Apologia Science

[saved1112]

Can I use the Apologia General Science, Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry in this order for high school?

Or would I need to skip the General Science and just start with the Physical Science? After reading the table of contents of General Sci I think we may need to go over some of those topics.

Thanks!

[Nissi]

Your child could read General Science in the summer.

[jellogirl]

That's the right order. A lot of students are fine skipping General Science, especially if they don't start Apologia in middle school. Most of the material does come back later, but it's really up to you.

If you find that General Science is a bit easy for your student, you could just work through it in one semester rather than two, and then move on to more challenging material. If the experiments seem dull, you could just read through it and get your lab sciences later with Biology and Chemistry.

[saved1112]

That's the right order. A lot of students are fine skipping General Science, especially if they don't start Apologia in middle school. Most of the material does come back later, but it's really up to you.

Ok, I'm fine with skipping Gen Sci if most of the material will come up again later.

So if we do Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry, then will he need to do Physics? Or can he do Marine Biology? He is not strong in math and I do not see him doing Trig, or much of it, so I'm not sure how well he would do with Physics. He shows an interest in Marine Biology.

Thanks!

[jellogirl]

For right now, I suggest you just go through Physical, Biology, and Chemistry, then let him see what he's interested in. If he wants to do more biology, then do! If he's interested in physics or chemistry, then do that. You don't know what will spark his interest until you've tried.

Physics is a lot of fun and Dr. Wile explains things really well, even most math concepts. Most students who have taken a standard Algebra 2 course and did well with it should have no problem with the math in Physics. I have found Chemistry to be more difficult and dry than Physics, but perhaps I just do not care for the subject.

[Katia]

IMO, you don't really want your high schooler doing Apologia's General Science because it's not a high school level course. Some on these boards will argue that Apologia's Physical Science is not high school level either...but I think that's up to you. Dr. Wile says it's fine for a 9th grader.

As for the order of sciences; I think you can do whatever works for your student as far as his interests go...or you may want to look at the colleges he will be applying to and see what they require. Then you will know how to proceed.

My dd likes biology but doesn't care much for chemistry, so we have held off on the chemistry until her senior year. She did Apologia is this order:

9th - Biology
10th - Advanced Biology
11th - Marine Biology
12th(next year) - Chemistry

And, she really doesn't *have* to do the chemistry as the college she wants to attend only requires 3 credits of science, two with lab and they don't specify which courses. That's why it's good to check with the college you want to attend.

My older dd (currently a freshman in college) did this for high school science:

9th: Rainbow Science (which people on here will tell you is not high school level but the author told us it was) along with reading Science Matters, and a book on meteorology and several books on astronomy. We called it Earth and Physical Science on her transcript.

10th: Apologia Biology (open book)

11th: 1 semester of Conceptual Chemistry (which she hated) and 1 semester of Apologia's Advanced Biology (which she loved and wished she had started the year with)

12th: no science

She was accepted into all five colleges she applied to. No problem.

So, really, it is up to you and your student. I know it helps to see/hear what others have done. It helped me to plan very different courses for my students.

[Ame E.]

We did apologia physical science for ninth grade... do able, understandable... good science, good for study skills.. apologia will email responses to your questions.. you can get a lot of support for this program... Both kids are doing okay in it..

Next year, the plan is biology... will either do apologia or prentice hall (or send them out to a science class) - 10 th grade

11th grade - chemistry (not sure what I'll use)...

12th grade.. probably another biology class.. though if they change and are absolutely dying to do physics we'll do that.

my plan is to contract out all the science classes.

Ame

[mamaof2andtwins]

The high school Apologia biology is missing the human anatomy component that is found in the general science book.

[saved1112]

The high school Apologia biology is missing the human anatomy component that is found in the general science book.

Thank you for pointing that out.

How is your child liking BJU Physical Science?

[MyThreeSons]

Can I use the Apologia General Science, Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry in this order for high school?


You really need to check your state's requirements, if there are any for homeschool high school graduation, as well as what your student's potential university requires.

