Homeschool High School Biology

[cintinative]

15 minutes ago, orthodoxmother said:

I’m looking for a second opinion:

An experienced mom at our co-op told me that the Apologia science books are so advanced that unless my child wants an honors course or to pursue a career in science, she suggests using the middle school book as High School Biology I and the High School book as Biology II. 
 

thoughts?

 

That's news to me. I would not use a middle school book for Bio 1 for sure.  I also had not heard of the Apologia being advanced.

If no one else responds, start a separate thread. This one is probably not getting many views on a regular basis.

@Dicentra?

Edited February 25, 2021 by cintinative

[Dicentra]

2 hours ago, orthodoxmother said:

I’m looking for a second opinion:

An experienced mom at our co-op told me that the Apologia science books are so advanced that unless my child wants an honors course or to pursue a career in science, she suggests using the middle school book as High School Biology I and the High School book as Biology II. 
 

thoughts?

 

 

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

That's news to me. I would not use a middle school book for Bio 1 for sure.  I also had not heard of the Apologia being advanced.

If no one else responds, start a separate thread. This one is probably not getting many views on a regular basis.

@Dicentra?

Starting a new thread is a good idea. 🙂  I don't have any hands-on experience with the curriculum so starting a new thread will hopefully get folks to chime in who have used the curriculum. 🙂

[Lori D.]

Welcome! I see by your post count that you are new.
 

16 hours ago, orthodoxmother said:

I’m looking for a second opinion:
An experienced mom at our co-op told me that the Apologia science books are so advanced that unless my child wants an honors course or to pursue a career in science, she suggests using the middle school book as High School Biology I and the High School book as Biology II. 
thoughts?

This is not correct information.

Apologia is a very standard high school level textbook. The first sentence of the description on the Apologia website says "This high school biology course is designed to be your high school student’s first science course."  So not advanced. Also, you can compare the scope and sequence (or even just the table of contents) to other standard high school Biology textbooks, and it is clear that Apologia science textbooks are solidly regular high school level. 

Apologia does offer a second course in Biology that is labeled "Advanced Biology", This may be taken after the first level of high school Biology, and could be labeled "Biology II". 

Perhaps that is what this fellow homeschooler is referring to?

Or some 8th graders do Apologia Biology, and then do Apologia Advanced Biology later in high school. Could that be what this fellow co-op mom meant?


Agreeing with @cintinative: I would not use a middle school text for high school Biology unless the student was remedial. I also agree that you will get more views/responses if you re-ask this question on a new thread. Cheers!

Edited February 25, 2021 by Lori D.

[Homeschoolmom3]

My one son took Apologia through high school and it is not "advance" by no means, I would say it's average.  Definitely don't use MS text. 

[prairiewindmomma]

@orthodoxmotherI agree that is by no means advanced. I would actually argue that in some ways that it is inadequate.

I used Apologia Biology four years ago with my oldest son.  Once we realized that he wanted to go on to a STEM career choice, we reviewed a different biology course so that he would be prepared for university studies.  I was shocked and dismayed by how shoddy Apologia seemed after using BJUP biology. 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

I have about 10 spare minutes and I'll try to give a more detailed review of the two.  

Briefly--

reasons to choose Apologia: it's conveniently offered in a co-op near to you, you have a child with learning issues who needs some of the supportive features (particularly the notebook; we did not find the dvd to be worth the expense), conversational text with wider spacing between print lines, etc., or you can find it in audio (Bookshare has it) and you can't find another text

reasons to choose BJUP: you want coverage of introductory human anatomy & physiology (which is not in Apologia Biology at all), you want a text that is easy to outline with clear and precise writing, and you want more advanced labs

I randomly opened my apologia biology text to a section on reproduction in fungi, and then flipped over to find the comparably text in BJUP....here's an example of the different writing styles:

Apologia:(paragraph on why fungi are so plentiful)... "The sexual reproduction that usually occurs in fungi involves forming specialized structures called fruiting bodies. These fruiting bodies form as a result of sexual reproduction between compatible hyphae. Once the fruiting body is formed, it rises out of the mycelium and releases its spores. The cap and stalk that we normally call a mushroom are, in fact, just parts of the fruiting body of the mycelium of a fungus. In some fungi, sexual reproduction does not lead to a fruiting body. It just directly produces a new hypha, which will mature into a completely different mycelium." (p. 101)

