Chemistry lab sticker shock

[ktgrok]

So....the kit I'm looking at is $184. Yikes. Landry intensive would be even more expensive, but easier on me, lol. Do I need all this for 9th grade chemistry? http://www.thehomescientist.com/kits/CK01/ck01-main.html

 

 He was in public school for 2/3 of a semester and they didn't do any labs, and didn't have any planned, that I know of.  This kit seems the opposite end of the spectrum.

 

Would something like this be enough for a first year chemistry class? He does plan on doing an AP Chemistry later in highschool. http://www.hometrainingtools.com/classic-chemistry-kit/p/KT-CLACHEM/

[EKS]

I recommend that you read through the Home Scientist's lab manual (or at least several experiments) before settling on the kit.  It is pretty heavy going (and I'm saying this as someone who majored in biochemistry and worked in a biochem/chem lab for 10 years).

[ktgrok]

I recommend that you read through the Home Scientist's lab manual (or at least several experiments) before settling on the kit.  It is pretty heavy going (and I'm saying this as someone who majored in biochemistry and worked in a biochem/chem lab for 10 years).

 

Ok, so my instinct that i more/harder/involved than we need for a first year chemistry is correct? Any suggestions for something a bit more "intro"? or would the second one I linked work?

[Mom22ns]

I have to admit it, I went and looked at his prices and was surprised by how low they are. Chemistry labs are not cheap.

 

If you don't have any hardware, it will take some investment to get started in Chemistry labs. I would get whatever lab manual you are planning to use (Illustrated Guide) and then pick some labs that seem doable, affordable and that use a reasonably small set of equipment. You pick. Price that out at Home Science Tools and see where you are. Compare that to a kit and to Landry and decide what is worth it.

 

I usually spend about $100/year on science lab supplies, but I started doing that in Jr. High. By the time we got to Chemistry, we already had test tubes, beakers, a ring stand, alcohol burner, etc. I just had to add chemicals and a few more pieces of equipment. It always made kits a bad investment for me, but I can't say if it will be for you.

 

Do be aware that his kits don't match the full book, but rather his little handbook, which I've never seen. I have seen some very different reviews of the handbook/kits than the full guide.

[In The Great White North]

He has a list of which labs correspond to which AP standards,  and there are more labs in the book, so you wouldn't be doing all of them for a 9th grade chem course.  You might get to all of them between a 9th grade chem course and an AP course, but not necessarily.

[Lori D.]

Alas, high school science just *is* expensive. But I totally agree with Momto2Ns -- under $200 for 39 labs (MORE than one year's worth of labs) AND durable equipment is VERY reasonable. Just as a quick comparison -- if you end up doing an outsourced AP class or science via dual enrollment later on, you'll really be knocked over by the costs -- easily $400-800 per SEMESTER. So under $200 for a very full Chemistry kit seems quite reasonable in comparison. ;)

 

What text did you settle on for completing Chemistry this year? That way we can better help match up labs with what you're using. An out-of-the-box suggestion might be that since you are switching to homeschooling mid-year, and are planning for an AP Chemistry later on (which you might end up outsourcing and so not need to be "buying ahead" this year), you might not want to invest in a lot of durable equipment at this point just to finish out this year.

 

I like your suggestion of the Home Science Tools Intro to Chemistry Kit ($50); you'd also want to get the durable Chemistry Equipment Set ($45). That gives you 25 labs to match up with your text, some durable equipment for the future, and is half the price of the Home Scientist Kit. The Intro to Chemistry Kit looks different from the Micro Chem 3000 kit, which was a real bust here -- cheap equipment caused several experiments to fail, very little explanation, and some experiments we were unsure what it was trying to prove.

 

 

re: how many labs per year

Just as a very rough gauge, an average of one science lab every 2 weeks yields a total of 18 for the year; I would suggest that as a minimum, with 24 labs in a year being average, and 36 labs in a year being on the rigorous end. And, of course, it totally depends on what types of labs are being performed; some are more intensive than others.

 

BEST of luck in deciding! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[ktgrok]

Lots of good thoughts! Knowing that it would be enough for two years of chemistry helps. Or that the other kit would work. Dual enrollment is free here, so that's thankfully an option for the future. Text wise, we are combining Life of Fred, CK12, and some other reading, including Asimov's Atom. He enjoys chemistry, so I'm hoping to keep it high interest. 

 

 

[Lori D.]

Lots of good thoughts! Knowing that it would be enough for two years of chemistry helps. Or that the other kit would work. Dual enrollment is free here, so that's thankfully an option for the future. Text wise, we are combining Life of Fred, CK12, and some other reading, including Asimov's Atom. He enjoys chemistry, so I'm hoping to keep it high interest. 

 

You might also check out this really inexpensive set of Thinkwell CDs: Chemistry 1 (Gordon Yee) -- a series of short, video tutorials on all the topics covered in an intro-level college Chemistry course. This one is only $7 + shipping. Can't beat that for a supplement, esp. for your second round of Chemistry! :)

 

We used a number of the video tutorials, esp. on cells and cellular reproduction, from the Biology CD set (George Wolfe) as supplement. Below is some very helpful info from the first review on the Chemistry CDs -- esp. the explanation of how you do not need the $150 year's subscription -- the CDs play without access codes required. (Watch sample videos at the Thinkwell site.)

 

"I was happy to find these because Thinkwell doesn't sell these disks anymore. There are almost 300 videos on just about every topic in AP or college chemistry. There are 10 CDs and each has almost six hours of lectures. The lectures are great reinforcement if you have a general chemistry text to read. This is not introductory chemistry, they assume you know a bit about the subject already.

 

If you want homework questions and exams such as for homeschooling, you can find those things at the their website.

 

First, you install the player which is on the first disk. It should put a Thinkwell icon on your desktop. Once installed, click on the icon to start the program. It pops up with a login window, but there is no need to sign up for anything. You simply click where it says "View the default table of contents". You can click on any video, but if it is on a different disk than the one in the drive, you simply switch disks.

 

You can even use the program on a laptop without a CD drive if you install a program like Virtual Clone Drive and put the disk contents on a USB drive. (And then to select which disk file, you have to right click the disk file you want and choose "mount"). This saved me because my school laptop has no CD."

[Julie of KY]

I would look hard at the Home Science tools kit. I don't know exactly what experiments they include in the chemistry kit, but having done several other kits put together by HST, they were much better quality instructions, learning and equipment compared to other kits.