Biology suggestions?

[purpleowl]

Any recommendations for biology for accelerated kids who will be in 7th and 4th by age? This year (6th and 3rd) they are doing Conceptual Physics and it's working well for them; I have added some labs and have been teaching them how to write lab reports. Regarding math level, next year DD#1 will be doing AOPS Intro to Geometry; DD#2, AOPS Intro to Algebra.

I am NOT interested in online courses. 

I will want to include labs. I'm fine if there's a program that includes labs as part of it, but I'm also fine incorporating labs from a separate source alongside our study of a main text, if that ends up working better. We do have a good microscope (though I will have to relearn how to use it!).

I have looked at the sticky thread for biology in the high school forum, but I found it kind of overwhelming. 

(Yes, I know it's only December, but planning is on my mind right now and I'm just going with it, lol.)

[MamaSprout]

We did Campbell's Exploring Life at about that age.

To be honest, though, I wish we had skipped bio and did something off the beaten path (anatomy, astronomy, geology, environmental science...black holes?). When we got to high school we just ended up punting Biology into a CLEP test. She didn't have enough interest to do AP Bio and we really didn't have a good DE option. Everything else was stuff we had already covered.

[purpleowl]

1 hour ago, MamaSprout said:

We did Campbell's Exploring Life at about that age.

To be honest, though, I wish we had skipped bio and did something off the beaten path (anatomy, astronomy, geology, environmental science...black holes?). When we got to high school we just ended up punting Biology into a CLEP test. She didn't have enough interest to do AP Bio and we really didn't have a good DE option. Everything else was stuff we had already covered.

Thanks!

We are local to a state flagship that offers DE, so I'm assuming that will be a good option if it's needed later.

My main reason for planning on biology for next year is that it's next in the WTM cycle since they're doing physics now. But I guess I'm not firmly attached to the idea - it's just what I'd assumed we would do. 

[SeaConquest]

We did Miller Levine, along with a year of Outschool classes that were really cool (but I know you said you weren't interested in those).

[Dmmetler]

The Holt Biology text, with the homeschool bundle,would be accessible. It is much more readable as a first run than Campbell. 

[purpleowl]

41 minutes ago, SeaConquest said:

We did Miller Levine, along with a year of Outschool classes that were really cool (but I know you said you weren't interested in those).

Thanks! I mainly just like teaching my kids myself, so if it's something I feel capable of teaching, I don't want to outsource it. (Plus they spend enough time on screens as it is - though they would disagree with me on that. 😄)

3 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

The Holt Biology text, with the homeschool bundle,would be accessible. It is much more readable as a first run than Campbell. 

Thank you! Readability is important. Is the homeschool bundle something to order directly from the publisher if I went with this option?

[EKS]

13 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

To be honest, though, I wish we had skipped bio and did something off the beaten path (anatomy, astronomy, geology, environmental science...black holes?). 

I second this.  It's hard to see how wonderful it is to do off the beaten path stuff until after it's all over.  I'd take advantage of the time you have now--especially if you think she might attend a traditional school sometime in the future.

[Dmmetler]

33 minutes ago, purpleowl said:

Thanks! I mainly just like teaching my kids myself, so if it's something I feel capable of teaching, I don't want to outsource it. (Plus they spend enough time on screens as it is - though they would disagree with me on that. 😄)

Thank you! Readability is important. Is the homeschool bundle something to order directly from the publisher if I went with this option?

It used to be available on Homescholo Buyers co-op at a discount, so check there first. 

[purpleowl]

11 minutes ago, EKS said:

I second this.  It's hard to see how wonderful it is to do off the beaten path stuff until after it's all over.  I'd take advantage of the time you have now--especially if you think she might attend a traditional school sometime in the future.

The plan is homeschooling all the way through. I am aware that plans can change, but at present, that's the plan.

So, the path I was thinking would be biology next year, then a year of geology and astronomy, then chemistry, then physics. At that point they would be able to choose additional areas of study (off the beaten path) or AP or DE options.

It seems like biology would be a prerequisite course for things like anatomy, marine biology, zoology, botany, etc., so it would be better to do biology before any of those. Am I wrong about that? I don't mind changing things around, but I don't want to throw them into a course and then realize that it has a whole bunch of assumed background info that they're missing.

