How do I pick a Physics course?

[Leanna]

Ds is a sophomore and I plan for him to take physics next year. He is taking Chalkdust PreCalculus right now and is doing well. He is also taking Apologia Chemistry through our co-op and is getting an A.

I really don't know what to look for in a Physics book. We have used Apologia in the past, but I had confidence in the choice because there was a very qualified teacher at co-op teaching the classes. Next year, ds in the only student at co-op who wants to take physics, so we're on our own. I have read that there is a difference between calculus based physics and algebra based physics. Does he need to complete calculus before taking a calculus based physics course? Should I have him take an algebra based physics as a junior and then look for a more advanced physics course for senior year? Ds is likely to major in engineering in college, so I want to make sure he gets what he needs.

BTW- he'll probably be able to take Calculus next year via Chalkdust with a friend as a tutor if needed.

WWYD?

Leanna

[Musicmom]

Ds is a sophomore and I plan for him to take physics next year. He is taking Chalkdust PreCalculus right now and is doing well. He is also taking Apologia Chemistry through our co-op and is getting an A.

I really don't know what to look for in a Physics book. We have used Apologia in the past, but I had confidence in the choice because there was a very qualified teacher at co-op teaching the classes. Next year, ds in the only student at co-op who wants to take physics, so we're on our own. I have read that there is a difference between calculus based physics and algebra based physics. Does he need to complete calculus before taking a calculus based physics course? Should I have him take an algebra based physics as a junior and then look for a more advanced physics course for senior year? Ds is likely to major in engineering in college, so I want to make sure he gets what he needs.

BTW- he'll probably be able to take Calculus next year via Chalkdust with a friend as a tutor if needed.

WWYD?

Leanna

Hi Leanna,

You might consider going ahead with Apologia Physics on your own. Apologia is pretty much self-teaching--it is addressed to the student and the accompanying CD-ROMs are helpful. The folks at Apologia are also very good about answering questions. It is algebra-based, by the way, and you need some trigonometry, but I presume your ds would have gotten that in pre-calculus.

My ds (who is also planning to go into engineering) did Apologia Physics and Adv Physics in 10th grade (along with pre-calc.) These two together make up the equivalent of an AP Physics B course (which is non-calculus based), and prepared my son very well for the SAT II in Physics--he scored really high, and it was nice to have that score for college apps. It is challenging, but Apologia is written directly to the student, so is designed to be self-teaching.

Ds is now a senior and just this semester is doing a calculus-based physics course (only the mechanics half) through EPGY. Based on what I've seen, both through EPGY and looking at freshman engineering major requirements, calculus-based physics courses have calculus as at least a co-requisite--and the engineering programs we've looked at seem to start off with freshman taking both calculus and physics (calculus-based). I've wrestled with the same question--what physics to do in high school, given the student may have to take it over again in college... Ds isn't in college yet, so don't know how that will turn out, but I do feel like having a solid non-calculus based physics course as a base has been good.

HTH

[Leanna]

My ds (who is also planning to go into engineering) did Apologia Physics and Adv Physics in 10th grade (along with pre-calc.) These two together make up the equivalent of an AP Physics B course (which is non-calculus based), and prepared my son very well for the SAT II in Physics--he scored really high, and it was nice to have that score for college apps. It is challenging, but Apologia is written directly to the student, so is designed to be self-teaching.



Thank you for your reply. Did your ds complete both Apologia Physics courses in the 9month school year, or was that spread out over a longer period? How did you schedule it? One module a week? I like the idea of doing both courses next year. I think he needs a challenge. Did your son take Apologia's advanced Chemistry and Chemistry together?

You've got me thinking....
Thanks,
Leanna

[Musicmom]

Thank you for your reply. Did your ds complete both Apologia Physics courses in the 9month school year, or was that spread out over a longer period? How did you schedule it? One module a week? I like the idea of doing both courses next year. I think he needs a challenge. Did your son take Apologia's advanced Chemistry and Chemistry together?

You've got me thinking....
Thanks,
Leanna

Yes, he did both Physics books in the 9mo school year--one module a week. It was intense, esp since he wanted to reserve one day for the practice problems at the end of each module and one day for the module test. That left only 3 days to get through the entire module. I think if I had it to do over, I would consider using the quarterly tests instead of the module tests. He also did not do all the labs--he did quite a few in the first course, but more fell by the wayside in Adv Physics. I was okay with that--he picked up a few of them in the summer. (Some were just too much trouble to set up.) On the positive side, he really learned how to plan out his work carefully and how to cover a large amount of material in a fairly short time. All in all, I'm glad we did it, and am considering this for dd next year.

He didn't do both Chemistry books in one year. He did Chemistry in 9th grade and is finishing up the Adv Chemistry now in 12th. I think doing both in one year would be ideal, but it takes a certain amount of maturity to rise to the challenge, and he would not have been ready for that in 9th (and I hadn't even considered it at that time.) I was hoping to find a way for dd to this, but it's not going to work. She's ready for (and doing) chemistry now in 9th, but not ready to tackle the module/week pace.