Does Chemistry have to follow Biology?

[naturalmom]

Does the Apologia sequence have to be Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Adv. Biology? Could a student do Adv. Biology right after Biology? Or perhaps Marine Biology? This is for a non-science kid who is actually doing very very well in Biology. I'm not sure if he's ready for the precision of chemistry next year, though.

[HollyinNNV]

Does the Apologia sequence have to be Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Adv. Biology? Could a student do Adv. Biology right after Biology? Or perhaps Marine Biology? This is for a non-science kid who is actually doing very very well in Biology. I'm not sure if he's ready for the precision of chemistry next year, though.

I have no idea about Apologia. However, I do know that AP Bio has a fair amount of chemistry in it. So, it is probably wise to hold off on AP Bio until after Chemistry. And, I think Chemistry often comes before Physics because of the math needed for Physics.

Of course there are always kids who can manage these courses without the prerequisites. So YMMV.
Holly

[TejasMamacita]

We used Apologia and we did Biology - Marine Biology - Advanced Biology with no problems. We love Biology! :D

In fact we're about halfway through the Advanced Biology book right now and so far there's nothing in it that has made me wish we had done Chemistry first.

Chemistry is too hard for me to teach :confused:, even with the user friendly Apologia text, so I'm letting my son do an intro to Chemistry course at the cc next year.

[one l michele]

http://ustimss.msu.edu/coherentscience.pdf

It is suggested: (physics first, chemistry second and
biology third)

Anyone else have thoughts on this approach?

[Jane in NC]

http://ustimss.msu.edu/coherentscience.pdf

It is suggested: (physics first, chemistry second and
biology third)

Anyone else have thoughts on this approach?

The Physics First approach has been discussed many times on these boards. Many of us choose to do Conceptual Physics in 9th. My son then went on to take AP Bio in 10th, and General Chemistry at the CC in 11th (fall term), followed by Microbiology at the CC in the spring semester.

Granted, my kid is science oriented. But even a non-science oriented child could benefit from a sequence consisting of Conceptual Physics, Conceptual or regular chemistry, then biology. Your nearby university or CC might offer another interesting science option (geology? astronomy?)

Modern biology is not the subject I studied in high school. It is quite dependent on biochemistry which is why some argue that the sequence should be adjusted. If the initial poster were to jump to advanced bio from basic (the question that led off this thread), she might find that she'll have to do some chemistry fill in, unless her student covered some basic chem ideas in middle school science.

Best,
Jane

[Sharon in MD]

If you want to go physics first, then you probably need to do something like Jane has suggested with the conceptual physics.

If you are using apologia, I'd do Bio first, then either Chem or Physics depending on where you are in the math progression. Your student will need to have Al I before Chemistry. And the math for physics involves loads of Al and a little triangle trig. But, you don't need to have completed a full trig course to do it.

Some folks prefer to wait and really do Physics with Calculus. My son has commented several times this year that his Calculus class would have made physics easier because he finds solving the problems that are physics related in his Calc course to be easier than the way they were solved using Al. Just a thought...

[yslek]

http://ustimss.msu.edu/coherentscience.pdf

It is suggested: (physics first, chemistry second and
biology third)

Anyone else have thoughts on this approach?

Dh thinks that this is the best progression, after doing the "standard" Bio, Chem, Phys progression in college, followed by other science classes (Microbio, Organic Chem, Biochem, Anatomy, Advanced Physiology...I think that's it). He said that knowing Physics would have helped him understand Chemistry, and that knowing Chemistry would have really helped with Biology (and certainly did, in the advanced classes). He's especially insistent that Chem come before Bio at any rate. It would make things a bit hard, though, if the math skills aren't there yet... I'm not sure yet how I will handle this when I'm facing these decisions with my dc. :tongue_smilie:

[Katia]

We used Apologia and we did Biology - Marine Biology - Advanced Biology with no problems. We love Biology! :D

In fact we're about halfway through the Advanced Biology book right now and so far there's nothing in it that has made me wish we had done Chemistry first.

Chemistry is too hard for me to teach :confused:, even with the user friendly Apologia text, so I'm letting my son do an intro to Chemistry course at the cc next year.

LOL This is us with only a slight change: my dd did Apologia Biology - Advanced Biology - Marine Biology.

She did great and loved it. (well, she is currently doing the Marine Biology) No problems. She loves biology,too!

We are looking at either Apologia Chemistry for next year, or more likely a college biology course first semester and then college chemistry second semester at the community college.

[Nan in Mass]

That's why people do Conceptual Physics. It can be taken concurrently with algebra, if need be. At least some people here have. We did it concurrently with NEM1. I think it is a wonderful before-chem thing to do.

[naturalmom]

What are some examples of conceptual physics texts? I've never heard of it!

[Jane in NC]

What are some examples of conceptual physics texts? I've never heard of it!

We used Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics text with great results. There are many, many editions out there. I recommend that you pick up a student book as well as the teacher's text which has answers and helpful hints.

[tajott]

I've never read of this before. My poor son is totally backwards then! He is sciency and has been saving Physics for his last 2 years of high school because he wanted to save the best for last! LOL

he was very glad to get Biology out of the way. He's never cared for the life sciences.

Teresa

[tajott]

my non-sciency dd skipped biology altogether. She did Gen Science, Physical Science, Friendly Chemistry and the Astronomy.

She's now a music and theatre double major on a very nice scholarship. I think your science sequence depends a lot on your own circumstances.

[Kareni]

my non-sciency dd skipped biology altogether. She did Gen Science, Physical Science, Friendly Chemistry and the Astronomy.

She's now a music and theatre double major on a very nice scholarship. I think your science sequence depends a lot on your own circumstances.


My daughter also managed to skip Biology. She did:

9th grade: Conceptual Physical Science (with Hewitt's book of that title)
10th grade: Chemistry
11th grade: Two quarters of Geology plus an additional quarter of Rocks and Minerals (at the local community college)
12th grade: One quarter of Environmental Science (also at the community college)

She's intending to major in Latin/the Classics when she gets to college; however, she also does love Geology so may take more classes in that as time goes on.

Regards,
Kareni

[Heather in VA]

I can see waiting on Physics because of the math, but I've never understood why Chemistry doesn't come before Biology. It just makes more sense to me.

Heather

[In The Great White North]

With Apologia Biology, ds didn't need chem first. However, we started with Campbell's Biology (the big book) and it really assumes a lot of chemistry. I'm surprised to hear that Apologia Advanced Biology doesn't also.

[Katia]

and it really assumes a lot of chemistry. I'm surprised to hear that Apologia Advanced Biology doesn't also.

You know, it might and we were just unaware of it. My dds did Rainbow Science in 7th grade, which has a lot of basic chemistry and physics in it. Then they did Physical Science in 8th, which also lays that chemistry/physics base.

[Gwen in VA]

My older kids all did bio/chem/physics.

My youngest is a diligent student, so we are going to try Conceptual Physics in 8th grade -- and then do the conventional bio/chem/physics. She is doing earth science this year, and I have never found a worthwhile science to throw in between earth science and bio, so we'll try this.

Somehow on child #4 I didn't think I'd be trying something this out-of-the-box!

(The used and hopefully matching text and TM are in the mail......)

[naturalmom]

On amazon, there are several texts by Hewitt.

Conceptual Physics
Conceptual Physics for High school
Conceptual Physics for Everyone

I am actually wondering about the one "for everyone". It would just be the text I think, but I think a lower key science year would be good for next year.

Which text did others use?

Do the text and teacher's guide have to match editions?

Also, is it okay to get an older edition - 87? 97? I don't know how much things will have changed.