biology and physical science. I know that some people don't consider physical science as a college level course but for some reason around here they have it at all the high schools. My 17 year old daughter had it at her private school sophomore year. Her older sister had it freshman year at the public high school. She also took 3 years of science (physical science, biology and chemistry) and had no trouble being admitted to a good college.

 

My daughter will be starting a chemistry class this week at the community college. It is a semester long but will count as one high school credit. It does not contain a lab. We originally were going to have her take the lab class in addition to this class but are having second thoughts-some of it having to do with the location of the class (at a different campus). Also after looking over the lab manual I'm thinking it might be over her head and also unnecessary. I'm not saying it is necessarily the best thing, but in our experience at the public and private high schools they would do at the most 10 labs. This class has 35. My daughter already feels a bit overwhelmed taking the regular chemistry class but is quite worried about the labs since she really didn't do that many in her earlier classes. This is a class for non-majors but I think most of the students taking this class would have had chemistry in high school. I think she would feel more comfortable taking this class after taking the lecture portion of chemistry.

 

So now I'm wondering if I should just have her take the lecture portion of the chemistry class and then she can take the lab portion next year. I don't feel comfortable teaching her labs at home but was considering doing some virtual labs just to enrich some of the material she was learning in the lectures.

 

Do you think I'm closing doors for her if I have her do this since I don't know which 4 year university she would be attending? It seems that not all colleges require 3 sciences with labs. She really isn't considering any competitive schools. Do you think I'm safe doing this since by the time she goes to a 4 year school she would have taken the lab?

[AngieW in Texas]

I've never heard of a college chemistry class where you could take the lecture and not also take the lab that goes with it. You should definitely check with the cc to see if that is allowed. At my cc, if you sign up for one and not the other, you will be dropped from the class.

 

Is the title of the course "Introductory Chemistry"? That is at the level of an honors high school course. A high school would use about 3/4 of the same text, but spread it over an entire schoolyear while a college would cover about 3/4 of the text in just one semester.

 

Generally cc science classes count for a full year of high school level.

[Only me]

They are two completely separate classes. The lecture portion is worth 3 college credits and the lab is worth one. The lecture class is on Tuesdays and thursdays and the lab is a completely separate class on Fridays with a different teacher.

[PeterPan]

A lot of stuff you read about in the text makes a LOT more sense when you see it and do it in the lab. I wouldn't do the course without the labs. Just sayin.

[Julie of KY]

I'd follow your instinct in whether or not she should take the lab.

 

Be aware of how many lab sciences she has had in high school and how many does she need?

Is she going to go into something where chemistry knowledge is needed? If so, is she going to repeat the class with a lab for college?

Some schools set up the lab as a separate class from the lecture with separate grades. I don't see why you can't just take one. Generally it is recommended to take both together, but not everyone takes chemistry lab in their lifetime.