Chemistry in High School

[ProudGrandma]

My daughter (9th grade) is doing Biology (Apologia) because according to that program you do Bio in 9th grade.  But as I am looking at Chemistry programs from other companies, many of them do Chemistry in 11th grade....so I am not sure what to do.  She is going through Bio kind of slow...so I could extend bio over 2 years and then do Chem in her 11th grade year.    She is not going to be going into a science related field in college, so that could be ok, right?  I just found this sort of odd is all.

 

What do you all do as far as scheduling science in High School?

[TCB]

We are following the Physics, then Chemistry then Biology order. I don't know too much about this order choice other than it has been explained to me that Physics helps you understand Chemistry, and Chemistry helps you understand Biology. It seems to be working well in this regard for us so far, but we have only done Physics and working on Chemistry this year. I can definitely see that she is applying what she learnt in Physics last year to Chemistry this year.

We are using Spectrum Chemistry and it is definitely doable for someone like myself with very little Chemistry background from school.

 

 

 

ETA - not sure what we are going to do in 12th yet, but it will be one of the above at a more advanced level.

Edited January 16, 2016 by tcb

[GoodGrief]

I am thinking that some programs may do a general physical science in 9th grade, then biology, then chemistry, then physics.

 

We did physics/chemistry/biology here.  I would not stretch out bio over two years (unless she was struggling, of course.) Move on to chemistry and physics, and find a 4th science for senior year, if you like. You could do an AP course, but if she is not STEM oriented, maybe she would prefer something else (I had a daughter who did geology, and one who is doing computer science...beware though, some schools consider comp sci a math subject rather than a science subject.)

[albeto.]

What do you all do as far as scheduling science in High School?

 

I do it according to my kids' interest. Right now, one is enrolled in a homeschool chem. lab class. He started just recently. I think all the sciences really do play off each other, and so when they follow their interests, the relevance makes learning the concepts more... personal(?). He had some questions and asked his older brother, who is very knowledgeable with science, and so explained the answers to his questions succinctly and clearly. The conversation went something like this:

 

"Wow. That's pretty cool to think about that stuff happening on the molecular level all the time."

"Yeah, wait until you get to biochemistry. I think you'll like that. Adams being forced to do things in clever ways."

"You think I'll like it more than physics?"

"Dude, there's physics in there."

"Whoa." 

 

The only reason we haven't tackled a physics lab is because the math looked a bit intimidating last year. I hope soon...

[Mom22ns]

My plan was to do Biology in 9th, Chem in 10th, Physics in 11th and then student choice. I didn't make it with either kiddo.

 

My ds did Bio, Chem, and Forensic Science. I included his 8th grade ICP (using a high school text) on his transcript (listed as completed prior to high school).

 

My dd did Bio, then Chem, then decided she wanted to graduate a year early and is currently taking Biology at the CC for her final year. She is going into nursing and never has to take Physics.

 

So, both mine did Chem in 10th. I don't think what year the publisher thinks you'll do Chemistry matters at all. One of mine used Apologia and one used DIVE with BJU. Both are for sale. :)

[TheApprentice]

My son did Physics(Algebra based)/Chemistry/Biology and then Calculus based Physics at the local cc. He used Spectrum Chemistry which was great for him because it's very hands-on (it felt like at least 1 lab per week). Biology these days is more like Molecular Biology and having Chemistry under his belt, this order worked well for him.

[Junie]

We are using Apologia here, too.

 

Our order is 9th Physical Science, 10th Biology, 11th Chemistry, 12th Advanced Bio

 

I'm thinking that if your dd has already done Physical Science in 8th and Biology in 9th, she could probably do Advanced Biology in 10th and Chemistry in 11th.  And then her choice of science, if any, in 12th.

[ProudGrandma]

she never did physical science...so I don' t know if that matters or not.  

[Junie]

she never did physical science...so I don' t know if that matters or not.  

 

I'm not a science person, so I don't really know how important physical science is.  I just set my kids up with the books in the same order I did high school science -- Physical Science in 9th, Biology in 10th, Chemistry in 11th.  My older dc seem interested in the Advanced Biology course, so we will probably add that on for 12th.

[AngieW in Texas]

There are lots of different ways to do this.

 

My oldest did 

Miller&Levine Biology (I hated it and got rid of it when she was done) for 9th

Spectrum Chemistry from Beginnings Publishing (wasn't impressed) for 10th

Giancoli's Physics for 11th (I liked it, but she hated it)

one semester each of introductory chemistry and general physics at the cc for nonscience majors

Majored in Arts and Technology.

