Apologia General science 2nd Ed. Vs 3rd Ed.

[lulalu]

What is the difference between Apologia General science 2nd and 3rd edition? 3rd edition is a lot more expensive and seems to have added extra books. 

Also, is this generally an 8th grade science or do most wait until high school for this science course? 

 

[desertflower]

I don’t know the difference, but my son is doing it for 7th grade. And so will my daughter next year. 
 

it is to my understanding that apologia physical science is for 8th grade. Then apologia biology, chemistry and physics. 

[freesia]

General Science is not considered a high school level class. Higher school level classes are usually specific classes like Biology, Chemistry, etc. Some people/states do have physical science as a high school level class as well. Usually physical is done in eighth and general in seventh. 

[cbollin]

Written in mind as 7th grade or 8th grade.   My youngest used 3rd edition in high school only because she was on special ed track so we could do stuff like that. But for most students, this is not high school as fressia said. My oldest and middle used 2nd edition in grade 7.   When youngest did 3rd edition it was sold as a hard cover.  I think it's now soft cover so treat gently if you want it to last a few students.  maybe that's changed again.

2nd edition had a different author than 3rd.  3rd edition seems to say that the student journal is "required". One good side of that is then you have a learning opportunity for student to take notes and learn how to develop a notebook and study book.  It's not required in this sense: if you don't have the book , then you end up doing your own way to teach student how to do notes.   I found it convenient to use the publisher notebook for one year and then after that my students knew what to do and it seemed like a waste of resources to use the specific one.   The 2nd edition author recommended using regular notebooks and gave general advice how to make notes and lab reports.  3rd edition give very hand over hand, lots of supports (the notebook) to do that.

Because authors were quite different, there are changes in the text. Can't easily mix and match resources from editions and getting harder to find 2nd edition stuff used. some experiments and demos will be different.  No you don't "need" the video. It's a resource if you want. No you don't "need" the audio; again that's a resource if helpful.  

I'm not one who can give a good review on the content differences except to say look at table of contents.   I can't say oh this author is blah blah, and the other one needed to do this.  or else the world will end. or something.  I know there are reviews like that out there.  LOL.  ok, I'm using hyperbole for humor.    I know at one point I wrote more of a review while using 3rd edition. maybe I can find it again. or not. I liked both editions for different reasons. 2nd edition would have been very far (huh?) not have worked with my special needs youngest for many reasons.  I was glad to have audio and video helps for her.  

Edited February 5, 2022 by cbollin

[Green Bean]

The two editions are completely different. 2nd spent more than half the book on the human body, but 3rd is all branches of science, for example. The 14th module is not really science per se. The tone, layout, and coverage are much improved, to us. We were never Wile fans. The notebook is fantastic to have, especially for the lab reports in the back. I would say it is a Must Have. 

Echoing this book is intended to be used in 7th grade or by an advanced 6th grader who will be taking pre-algebra in 7th. Math level and science walk hand in hand.

Have you looked at the extensive sample at Apologia's site? I think they even have a comparison of the old vs the new edition.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Green Bean

[lulalu]

On 2/4/2022 at 11:17 AM, cbollin said:

Written in mind as 7th grade or 8th grade.   My youngest used 3rd edition in high school only because she was on special ed track so we could do stuff like that. But for most students, this is not high school as fressia said. My oldest and middle used 2nd edition in grade 7.   When youngest did 3rd edition it was sold as a hard cover.  I think it's now soft cover so treat gently if you want it to last a few students.  maybe that's changed again.

2nd edition had a different author than 3rd.  3rd edition seems to say that the student journal is "required". One good side of that is then you have a learning opportunity for student to take notes and learn how to develop a notebook and study book.  It's not required in this sense: if you don't have the book , then you end up doing your own way to teach student how to do notes.   I found it convenient to use the publisher notebook for one year and then after that my students knew what to do and it seemed like a waste of resources to use the specific one.   The 2nd edition author recommended using regular notebooks and gave general advice how to make notes and lab reports.  3rd edition give very hand over hand, lots of supports (the notebook) to do that.

Because authors were quite different, there are changes in the text. Can't easily mix and match resources from editions and getting harder to find 2nd edition stuff used. some experiments and demos will be different.  No you don't "need" the video. It's a resource if you want. No you don't "need" the audio; again that's a resource if helpful.  

I'm not one who can give a good review on the content differences except to say look at table of contents.   I can't say oh this author is blah blah, and the other one needed to do this.  or else the world will end. or something.  I know there are reviews like that out there.  LOL.  ok, I'm using hyperbole for humor.    I know at one point I wrote more of a review while using 3rd edition. maybe I can find it again. or not. I liked both editions for different reasons. 2nd edition would have been very far (huh?) not have worked with my special needs youngest for many reasons.  I was glad to have audio and video helps for her.  

Found your previous posts about the difference. Thanks! It was helpful. 

[lulalu]

I guess I need to take a look at their website. I didn't look close before to realize general was meant for 7th. I tend to like old school homeschool materials better than the newer stuff, but 3rd edition might fit our needs better. I just wish it wasn't so expensive! 

[staceyobu]

We did the 3rd edition. I found it to be really well done. I heard from friends their kids got really bogged down with the older versions. 

 

[cbollin]

yes, some people will say 2nd is better.  others will say meh, all the same.  Even the main curriculum stuff I used back in the day changed from suggesting 2nd/ then 3rd to going with a whole other product line for middle school.  Hard to get 2nd edition stuff when it's out of print. 

if it helps someone other than OP, I also found my posts on a thread from 2 years ago when I had just done the 3rd edition.  It might help others.  Some of what I wrote doesn't make sense unless one is also reading the review that I link in the answer. https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/698274-apologia-general-science-3rd-edition

I apologize for horrible writing style on that review. I'm sure what I wrote made sense at the time.