I am so excited that we are to the time of year when we begin sharing "sneak peeks" from our upcoming new guide!
It is thrilling for us to officially be in the high school years with our guides now! It is our prayer that we will be able to write the guides in such a way that students who go through all 4 high school HOD guides will have everything needed for graduation and college entrance (with the exception of Physical Education). The target age range for our new World History guide will be ages 14-16, extending up through 12th grade with adjustments in the 3R's and science as needed. It is important to note that only those 14 year olds who have first come up through the HOD World Geography guide should attempt the World History guide. All other 14 year olds would be better served by beginning with either the HOD World Geography guide or Missions to Modern Marvels guide. Our own 14 year old is currently using and enjoying the World Geography guide this year for his freshman year of high school.
After having our oldest son go through high school without the benefit of having HOD guides written for his level, I cannot tell you what a blessing it has been for me to have the HOD World Geography guide written for my next child in line (who is using it as a freshman this year)! I am a less frazzled and more sane momma/teacher with my HOD guide in hand than I was with my older son (who had to endure my less than polished sketchy, chicken scratch type plans).
With our oldest son graduating from high school this year, my husband and I will have a college freshman, a sophomore in high school, and two younger sons at our house this coming school year.
Since our own high school sophomore will be in need of the new World History guide, I am eagerly anticipating this guide as much (or more) than many of you! For our first "sneak peek", I wanted to begin by reiterating the thoughts I shared last year about high school science. Sharing a bit about our overall science plan for high school will help better explain our selection for science for the World History guide. Our continuing overall plan at this time is to recommend the following sequence for science in high school:
Freshman: Integrated Physics and Chemistry
Sophomore: Biology including anatomy in the course (with Health as an additional semester course credit sophomore year)
Junior: Chemistry
Senior: Possibly Physics or another more specific science not already covered
While you can certainly follow a different science path if desired, this particular sequence does have its advantages. Since many states and colleges require some sort of physical science on the high school transcript (along with biology and chemistry), it is wise to consider how to gain the needed physical science credit (whether the student takes physics or not). Keeping in mind that not all future careers require students to take physics, taking an Integrated Physics and Chemistry course as a freshman fulfills the physical science requirement and frees the student from having to take physics (unless desired) later.
This science path also allows students the option, during their senior year, of taking a field-related science (i.e. marine biology, advanced chemistry, anatomy, advanced biology, etc.) instead of physics. So, we like the options that the particular science sequence we've listed above offers, as it allows for science decisions to be made as the child progresses through high school and gains a better idea of what he/she may be doing in the future. For those who are unsure of their future career path, the science sequence we've listed above will provide the student with a solid science path that will be excellent preparation for any field.
Our plan at this time is to offer each of the sciences scheduled in the HOD guides as a full credit with a lab component (so that each science can be listed as a lab science on the transcript).
As far as specific curriculum selections for science go, for the upcoming World History guide, we will schedule School of Tomorrow (formerly ACE) Biology. While this may seem like a surprising selection, we actually chose this particular text because it is written (and colorfully illustrated) in quite a narrative, living way. Biology is such a terminology-rich subject area that biology texts can often quickly become paragraph upon paragraph of terms defined and supported with facts following facts. This often results in very dense reading with less than stellar retention. The writing in School of Tomorrow Biology has quite a few facets that mesh well with Charlotte Mason's definition of a living book. While I would never go so far as to say that the School of Tomorrow Biology is a true living book, I would say that it comes closer to attaining that feel than any other biology text that we previewed.
Our oldest son, who is used to a very CM living books education, used and thoroughly enjoyed School of Tomorrow's Biology for his sophomore year. The School of Tomorrow Biology course contains 12 readable paces (or booklets), each with 30 pages of biology related topics. The font-size of the pages makes reading easier on the eyes and the text is illustrated with colorful diagrams, drawings, and photographs. The paces are written in a God-honoring way that truly brings the wonder of God's creation to life!
I really appreciate the fact that anatomy is included as a part of this biology course. This is not true of many biology courses, and often students must take a separate anatomy course to receive this type of coverage. Another component that really helps bring this course to life is the corresponding DVDs that are available for each pace (or booklet). These DVDs include professionally done film footage for each segment in the pace. This footage can be of animals in motion, plants in their environment, photographs, charts, diagrams, or labs being performed. The footage is not of lectures performed in front of a class, which makes these DVDs much different from other DVD based programs. Another benefit is that the "text" of the DVD closely mirrors the text from the paces, meaning that the student is free to just watch the DVDs without feeling the need to take notes. This also means that for families who cannot afford to purchase the DVD option, the course can still be completed without the DVDs. However, I do think from our own experience that the DVDs greatly enhance the student's enjoyment of the course!
