thowell Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Dd11 is going into the 7th grade this year and the two things she is really interested in is Ocean Life and Astronomy. Apologia has a text on both but it says it is for Elementary years. Would this be too young for 7th grade? If so how can I beef them up more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Add Documentaries, maybe a couple of research papers, additional outside reading, maybe an in depth field trip? Depends on how much time you want/have for science. You could do one book a semester so at a faster pace. How well does she read? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 A 7th grader could easily do one of those books in 2-3 months. I might do the ocean life book for a strong interest, but I would not do that astronomy book with a 7th grader. Astronomy is the lightest of the whole series. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I agree with Silver Moon. The astronomy is the youngest-feeling and not a very meaty astronomy course. The oceans is interesting but definitely not a full year at that age -- I'd concur with the 2-3 months guide. Do you have the Well-Trained Mind book? That gives outlines for middle-grade astronomy, and you could adapt the biology to have an oceans focus. Don't know if that's helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 I agree with Silver Moon. The astronomy is the youngest-feeling and not a very meaty astronomy course. The oceans is interesting but definitely not a full year at that age -- I'd concur with the 2-3 months guide. Do you have the Well-Trained Mind book? That gives outlines for middle-grade astronomy, and you could adapt the biology to have an oceans focus. Don't know if that's helpful. Ok thanks, I do have WTM book but didn't even think about that..... must be too close to end of school year lol. I will check into that as well as other resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Ok thanks, I do have WTM book but didn't even think about that..... must be too close to end of school year lol. I will check into that as well as other resources. I just looked over my copy of it. The Logic Stage sixth grade science section is split nicely into earth & space science so you could just use the astronomy resources, which include several with hands-on aspects. You can simply use this as written! OTOH the biology for 5th grade doesn't seem to have an explicit ocean section and I myself don't see a straightforward way to pull an Oceans course out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I have been highly impressed with Apologia's Exploring Creation series as a science series for motivated or advanced middle schoolers. I have not done Marine Bio, but the chemistry and the physics are both really well done. They are conversational and break concepts down really well. Supposedly you are to have completed a first year biology course, but if it is anything like the A & P by Apologia, that just means knowledge of cells and cell reproduction. Honestly, you might be able to find the course very cheaply on Amazon. There are tests and everything. We have really found their high school stuff spot on for my son. Dense, not overwhelming, conversational, enough repetition to understand but not so much he hates it. Really well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Personally, I think they are fine through 8th grade. My DC absolutely loved Swimming Creatures (My oldest would have been in 6th grade when we did it). We added in lots of Youtube videos. There was a series called Jonathan Bird's Blue World that were really good. The Astronomy has a "younger" feel to it. Have you looked at Signs and Seasons? I was thinking of using it for the coming year, but decided we had enough curriculum planned. I am keeping it in mind for future consideration though! It is geared more toward middle school/high school students. I would think both programs could be easily done in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Astronomy no way...it's by far the least meaty of all her books. The ocean life, maybe. My own 7th grader who is Scientific and bright and loves Science would be absolutely offended by the tone, the verbosity, the way the author over-explains things, etc. etc. ANd yet, my child who is not into Science, and is less academic but would love the subject of marine life, would be bored to tears by the long long pages of verbosity, and the long chunks of text. So, I can't see it working for either of my kids for 7th grade....we used it when they were younger and really...it was just so much reading for Science...but we got through it because I would skip parts, speed up, etc. :o) Actually that's not true. We never did get through it. We ran away from the book before the last few chapters and called it a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Our experience was different from Calming Tea so as with anything else, what fits for some does not fit for others. DD was in middle school when we did Swimming Creatures and she actually was better able to follow the conversational tone than a standard textbook. She learned more and retained more that way. We didn't use the Astronomy one, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I will be using this series with my middle school kiddos. To me it's a good independent starter. The first time thru I was able to do a book a semester. Hoping to do the same the second time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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