dereksurfs Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) Hi, In planning science for our son's junior year, I am considering an alternative to the standard Biology course most students take. Our son has already taken Physics and Chemistry (at our local college). While he is STEM minded, there is no strong interest in general biology itself. I am curious if anyone else has selected a different Life Science besides standard high school Biology for their student? Possibly Anatomy, Physiology, Marine Biology, etc... Just as an aside, my undergraduate degree is in Life Science and I never took biology in high school either. Anatomy and Physiology were required courses for the university program I was accepted into. So I took those courses at a community college. I never felt the need for standard biology in and of itself. Thanks, Edited December 25, 2016 by dereksurfs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 I think university admissions people might find the lack of Biology on a students transcript to be strange. You wrote that you did not take Biology, so obviously this will depend upon the college or university that your son might apply to. IMO, in Texas, for example, they would find a transcript that does not include Biology quite strange, because Biology is one of five (5) High School subjects that Public High School students in Texas need to pass an EOC (End of Course exam) for, to graduate from High School. If your son has some colleges or universities in mind, possibly he can contact their Admissions Offices, to see how they would look at a transcript without Biology on it. Also, he can look on their web sites, at the courses they require/accept for Admission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 You could call it biology and focus on the biology topics of interest. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 You could call it biology and focus on the biology topics of interest. That's what we're doing. Our Biology this year is heavily focused on ecology, botany, watershed science, forestry, and the natural history of our local area. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) You could call it biology and focus on the biology topics of interest. Thanks, I really like this idea. Last night I found an old thread discussing using a research based approach with living books: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/55942-any-suggestions-for-living-books-for-biology/ I guess Biology sounds so extremely boring to us when thought of in the traditional sense where one memorizes some textbook only to regurgitate it for a test. Blech!!! When I saw books containing John Muir's writings it finally came alive and I thought, sure, why not? Use something that is actually interesting! We love hiking and the outdoors including exploring the John Muir trail. Come to think of it, that's why we homeschool to begin with. I guess I hadn't thought outside the traditional Biology box like this yet. Edited December 25, 2016 by dereksurfs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) That's what we're doing. Our Biology this year is heavily focused on ecology, botany, watershed science, forestry, and the natural history of our local area. Rose, this sounds fantastic. When you have a little more time, could you possibly share some books you've enjoyed on these topics? We plan to use a lot of library resources but will also purchase some excellent books we can use with all our kids. Thanks, Edited December 25, 2016 by dereksurfs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 The biggest single resource we've been enjoying is the free, online resources from HHMI/Biointeractive.org. We've used short films, Holiday lectures, and done some of the online labs and activities. These resources are uniformly great and highly recommended. Series that have stood out for us: The Origin of Species The Making of the Fittest Your Inner Fish Patterns and Processes in Ecology Biodiversity in the Age of Humans And I'm super excited about this year's lectures, The Ecology of Rivers and Coasts. They haven't been posted yet, but I can't wait! For labs, we're using two main sources for field-based labs: Watershed Investigations and Forestry Field Studies. We're using portions of Miller's Living in the Environment and Campbell's Essential BIology texts, but pretty minimally. Other books we're using include: Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare - Paul Colvinaux Watersheds: A Practical Handbook for Healthy Water The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem along with various field guides to local flora and fauna. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 The biggest single resource we've been enjoying is the free, online resources from HHMI/Biointeractive.org. We've used short films, Holiday lectures, and done some of the online labs and activities. These resources are uniformly great and highly recommended. Series that have stood out for us: The Origin of Species The Making of the Fittest Your Inner Fish Patterns and Processes in Ecology Biodiversity in the Age of Humans And I'm super excited about this year's lectures, The Ecology of Rivers and Coasts. They haven't been posted yet, but I can't wait! For labs, we're using two main sources for field-based labs: Watershed Investigations and Forestry Field Studies. We're using portions of Miller's Living in the Environment and Campbell's Essential BIology texts, but pretty minimally. Other books we're using include: Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare - Paul Colvinaux Watersheds: A Practical Handbook for Healthy Water The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem along with various field guides to local flora and fauna. Thanks, Rose. These resources are great. I'm looking through them now in between Christmas dinner and family activities. Merry Christmas and happy New Year, 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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