Headings and subheadings from the Table of Contents for the 12 paces are as follows:Biology Pace 1: Birds
Feathers (Types, Structure, Special Purposes, Growth)
Major Body Structures (Wings, Feet, Legs, Beaks)
Major Body Systems (Digestive, Reproductive, Respiratory, Circulatory, Skeletal, Nervous Systems)
Bird Groups (Flightless, Preying, Game, Water, and Songbirds)
Biology Pace 2: Mammals
Characteristics of Mammals (Hair, Limbs and Movement, Major Body Systems, Migration, Hibernation)
Types of Mammals (Monotremes, Marsupials, Placentals)
Importance of Mammals (Human Use of Mammals and Natural Order)
Biology Pace 3: Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Fish (Lampreys, Hagfish, Sharks, Rays, Skates, and Bony Fish)
Amphibians (Caecilians, Salamanders, Toads and Frogs)
Reptiles (Snakes and Lizards, Tortoises and Turtles, Crocodiles and Alligators, Tuatara, and Dinosaurs)
Biology Pace 4: Sponges, Coelenterates, Mollusks, and Echinoderms
Sponges (Characteristics, Body Structures, Reproduction)
Coelenterates (Characteristics, Body Structures, Body Functions, Types)
Mollusks (Characteristics, Body Structures, Body Systems, Types)
Echinoderms
Biology Pace 5: Worms and Arthropods
Segmented Worms (Earthworms, Marine Worms, Leeches)
Flatworms (Planarians, Tapeworms, Flukes)
Roundworms
Arthropods (Spiders, Other Arachnids, Crabs, Lobsters, and Shrimp, Centipedes and Millipedes, and Insects)
Biology Pace 6: Plants
The Plant Kingdom (Characteristics, Importance, Classification)
Vascular Plants (Seed Plants, Spore-forming Plants)
Vascular Plant Structures (Leaves, Stems, Roots, Flowers, Seeds and Fruit)
Nonvascular Plants (Mosses and Liverworts)
Biology Pace 7: Microorganisms
Kingdom Protista (Algae, Protozoans, Fungus-like Protists)
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Monera (Microscope, Cytology, Bacteria, Viruses)
Biology Pace 8: Man - Skin, Skeleton, and Muscles
Integumentary System (Skin Layers, Skin functions, Lymphatic System, Hair and Nails)
Skeletal System (Bone Functions, Bone Types, Bone Structure, Cartilage, Bone Growth, Joints and Ligaments)
Muscular System (Muscle Structure and Muscle Action)
Biology Pace 9: Man - Nerves, Circulation, and Respiration
Nervous System (Central Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Somatic and Autonomic Nervous Systems, Sensory Organs, and Drugs)
Circulatory System (Heart, Blood Vessels, and Blood)
Respiratory System
Biology Pace 10: Man - Nutrition and Growth
Digestive System (Digestion, Alimentary Canal, Nutrients, Vitamins and Minerals and Food Groups)
Excretory System (Sweat Glands and Kidneys)
Endocrine System (Pituitary Gland, Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands, Gonads, islets of Langerhans, and Adrenal Glands)
Biology Pace 11: Man - Reproduction, Genetics, and Embryology
Reproduction (God's Design, Man's Corruptions, Results of Man's Corruptions, Cure for Man's Corruptions)
Genetics (Heredity, Applied Genetics, Mutations, Genetics and Evolution, Genetics and Environment)
Embryology (Embryonic Growth and Experimental Embryology)
Biology Pace 12: Ecology and Conservation
Environment and Habitat (Creation - A Perfect Environment, The Flood, Biomes, Ecological Succession)
Ecology (Abiotic Factors, Biotic Factors, Limiting Factors)
Modern Environmental Problems (Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources, Pollution, and Endangered Species)
We plan to use all 12 paces of the text and to use the accompanying activity books as a follow-up to the readings. These activity books utilize matching, underlining, multiple choice, true/false, categorizing, fill-in-the-blank, vocabulary, and short answer type questions.
While these types of questions do not necessarily stretch the student into deeper more critical thinking; they do help students capture, organize, categorize, and ultimately better retain the dense and vocabulary rich subject matter that is part of a course in Biology. Often deeper more critical thinking can be drawn out after a student has gained more familiarity with a subject's content, making this a goal well-suited for more advanced coursework later in Biology. I will say that the labs on the DVDs do get students thinking more deeply about what they have read. We plan for science to take approximately 60 min. or less each day in our World History guide (with potentially longer days for labs).
