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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 1:40:15 PM
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rosenon
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks to everyone who helped me with the screen capturing question. It seems to be working well in all browsers and operating systems after a few tweaks. A number of you asked about a video of the worm dissection. There is not one available; but to say, "Thanks," to those of you who helped me, here is my screen capture of my earthworm lecture.
Biology http://www.redwagontutorials.com/VideoB/BModule11-2.wmv
Thank you for your assistance. Now on to Module 12 and recording the bugs and spider class :-)
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 3:15:01 PM
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cynthia
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Steve, I was wondering if you know why Apologia chose to have honors programs rather than going the AP route.
Also I am interested in the difference between the honors program and the regular program. Does it cover the same material, only more indepth?
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 5:04:47 PM
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rosenon
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cynthia
Steve, I was wondering if you know why Apologia chose to have honors programs rather than going the AP route.
Also I am interested in the difference between the honors program and the regular program. Does it cover the same material, only more indepth?
Dear Cynthia,
Advanced Placement (AP) is defined by the College Board (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf) and has some very specific requirements to be met. To be ready for the national AP Biology exam, for example, the student would have to complete General Biology, Chemistry, and Human Anatomy and Physiology in the Apologia series. There are also eleven required labs which must be performed for the AP program and there are questions over these labs on the Exam. To supply the materials necessary to complete these labs, the student/family would need to purchase a lab kit that would cost about $1200. Public Schools can afford this cost because the materials are reusable or restockable, but home schooling families generally are not tied into a lab program which supplies these things. AP is a costly endeavor when the supplies are purchased individually and once. Your student can still take the AP Exam, but will have to supplement their studies of General Biology, Chemistry, and Human A&P in the Apologia program with a GOOD AP Exam prep text which covers the lab materials and evolution in depth. This is true of AP Chemistry and AP Physics as well.
"Honors" is simply a name for pre-college placement work. It generally requires a formal lab report writing component and more in-depth study of the materials. If you glance at a typical secular general biology text, you will be surprised at the content deference between Apologia and the typical high school text. Apologia is typically called "pre-college." I teach it to "Honors" in my classes because I require the writing component and because I am a reader for the national AP Biology Exam: I actually grade the tests during summer. I include AP Exam materials in my course, which bumps up the level a bit.
I guess the best way to sum it up, AP is a College Board defined program and you have to meet their criteria to call your course "AP." "Honors" is defined by the school or teacher, which is you or I in the case of home schooling parents.
Hope that helps.
God Bless,
Steve
< Message edited by rosenon -- 3/15/2008 6:29:07 PM >
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 5:44:06 PM
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cynthia
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I was aware that the College Board determined what was required for an AP course, but did not realize how much is involved and how expensive it would be to meet their requirements. Thank you for that explaination.
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 6:34:45 PM
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rosenon
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Dear Cynthia
Yup, to have an approved CB AP course a teacher MUST submit a syllabus for review and approval to CollegeBoard. They then need to be audited at intervals to make sure that the syllabus is being followed and the instruction is happening. My wife just went through the process last summer to get her public school AP English course approved. She spent most of the summer agonizing over her syllabus. It was quite an ordeal.
Heading to Church.
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 6:40:09 PM
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cynthia
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I can imagine it would be a major ordeal to go through the college board for approval.
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RE: Apologia - 3/15/2008 7:16:25 PM
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Jenny-Fair
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I don't think you have to take a certified AP 'course' in order to take the AP exam, though...I know the Apologia folk have said people have passed the exam after using their materials.
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RE: Apologia - 3/16/2008 12:08:56 AM
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rosenon
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Jenny-Fair
I don't think you have to take a certified AP 'course' in order to take the AP exam, though...I know the Apologia folk have said people have passed the exam after using their materials.
