Mr. Q Advanced Chemistry

[Sue G in PA]

Could somebody review this for me? I'm looking into using it for Chemistry next year instead of Apologia. Thanks.

[SparklyUnicorn]

It's ok.  There are a few chapters I found confusing. The stuff he explains well he REALLY explains well.  It's very clear.  There are just a few spots where it's confusing or something is downright not quite right there.  I have not checked for errors on his website though.  The "labs" are not all that great, but they don't require any special anything so for some people that might be ideal. 

[Sue G in PA]

My boys who will be using it (10th and 12th grade) are likely not going into a STEM field. One is pursuing a music career and just needs it to fulfill graduation requirements. The other doesn't know what he wants to do yet but a STEM career isn't out of the question. He is much better at math than his older brother. Would Mr. Q in combination with Chemistry 101 be a good enough foundation if he wished to pursue a "real" advanced Chemistry course in his senior year? 

[Dicentra]

I think Mr. Q would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course.  The only explanations of his that I saw that I took exception to were some of his explanations for molecular geometry - I thought he simplified too much and, therefore, the students couldn't use the correct reasoning to determine polarity, etc.

 

As long as your ds has good, solid math skills (Alg 2 at least) and the ability to reason abstractly by Grade 12, then Mr. Q would work just fine as a first chem course.

[MomOfABunch]

It gets Chem done - it's pretty clear and to the point. There have been a couple confusing chapters and DS has used the khan academy chem videos when he doesn't get the Mr. Q explanation. The labs are all kitchen cooking labs, which DS gets a kick out of.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think Mr. Q would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course.  The only explanations of his that I saw that I took exception to were some of his explanations for molecular geometry - I thought he simplified too much and, therefore, the students couldn't use the correct reasoning to determine polarity, etc.

 

As long as your ds has good, solid math skills (Alg 2 at least) and the ability to reason abstractly by Grade 12, then Mr. Q would work just fine as a first chem course.

 

Connie, when you say it "would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course" does that mean you don't think it is high school credit worthy on its own?

 

And are you saying that a student needs Alg 2 *before* doing Mr. Q?

[Penguin]

We have only used the labs.  You can match them up with any chem book.  I have a hard time sourcing real chem lab materials where I live, and the kitchen labs have nicely filled a gap.  

 

How 'bout reviews of the recipes?!

The chocolate cake was really good :)  Good enough that we made the recipe again later. And the homemade bread was my son's first attempt at making bread.  I warned him that making bread is tricky...don't be disappointed by hockey pucks.  But his bread came out perfect.  Win!

 

(We have a different plan for 10th grade chemistry lab, but I would be uncomfortable with a high school chemistry course that never used lab equipment or chemicals.  Not saying that you should be.  Just that I would be.)

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

So you did the labs in 7th or 8th grade, J?

[Penguin]

So you did the labs in 7th or 8th grade, J?

 

We used them in 8th.  We have not done all of them.  Whichever ones we don't get to, I might slide them in during 10th grade chemistry.  

 

At the beginning of the year, we did Chapters 1 - 4 in their entirety.  This covers scientific notation, sig figs, percent error, metric conversions, and dimensional analysis.  It really becomes chemistry proper after Chapter 4. That is when I started jumping around.

[MomOfABunch]

Connie, when you say it "would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course" does that mean you don't think it is high school credit worthy on its own?

 

And are you saying that a student needs Alg 2 *before* doing Mr. Q?

Not Connie, but you definitely do NOT need Alg 2 for this. If you do it WITH Alg 1 or pre-Alg at a minimum you would probably be fine.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I think Mr. Q would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course.  The only explanations of his that I saw that I took exception to were some of his explanations for molecular geometry - I thought he simplified too much and, therefore, the students couldn't use the correct reasoning to determine polarity, etc.

 

As long as your ds has good, solid math skills (Alg 2 at least) and the ability to reason abstractly by Grade 12, then Mr. Q would work just fine as a first chem course.

 

I don't think Alg 2 is needed.  Alg 1 probably.

[Dicentra]

Connie, when you say it "would give a good foundation for a further high school chem course" does that mean you don't think it is high school credit worthy on its own?

 

And are you saying that a student needs Alg 2 *before* doing Mr. Q?

 

 

Not Connie, but you definitely do NOT need Alg 2 for this. If you do it WITH Alg 1 or pre-Alg at a minimum you would probably be fine.

 

 

I don't think Alg 2 is needed.  Alg 1 probably.

 

Gah!  My bad communicating skills strike again.  So sorry about that!  No - MomofaBunch and Sparkly are correct - you do not need Alg 2 for Mr. Q.  I meant that, in looking ahead to a future advanced chem course, the student would need Alg 2 for that.

