Matryoshka Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 So, as I posted in the other thread, my 2 dds are taking Chem at the high school, and I'm less than thrilled with the instruction/ level of explanation. I had pointed them to an online text, but they don't want to look at it. They do use Crash Course, but I think it would be very useful to have a text on hand with really clear explanations - hey, even if it means *I* have it for reference so I can figure it out and maybe help them. The school does not have a text for the course at all. There are two different texts stacked at the back of the classrooms, but they are never opened or referenced, and they are not written by any of the authors I've heard mentioned here, so there's really no point in trying to use those. So, what would be the *best* reference text for an Honors-level high school Chem class, with really clear explanations? One of the Zumdahls maybe? Which one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Dd liked Brown better than Zumdahl, but both are good. This is the current edition: http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Central-Science-MasteringChemistry-Package/dp/0321741056 No need for the latest edition if its for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Dd liked Brown better than Zumdahl, but both are good. This is the current edition: http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/0321741056 This seems like a college or AP-level text? I'm wondering if a solid (honors) intro-level text would be better ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I like Zumdahl Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation. Clear (and interesting IMO) explanations with example and practice problems integrated into the text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 We are liking the Chang chemistry text. From what I've researched, the Brown, Zhumdahl, or Chang texts would all be good choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I like Zumdahl Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation. Clear (and interesting IMO) explanations with example and practice problems integrated into the text. :iagree: There are several editions of this text; the "Foundation" version includes a couple of chapters on organic chem that are not in the others. My 2nd choice would be Tro's Introductory Chem. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I think your kids have given you the reason the school doesn't use texts. Instead I'd show them the Khan videos and if needed get specific help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 You might even look at Spectrum chemistry, since the explanations are short-and-sweet, this might be less piling on extra work than getting them a fat textbook. In addtion to Khan videos, Brightstorm's are excellent. We used those to supplement Spectrum, and while we nicknamed them "the world's fastest talking Chemistry teacher explains all"-- they really did help when Spectrum wasn't clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 In addtion to Khan videos, Brightstorm's are excellent. We used those to supplement Spectrum, and while we nicknamed them "the world's fastest talking Chemistry teacher explains all"-- they really did help when Spectrum wasn't clear. I personally like the Brightstorm videos much more than Khan's myself (my kids hate Khan, which is a bit of a bummer) - are the Brightstorm videos still free? I know they were once, because I watched some, but I feel like I was trying to look for something a while back and it wanted me to get a subscription to access them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Two other video tutorial options, although neither will be a direct match-up for your text: - Conceptual Chemistry FREE video tutorials; clearly, these match up with Conceptual Chemistry textbook, and are more about "big picture" concepts rather than specific in-depth tutorials, but I do think they are great for visualizing abstract ideas. - Thinkwell Chemistry CD-Rom video tutorials for purchase. You don't have to purchase the course online -- we bought a used disk set pretty cheaply on Amazon and it worked fine. Very in-depth, but we didn't end up using very much of it, as the lecturer, Gordon Yee, is very knowledgeable, but pretty dry. The instructor (George Wolfe) on the Biology set of disks was more entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 I personally like the Brightstorm videos much more than Khan's myself (my kids hate Khan, which is a bit of a bummer) - are the Brightstorm videos still free? I know they were once, because I watched some, but I feel like I was trying to look for something a while back and it wanted me to get a subscription to access them... They're not all free, but you can get explanation videos. The homework help and text book correlation information is subscription. Sometimes it's easier to find the free ones by searching YouTube rather than Brightstorm itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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