StephanieZ Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Alrighty . . . I'm going back in . . . and teaching high school biology again next year! For my baby + a pal.. :) I've done this before (4 years ago, for my older 2 kids plus a tag along friend), using Miller & Levine Macaw edition, along with the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments. . . When I did it last time, I was very happy with the M&L text (and the accompanying tests/etc from the publisher), and although we learned a lot using the IGtHBE, it was a LOT of work for me planning & managing the experiments, and the logistics of planning (i.e., knowing how long things would take) was a mess, with plenty of labs taking us 3+ hours. I'll use M&L Macaw again for the text/tests, so just need to figure out what I want to do for lab. I actually have 2 degrees (BS & MS) in biological sciences, and my husband has a whole thermometer of them, so we're well equipped to teach/explain/understand the materials . . . just looking for a lab course fairly well already set up that could correlate well with a biology text. I *can* make up all the labs again and DIY (which is largely what you do with the IGtHBE), but I'd really like some of the grunt work done for me -- in so far as sketching out the "recipe" for the experiments along with time estimates. I can do the explaining/interpreting/etc . . . as much as is needed. Since I like to include one non-family member in my science classes, having no idea if the lab can be done in 90 min vs 200 min is really a nuisance, so I'm hoping to find some materials that make it a little easier with everything more laid out. I own gobs of lab materials, a nice microscope, etc, and have full access to a vet hospital lab, too (having done this bio before and high school chem as well as AP chem and AP env. sci) . . . so I can re-use materials, and I don't mind buying more . . . I'm just hoping to find some sort of lab-in-a-box or at least lab-planned-out-well-in-a-book . . . Money isn't a big limitation. (I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks.) Two students, both working at advanced high school level (algebra, algebra 2, geometry complete, as well as high school chemistry & AP env sci for one student). Could probably handle AP, but I want these girls to get two years of biology, as they are both potential future doctors / pre-med students . .. SO, looking for honors high school level to normal high school level, or even AP level, so long as the labs aren't actually the same ones they'll end up doing in AP Bio in a couple more years. OK, anyone have any great ideas!??? Please?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 following... I'm teaching Biology to my 2 high school kids next year. Not worried about a text, but would love a lab component already laid out for us 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Take a look at Home Biology Experiments: All lab, no lecture. Look carefully at the pdf before deciding whether to buy. The most helpful parts of the book for me were the parts about staining microorganisms (gram stain and others) and the section on gel electrophoresis. Edvotek sells equipment for gel electrophoresis, but if you already have the equipment, you can just order their DNA samples and run the gels on your own equipment. (They have fun experiments in which you try to figure out which suspect left their DNA at the scene of the crime.) Edvotek also sells materials to do your own bacterial transformations, where they produce rainbow colored proteins. That was also a lot of fun. It's pricey, but if money is no object, we thought their support (video tutorials and pdf instructions) were worth it. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 This lady developed a good solid biology schedule for her kids. I think she is a forum member but I'm not sure https://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Biology Inquiries is a book of bio labs written for high school teachers. It includes complete materials lists, instructions, student worksheets, and assessments for a full year of bio, but you'd need to pull the materials together yourself. As far as I recall, though, none of the labs required things that were particularly exotic or hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 I don't know if this helps at all, but The Home Scientist (author of Illustrated Guide) now sells a lab kit to accompany the book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Take a look at Home Biology Experiments: All lab, no lecture. Look carefully at the pdf before deciding whether to buy. The most helpful parts of the book for me were the parts about staining microorganisms (gram stain and others) and the section on gel electrophoresis. Edvotek sells equipment for gel electrophoresis, but if you already have the equipment, you can just order their DNA samples and run the gels on your own equipment. (They have fun experiments in which you try to figure out which suspect left their DNA at the scene of the crime.) Edvotek also sells materials to do your own bacterial transformations, where they produce rainbow colored proteins. That was also a lot of fun. It's pricey, but if money is no object, we thought their support (video tutorials and pdf instructions) were worth it. Good luck! LOL, this IS the exact book I used several years ago. It's very cool, but it's a LOT of work getting it all organized and time-planning is a real crap shoot. I may end up doing it again (and I already have many hundreds of dollars into the needed equipment) . . