What can I use for these science classes- textbooks, online classes, etc.???

[housemouse]

So ds who plans to go into chemical engineering is asking to do a whole lot of science classes while in high school starting next fall. As of right now I do not know if we will do dual enrollment or how. It is an option for Japanese as it is close to home but any science classes with labs are an hour one way twice a week and with 3 other kids, schooling and my health I do not know if it would be feasible when the time comes.

 

So, this is the list ds would like to complete:

 

chemistry with lab 9th (BJU chemistry is my back up if I can't find anything else)

biology with lab 10th- looking at possibly doing class through Fundafundaacademy.com but still planning

environmental science 10th (someone suggested AP as it is fairly easy even for AP)

more advanced chemistry with labs 11th grade (AP?)

physics with labs 12th grade

astronomy 12th grade

 

I am hoping for decently priced courses since we will be paying for WTMA Rhetoric classes every year and engineering classes through Catapult Academy. Something that we can do at home would be ideal, especially chemistry. Ds would love to do chemistry with all the bells and whistle if he could unfortunately the nearest chemistry lab classes (with real full lab set up) are 2 hours drive for a one-hour class.

 

I need help. Appreciate any and all advice.

 

Thank you very much.

[regentrude]

Have you read the sticky threads at the top of the page? Lots of resources recommended there. There is one for each bio, phys, chem.

Edited October 30, 2016 by regentrude

[RootAnn]

Have you read the sticky threads at the top of the page? Lots of resources recommended there. There is one for each bio, phys, chem.

:iagree:

I wrote a post & the site ate it about Chemistry. Some posters on here have recommended doing Beginning Publishing's The Spectrum Chemistry. You get all the lab stuff from them and the hands-on portion is very meaty and the bulk of the course. It has set the kids up well for AP Chem through Chem Advantage. The sticky threads have these and many, many more options. 

[Clemsondana]

Are you considering doing BOTH biology and environmental science, or were you trying to choose one?  I don't know about the difficulty of the env. sci. AP, but based on the material covered I would expect that your son would find it easier - most of my students think that the short ecology unit is the easiest part of the course.  But, I've also found that most chemistry/physics-loving students find the molecular parts of biology much more interesting, and I don't know if there would be much of that in environmental science.  It probably doesn't matter which one he studies in high school if he's not planning to pursue biology in college, but he might want to consider whether he wants some exposure to the basics of biochemistry (although he could always add that on his own, and it might be included in an advanced chemistry class). 

[housemouse]

Are you considering doing BOTH biology and environmental science, or were you trying to choose one?  I don't know about the difficulty of the env. sci. AP, but based on the material covered I would expect that your son would find it easier - most of my students think that the short ecology unit is the easiest part of the course.  But, I've also found that most chemistry/physics-loving students find the molecular parts of biology much more interesting, and I don't know if there would be much of that in environmental science.  It probably doesn't matter which one he studies in high school if he's not planning to pursue biology in college, but he might want to consider whether he wants some exposure to the basics of biochemistry (although he could always add that on his own, and it might be included in an advanced chemistry class). 

He plans to do both in one year- whether it will be just Environmental science or AP version we don't know yet. I guess we'll check into biochemistry as well. I just figured some biochemistry will be covered in biology and some in chemistry.

[housemouse]

Have you read the sticky threads at the top of the page? Lots of resources recommended there. There is one for each bio, phys, chem.

 

Yes, I have been reading a lot there as well as general discussions. I guess it is just a lot of material to process and will take time. There is just nothing comparing to actual student/parent experience rather than just reading course description/list of books used in the course.

[Luckymama]

D did bio and AP Environmental with me the same year. We did them in a semester block format, bio in the fall and APES in the spring.

 

D hates bio, loves Environmental, geology, and astronomy.

[housemouse]

D did bio and AP Environmental with me the same year. We did them in a semester block format, bio in the fall and APES in the spring.

 

D hates bio, loves Environmental, geology, and astronomy.

Would you mind sharing what specifically did you use for Biology, Environmental science, and astronomy?  Thanks 

[Luckymama]

I'll share tomorrow. I've been sitting next to a stressed kid submitting applications for a couple hours. I need to get my kindle!

[Clemsondana]

OK...if he's doing Bio then he'll get some biochemistry. I was concerned that he might do just the environmental science and therefore miss the part of biology that he might like best.