School of Tomorrow's Biology does include complete labs performed on DVD. Through excellent camera footage, students gain up-close views of dissections, microscopic views of other lab work, and you-are-there viewing sessions utilizing all sorts of lab equipment that make the biology labs interesting and memorable. Students complete lab sheets as they watch each lab being performed. Parents may desire to have their students complete a more traditional lab report that focuses on the scientific method (more similar to the "Science Lab Forms" contained in our previous HOD guides) in lieu of the lab sheets included in the School of Tomorrow program. Skill-wise, as far as math goes, a certain level of math proficiency is not required in order to complete the labs in this course.
An additional bonus is that if you are unable to purchase the full set of DVDs for use with the course, a separate lab only DVD is available for purchase with the text only version of the course. Lab Experiments:
Pace 1 Labs: Birds
Lab 1: Introduction to Biology Research
Lab 2: Incubation of a Chicken Egg
Pace 2 Labs: Mammals
Lab 1: Introduction to Dissection
Lab 2: Dissection of A Bullfrog (Part 1)
Pace 3: Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Lab 1: Dissection of a Bullfrog (Part 2)
Lab 2: Dissection of a Bullfrog (Part 3)
Pace 4: Coelenterates, Mollusks, and Echinoderms
Lab 1: Perch Dissection
Lab 2: Starfish Dissection
Pace 5: Worms and Arthropods
Lab 1: Earthworm Dissection
Lab 2: Crayfish Dissection
Pace 6: Plants
Lab 1: Photoperiodism
Lab 2: Photosynthesis
Pace 7: Microorganisms
Lab 1: Use of Wet-Mount Microscope Slides
Lab 2: Use of Dry-Mount Microscope Slides
Pace 8: Skin, Skeleton, and Muscles
Lab 1: Fetal Pig Dissection (Part 1)
Lab 2 Fetal Pig Dissection (Part 2)
Pace 9: Nerves, Circulation, and Respiration
Lab 1: Blood Typing
Lab 2: Lung Demonstration
Pace 10: Nutrition and Growth
Lab 1: Effects of Enzymes in Digestion
Lab 2: Food Nutrient Analysis
Pace 11: Genetics and Embryology
Lab 1: Mitosis
Lab 2: Genetic Concepts
Lab 3: Genetic Engineering
Pace 12: Ecology and Conservation
Lab 1: Air Pollution Tests
Lab 2: Water Pollution Tests
The labs can simply be watched as a part of the coursework; however, if you desire your student to work along with some of the labs you can choose to have your student do that using the "Apologia Biology Dissection Kit" from hometrainingtools.com. This kit includes the following specimens: frog, perch, crayfish, and worm (all of which are dissected as a part of School of Tomorrow's Biology as well). Students can just follow along with the School of Tomorrow DVD labs and dissect along with the instructor for those labs. Specimens do expire (lasting about 9 months). They are not in formaldehyde, making the specimens have less of an odor. All specimens can be disposed of in the household garbage. We would not encourage you to do the starfish dissection, as it is easy to cut yourself on that particular lab. The fetal pig dissection could also be performed if desired along with the DVD lab; however that lab moves fairly quickly through the dissection, so you would have to be willing to pause a lot as you go. A fetal pig specimen can be ordered separately at hometrainingtools.com.
If you desire your student to gain physical experience with a microscope, you could consider adding either the "Apologia Biology Microscope Kit" or the "Microscope Starter Kit" from hometrainingtools.com. Both will require the use of a microscope, which you can also purchase from http://www.hometrainingtools.com. The labs in School of Tomorrow's Biology do include microscope work on DVD, meaning that you are not required to purchase a microscope unless you desire to do so. If your child is not destined for a biology related field, you could consider simply having your child watch the labs and record results without the aid of working along with the lab kits. This is how the labs will be scheduled within our guide.
As always, if preferred, you may choose an alternate science route than that offered within the HOD guide without affecting the flow of your day. At HOD, we desire to offer a different science path than is typically offered other places and to provide a more CM living type approach (while still covering our science bases) for those who want that type of approach. We also strive to honor our Creator through our chosen materials. We've seen the benefit of this type of science education with our own boys, and have boys with a fascination for science and a love for nature and living things. Our boys often use this passion to pursue experimenting and scientific thinking in their free time!
We pray your students will love science this way as well.Blessings,
Carrie
I always felt a little insecure teaching high school science but it looks like this Biology course will be quite painless. Thank you, Carrie, for all of the time you put into finding wonderful courses for our children!