Environmental science - maybe? Meteorology? Would they need to be at higher math levels for that? 

[MamaSprout]

10 hours ago, Dmmetler said:

The Holt Biology text, with the homeschool bundle,would be accessible. It is much more readable as a first run than Campbell. 

Exploring Life is very readable. It's a smidge old, but very friendly. We did it along with the Hogland Exploring How Life Works book. 

Amazon.com: Biology Exploring Life (9780132508827): Neil A. Campbell, Brad Williamson, Robin J. Heyden: Books

8 hours ago, purpleowl said:

The plan is homeschooling all the way through. I am aware that plans can change, but at present, that's the plan.

So, the path I was thinking would be biology next year, then a year of geology and astronomy, then chemistry, then physics. At that point they would be able to choose additional areas of study (off the beaten path) or AP or DE options.

It seems like biology would be a prerequisite course for things like anatomy, marine biology, zoology, botany, etc., so it would be better to do biology before any of those. Am I wrong about that? I don't mind changing things around, but I don't want to throw them into a course and then realize that it has a whole bunch of assumed background info that they're missing.

Environmental science - maybe? Meteorology? Would they need to be at higher math levels for that? 

Environmental science is very accessible and would be a good option if you want something like biology. It's a topic that can get missed, squeezed in at the end of biology.

We ended up doubling back to do biology because one of the colleges on dd's list specified that she had high school biology, and I couldn't see counting biology from 6th grade.  Since she'll likely do engineering, she won't need the DE/ AP credit, both of which are time consuming courses, and she wanted to take other courses that interested her more.

Edited December 5, 2020 by MamaSprout

[daijobu]

Home Biology Experiments has a lot of good material to work with.  

[SoCal_Bear]

I thought the Holt biology text was pretty good as well. It was used for the Athena Academy course. It wasn't overwhelming at all. My son was in 5th grade by age when we did that.

I believe CK12 biology is free so you should be able to line up topics and take labs from there as well. You can even use some of what's in there to supplement what you plan to do. They have interesting videos, simulations, discussion guides and real world applications as well.

Edited December 16, 2020 by calbear

[TheAttachedMama]

I put together my own plans this year using Miller-Levine Biology as a spine.  We supplement with Ameoba Sisters (YouTube videos) and then we are using Experience Biology (Advanced) for labs, lectures, and weekly research projects.   We also are taking this time to learn to write lab reports and are using the Lab Report book by the guy who wrote the Novare books.   (My 7th and 8th grade kids are doing this. 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by TheAttachedMama

[Flatlander]

On 12/20/2020 at 5:24 AM, TheAttachedMama said:

I put together my own plans this year using Miller-Levine Biology as a spine.  We supplement with Ameoba Sisters (YouTube videos) and then we are using Experience Biology (Advanced) for labs, lectures, and weekly research projects.   We also are taking this time to learn to write lab reports and are using the Lab Report book by the guy who wrote the Novare books.   (My 7th and 8th grade kids are doing this. 

 

 

 

On 12/4/2020 at 7:02 PM, SeaConquest said:

We did Miller Levine, along with a year of Outschool classes that were really cool (but I know you said you weren't interested in those).

I had originally planed to use CK-12 Biology for High School for Spring Semester but as I start to do real prep I'm less enamored.  I'm taking a second look at Miller Levine Biology from Pearson/Savvas, because we're really liking Pearson/Savvas' Essentials of Geology.

To use Miller Levine, did you just get the Student Textbook or did you also get the Teacher's Edition?  Any experience with their optional Lab Manuals?  Did you use the 2019 Edition (Bee) or 2017 (Macaw)?

[Miss Tick]

On 12/5/2020 at 10:51 PM, daijobu said:

Home Biology Experiments has a lot of good material to work with.  

I used this last year. The book is free to download, although i needed a paper copy to record my scribbles about which labs, in what order, what we skipped, etc. I also purchased a lab kit from them - amortized cost is better with two students! They have a document aligning the labs to a couple of common texts, but that wasn't an issue for us so I didn't open the document.