Physical Science often won't be counted as a Lab Science even if you do labs with it. And for some universities and/or majors, the student needs three lab sciences in high school.

At our co-op, most of the students in Physical Science are 8th graders, although we do have a few 9th graders take it each year.

[MamaT]

We use Apologia in the order you listed. We start with General Science in 7th grade. My daughter will use this test next year. My 9th grade son is in Apologia Biology this year. With my older sons, we went in the order you listed, then used their Advanced Biology for 11th grade. They went to cc for 12th and their science/labs in cc were easy for them.

[Ria]

General Science and Physical Science are not high school-level texts. Really.

Ria

[kate in seattle]

The high school Apologia biology is missing the human anatomy component that is found in the general science book.

It is in the the Advanced Biology book, I believe.

kate in seattle

[saved1112]

You really need to check your state's requirements, if there are any for homeschool high school graduation, as well as what your student's potential university requires.

Physical Science often won't be counted as a Lab Science even if you do labs with it. And for some universities and/or majors, the student needs three lab sciences in high school.

At our co-op, most of the students in Physical Science are 8th graders, although we do have a few 9th graders take it each year.


I've heard that, but then looking at Abeka and BJU, both have Physical Science for 9th grade.

[Beth in SW WA]

Don't skip GS. It's a great text. Often it is the first real "text book" that homeschool kids come in contact w/.

[Hillary in KS]

So, is Advanced Biology sort of a "Biology 2?" Or is it more in-depth biology?

My ds is an uber-sciencey child. I'd thought of doing Advanced Biology *instead* of Biology. But do they cover different material? Should they really be used consecutively, or would there be too much repetition?

[saved1112]

So, is Advanced Biology sort of a "Biology 2?" Or is it more in-depth biology?

My ds is an uber-sciencey child. I'd thought of doing Advanced Biology *instead* of Biology. But do they cover different material? Should they really be used consecutively, or would there be too much repetition?

You could look at the table of contents for each on the Apologia website. As I understand the Adv Biology is human anatomy. I could be wrong as I've looked at so many curr the last two days...

[Hillary in KS]

You could look at the table of contents for each on the Apologia website. As I understand the Adv Biology is human anatomy. I could be wrong as I've looked at so many curr the last two days...

Oh! Thanks! I hadn't thought of that. I'll check out the TOC now.

[rockala]

I struggled with this last year and eventually after much debate made a decision to do general. I figured much of it would be review and we would skip half the book and move on to physical mid-way through the year.

My kids had done 3rd edtion BJU, some chemistry courses etc. My daughter was not sciency kids and had heard of Apologia nightmares from friends and was reluctant.

Apologia general has her LOVING science. My son who is a science boy (6th grade) was also converted. It was the first text that went deep enough to explain the age of the earth, evolution arguments etc.

I really am so happy I didn't rush them into Physical or higher. The absolutely rock solid foundation they will learn will serve them well no matter what they decide to do. My dd is now much more open to medical/science fields.

I have some friends who through thier non- science kids into apologia biology because they were going into 9th. Sadly the kids were not ready and have had a horrible experience.

Apologia is challenging as most kids have not had to learn the material they previously studied at such a depth. the tests are good preparation for these kids to move into more advanced areas.

HTH
Kathy

[jellogirl]

So, is Advanced Biology sort of a "Biology 2?" Or is it more in-depth biology?

My ds is an uber-sciencey child. I'd thought of doing Advanced Biology *instead* of Biology. But do they cover different material? Should they really be used consecutively, or would there be too much repetition?

Biology and Advanced Biology are two different texts. The latter, entitled "The Human Body" is an entire course devoted to the biochemistry and processes involved in our bodies. That is why Biology doesn't specifically cover humans. I don't think you have to worry about repetition.

Personally, I would suggest students take chemistry before moving onto Advanced Biology, despite the fact that biochemistry is covered in Biology. Chemistry fills in some gaps that are best filled.

I recommend sticking with the general order of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, but where you put the advanced sciences doesn't matter.

And Physical science can be done in ninth grade for credit. I know numerous students who have. They just get more out of it than eighth graders.