Sequencing Apologia Science for Middle School

[Juliegmom]

Here's my tentative plan for grades 6-8:

 

6th: Astronomy - I know that this is a younger guide, but my daughter loves Apologia and really wants to learn astronomy. I plan to add in A Child's Geography and a few other books.

 

7th: Chemistry and Physics with notebooking journal and lab kit  - Would this guide be too young for a 7th grader?

 

8th: Physical Science 

 

My goal is to capture her interest and enthusiasm for science while preparing her for high school.

 

How does this plan look?

 

TIA!  :001_smile:

[Slache]

I think it would be very repetitive to do Chemistry and Physics followed by Physical science. Have you seen Apologia Astronomy? It might be simpler than you're thinking. I would choose a different spine and have Apologia as a fun side dish.

 

You could easily do Astronomy and Chemistry and Physics in one year, something different for 7th and Physical Science in 8th.

[Kristie in Florida]

Yeah I wouldn't do Chemistry and Physics right before Physical. Why don't you want to do the General Science in seventh as intended?

[Juliegmom]

Yeah I wouldn't do Chemistry and Physics right before Physical. Why don't you want to do the General Science in seventh as intended?

To be honest, I'm not totally sure....except that my daughter is excited about learning astronomy and can't wait for the experiments in chemistry and physics. I guess I'm just trying to fit it all in. I don't have the budget to do two sciences next year. I live overseas and am pretty sure that I'll need to purchase the $$ kit to do the experiments for chem/physics.

 

I feel that my daughter is still young enough to gear science toward her interests, but I also don't want to hinder growth into more rigorous sciences as we get into the upper grades.

 

I haven't heard much about Apologia's General Science. How are the experiments? I wonder if it's some thing my daughter could get excited about.

[Momto6inIN]

I haven't asked my kids, but I like Apologia General Science better than Physical. :) It covers mostly life and earth science and the experiments were pretty good, I thought. Chemistry and physics just aren't my cup of tea though.

[Kristie in Florida]

We didn't use Apologia for Chemistry and Physics so I can comment on the experiemnts, but the topics are nearly the same, I would think. We are using Apologia for Botany right now and are planning on using General for seventh because that's usually the intended time to use it.

[FloridaLisa]

I would suggest Apologia biology in 8th. It's very manageable. 

 

That's what we did and it was especially helpful for my science loving kids because they had room in high school to pursue higher sciences -- through AP or at through dual enrollment. Or she could add in marine biology or A & P, the kinds of sciences there may not be room for if you start biology in 9th. 

 

Lisa

[Lucy the Valiant]

It just-so-happened that 2 of mine got to do a 6-week Ellen McHenry chemistry intensive just shortly before beginning Apologia's Physical Science, and the combo has been excellent! They got just enough of the periodic table and the general concept of the scientific method to really fuel their enthusiasm (and Dr. Poliokoff's YouTube periodic table just added more fuel to the fire), and then very smoothly (and enthusiastically) transitioned into the vocabulary and experiment modules of Physical Science. I didn't plan it that way, but it was definitely a well-matched sequence. $.02

[Tiramisu]

I think your plan is absolutely great. 

 

If my memory serves me right, Apologia's Physical Science doesn't cover much in the way of chemistry. It's more physics and earth science. That's one reason I chose not to use it with my oldest. She used Swimming Creatures in 7th grade and a lower level Harcourt book in 8th as a catch-all. She did fine with Apologia in high school and fine in biology and A & P in college.

 

My third dd is using botany right now as an 8th grader. She did some genetics reading in September before that, and when we're done botany, we may do Swimming Creatures or the Chemistry and Physics. She came home from ps unexpectedly and my primary goal was to re-ignite her love of learning and the elementary Apologia books are good for that. 

 

If your dd loves Apologia, then make the most of it. Go ahead and do the chemistry and physics book and if going over any of the same physics topics bothers her when she hits Physical Science, just skip them.

 

This is a description of Physical Science from the Apologia website: The text discusses such topics as the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, weather, the structure of the earth, environmentalism, the physics of motion, Newton’s Laws, gravity, and astrophysics. 

 

After checking, I confirmed there's very little chemistry, according to the TOC.