RS4K Biology--for those here who have used it

[Karin]

What have you found to be the drawbacks to this? Some have said that while they liked RS4K Chem, they didn't care for the Bio. Also, which edition did you use, if you know? We have the 2008 edition, and I'm not sure which changes have been made.

We already own this, and can easily supplement with Science Encyclopedias or books from the library. I just want to know what faults you thought there were.

[Laura Corin]

Hello

Yes, I liked RS4K chem, but the bio was less successful. I am still using it for Hobbes, but in a somewhat eccentric way. The biology seems very mixed up: some of the chapters are at a kindergarten level - life cycles of various animals, simple water cycles, etc. Other chapters get seriously into microscope work and cells. Doing it with Calvin in 4th grade, we just skimmed the simple chapters and dove into the more meaty ones. With Hobbes, I have already done the simple chapters and will come back to the more complicated ones after we do the chemistry course, in a year or so.

The edition we have is copyright 2004.

Best wishes

Laura

[Karin]

Hello

Yes, I liked RS4K chem, but the bio was less successful. I am still using it for Hobbes, but in a somewhat eccentric way. The biology seems very mixed up: some of the chapters are at a kindergarten level - life cycles of various animals, simple water cycles, etc. Other chapters get seriously into microscope work and cells. Doing it with Calvin in 4th grade, we just skimmed the simple chapters and dove into the more meaty ones. With Hobbes, I have already done the simple chapters and will come back to the more complicated ones after we do the chemistry course, in a year or so.

The edition we have is copyright 2004.

Best wishes

Laura


Thanks so much! This is just what I wanted to hear. I think the 2008 one is somewhat better, but the experiment for taxonomy is just way too kindergartenish for me (we've just started the first chapter). I'm going to have them gather different insects, leaves, weeds, etc, and have them organize them instead of rocks, sticks, etc. This is mainly for my non-sciency 11 yo, and so far she actually likes the book, and my 8 yo who hasn't done much bio yet (he's into airplanes & physics).

DD didn't like the taxonomy section of our Science encyclopedia because it was all about evolution; I thought that even if it was rather simple, Keller's explanation was better because it discussed the cellular structure of the life forms involved and how that is how things are classified into orders now. It didn't go into any detail on that, however, at least not yet.

At any rate, I'm actually doing science with my 11 yo this year with RS4K, which is a big plus. She likes biology better than chemistry, at least so far.

[Corraleno]

The biology seems very mixed up: some of the chapters are at a kindergarten level - life cycles of various animals, simple water cycles, etc. Other chapters get seriously into microscope work and cells.
Laura

:iagree:
I think the chapters on cells and protists are quite good, but the frog & butterfly life cycles are kindy level and the other chapters are just OK. I decided to use My Pals are Here 5/6, which I think covers most of the topics with greater breadth/depth, and just use RS4K to supplement the section on cells and to cover protists (which aren't covered in MPH). MPH also covers things that aren't addressed in RS4K, like human anatomy & physiology, which I definitely want to cover this year.

Jackie
(I have the 2008 edition of RS4K, and the new 2009 MPH 5/6)

[Karin]

:iagree:
I think the chapters on cells and protists are quite good, but the frog & butterfly life cycles are kindy level and the other chapters are just OK. I decided to use My Pals are Here 5/6, which I think covers most of the topics with greater breadth/depth, and just use RS4K to supplement the section on cells and to cover protists (which aren't covered in MPH). MPH also covers things that aren't addressed in RS4K, like human anatomy & physiology, which I definitely want to cover this year.

Jackie
(I have the 2008 edition of RS4K, and the new 2009 MPH 5/6)


It's interesting that the cellular stuff is Dr. Keller's best biology work, and makes sense given her background. I wanted her biology for it's neutral (no evolution/creationism/ID) approach. We have human body books already, and thanks for reminding me that I want to included those in this biology section.

Does My Pals are Here 5/6 take an evolutionary slant to everything? I just get tired of everything having to say that such and such evolved that way when it isn't proven beyond the shadow of doubt to me (not for this post--there are some interesting threads on this you can find in the evolution tags). I also get tired of certain Christian materials, too. I just want to study all the terrific cellular structures, anatomies, ecology, ethology, etc and deal with creationism/evolution/ID as a connected subject.

[Corraleno]

I haven't seen anything in MPH about evolution at all. There is a chapter on heredity in the Cycles book, which focuses on genetics, and a few chapters on ecosystems and adaptations in the Interactions book, but they just focus on how different animals are uniquely adapted to their habitats (doesn't mention how that happened). So you can certainly present the evolution/creation debate separately.

The only thing I don't like about the MPH series is the way they mix physics and biology throughout all 4 books. I'm thinking about cutting them up and reassembling them into a Biology book and a Physical Science book. At least they're cheap -- I think it was about $35 in total for the 4 topic books and 4 workbooks, and I can use the bio sections this year and the physical science sections next year.

Jackie

[Blessedfamily]

Hello

Yes, I liked RS4K chem, but the bio was less successful. ... The biology seems very mixed up: some of the chapters are at a kindergarten level - life cycles of various animals, simple water cycles, etc. Other chapters get seriously into microscope work and cells. ...
Best wishes

Laura

I haven't used it, but I flipped thourgh every page of the book on the website, and this was my exact impression. I really need a biology text, too. I'll be following this thread.

[Karin]

I haven't seen anything in MPH about evolution at all. There is a chapter on heredity in the Cycles book, which focuses on genetics, and a few chapters on ecosystems and adaptations in the Interactions book, but they just focus on how different animals are uniquely adapted to their habitats (doesn't mention how that happened). So you can certainly present the evolution/creation debate separately.

The only thing I don't like about the MPH series is the way they mix physics and biology throughout all 4 books. I'm thinking about cutting them up and reassembling them into a Biology book and a Physical Science book. At least they're cheap -- I think it was about $35 in total for the 4 topic books and 4 workbooks, and I can use the bio sections this year and the physical science sections next year.

Jackie


Thanks. I'm not sure I'll be able to add this due to budget reasons, but I'll look for it and used curricula sales, etc.