No, you don't HAVE to take a certified course to take the AP Exam. However, if you want to call your course of study "AP" on a transcript or high school class "AP," then you need the to follow the CollegeBoard guidelines. Anyone who can pay the money can take the Exam, but to have a chance to pass it you have to know the material that is covered. To be ready for the national AP Biology Exam, you need to take Apologia General Biology, Chemistry, and Human A&P. You should also study a GOOD AP Exam prep book to understand the 11 AP-required labs and review evolution from a secular viewpoint. The same is true of AP Chemistry and Physics. There are things on the Exams, which require further review than just the Apologia books. The Apologia books are GREAT prep for the Exam, but you should plan on additionally doing a Princeton Review:
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=169&TYPE=AP
Cynthia orginally asked why Apologia did not call their courses "AP." To put it simply, CollegeBoard certifies school courses; not curriculums. Also the cost of the lab equipment is too great to make it easily accessible to home schooling families.
Jenny-Fair, I work for Apologia. I teach their science courses for The Potter's School. I am also a reader for the national AP Biology Exam and attend AP Institute annually to keep current on the AP requirements.
God Bless,
Steve
< Message edited by rosenon -- 3/16/2008 12:17:07 AM >
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RE: Apologia - 3/16/2008 1:38:53 AM
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cynthia
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Actually I asked why Apologia went the honors route rather than the AP route. What I meant was to ask why Apologia didn't design their course using the AP guidelines and get the approval of the College Board. You did a good job of answering my question though. I don't think they'd do nearly as well with their course if it cost $1,200 just for the materials to complete it! Also from what you said, it sounds like the honors course is for a student that wants to go more indepth in the sciences. My daughter enjoys science, but I'm not sure if she would like to take an honors course or not. It won't really make a difference for her major, as she wants to be a youth pastor and also to study drama. A good combination, but not really high in science.
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RE: Apologia - 3/16/2008 10:50:45 AM
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rosenon
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cynthia
Actually I asked why Apologia went the honors route rather than the AP route. What I meant was to ask why Apologia didn't design their course using the AP guidelines and get the approval of the College Board. You did a good job of answering my question though. I don't think they'd do nearly as well with their course if it cost $1,200 just for the materials to complete it! Also from what you said, it sounds like the honors course is for a student that wants to go more indepth in the sciences. My daughter enjoys science, but I'm not sure if she would like to take an honors course or not. It won't really make a difference for her major, as she wants to be a youth pastor and also to study drama. A good combination, but not really high in science.
Thanks for clarifying your question, Cynthia. What you may want to consider is that any student seeking a college degree is going to have to take science credits: usually around 20 science credits are required for non-science majors. Apologia's pre-college textbooks prepares your students for these classes. Your student is also going to have to write about science concepts and experiments in college, even if they are a non-science major. The course I teach is "Honors" because it includes both the excellent pre-college science information found in the Apologia books, a formal writing component to help the student learn about writing good reports, and information from the AP Biology Exam which will help him or her to pass standardized tests like the national AP Biology, SAT II (E) Biology, and Biology CLEP exams. Totally, your student will work harder in my course than just taking Apologia or some other curriculum alone, but it creates a student better capable of functioning at the college level in the end, whether that student is a science major or not.
Whether a course is "Honors" is determined by the teacher of that course. You can call the standard Apologia pre-college course "Honors" if you want because it is up to you (the teacher) to determine what the definition of "Honors" is at this point. As they have done with the "AP" designation, the College Board is looking at standardizing the definition of "Honors" also in the near future. Once they do that, all courses (including mine) will be "pre-college" placement until they meet the CB certification requirements for "Honors." It is up to you (the parent) at this point whether you call a course "Honors" or not on your student's transcript. I simply tell my participants that the course is "Honors" up front so they don't need to make that determination.
Hope that helps.
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 12:27:26 AM
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rosenon
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Hi Everyone,
It has been a while since I posted a vignette. I though you might enjoy this little teaching from my lecture on spiders:
What is so unique about spider silk? It is incredibly strong and yet amazingly flexible.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Info/spindraad.htm
Dragline silk is the fiber from which spiders make the scaffolding of their webs. It has been estimated by scientists to be at least five times as strong as steel, twice as elastic as nylon, waterproof and stretchable. It has been estimated that a pencil-sized strand of spider silk could stop a Boeing 747 in flight!