 

In answer to your first question, Rose, I think Mr. Q is the equivalent of a Reg Chem credit.  Probably a bit on the easier side but definitely high school Reg Chem.  If a student had taken Mr. Q previously and was looking at doing an advanced chem course in Grade 12, he/she would be fine as long as, by Grade 12, he/she also had Alg 2 under his/her belt and was good with abstract concepts.  That's what I was trying to get across when I mentioned Alg 2 - it was for if/when the student takes a further advanced chem course.  Maybe, someday, I'll learn to communicate well.  Someday... 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Thank you for clarifying! I get you now.  I guess I needed a little validation about Mr Q - I bought it during the January sale, and it's definitely math heavy, but I was worried that it was "chemistry lite" and needed to hear from somebodys who know what they are talking about!  :laugh:

[MomOfABunch]

Gah! My bad communicating skills strike again. So sorry about that! No - MomofaBunch and Sparkly are correct - you do not need Alg 2 for Mr. Q. I meant that, in looking ahead to a future advanced chem course, the student would need Alg 2 for that.

 

In answer to your first question, Rose, I think Mr. Q is the equivalent of a Reg Chem credit. Probably a bit on the easier side but definitely high school Reg Chem. If a student had taken Mr. Q previously and was looking at doing an advanced chem course in Grade 12, he/she would be fine as long as, by Grade 12, he/she also had Alg 2 under his/her belt and was good with abstract concepts. That's what I was trying to get across when I mentioned Alg 2 - it was for if/when the student takes a further advanced chem course. Maybe, someday, I'll learn to communicate well. Someday...

This is how we are using it. This as Intro to Chem (1 general chem credit) and then when DS has enough math, he'll do AP or DE Chem.

[MamaSprout]

Old thread!

 

How's this going?

Could this be done with a microchem kit (we can't do gluten... Sound like lots of baking).

[SparklyUnicorn]

Old thread!

 

How's this going?

Could this be done with a microchem kit (we can't do gluten... Sound like lots of baking).

 

Yes you could just buy a chemistry kit. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

To add, we did not do the labs in Mr. Q.

[MamaSprout]

To add, we did not do the labs in Mr. Q.

Thanks for adding that- I wasn't sure if the labs were necessary to the rest of the book.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Thanks for adding that- I wasn't sure if the labs were necessary to the rest of the book.

 

Nah.  I thought they were kind of silly.  I assumed my son would enjoy them because he does like to cook, but when it came time to do them he never wanted to. 

[Arch at Home]

We are doing Advanced Chemistry now. I have paired it with Apologia Chemistry labs. We have found that the labs weren't very dependable. My DD did not want to use Apologia as the main curriculum but the labs are so easy to carry out at home. I was able to borrow the labware required. When I added it up, it was cheaper to buy the book thank to get a chemistry kit.

[Matryoshka]

In answer to your first question, Rose, I think Mr. Q is the equivalent of a Reg Chem credit.  Probably a bit on the easier side but definitely high school Reg Chem.  If a student had taken Mr. Q previously and was looking at doing an advanced chem course in Grade 12, he/she would be fine as long as, by Grade 12, he/she also had Alg 2 under his/her belt and was good with abstract concepts.  That's what I was trying to get across when I mentioned Alg 2 - it was for if/when the student takes a further advanced chem course.  Maybe, someday, I'll learn to communicate well.  Someday... 

 

This is how we are using it. This as Intro to Chem (1 general chem credit) and then when DS has enough math, he'll do AP or DE Chem.

 

So Dicentra, if you're still around, do you think if dd took Mr. Q two years ago and did well with it, she would be fine to take a DE Chem class next year?  And then, what level?  The CC offers "College Chemistry", and "Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors" - you're supposed to take one level or the other.   Chemistry is her favorite science.  She'll have taken Algebra II before her next Chem class.

 

 

Thanks for adding that- I wasn't sure if the labs were necessary to the rest of the book.

 

We also did not use the labs - dd took an outside Chemistry class that was pretty much all hands-on labs, and we did Mr. Q just the text, quizzes and tests at home. The labs in the class did not line up with the text, and I didn't even try to do that.  But it worked great.

[Dicentra]

So Dicentra, if you're still around, do you think if dd took Mr. Q two years ago and did well with it, she would be fine to take a DE Chem class next year?  And then, what level?  The CC offers "College Chemistry", and "Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors" - you're supposed to take one level or the other.   Chemistry is her favorite science.  She'll have taken Algebra II before her next Chem class.

 

 

I'm in Canada, Matryoshka, and we don't really have DE here so it's hard for me to judge.  Aren't the content of DE classes fairly variable based on where they are being taken?

