AmblesideOnline - Year 9 Science
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We are so sorry, but a full version of the new science for AO year 9 isn't going to be ready for a debut when we had hoped. We have hit a few glitches. However, do not despair, we have some ideas for you!
Note: this is very much a tentative plan in the testing phase and it could be changed.
Option 1:
While a full new science for AO year 9 would be ideal, sometimes we have to settle for 'good enough.' We formerly recommended Apologia, and using a standard biology text this year is still a viable option. Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology ($amzn), CK-12, which is free for Kindle K are two choices. Using a biology text and doing the labs is a traditional school approach which is 'good enough.'
Option 2:
Help us by providing feedback on Year 9's science and reviewing other science books:
Illustrated Guide to Home Biology by Thompson: ($amzn) For a more living science approach, plan to use a standard biology text along with The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments and spread it out over the next four years. On the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology website, the authors have kindly provided help in matching up experiments to the corresponding pages in several popular biology texts, including Apologia, CK-12, and Bob Jones Biology, 4th edition (Bob Jones University Press). "The lab sessions in Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments are easy to coordinate with the lecture material in any standard homeschool biology text, including the two texts we recommend, Miller and Levine Biology and CK-12 Biology."
You, the parent, will definitely want to read the introduction to the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology, and happily if you go to Amazon and read the free sample provided, the intro is included (if you have younger children, say, years 7-8 especially, you should read the intro in the free sample as well. It will help you overall).
Other books:
Signs and Seasons by Jay Ryan - continue from previous years, Ch 6-Epilogue, and do the observations. ($amzn)
Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball β Δ - continue from previous years, reading the chapters on Flamsteed and Laplace where they fit historically. (K)
The Microbe Hunters, by Paul de Kruif α ($amzn) (K) only the chapter on Spallanzani this year where he fits historically.
Body by Design: An Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Body by Alan L. Gillen ($amzn) we suggest scheduling this for Term 1.
First Studies of Plant Life, by George Francis Atkinson Δ [Google Books] ($amzn) Continue from last year (pages and experiments to be announced)
Longitude by Dava Sobel - assign as Geography; we suggest term one. ($amzn) (K) There is also a movie which some of us have enjoyed. We don't ordinarily recommend movies, but the upper years can be hard and crunched for time. DVD: ($amzn)
The Periodic Kingdom by P.W. Atkins ($amzn) (K)
Reactions: The Private Life of Atoms by Peter Atkins ($amzn) (K) If you want a Lite year, just use The Periodic Kingdom. Key experiments to the material in these books (see below)
The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry by Thompson, with experiments matched to topics in the chapters of the Atkins books ($amzn) (K) OR Chemistry for the Logic Stage (here) These books may or may not be in our final line-up later, but if they are, Chemistry for the Logic Stage would probably be used just for year 9, as a transitional book, and the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry would be spread out over at least 2 of the higher years.
Optional: The Biology Coloring Book by Robert Griffin and Cinthea Vadala ($amzn)
Gray's Anatomy Coloring Book by Freddy Stark ($amzn)
Keeping a lab book for high school science is truly not optional. See the free foreword samples provided at Amazon for the Home Biology and Home Chemistry books for more information on lab-books for science.
If we use Illustrated Home Chemistry, for most students we would plan the following experiments (and corresponding chapters in a basic chemistry text) over 2-4 years
Illustrated home chemistry:
separating mixtures
solubility and solutions
colligative properties of solutions
intro to chemical reactions and stoichiometry
reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions
acid-base chemistry
chemical kinetics
chemical equilibrium and le chatelier's principle
gas chemistry
thermochemistry and calorimetry
electrochemistry
photochemistry
colloids and suspensions
qualitative analysis
quantitative analysis
synthesis of useful compounds
forensic chemistry
Your young scholars who want an AP course, or are interested in science fields will want to do more.
Those using the Illustrated Home Biology book for this year will want to do these 15 experiments (and read the corresponding chapters in a text):
building and observing microcosms
observing succession in aquarium microcosms
observing the effects of pollution on microcosms
acids, bases, and buffers
carbohydrates and lipids
proteins, enzymes, and vitamins
coacervates
extracting, isolating, and visualizing dna
build a gel electrophoresis apparatus
simulated dna separation by gel electrophoresis
chlorophyll and photosynthesis
investigating osmosis
investigating cell division
sampling plant populations in a community
observing the effect of rhizobia on plant growth
air pollution testing
soil and water pollution testing
exploring mendelian genetics
observing specialized eukaryotic cells
preparing culturing media
culturing bacteria
investigating bacterial antibiotic sensitivity
investigating protista
investigating fungi
investigating simple plants: mosses and ferns
investigating seed plants
investigating porifera and cnidaria
investigating platyhelminthes, nematoda, and annelida
investigating arthropods
investigating vertebrate tissues
If you are working with us on testing year 9's living science program, we would be spreading the above labs over 3 or 4 years, recommending additional labs for those who want AP science or are interested in science fields.
We regret a settled year 9 is not ready for release This is truly is a very rough draft for Year 9 at this point and nothing is concrete. Our only reason for releasing any of this is because we know many YR9ers were counting on a living science release this year.
Thanks for reading!