Online Chemistry class for Ecology/Envoronmental/ Life Sciences?

[Sharon37127]

My high school student wants to focus on environmental science, ecology, and conservation is college.  She will be starting out at a community college.  She needs a high school credit for chemistry, but has little attention for anything unless it is directly connected to her interests.  We have made the transition to online classes with teachers away from curriculum that I facilitate.  Does anything like this exist for homeschoolers?  

[ScoutTN]

Chemistry is just chemistry - it certainly has application in your daughter’s interests, but she probably just needs a basic class.

Have you read through the pinned Chemistry thread? Some online courses will be full already, but there are many choices, as long as her math is adequate.

[royspeed]

Sharon37127:

 

 

3 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

there are many choices, as long as her math is adequate.

Both parts of what ScoutTN says are spot on:

• Your daughter needs to have completed at least Algebra I — in chemistry, the analysis of formulas requires algebraic concepts & methods.
• For online chemistry, you have many choices — my suggestions:
  1) You seek a course with solid labs — chemistry labs are difficult to provide at home without the proper equipment & materials;
  2) You make your priority good teaching.

Good luck to you.

Edited March 23, 2022 by desertflower
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[Farrar]

Yeah, tons of online options for chemistry. In addition to the class at HSCollegeBound that Roy mentioned, there's Blue Tent, Aim, WTMA, Fundafunda, Next Level... tons of options. Plus, there's Clover Valley Chemistry, which everyone here loves and with good reason. It's a really rigorous course though, so it may or may not be the course you want. On the one hand, for a kid not interested in chemistry who just wants to get it done, I wouldn't usually suggest it. On the other hand, for a kid interested in a STEM field, having a strong chemistry course is going to help long term, so you may want a class like the CVC one.

[AEC]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

Plus, there's Clover Valley Chemistry, which everyone here loves and with good reason. It's a really rigorous course though, so it may or may not be the course you want. On the one hand, for a kid not interested in chemistry who just wants to get it done, I wouldn't usually suggest it. On the other hand, for a kid interested in a STEM field, having a strong chemistry course is going to help long term, so you may want a class like the CVC one.

came here just to say this.

CVC now has multiple levels of HS chem. None are 'easy', but there's a huge range. And Connie is just the best. SO encouraging.

I had a stem-ish kid (mostly mathish, tbh) who was convinced they despised chemistry (there were actual tears over 'you must take this'), who will be headed to college next year as a Chem/IntegratedSciences major. I blame congratulate the CVC class for that. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cintinative]

As a former environmental consultant, let me just say there is a whole lot of chemistry in environmental science, if that is the major she sticks with. Ecology and conservation--has it sometimes--it depends on if she leans toward natural resources conservation (e.g. naturalist) versus natural resources protection (e.g. EPA). That said, even a naturalist is going to learn to look out for sources of pollution and their impact.

Getting a good chemistry class in now may help her further refine her choice of major. I recommend a solid chemistry class.  If she needs motivation, she could spend some time reading up on Superfund cleanup sites, drinking water contamination issues of the last couple of decades, etc.  I think perhaps once she reads those, she will understand better how chemistry is a part of environmental science in general.

This college has many majors relating to the environment, ranging from forestry to engineering. Just FYI if she wants to explore the spectrum of options https://www.esf.edu/departments/

Edited March 23, 2022 by cintinative