There are two reasons for the math sequencing: 1. You need to start pre-algebra with PS so that you can start algebra with biology so that you can USE the algebra in chemistry. The math in PS and Bio really has nothing to do with pre-algebra or algebra I. The math requirement is there to sequence your student's study for later advanced science topics. 2. Brain research shows us that same curcuits in the brain that allow the student to analytically complete pre-algebra and algebra are the same curcuits that allow a student to visualize abstract concepts like cell membrane transport. Being able to do algebra is an indicator that the brain has turned on the right pathways to conquer biology and chemistry concepts. Hope that helps. Steve
You can do General first, but why? The Apologia books are designed to be started at any point in the sequence. If you don't do General first, Dr. Wile will review the topics you need from General in the biology book. If you don't do Physical Science first, Dr. Wile will review the topics you need from PS in the chemistry and physics book. The point is DON"T hold your student back because of age. My top biology student two years ago was a 13 year old, 7th-grader, who had completed Algebra I early and want to do biology BECAUSE IT INTERESTED him. If you are in math sequence and your student is reading at 8th-grade level, and the student is interested .... jump into biology with both feet, even if the student is 12. God Bless, Steve
Thanks Steve. I think when I get there. . .I will go with Apologia as that is what I plan on using for hs and at least there will be some consistency in terms of set up and such. I suspect that means in the spring when I visit a conference. What you said makes perfect sense to me and I do find myself supplementing everything in the arena of science and math. I am still wishing for a curriculum fairy. . . . Thanks again.
Thanks Steve. I was just logging on to tell Deena that the catalog says the only pre-req for Phy. Sci is 7th grade math...so forget what I said earlier and go with Steve We started Zoology this AM and the kids are enjoying Day 1. We did the classification system from Zoo 1 Lesson 1 and they did their notebook page and are currently designing their coverpage for their Zoo 2 notebook.....can we say clip art is wonderful for sea creatures. We'll finish up the habitat, instincts, extinction part of that lesson this week so that we can start on sea animals next week (still gotta get the stuff for the ocean boxes). I think this is going to be a much better family fit than the other 2 things we've tried. Thanks again. Rhonda
Hi Everyone, For those of you working on Marine Biology, the Viperfish is a cool fish to study. A viperfish’s needlelike teeth can be very long, and its hinged lower jaw allows it to swallow large prey. Its strong jaw muscles help grab and hold the prey. Viperfish may live up to 8 years old and are 9 -12 inches long. They live in the midwater depth range of about 250 - 5, 000 feet. They migrate upward at night to feed and eat shrimp squid, and other fishes. In the dark, other fish can’t see the viperfish’s fanglike teeth—its mouth becomes an unseen trap. The viperfish has a very large mouth, which opens very widely but is not big enough to contain the fish's long teeth. The viperfish is also bioluminescent, with photophores--light-emitting organs--on its dorsal fin and along its body to lure its prey to it. The fish has been observed hovering in place in the water with its dorsal fin curved around so that its photophore is waving near its mouth, as a means of drawing prey. Because the viperfish's body is dark blue or black in color, it is thought that other fish can see no part of it other than its lights. The viperfish is a scary-looking creature, but it is no threat to humans. In the first place, humans have so rarely encountered a viperfish in its natural habitat that to date there are no photographs of one in its home in the deep ocean. Here is a great web page for you: http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/csloani.htm Hope you enjoy looking at one of God's most unusual sea creatures. God Bless, Steve
Hi Everyone, I apologize for the length in time between vignettes, but it has been a very hectic exam season this year. Hope you enjoy this edition for Apologia Biology, Module 10: Mutualism is defined as two or more organisms living together so that each one benefits. It is incredibly common in Creation and is a wonderful testament to God’s amazing design abilities. For example, there are certain bacteria and fungi which produce acid (primarily a substance called lactic acid) as a by-product of the processes which keep them alive. This lactic acid is an incredibly effective defense against many types of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Thus, your body encourages these acid-producing bacteria and fungi to live on your skin by producing food for them in the form of sweat. These beneficial bacteria and fungi then cover your skin in acid, protecting it from harmful bacteria and fungi. A healthy person has as many as 65,000 bacteria living on almost every square inch of his or her body! There are bacteria which live in your intestines and produce Vitamin K for you. If you did not have these bacteria, your blood could never clot and even the tiniest of scratches would cause you to bleed to death. You provide these bacteria with food and a home. Mutualism is every where in Creation, and some of the examples are stunning. Certainly the ones given in the book are amazing. Here is another. http://www.highschoolscience.com/images/cecropia.gif The Azteca ants live on the cecropia tree. The tree provides them with food and shelter. In return the soldier ants fiercely attack any animal that attempts to eat or otherwise accost the tree. However, when the tree needs to be pollinated, it releases a chemical which tells the ants to go away for a while. That way, pollinating insects can visit the tree. The ants return when the chemical is no longer produced. http://www.highschoolscience.com/images/l_blue.gif The Large blue is a butterfly that lives in Europe and Northern Asia. The female butterflies lay their eggs on thyme flowers close to an ant's nest. The caterpillar hatches, burrows into the flower's head and starts eating it. After its first three molts it chews a hole in the plant and crawls outside and onto the ground. If the caterpillar is discovered by the right type of red ant, it will be "adopted". The ant touches the caterpillar and a sweet secretion comes out form its tenth segment, which the ants like. At the caterpillar's signal, the ant will carry it into an underground chamber of the ants' nest containing ant larvae. The caterpillar will be fed by the worker ants and eat some of the ant grubs. The