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Biology Inquiries is a book of bio labs written for high school teachers. It includes complete materials lists, instructions, student worksheets, and assessments for a full year of bio, but you'd need to pull the materials together yourself. As far as I recall, though, none of the labs required things that were particularly exotic or hard to find. Looks very cool! I've saved it to my Amazon cart! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 This lady developed a good solid biology schedule for her kids. I think she is a forum member but I'm not sure https://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/ Thank you!! I've bookmarked this! Looks like lots of good ideas to investigate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 I don't know if this helps at all, but The Home Scientist (author of Illustrated Guide) now sells a lab kit to accompany the book. Thanks!! I've already*got* pretty much all the stuff . . . it's mostly the lesson planning that I'd like to get a short cut for, lol. Maybe I'm just getting lazy. . . 17 years of homeschooling and I think I'm sick of lesson planning. I used to love the organizing/planning . . . now I just wanna' get to the meat of the matter, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Alrighty . . . I'm going back in . . . and teaching high school biology again next year! For my baby + a pal.. :) I've done this before (4 years ago, for my older 2 kids plus a tag along friend), using Miller & Levine Macaw edition, along with the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments. . . When I did it last time, I was very happy with the M&L text (and the accompanying tests/etc from the publisher), and although we learned a lot using the IGtHBE, it was a LOT of work for me planning & managing the experiments, and the logistics of planning (i.e., knowing how long things would take) was a mess, with plenty of labs taking us 3+ hours. I'll use M&L Macaw again for the text/tests, so just need to figure out what I want to do for lab. I actually have 2 degrees (BS & MS) in biological sciences, and my husband has a whole thermometer of them, so we're well equipped to teach/explain/understand the materials . . . just looking for a lab course fairly well already set up that could correlate well with a biology text. I *can* make up all the labs again and DIY (which is largely what you do with the IGtHBE), but I'd really like some of the grunt work done for me -- in so far as sketching out the "recipe" for the experiments along with time estimates. I can do the explaining/interpreting/etc . . . as much as is needed. Since I like to include one non-family member in my science classes, having no idea if the lab can be done in 90 min vs 200 min is really a nuisance, so I'm hoping to find some materials that make it a little easier with everything more laid out. I own gobs of lab materials, a nice microscope, etc, and have full access to a vet hospital lab, too (having done this bio before and high school chem as well as AP chem and AP env. sci) . . . so I can re-use materials, and I don't mind buying more . . . I'm just hoping to find some sort of lab-in-a-box or at least lab-planned-out-well-in-a-book . . . Money isn't a big limitation. (I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks.) Two students, both working at advanced high school level (algebra, algebra 2, geometry complete, as well as high school chemistry & AP env sci for one student). Could probably handle AP, but I want these girls to get two years of biology, as they are both potential future doctors / pre-med students . .. SO, looking for honors high school level to normal high school level, or even AP level, so long as the labs aren't actually the same ones they'll end up doing in AP Bio in a couple more years. OK, anyone have any great ideas!??? Please?? This year we are using M&L (Macaw book) for our biology text. I also picked up IGtHBE and we started with good intentions, but a lot happened fairly early on in our school year and our biology labs got dropped for a semester for the sake of staying on top of other stuff. I found the labs quite time-consuming and a lot to manage under the circumstances. My plan now is to do my best to get our labs started again and continuing them into the summer in order to do whatever I feel is enough. My fall-back option is to wait until summer and spend the summer doing biology labs as an intensive. I'll vulch here in case anyone proposes some good alternatives. :bigear: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 If you already have biology experience and already have the lab materials, I would just buy a good versatile lab manual and pick and choose out of experiments in there. One of the experimental lab manuals I use is Pendarvis and Crawley "Exploring Biology in the Laboratory. It is versatile because each unit has several exercises you can choose from, so you can tailor your lab to how much time you have time, which resources you have, and the level of your student capability. Some labs are dryl labs, others are very involved, and you choose which works for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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