Apologia Advanced Chemistry labs....suggestions wanted

[Sharon in MD]

Anyone else not thrilled with Apologia's advanced chem labs? :glare: We are bored.:sleep:...we want more/better, but I'd like it to fit with the curricula. Have any of you been there and done that?

TIA!

[Quiver0f10]

I have my son doing the labs in the Micro Chem lab kit.

[Sharon in MD]

Are you matching them up with the modules for the Advanced Chem book? I had heard that they have a guide for the 1st chem book, but not the advanced....how have you handled it and are they good labs?

[MomsintheGarden]

I agree that the Apologia labs are not very in-depth. If you are looking for a book with really great labs you can do at home, you might want to check out this:

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Thompson, ISBN 0596514921.

The author has a website, where you can find corrections, links to equipment and chemical suppliers, and even forums to discuss the experiments in the book. He has put together kits to order from a company with all the chemicals, glassware, and equipment. The book has 22 chapters, and includes all of the experiments recommended for the AP Chemistry course and many more. AND, the author likes homeschoolers, and even mentions them in his book

I have it, and have been reading it, but have not used it yet. I'm hoping to use it next year with my daughter. It is so well done - I can't say enough about this book! The only downside is that, if you want to do all of the experiments with all the proper equipment and chemicals, it will probably cost about $700+. The cost includes about $200 for a good balance. If you have only one child, it might be cheaper to enroll him/her in a community college lab class. OTOH, it would probably be at least even for 2+ children.

HTH,
Garden Mom

[Sharon in MD]

you might want to check out this:

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Thompson, ISBN 0596514921.

The author has a website, where you can find corrections, links to equipment and chemical suppliers, and even forums to discuss the experiments in the book.
HTH,
Garden Mom

Would you be willing to provide the link for the website and forums? I'd like to investigate this pretty quickly. I have a fair amount of equipment already because of our interests in the sciences. I'd love to see what we'd need to add to our supplies to see if this is a viable option or not.

Would you be willing to pm me with a list of the equipment for example (you could scan it and email it perhaps?)

[Quiver0f10]

Are you matching them up with the modules for the Advanced Chem book? I had heard that they have a guide for the 1st chem book, but not the advanced....how have you handled it and are they good labs?


I am not matching them up :blushing: but my son is doing this independently and he is picking and chosing them to match the modules the best he can. We do plan to complete all the experiments in the micro chem book.

[Sharon in MD]

I'm torn between the idea of the home chem book and the micro chem kit.....I've got a good bit of equipment already....KWIM?

We just want something more, this is our last year and we want it to be fun and memorable.

[MomsintheGarden]

Here's the website for the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments book:
www.homechemlab.com

I know what you mean about choosing between a chemistry kit or doing the experiments in the Illustrated Guide... book. Equipment is expensive, and buying a kit is sooo convenient. I hope to do the full-blown labs with my daughter because it will be her last year before she goes away to college to study biochemistry (at least that's the plan for now). It will be a good way for us to spend time together, and a way for us to really work on her lab technique before she leaves.

Here are some pros and cons that I've had running through my mind about the choice.

Chemistry Kit (Thames & Kosmos Chem C3000)

Pros:
Cheaper
More Convenient
Many experiments in the kit
Safer because it uses tiny amounts of chemicals

Cons:
Uses tiny amounts of chemicals, so sometimes it's hard to see what's going on
Quote from IGtHCE book, p. xii:
Even the best chemistry set that is still sold, the $200 Thames & Kosmos Chem C3000, is an unfortunate compromise among cost, liability, and marketability. The Chem C3000 kit lacks such essential equipment as a balance and a thermometer, provides little glassware, and includes only the tiny amounts of chemicals needed to do unsatisfying micro-scale chemistry experiments. Despite these criticisms, the C3000 kit is a good choice for giving late elementary school or early middle school students their first exposure to hands-on chemistry lab work. It allows kids to produce bright colors and stinky smells, which after all are the usual hooks that draw kids into chemistry. The problem is that that's not enough."
Note: I'm not sure I agree with this. The author is very enthusiastic about chemistry, and I don't believe every high schooler needs more than the Chem C3000. I would, however, think that if a student plans to major in a chemistry-related field in college he/she should consider doing the experiments in the IGtHCE book.

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments:

Pros:
Lots of support from the very enthusiastic author and his extensive website
Full-blown experiments will very observable results
Very complete high school chemistry course
Lab technique and safety are heavily emphasized
Uses real glassware and equipment, both of which are described in great detail in the book
All of the recommended AP experiments are included. I have the Chem 3000 book (on CD - T&K sent it to me) and it doesn't have very many AP experiments. If your student is taking the Chemistry AP test, these experiments would be a better choice.

Cons:
Expensive
Time-consuming to gather all of the supplies. Even the kits from the website don't include all of the needed equipment. For example, a hotplate, Bunsen burner, pH meter, and thermometer are not in the kits listed on the website, so you will have to research and select these items (not to mention pay for them). You must also buy balance, which costs another $200+. And finally, you will need to buy concentrated nitric acid, which requires special, more expensive packaging.
The experiments may take longer because everything is not in kit form.
You will also need to buy protective clothing (lab coats, vinyl aprons), gloves, and goggles.

Hope this helps,
Garden Mom

[Sharon in MD]

I'm going to sit down and figure out how much more it would cost me to get the extra things we would need to make it work!

I really appreciate the link, I should be able to get a good feel for it from here.

:hurray:

[Bev in B'ville]

is using Kotz's Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity as a spine. I supplement this with Thinkwell's Chemistry, which she loves. They do a lot of experiments in their videos and is very good. The teachers also have a pretty good sense of humor. Laughing and Chemistry usually don't go together, but I hear my dd laughing a lot when she watches their videos.

For hands on experiments, I bought The Joy of Chemistry (Cobb & Fetterrolf). These are easy to do at home and they give a shopping list up front (mostly of things easily available) and I love how they explain things. My dd liked this book, also.

HTH.

[Sharon in MD]

I think I'm going to get a micro chem set for ds as the other option is too expensive for us at this time.

Do you have a list of the experiments for the set that you have that you'd be willing to share with me? I'm trying to decide which micro kit to get and wondered what exactly the experiments are in the kit you have.

Thanks,
SHaron

[Quiver0f10]

We bought our kit last year and the copywrite says 2000-2006.

Here are the ones included:

Paper Chromatography
Melting Points, super cooling
Electrical Conductivity of Several Soultions
Mole Ratios
Double Replacement Reactions
Oxidation-Reduction
Decomposition
Boyle's Law
Charle's Law
Solubility Product Constant
PH and PH Indicators
A Microscale Titration
Molar Mass by Tritration
A Buffer Solution
Reaction Rates: The Effect of Concentration
Reaction Rates: The Effect of Temptature
Electrochemistry: Galvanic Cells

HTH

[Sharon in MD]

I really appreciate the list! Very helpful....now I just have to decide.

;)