BJUP: (paragraph on asexual reproduction, paragraph on sporangiophores and conidiophores)... "Sexual reproduction occurs during times of unfavorable environmental conditions, and it does not occur in all species of fungi. There are no male or female fungi; they have mating types that are denoted "plus" or "minus". Sexual reproduction occurs when the hyphae of different mating types come into contact. The fused hyphae produce a specialized structure called the fruiting body that forms and releases the spores." (p. 281)

When I read longer passages from the two texts, I come away with clearer understanding from the BJUP one.  These two passages have roughly the same content, but it's clear from the BJUP that there is asexual reproduction, which happens in good conditions, sexual reproduction, and that in sexual reproduction there are not male or female fungi. I come away from the Apologia text understanding that mushrooms can really spread, and that they have either fruiting bodies or can maybe just make a new hypha. 

[orthodoxmother]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:49 AM, prairiewindmomma said:

passages from the two texts,

Thank you for providing this - it was very helpful!

[cintinative]

FYI, based on another post, I checked and The Potter's School entries are out of date. @Dicentra can you update the other posts?

 

Biology (regular track) with The Potter's School

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-3999

Text: Science Shepard

Adds two films: Inherit the Wind, Gattaca

Labs included: Yes "This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: Reg Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

Biology (honors track) with The Potter's School

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-4000

Text: Miller-Levine  2019

Labs included: Yes "This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: Honors Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

AP Biology with The Potter's School

Grade levels 11 and 12

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-3991

Text: AP Biology by OpenStax https://openstax.org/books/biology-ap-courses/pages/1-1-the-science-of-biology

Labs included: Yes  

"This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: AP Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by cintinative

[Dicentra]

12 hours ago, cintinative said:

FYI, based on another post, I checked and The Potter's School entries are out of date. @Dicentra can you update the other posts?

 

Biology (regular track) with The Potter's School

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-3999

Text: Science Shepard

Adds two films: Inherit the Wind, Gattaca

Labs included: Yes "This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: Reg Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

Biology (honors track) with The Potter's School

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-4000

Text: Miller-Levine  2019

Labs included: Yes "This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: Honors Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

AP Biology with The Potter's School

Grade levels 11 and 12

Link: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-3991

Text: AP Biology by OpenStax https://openstax.org/books/biology-ap-courses/pages/1-1-the-science-of-biology

Labs included: Yes  

"This course requires hands-on labs and/or virtual labs which are required to complete the course for credit. TPS has made every effort to keep materials costs as low as possible while providing a creditable course."

Level: AP Bio
Type: Online provider
Additional Materials: N/A
Teacher Resources: N/A
Lesson Plans: N/A
Secular/Christian: Christian
Program includes labs: Yes

 

I've been meaning to do a lot of updating on the pinned posts but I haven't yet managed it.  Hopefully, soon. 🙂  Thanks for the updated info!

[cintinative]

7 hours ago, Dicentra said:

I've been meaning to do a lot of updating on the pinned posts but I haven't yet managed it.  Hopefully, soon. 🙂  Thanks for the updated info!

I just realized my post might have been read as asking you to update everything, and I only meant to update the other posts with the TPS information.  No pressure!!

[Dicentra]

10 hours ago, cintinative said:

I just realized my post might have been read as asking you to update everything, and I only meant to update the other posts with the TPS information.  No pressure!!

No worries, cin! 🙂  I figure, if nothing else, the un-updated posts can at least give folks a program/company name to go by and google even if the links are broken. 🙂  But I will try to do some updates when I can find a bit of time!

[Malam]

Just wanted to add this:

https://debrabell.com/product/biology/

It's a basic highschool bio class. There's a link to the honors bio version too.

Also, MIT's Open Learning Library has a course called "getting up to speed in biology". Interested students should consider taking it before 7.01SC or another 7.01 class.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Malam

[TechWife]

Hi all! 
I’m  a former hs mom (son graduated 2015) who still hangs out on the chat board and the politics board. I just wanted to drop this information here since it just came to my attention.  It sounds fantastic & I’m tempted to buy it for myself! I’m not affiliated with Biologos or the curriculum in any way. Anything Biologos puts out will be scientifically sound. I’m cross- posting this to the middle school school board as well. 
 

Integrate Faith & Science Curriculum