GeoKitty Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 DS 10th grade (music, history or criminal justice are possible college majors) is struggling through Apolgia chemistry. We have an amazing co-op teacher and his sister also explains it to him. He has done TT Algebra 2 and is at the end of TT geometry. The math isn’t too awful... but the concepts and figuring out what to do is extremely challenging. So, do we struggle through apologia Physics next year? An easier physics? DD will be using apologia and I don’t like the idea of buying two curriculums, though we do that for math already. Or skip physics... let him do earth science, or forensics or something? Thanks ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) Please do NOT skip Physics! Chemistry and Physics are very different animals. Both are crucial. And in our case, Physics was THE most expensive course my DD took, because it required two (2) different lab kits. One for each semester. If your DS should go into Criminal Justice, I suspect there may be quite a bit of Science involved in that Major. Good luck to him! ETA: I suspect that the Admissions Counselor at any serious university would expect to see at least: Biology, Chemistry and Physics from an undergraduate applicant. Edited February 13, 2019 by Lanny add ETA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 Thank you, Lanny. I appreciate your thoughts! Is there a physics curriculum you would recommend? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I was pre-vet way back when and didn't take physics in high school. My oldest daughter did her undergrad in Psychology with Criminal Justice and is now doing Forensic Psychology in Grad School. She didn't take physics in high school either. We still have schools around here that don't offer Physics. I think as long as they take at least 3 sciences in high school, what they are doesn't matter as much. Normal around here is Biology 1, Chemistry 1, Honors Anatomy & Physiology, Honors Chemistry 2. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Certainly back in the day, I didn't do it. I took A&P instead and Chemistry was my physical sci credit. I don't know that it's so different now, but honestly, I can't imagine that a student going into humanities or social sciences would have to have a super traditional science sequence. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) Necessary? No -- not for the fields your student is interested in. Most NON top tier / selective / competitive colleges are very flexible about the sciences. As long as the sciences are lab sciences, and the amount of science credits meet the minimum required for admission, I haven't seen too many colleges dictate WHICH sciences the student needs to have on the transcript, esp. if NOT a STEM student. A few colleges do require Biology & Chemistry, but I have not seen any colleges require Physics for general admission eligibility. You would definitely want to double check the specific PROGRAM or DEPT. that the student would be entering, as that might have addition or special Science requirements -- but that's usually if going for a STEM degree. Edited February 14, 2019 by Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 Thank you! I appreciate your responses! DS will already have (1) Integrated Chemistry & Physics, (2) Biology with lab and (3) Chemistry with lab. And they all have been a slog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Since he already had the basic physics principles in ICP, maybe forensic science would be of more interest than a full physics course and would go along better with criminal justice as a possible major. I know a number of future humanities students who have taken forensic science, human anatomy and physiology, environmental science, or earth science instead of physics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) On 2/13/2019 at 4:45 PM, Where's Toto? said: I was pre-vet way back when and didn't take physics in high school. My oldest daughter did her undergrad in Psychology with Criminal Justice and is now doing Forensic Psychology in Grad School. She didn't take physics in high school either. We still have schools around here that don't offer Physics. I think as long as they take at least 3 sciences in high school, what they are doesn't matter as much. Normal around here is Biology 1, Chemistry 1, Honors Anatomy & Physiology, Honors Chemistry 2. It’s amazing how many high schools in the US don’t even offer physics because they can’t find a qualified teacher. I think it probably depends on the type of colleges he’s looking at. Top schools probably will expect it. Below that they are probably more interested in a certain number of science credits. I do think most college bound students would benefit from a well taught physics course, but many don’t even have that as an option. Edited March 3, 2019 by Frances 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 My dd took a lot of rigorous classes - public school, lots of AP's in the humanities. She took physics but skipped Chem. Everyone was shocked. It worked out ok. Her sciences were only Hon Physics, Hon Bio, and AP Environmental Science. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 Thank you for your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) I think there is a great deal of value in wrestling with difficult material, regardless of how/if you will use it directly later. This is one reason why all of my children, regardless of future major or ability, have done/will do physics, chemistry, and biology. Physics seems to be the science that you can see happening the most. They drive cars and throw balls and swing things around etc. I want them to know as much as they can about the physics behind it all! In Physics the mathematical difficulty and number of topics we have covered has varied among children. One son wrestled through the first semester and the second semester we covered less in the book and he spent the rest of the time reading books I found at the university library about physics topics related to an area of interest (audio). Conceptual Physics is an option for less math. Edited February 14, 2019 by Kendall Fixing horrible sentence! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 On 2/13/2019 at 4:55 PM, GeoKitty said: Thank you, Lanny. I appreciate your thoughts! Is there a physics curriculum you would recommend? We are working through Centripetal Press' "Introductory Physics" and I am loving it. It is designed differently and with different goals than the typical high school science text. The scope of the physics course is less broad than most high school texts (it doesn't touch on nuclear physics, for example), but the book asks a student to look deeper into what it does cover. More time is spent on understanding the concepts and working problems than on demonstration labs every week. What labs there are require the student to write up a full lab report from their marbled lab notebook. Emphasis is put on crafting fewer, but more well-constructed, lab reports. There is no "memorize and dump" material for each chapter because each chapter quiz is cumulative and gets more complex as the year progresses. The set comes with a text, answers keys, solutions manual, DVD of tests/quizzes, and "The Student Lab Report Handbook". I highly recommend this set! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 DS did astronomy, chemistry, biology w/A&P, and human paleontology (DE). No problem with college acceptance or scholarships. DD is currently doing A&P, will do chem next year, and then maybe earth science or forensics or something. She is into art & music and is not heading for any kind of career that would require physics. I never took physics in HS myself, and had a full ride to a great LAC. I think colleges expect to see at least three sciences, with at least 1 life science and 1 physical science. That also seems to be the most common GenEd requirement, so it's good to have some kind of background in both areas. But there are a lot of options in college to fulfill the science GenEds for nonSTEM majors, like astronomy, geology, nutrition, environmental science, physical anthropology, etc., so skipping physics in HS is not really going to handicap a student. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 Thank you, Reefgazer! I’m going to look that up! thank you, Corraleno ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 honestly, I let my kids pick high school science. college wants 2 to 4 sciences, usually at least 2 with labs. ds will have Environmental, Biology, Chemistry and Geology DD will have Physical, Biology, Astronomy, and Physics. She might also do Anatomy. This year one is doing Chemistry, one is doing Physics. They pick b/c they have to do the work. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Sounds like your basics are already covered. Let him pick his science from here on out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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