[TheAttachedMama]

On 12/25/2020 at 12:18 PM, Flatlander said:

 

I had originally planed to use CK-12 Biology for High School for Spring Semester but as I start to do real prep I'm less enamored.  I'm taking a second look at Miller Levine Biology from Pearson/Savvas, because we're really liking Pearson/Savvas' Essentials of Geology.

To use Miller Levine, did you just get the Student Textbook or did you also get the Teacher's Edition?  Any experience with their optional Lab Manuals?  Did you use the 2019 Edition (Bee) or 2017 (Macaw)?

Hi Flatlander,   Sorry for the late reply!   Figuring out what to buy with Miller Levine is the hardest part.  🙂.    I decided that I would rather spend my money on lab equipment, so I tried to save money when buying the textbook.   For that reason, I purchased the textbook used and got the cheapest version that I could find.  We are using the Miller-Levine MacCaw version 2017.   I just got the student version, and I have not needed the teacher's edition.   I found most of the solutions to the book online for free.  (https://www.slader.com/textbook/9780133669510-biology/).  I did not think that the lab manual looked all that great (personally).  

I did look at the 2019 and 2020 digital samples online and thought they looked REALLY cool.  A lot has been happening in the world of Biology, so if you have the money (and can figure out how to order from that company! hahaha), you might want to go with one of those.   I thought the updates were very interesting.  

[TheAttachedMama]

Deleted:  Double post

Edited December 29, 2020 by TheAttachedMama

[Flatlander]

3 hours ago, TheAttachedMama said:

Hi Flatlander,   Sorry for the late reply!   Figuring out what to buy with Miller Levine is the hardest part.  🙂.    I decided that I would rather spend my money on lab equipment, so I tried to save money when buying the textbook.   For that reason, I purchased the textbook used and got the cheapest version that I could find.  We are using the Miller-Levine MacCaw version 2017.   I just got the student version, and I have not needed the teacher's edition.   I found most of the solutions to the book online for free.  (https://www.slader.com/textbook/9780133669510-biology/).  I did not think that the lab manual looked all that great (personally).  

I did look at the 2019 and 2020 digital samples online and thought they looked REALLY cool.  A lot has been happening in the world of Biology, so if you have the money (and can figure out how to order from that company! hahaha), you might want to go with one of those.   I thought the updates were very interesting.  

Thank you, that link to Slader is awesome! 

Just by happenstance the textbook we chose for Geology is also by Pearson/Savvas and its chapter quizzes are only online, so I'm compelled to navigate the publisher's bureaucratic maze.  I'll post if I get it figured out. 

 

On 12/5/2020 at 10:51 PM, daijobu said:

Home Biology Experiments has a lot of good material to work with.  

A discussion on the High School forum referenced labs from Biology Corner.  So I'll compare those labs to Home Biology Experiments and to the labs that go with the Miller Levine text book.  The availability of required supplies will obviously factor in ... and I keep reminding myself this is only 8th grade.

 

[daijobu]

Here's a link to the free PDF.

[purpleowl]

On 12/25/2020 at 3:16 PM, SusanC said:

I used this last year. The book is free to download, although i needed a paper copy to record my scribbles about which labs, in what order, what we skipped, etc. I also purchased a lab kit from them - amortized cost is better with two students! They have a document aligning the labs to a couple of common texts, but that wasn't an issue for us so I didn't open the document.

Did you find one lab kit sufficient for two students to do the labs? Or did you have to get extra of some supplies?

[Miss Tick]

They did all the work together (separate notebooks), but I can't think of anything we used up. Dd agrees - and has a better memory for those details! I was keeping an eye on it wondering if I would be able to use the kit again after 4 years when youngest is ready... The guy that filled the order for me was quick to respond to the questions I had, so you could try asking their opinion too. Plus they offer most everything piecemeal if needed.

[purpleowl]

12 minutes ago, SusanC said:

They did all the work together (separate notebooks), but I can't think of anything we used up. Dd agrees - and has a better memory for those details! I was keeping an eye on it wondering if I would be able to use the kit again after 4 years when youngest is ready... The guy that filled the order for me was quick to respond to the questions I had, so you could try asking their opinion too. Plus they offer most everything piecemeal if needed.

Thanks! Something that both of my girls can use is a big plus (and I'll probably keep what I can to reuse with DS when he's at that stage). 

Edited December 30, 2020 by purpleowl