next summer, the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis. A month later it emerges as a butterfly and leaves the nest. http://www.highschoolscience.com/images/leafcut.gif These red ants live in Central and South America. They climb bushes and trees and cut the leaves into 1-2 inch pieces and carry them overhead into football-sized underground rooms in their nest. One ant colony may have millions of members and their nest thousands of chambers. In the nest special worker ants chew up the millions of leaves into smaller pieces. Then they release a fluid to dampen them, so the leaves start decaying and turning into soil. Soon fungi begin growing in these "gardens". The ants regularly weed their garden from mildew and other types of competing fungi. Then they happily feed on their crop. How can any of this be explained by evolution. Remember, one of the principle tenants of ALL evolution (Darwinism, neo-Darwinism, punctuated equilibrium) is a FIERCE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE. Nevertheless, here are these creatures HELPING EACH OTHER OUT. Now, you could argue that this is just organisms getting together to enhance their chances of survival. Okay, then, but how did the cecropia tree know to release the chemical? As soon as Azteca ants started living on the tree, it would have to emit the chemical, or if could not reproduce. That would be the end, then. Thus, AT THE SAME MOMENT that ants ‘decided’ to defend the tree, the tree would have to ‘know’ to release the chemical when it is time for pollination. That’s crazy. Over and over again, however, you must postulate such wild coincidences if you believe in evolution. Once again when you look at the Creation, it always points a finger to its Creator. God Bless, Steve
Steve, do you know of any computer templates for lab reports? My middle one has started with General Science, and she's a TERRIBLE speller! If I were to have her write it once and then correct it and copy it on a second lab sheet, she would make a whole NEW set of mistakes! I use the Lab Reports on the Donna Young site. What I need are lab reports that I can pull up and she can type them directly onto the computer. Know what I mean? Do you know of any? Thanks!!!
Hi Jackie, My web site below has several links to General Science support documents. If you click on the "Live-Feed" GS course link, you will find three that may be helpful. There is a link to a formal report example, an informal report example, and a 2007 -2008 Assignment Supplement. These should give you a good start on a lab report template. If they are not what you are looking for, please e-mail me. I have others that may be just what you need. God Bless, Steve
Steve, Just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU again for explaining what we needed to do in order to start Zoology 2. The kids LOVE it! YIPPEE!!! They ask to do science. That has never happened. We're still in lesson 1 of Zoo 2 because I've been sick but they can't wait to get back into it next week. And they did so well with the first lesson from Zoo 1 to get us started. Even my 5 yr old son talks about all the things in the Animal Kingdom, etc. Thanks again, Rhonda
Dear Rhonda, You are welcome. Glad I could help give you a direction. Anyone doing Apologia marine biology, biology, or general science out there? I have a new audio/lecture note program that needs testing. I need one tester for each class. You get free access to the program for the rest of this year for providing me feedback on the system. Please write me at rosenon@apologia.com if interested. I give priority to missionaries serving overseas for these projects. Please let me know if you fall into this category when you write me. God Bless, Steve
Hi Everyone, I have been experimenting with screen capturing my classes. For those of you doing Apologia General Science, Biology, or Marine Biology, I have provided links to my video lectures for Module 11, (1st half) classes. I need your input on these video presentations. I am looking to see if they will run on all platforms (Windows, Mac, FireFox, etc) that have Windows Media Player installed. You are welcomes to use the recordings to help your student understand the Module 11 content. If the videos do not work for you, could you please send me an e-mail and tell me what operating system/browser you are using. My address is rosenon@apologia.com. Here are those links: General http://www.redwagontutorials.com/VideoG/GModule11-1.wmv Biology http://www.redwagontutorials.com/VideoB/BModule11-1.wmv Marine http://www.redwagontutorials.com/VideoM/MModule11-1.wmv Thank you for our assistance. God Bless, Steve
Hi Everyone, Here is a great little vignette for those of you doing Apologia Module 11. Hope you are enjoying your worm dissection [] What can roundworms teach us about following God’s rules, even if we do not understand them? http://www.trichinella.org/biology.htm Trichinella spiralis is a roundworm that causes a potentially deadly disease, trichinosis. This infection in people is usually caused by eating poorly-cooked pork. To completely kill the trichina worm cysts in pork, the meat must be frozen at 5 oF for 21 days or -22 oF for 25 hours. Clearly, such processing was not available to the people of Old Testament times; thus, God decided to protect His people from trichinosis by simply forbidding them to eat pork. The Israelites in Old Testament times didn't know anything about Trichinella spiralis. In order to protect His people, then, God simply forbade them to eat pork. Now to someone who was alive back then, such a rule might have seemed arbitrary and unfair. After all, they might have asked themselves, why can't we eat pork? Is God simply trying to keep us from enjoying ourselves? No, of course not. God was simply taking care of His people by forbidding them to eat something that was unhealthy for them! If you ever think that one of God's rules is designed simply to make life more difficult for you, just remember trichinosis. God's rules protect us from dangers that we do not understand, just like God's Law forbidding pork protected the children of Israel from a disease that they did not understand. This is just one case where God's Laws protected His people. There are many others: don't eat shellfish (Red Tide toxin), don't touch dead things (transmittance of disease), etc., etc. We serve a loving Father who protects His children, even when we don't understand the need. God Bless, Steve
Hi Everyone, I am finding monitoring three forums a bit overwhelming. I am, therefore, going to monitor only my posts on www.Crosswalk.com >> All Forums >> [Life] >> HomeSchool Support >> Apologia in the future. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and I look forward to seeing you all on the other site. God Bless, Steve
