serendipitous journey Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 After scouring the boards, and taking a serious look at Quarks & Quirks biology (thanks to all those who have posted about that, and who answered my questions), I'm leaning toward MIT's OCW Scholar Fundamentals of Biology*, which uses Campbell Biology (I've linked the 11th edition, which I believe is current; the course itself seems to have used the 8th edition, which is also a much less expensive option now). The student is concurrently taking Algebra II, has a fairly casual formal biology background, but a very strong science background generally and DH is a neuroscientist, I'm ABD in a biology field, so we can provide support. The plan would be to work through Ellen McHenry's Carbon Chemistry and maybe Cells before beginning this course, and to allow a full year to finish (unless the child goes much faster). I'd add some biology labs: the idea is dissections over the summer, working toward getting a serious (quasi-homesteading, which is an ambitious plan for us -- veggie garden may be what we fall back on) garden going, pulling some labs from a homeschool biology lab kit/book, and having a biomechanical project of some sort with Legos or other construction materials. This is for a very engineering-oriented child, and the last thing is a flexible goal and add-on, not a central component of the biology. Any BTDT with this course? Feedback about the plan? * off-topic: just a little shout-out and thank you to Ursa Minor, a new and free CM curriculum, whose 9th grade curriculum page lists this course and pointed out the cheaper edition of Campbell's. ETA: I'd really love to know pros/cons of using the OCW plan versus just the Campbell. I imagine that OCW would provide a more rigorous/challenging framework, but we might cover fewer of the Campbell topics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I thought the OCW Biology assumed Calculus. The OCW page doesn't say so, but I think I saw it on the EdX version. ETA- We're planning for Holt for bio because of that, but if Campbell/ OCW is an option, I would prefer it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 11 hours ago, MamaSprout said: I thought the OCW Biology assumed Calculus. The OCW page doesn't say so, but I think I saw it on the EdX version. ETA- We're planning for Holt for bio because of that, but if Campbell/ OCW is an option, I would prefer it. Thanks for replying! and: well, that would be daunting. Though, looking over the topics, it seems that calculus wouldn't be essential. I can imagine some graphs being sketched and discussed but don't see how calculus would be essential. Especially if you are giving the problem sets and assignments. ? At any rate, I can't find this on EdX or anywhere else I looked, so if you'd prefer it, it looks like you're okay. May I ask why you'd like to do Campbell/OCW? and why OCW and not just Campbell? I'm trying to figure out how to even think about all this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Happy to reply... Although I don't feel like I have much BTDT wisdom. I feel like we lost some of the "old guard" when the boards switched over. It is summer, though, so things are slow. Things have changed slightly on EdX. There used to be a link directly from the OCW Fundamentals of Biology page, and that EdX link had calculus listed under Prerequisites (on the right side bar). Now there is a course with a slightly different name and no direct link: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-biology-secret-life-mitx-7-00x-7 The Prerequisites now says, "Previous high school biology and chemistry." I don't see the Campbell book listed, though, so it might be a re-mix. Same professor, whom I've heard is very good. If the OCW course is looking also looking for that, then it is an option for us, since she will have done both. It just says a "Freshman level". Of course, all Freshman at MIT have had calculus me thinks... I would prefer the OCW because I do think the professor is one of the best, dd liked Campbell's Exploring Life as a middle school course, and the format of book + video professor (including recitation videos) is a good set up for her. I would do all of her math and science that way if I could. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Thanks so much! Yes, I think calculus is pretty much assumed BUT there seem to be first-years whose Calculus may not be rock-solid, and I came across a beginning math course rec'd for them but there was no mention of needing the calc for the intro-level courses generally (though I'd expect physics assumes it). Funny about the EdX page change. I'll try to hunt around more. 12 hours ago, MamaSprout said: ... I would do all of her math and science that way if I could. All with OCW? If so, what do you see as the constraint/prevention/rate-limiting-factor on OCW? I imagine it could be student tolerance for the content/format? again: thanks! ETA: This OCW Intro Biology and the OCW Scholars Fundamentals of Biology pages both have a link to EdX embedded, but these pages have no mention of calculus that I can see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 8 hours ago, serendipitous journey said: All with OCW? If so, what do you see as the constraint/prevention/rate-limiting-factor on OCW? I imagine it could be student tolerance for the content/format? again: thanks! ETA: This OCW Intro Biology and the https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-01sc-fundamentals-of-biology-fall-2011/y pages both have a link to EdX embedded, but these pages have no mention of calculus that I can see Oh, nice find. Looking at it, the "Intro to Biology" course isn't a "Scholar" course, and those are usually less complete. This one says "selected lecture notes", and some of the linked readings are gone and won't be replaced. It doesn't use Campbell. The "Fundamentals" course is a Scholar Course and does use Campbell. It assumes the student will spend around 150 hours on the materials (a year-long credit), but doesn't cover all topics if you want to take SAT/AP courses. So a little extra study would be needed for those. For dd, not necessarily OCW, but when she has book + notes + online lectures for math and science she does really well. If it's missing one of those components, things are harder for some reason. There's lots of math and science that has two out of the three... It works okay if the book lines up really well with the lectures, and the teacher is one dd really likes, but otherwise not as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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