 

My middle did:

Holt Biology for 9th (pretty good, but needed to add more labs, didn't do many) 

Giancoli's Physics with LabPaq (worked out really well and then we did AP Physics B, should have also done SAT II Subject Test) for 10th

Tro's Introductory Chemistry with Prentice Hall Small-Scale Chemistry Labs (really liked this text) for 11th

Chemistry I and II for science majors at the cc for 12th

Majored in Speech-Language Pathology and Child Learning and Development.

 

My youngest did:

Conceptual Physics for 9th

Conceptual Chemistry for 10th

Life on Earth at the cc for 11th (this was the only biology course that didn't require placement in college algebra)

Geology at the cc for 12th

Plans to major in International Business.

 

Austin ISD does Environmental Science in 9th, Biology in 10th, Chemistry in 11th, and Physics in 12th.

Leander ISD does Biology in 9th, IPC (only for those who didn't do well on the end of course test for Algebra I) in 10th, Chemistry in 10th or 11th, Physics in 11th or 12th, advanced science in 12th.

Pflugerville ISD does IPC in 9th, Biology in 10th, Chemistry in 11th, Physics in 12th (but advanced kids start with pre-AP biology in 9th and do an advanced science in 12th).

 

[ProudGrandma]

What did you and your youngest think of conceptual chemistry?

[Calm37]

Apologia does Human Body as the second year of Biology. All of my girls did that course and liked it. My son was the only one that took Physical Science instead.

[Mom22ns]

she never did physical science...so I don' t know if that matters or not.  

 

It doesn't. Physical science is just an intro to Chem and Physics, sometimes including some earth science (more earth than chem is you do Apologia). Standard high school sciences classes start at the beginning. The introduction can make them easier, but is not necessary.

[SilverMoon]

.

Edited April 17, 2023 by SilverMoon

[AngieW in Texas]

Suchoki's Conceptual Chemistry is a pretty meaty book. While the math requirements for the text are low, the content requirements are not. This is a full-fledged chemistry course. It just doesn't have a lot of math.

 

The website may help:

http://conceptualchemistry.com/

[Kareni]

My daughter did the following sciences while in high school.

 

At home:

9th: Physical Science
10th: Chemistry (Lab)

 

At the community college:

 

11th: G 101: Earth's Dynamic Interior (Lab)
11th: G 102 Earth's Dynamic Surface (Lab)
11th: G 146: Rocks and Minerals (Lab)
12th: ENVS 181: Terrestrial Science (Lab)

We allowed her to study the sciences that interested her at the community college in 11th and 12th grades (namely Geology and Environmental Science) rather than mandating that she study the more traditional Biology in which she had no interest.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lori D.]

… She is going through Bio kind of slow...could extend bio over 2 years and then do Chem in 11th…

 

… She is not going to be going into a science related field in college,...

… What do you all do as far as scheduling science in High School?

 

We started off with Apologia, but just did NOT connect with it -- too textbook-y, too wordy and dry, and text runs from margin to margin across too-wide of a page so it's hard to read. We switched to Conceptual Chemistry and Conceptual Physics for subsequent years, and used the Anatomy sections of the Miller-Levine Biology (dragonfly cover) for a partial credit of Anatomy.

 

Non STEM students here, and we spread out 3 credits of science over 4 years of high school:

9th = 0.75 credit = Biology

10th = 0.25 credit = Biology, 0.50 credit = Anatomy

11th = 0.75 credit = Chemistry

12th = 0.25 credit = Chemistry, 0.50 credit = Physics

 

We had no problems with that meeting high school graduation requirements or college admission requirements, and I organized the transcript by subject, not by grade/year to make it easier for the college admission officers to read:

 

SCIENCE, with labs

course . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . . . grade

Biology . . . . . 1.00 . . . . x

Chemistry . . . 1.00 . . . . x

Anatomy . . . . 0.50 . . . . x

Physics . . . . . 0.50 . . . . x

total credits/GPA  3.00 . . . . x.xx

 

 

Some colleges do prefer seeing Biology and Chemistry for the science requirements for admissions, but most will not have any problems as long as you have 3-4 credits with labs. So if your student would prefer some other science area -- Astronomy, Earth Science, Forensics, Marine Biology, Environmental Science… Go for it! :)

 

Another possibility is if dual enrollment with your local community college is an option for your student in 11th or 12th grade -- a 1 semester college science equals a 1 YEAR (1 credit) high school course, and, depending on the science course, might also knock out one of general ed. natural science requirements for a 4-year degree. And, similar to Kareni's post above, your student might find some science topics that transfer as college credit that are more appealing. Our community college has the usual science subjects, but also some unusual courses that transfer and count as the science gen. ed. requirement at any of the state 4-year universities -- things like Meteorology, Wildlife of North America, Environmental Geology, and Natural History of the Southwest.