 

If I had to guess, I'd think that she'd find quite a big jump between Mr. Q and the Chem for science and engineering majors.  Mr. Q is not an honours course or an advanced high school chem course and I would assume that students taking a course called "Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors" would have taken some kind of honours or advanced high school chem course (AP Chem, maybe).  I can't say whether or not she could successfully navigate that jump - you know your dd :) - but I imagine that she'd find that there would be topics (and depths of topics) that were assumed to be previously covered that she may not have covered in Mr. Q.  If you had links you could provide that listed course syllabi for those two CC courses, I would have a much better idea and could provide better advice. :)  You could PM them to me, if you like.

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I must be having a brain fart or something, but what is a DE class?

 

 

[Matryoshka]

I must be having a brain fart or something, but what is a DE class?

 

DE = Dual Enrollment.

 

Dicentra is right, there's a huge variability in DE classes.  What's making my brain hurt a bit on this one is that I know that the "General Biology" course at this CC is actually easier than the AP level, and is quite possibly easier than Honors Biology at our local high school.  And that's the top level of Biology (they have an even easier level for kids who have never seen Biology at all - but no "Biology for Science majors").

 

The thing is, if she were taking Honors Chem in high school, she could follow it up with AP Chem, but at the CC you're supposed to take one OR the other, not one then the other... But, I'm rather leaning toward "College Chemistry" at the moment - even though if she ever decided to do anything serious with Chem in college, it would not count as an intro course - she'd have to re-take it.  But even if it's her 'favorite science', it's looking less likely she'll end up in science or engineering (and I did think she might at one point), lately she seems to be more interested in something maybe in business.  I hate to close doors, but this would just mean that she'd have to retake Intro Chem in college proper if she headed back in that direction later; it wouldn't slam the door shut...

 

Although, Dicentra, I'd rather doubt the CC's Chem for Science and Engineering is tougher than an AP.  The typical kids at the CC are not the kind of kids who take AP classes. or even Honors classes, in high school.  I'd guess it's aimed at about the level of an AP (which is, after all, supposed to be the level of a college intro class).  Would a kid who'd taken Mr. Q need to take another Chem class before an AP level, do you think?

Edited February 19, 2016 by Matryoshka

[MamaSprout]

On a similar vein, would Mr. Q be good prep for AP Chem?

[SparklyUnicorn]

DE = Dual Enrollment.

 

 

Thank you!

[SparklyUnicorn]

On a similar vein, would Mr. Q be good prep for AP Chem?

 

Yes, I think so.  After Mr. Q we worked through Thinkwell Chemistry.  My son loves chemistry. Although oddly he has no desire to study it in college or consider it as a possible career.

[Dicentra]

DE = Dual Enrollment.

 

Dicentra is right, there's a huge variability in DE classes.  What's making my brain hurt a bit on this one is that I know that the "General Biology" course at this CC is actually easier than the AP level, and is quite possibly easier than Honors Biology at our local high school.  And that's the top level of Biology (they have an even easier level for kids who have never seen Biology at all - but no "Biology for Science majors").

 

The thing is, if she were taking Honors Chem in high school, she could follow it up with AP Chem, but at the CC you're supposed to take one OR the other, not one then the other... But, I'm rather leaning toward "College Chemistry" at the moment - even though if she ever decided to do anything serious with Chem in college, it would not count as an intro course - she'd have to re-take it.  But even if it's her 'favorite science', it's looking less likely she'll end up in science or engineering (and I did think she might at one point), lately she seems to be more interested in something maybe in business.  I hate to close doors, but this would just mean that she'd have to retake Intro Chem in college proper if she headed back in that direction later; it wouldn't slam the door shut...

 

Although, Dicentra, I'd rather doubt the CC's Chem for Science and Engineering is tougher than an AP.  The typical kids at the CC are not the kind of kids who take AP classes. or even Honors classes, in high school.  I'd guess it's aimed at about the level of an AP (which is, after all, supposed to be the level of a college intro class).  Would a kid who'd taken Mr. Q need to take another Chem class before an AP level, do you think?

 

Just saw your edit, Matroyshka. :)  I was envisioning the Chem for Science and Engineering as being more along the lines of first year university chem here in Canada.  If it's about the level of AP Chem and your dd will have Alg 2, then I think she should be OK taking it.  The two big factors for success in more advanced chemistry are solid math skills and comfort with abstract concepts.  Much of chemistry is explaining what is going on at the atomic level, which can be modeled, but can sometimes be difficult for students to grasp.  Even though chemistry also occurs at the macro level (i.e. students mix things together in a lab and observe fizzing, bubbling, etc.), students sometimes have trouble reconciling what they are seeing at the macro level with what is occurring at the atomic level.  If your dd is good with all of that, then hopefully she'll enjoy the more challenging chem class. :)

 

On a similar vein, would Mr. Q be good prep for AP Chem?

 

I guess I answered this directly above. :)  If the student does well with Mr. Q, has good, solid math skills (Alg 2 for AP Chem readiness), and is comfortable dealing with abstract concepts that may be modeled but can't necessarily be seen, then that student should be ready for AP Chem.