Which "conceptual" science book to use?

[LanaTron]

I have read as many past threads on this as I can find, and I have looked at Mr. Hewitt's website, and Pearson's, but I am still confused.

My ds will be in the 8th grade next year. I am planning on him doing Biology-Chemistry-Physics in 10th-12th grades (or that could be 9th-11th grades, too, if need be). Someone suggested the Conceptual books for us, for this next year, 8th grade, but I'm not sure which one to use. Should I go:

8-Conceptual Chem
9-Conceptual Phys
10-Bio
11-Chem
12-Phys

Would C. Chem and C. physics be too difficult for 8th and 9th grades? Or should I be looking at one of the C. Physical Science books?

:confused::confused:

What do you recommend for an 8th grader who might become an engineer or something similar?

I am still looking at other options, too, but I want to thoroughly understand this option before I decide.

TIA:D

[HS mom]

Check your library to see if they have any of Hewitt's books (high school or college level conceptual physics, or conceptual physical science ) on their shelves. Then you could preview.

Here is an online series you might like:

http://www.lightandmatter.com/books.html

More online--courses:

http://see.stanford.edu/

Also check out MIT open courseware.

[Gwen in VA]

Has your child had earth science? It is a good science to have covered. If you don't want to spend a full year on it, you could just get a textbook and have him read it over the summer. Many high schools have students do earth science in 8th or 9th grade.

If I were you --

If your child wants to go into engineering, it would be nice if he had an advanced science completed before college. (Admissions people like to see AP coursework.) I would do:

9th -- bio
10th -- chem
11th physics (if he has the math background) or AP chem
12th -- AP physics or AP chem

For 8th grade, he could do whatever excites you and him the most. My dd2 will do Conceptual Physics in 8th grade next year, but my other kids all did earth science in 8th. It really is up to you -- but do choose a subject that interests him and you!

[EKS]

I used the physics part of Conceptual Physical Science-Explorations (9th/10th grade level) with my 7th grader this year. He will likely go into engineering also. I will be using Conceptual Chemistry with him next year. I would recommend that you do physics before chemistry because physics underlies everything. As for Conceptual Physics being too difficult, I didn't use it (and instead used the easier book) because I thought it would be too hard for him when I was figuring this out last year. Now I think that it might have been a better choice.

[In The Great White North]

To further complicate matters, there is a Conceptual Physics for high school and a different version, also called Conceptual Physics, for college non-science majors, all by Hewitt. I got an older college version, but for an eight or seventh grader, I might have searched for a high school version.

[LanaTron]

The only high school version I've found so far has a copyright of 1992. That's too old for a science text, IMO, and why I'm not really consdering it.

[LanaTron]

Thanks, EKS. Would you explain why you think C. Physics would have been a better choice than the Explorations book? I have looked at that one, as well.

[LanaTron]

I tried the library before, but didn't find anything...I didn't try to search on "Hewitt," though, so I'll give that a go. Thanks

[LanaTron]

He really has no clue what he wants to do. He only recently has expressed an interest in engineering, so we'll see.

I think that doing biology in 9th and going forward is a good idea, anyway, because if he decides to major in music or something, he can be done with science after 11th grade, anyway.

Thanks for your comments. I will ask him what he's interested in studying.

[EKS]

The Explorations book is a shortened, simplified version of Conceptual Physics. There have been several times where more detailed explanation would have been helpful. I also would have preferred more math-based problems. Also, the tutorials (which are one of the best parts of the program) on the CD do not appear to have been modified for the Explorations book and the extra depth in them was very helpful.

Now, that said, I probably did make the right choice for this year. Conceptual Physics is a much longer text and it would have been difficult to get through it in a year. With Explorations, we only had to do 16 chapters and so we could take our time.

The Explorations book is definately worth a look. BTW, there is *another* book out called Conceptual Integrated Science Explorations, which also includes biology. I have the college version of Conceptual Integrated Science and had intended to use it for 7th and 8th grade, but it was too much too fast. It is a neat idea though.

[LanaTron]

Thanks, EKS.

[Ruth in Canada]

My grade 7 science enthusiast is having a great year with Conceptual Chemistry. I used Conceptual Physics (h.s. version) with his older sister in grade 8, so we'll do that next year. If you have an enthusiastic kid, I don't think these are beyond the grade 8/9 level. We have not had an issue with doing chemistry first. Both books assume some elementary algebra ability.

[LanaTron]

Thanks, Ruth. That is exactly the information I need to hear.