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Lori D.

[tj_610]

As others have noted, so much depends on your child's aspirations and abilities. If thinking about college, it is important to find a way to get through high-school level biology and chemistry. Many options out there. Our very science-loving family loves Apologia.

 

I think there is wisdom in the traditional public school approach of bio-chem-physics. While this approach is upside-down regarding fundamentals-to-complexity (biology depends on chemistry which depends on physics!), here's why I think it still makes sense:

1) Most kids will benefit from as much math as they can get before chemistry; algebra 1 being essential. And physics isn't necessary for everyone.

2) As Lori D. stated, many colleges do not require high-school physics for entry into non-engineering programs. So you may not have to take it at all. Most do require 3 years minimum of science. There are good non-physics 3rd-year options -- marine biology is popular, especially among non-science-minded girls - who doesn't love dolphins and corals? A comparison would be making a math-struggler take precalculus, when something like consumer math would be far easier (and useful!), and fill the college requirement.

3) Even if you have a very-mathy kid, physics can be even better (even fun!) when taken alongside precalculus or calculus.

 

Some of that is redundant, but I hope it helps reinforce what others said.

 

To the original post:

1) Check several realistic colleges for your DD, regarding their science requirements.

2) Consider stopping biology wherever she is at the end of the year, give her a Spring semester biology grade and be done with it. If she's interested, she can "audit" the rest all summer. The last few modules in Apologia Bio are the fun stuff for non-science kids; animal and plant types rather than the molecular and cellular stuff. Did you ever finish the textbook in public high school? Me, neither. :-) I know, I know; we tend to be that way with our own kids - "You must finish the curriculum". But it turns out, no, they don't have to. Except math LOL.

3) If colleges of interest don't require physics, then consider her planned total curriculum for the rest of high school. If science is more onerous than other subjects, put chemistry in the "easiest" year. Take a year of whatever science she wants any other year. If she isn't planning on physics, there is no reason that I see to take chemistry right away. Bounce any plan off of a couple of college admissions officers. I can't think of any science option your DD would consider in 10th or 11th grade that would seriously suffer from not having chemistry yet. Even the chemistry which would come up in astronomy, marine bio or earth science would probably be easy to pick up on the way. I'm open to correction on that if others disagree. (We're science-heavy, so I may be skewed here).

 

We love Apologia. but follow your DD's curriculum, not theirs! :-)

[frogger]

Agree with the other posters that it depends on what program, a child's interest, and the math involved. Some school districts start with Biology and move to Physics in the end because of the math. Others move from physics to biology because the concepts build on each other but most physics that younger students take are math light or just conceptual. It is good to understand the concepts of physics when learning chemistry, etc. but the drawback is that if you take these math light (or non-existent) classes during high school you probably won't have time to also take the more advanced versions that rely more on math. So really you have to run your own cost benefit analysis for each child depending on interest and math ability. Some children may never have enough math for the more advanced physics until they get to college anyway.

[MAIMOM]

We are using Apologia Biology for my 14 yr old. They offer a DVD of the course that I purchased for her to go along with the textbook. It has been a wonder. She enjoys watching the DVD, the instructor covers all the concepts in the text in order so she does not necessarily need to read the text. She can listen to the instructor explain it all. There are a lot of visuals as well. All in all that has been worth every penny I paid for the DVD's.  I also bought Biology 101 (faith based DVD) that we watched in the summer. It was very informative and broke the concepts down in an interesting way. It set the stage I feel for her enjoyment of biology this year.

 

[mom31257]

How are her algebra skills? Apologia Chemistry has a lot of math, and Algebra is the pre-requisite. Does she enjoy math?

 

My dd did Chem her 11th grade year during Algebra 2. I feel she could have done it the year before and would have done well then, too. She did say it was like she was taking two math courses that year.

 

Ds just took Chem 101 for Nursing last semester and had a 97 average, so I feel it prepared her well. The math is what caused people to drop the class much more than the science of it.