"Dragline spider silk is actually stronger than Kevlar synthetic fiber- and Kevlar is several times stronger than steel," says polymer scientist David Tirrell who wrote a review for the journal Science describing the current research of several groups around the country trying to replicate the properties of spider silk. To this day, no one can replicate what the spider makes without even thinking.
How does the spider make the silk? There are special glands (see the close up on the website) that produce a series of liquid proteins. When the proteins are mixed, the resulting mixture hardens, much like epoxy hardens when you mix the two liquids. This forms the web.
Notice the magnified image located on the middle-right or the web page about halfway down. The glands near the center are in the process of making a strand.
Why don’t spiders get trapped in their own webs? The tiny little tips of a spider's legs produce and secrete an oil. That keeps them from getting trapped on the sticky silk.
Interestingly enough, webs are recyclable! The spider can eat its own web so that the materials can go back into making a new one. This is important, as winds and strong prey can damage webs.
Pretty amazing stuff, heh .... and, of course, if you believe evolution to be true, then you MUST believe that the amazing properties of spider silk and all the behaviors associated with spinning a web just happened by random chance .... it is all just a big accident according to Mr. Darwin. Nah, I don't think so :-)
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 7:50:38 AM
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misaham
Posts: 756
Joined: 10/27/2007
From: Just west of Cleveland, OH
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Hi Steve,
My son is 11, completing the 5th grade this year. He is very interested in science, and wants to study entomology (and open a "bug museum" upon graduating from college!). I am not very familiar with Apologia, but your post on spiders made me take another look. I noticed that the courses start with 7th grade. Do you ever recommend these for younger kids?
We bought him a chemistry set (beakers, goggles, etc) for his birthday, but we are having a hard time finding a good book of experiments which would specifically allow him to use his new tools. I really want to encourage this love of science, and encourage it in a creation science environment.
(Also, do you know if Apologia is going to be at the CHEO Homeschool Convention in Columbus, OH in June?).
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 8:17:44 AM
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rosenon
Posts: 130
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From: Washington State
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quote:
ORIGINAL: misaham
Hi Steve,
My son is 11, completing the 5th grade this year. He is very interested in science, and wants to study entomology (and open a "bug museum" upon graduating from college!). I am not very familiar with Apologia, but your post on spiders made me take another look. I noticed that the courses start with 7th grade. Do you ever recommend these for younger kids?
We bought him a chemistry set (beakers, goggles, etc) for his birthday, but we are having a hard time finding a good book of experiments which would specifically allow him to use his new tools. I really want to encourage this love of science, and encourage it in a creation science environment.
(Also, do you know if Apologia is going to be at the CHEO Homeschool Convention in Columbus, OH in June?).
Dear misaham,
A bug museum ... WOW, I want this kid in my class  . Apologia actually has a whole elementary science series available. The Zoology series starts with a text entitled "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" and includes information on insects. The web page detailing this curriculm follows:
https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=4
There are a number of good curriculums around for elementary chemistry, but what I would suggest is the project route with this topic until high school. Here is a great web page with elementary school chemistry lesson plans:
http://www.proteacher.com/110052.shtml
Finally, Apologia posts its conference schedule on its catalog site: www.apologia.com. If you want to see where we are going to be each weekend, you can look here:
http://www.apologiaonline.com/conf/
I hope these help you. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
God Bless,
Steve
< Message edited by rosenon -- 3/26/2008 9:46:00 AM >
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 1:05:35 PM
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cynthia
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Great. I want to be at the lecture at the WHO convention.
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 2:15:21 PM
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rosenon
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cynthia
Great. I want to be at the lecture at the WHO convention.
I will be there working at the Apologia booth and talking to folks about Potter's School and RWT. I am not sure who they are sending out from Indiana from the home office. They usually do the speaking at the conventions. I just play host and welcome folks. It is a fun weekend for me because I get to meet local kids who are taking my classes. I have about 20 here in Washington State. It is always good to meet them face to face.
