What makes a class "honors" vs "regular"

[shanezomom]

I posted here recently on the topic of trying to determine how rigorous or not a co-op teacher is with Biology, and if anyone had used the Glencoe high school Bio text. I got a wonderful suggestion to get the Campbell text for ds 14 and let him read it on his own if he was inclined. We've had the book about a week and wow, the kid is actually reading and enjoying it!

 

So today ds pointed out examples of where the Campbell text goes deeper, and he is asking if over the summer he can work through some of the material. What bumps up a course to the honors level which he can then include on his transcript?

 

Lab question: The kids have viewed bacteria and protists, dissected crayfish, earthworm, frog perch and flower. No real lab reports included. What needs to be achieved to be called a lab for transcripts?

 

Thanks!

[katilac]

I don't have any good general rules. What I generally do is google honors syllabi and look at several to get a feel for what "honors" generally looks like for that subject. 

 

So, you might google "high school honors biology syllabus" and "high school honors biology schedule." 

 

I think I remember reading that there should be something like 7 to 11 labs, more or less depending on complexity. Lab reports are definitely a big part of it, but I would just add some labs that include reports and still count the old stuff that doesn't. dd had zero questions asked about her self-reported lab classes, but she didn't apply to super selective schools or for a science major.