God Bless,
Steve
< Message edited by rosenon -- 3/27/2008 10:09:47 PM >
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 2:27:42 PM
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cynthia
Posts: 8078
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That sounds like fun, Steve.
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 5:35:39 PM
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BCMOM
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Flying Creatures of the 5th day is fantastic. We have the whole series of books on our shelf and are looking forward to the newest one.
Steve, my son is enjoying the online program immensely.
Laurie
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 7:17:33 PM
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misaham
Posts: 756
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From: Just west of Cleveland, OH
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Steve,
Wish that you were coming to the Cincy area homeschool conventions!
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RE: Apologia - 3/26/2008 10:33:38 PM
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rosenon
Posts: 130
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quote:
ORIGINAL: BCMOM
Flying Creatures of the 5th day is fantastic. We have the whole series of books on our shelf and are looking forward to the newest one.
Steve, my son is enjoying the online program immensely.
Laurie
Thanks, Laurie. The addition of the online textbook with multimedia, online fill in the blank lecture notes, and computer graded tests and exams has helped the General Science RWT program. I will be working on the biology and marine biology during my Spring Break to add all these features to the other offerings also. I will begin screen capturing the whole lecture series in June for Fall distribution. I am also prepping the physical science course for Fall release and doing the book extras for the new General Science, 2nd Edition, book.
It is going to be a busy summer, but it is my hope that the RWT program will be ready for distribution to missionary families next school year. For each state side family who buys the program, I give one connection away free to a missionary family - all they need do is buy the Apologia book and they can take the course with you.
Thanks for the feedback.
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 3/27/2008 10:11:57 PM
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rosenon
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From: Washington State
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quote:
ORIGINAL: misaham
Steve,
Wish that you were coming to the Cincy area homeschool conventions!
Actually Potter's School is holding its annual teachers' meeting in Cincy this year so we can all go the CM. I believe Dr, Jay is giving a guided tour to the teachers, at least that is the rumor :-) We just love having Dr. Jay on staff at Potter's and I love being on staff at Apologia. It is a win-win. What is really nice is that Dr. Jay substitutes for me if I need a day off. The kids just love it when he comes online to talk with them. He is such a mentor.
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 4/1/2008 10:40:09 PM
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rosenon
Posts: 130
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From: Washington State
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Hi Everyone,
Here are some little know facts for those of you doing Apologia General Science, Module 13:
The small intestine is approximately 20 feet, with the surface area of a tennis court. The inside of the small intestine is covered with tiny projections called intestinal villi. Intestinal villi (singular: villus) are tiny, finger-like projections that protrude from the wall of the intestine and have additional extensions called microvilli (singular: microvillus) which protrude from epithelial cells lining villi. They increase the absorptive area and the surface area of the intestinal wall. It is important that the food is absorbed at a considerably fast rate so as to allow more food to be absorbed. (If the process is too slow, the concentration of the blood in the blood vessels and the food will be equal, thus, diffusion will not occur.) Digested nutrients (including sugars and amino acids) pass into the villi through diffusion. Circulating blood then carries these nutrients away. The surface area of the intestine is immense do to the presence of this tiny absorption points. If the intestine did not have villi, it would need to be 2 1/4 miles to give the same absorptive surface as it presently has.
Here is a couple of links for you:
Magnified Villi
http://www.udel.edu/biology/Wags/wagart/anaglyphpage/villi.gif
Great page for the digestive system
http://www.easttroy.k12.wi.us/hs/dept/science/bottum/Adv%20Biology/digestive/danatomy/dahome.htm
Hope this helps you with your GS Module 13 studies.
God Bless,
Steve
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RE: Apologia - 4/2/2008 2:50:11 PM
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ddsisson
Posts: 296
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quote:
For instance, what would happen if a baby had pyloric stenosis (stenosis is a narrowing or constriction)?
OT-Cindy my oldest had that. Had surgery for it when he was 5 weeks old.
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