Last week we started biology! I am so excited!
 

Judah, Colleen, and Sean are taking biology together this year. With three teens taking the course together, it feels like we have a nice little class.
 

Our co-op is doing the labs together, which will make it more fun and also more economical. We are using Apologia Biology as the framework for our co-op labs. The class is made up of students from 9th grade through 12th grade, with one 8th grade student. Judah will not be in the labs class at co-op. He will be going at his own pace and hoping to finish much sooner than we do since this is one of his final highschool courses.

 

Our facilitator (she's not really teaching the class– just planning out and giving lab instruction) shopped around and bought supplies in bulk. It ended up costing a slim $55 per student for supplies, and that includes the dissection specimens. Woot!

Last Friday was our first co-op session. We had each student label his supplies and lab notebook. After a brief discussion about lab notebooks, we dove right into the first lab– using a biological key. Our facilitator, Mrs. S, thought this would make a nice, easy beginning for co-op.

 

Mrs. S had guessed the class could likely do this exercise in around five minutes. Nope. I don't think one student was finished in that amount of time. It really is kind of a mind bender at first. The biological key just is not very intuitive at first. It probably didn't help that not everyone had their books yet, and so they had not read through the first part of the chapter before class that day. After we had explained it a couple of times and they had looked closely at the example, most of the students had it figured out. Of course, that was 10 minutes after class should have ended. (If you're doing Apologia Biology as a group, I would suggest allowing around 20 minutes for Experiment 1.1.)

 

 

Sean has always loved science. In fact, he used to say he wanted to be an entymologist. Judah and Colleen, on the other hand, have never seemed too thrilled by science. They would rather take art or music. So imagine my surprise when they immediately sat down with their Biology books as soon as we got home! Within the afternoon, Judah had caught up with the other two and had finished the biological key. He put down the book and proclaimed, "I think I'm really going to like biology!" Way to go, Apologia!
 

They continued working through Module 1 this week. In fact, they have finished reading the chapter and doing all the exercises in exactly one week. Over the weekend they will finish the study guide and prepare for the test.

 

 

With three in Biology this year, I figured we would really need a microscope. Since Hubby is a bi-vocational associate pastor, there is no way we could afford one. Then it looked like our co-op wouldn't be able to borrow enough microscopes for all of the students we would have in class. God made a way! Apologia sent me a microscope (a National Model 131 with Tungston lighting) and the microscope set (that includes the prepared slides). Nature's Workshop Plus (the family owned business that supplies Apologia with lab materials) also sent me a similar microscope. It's the same model, except with LED lighting and a graduated mechanical stage. These were such a blessing! In fact, I'm not sure how our co-op would have managed without these two microscopes! I really hope you'll visit both these amazing companies!
 

As a result, over the course of this school year I will be sharing how we are using Apologia Biology. It won't be like a typical review. I want to share with you how the practicalities and details of this curriculum play out in our family over the entire course– not just the first chapter. I'll also be sharing many of our microsope adventures with you– both the ones that are assigned in Apologia Biology and those that we add in because of curiosity. It's going to be a fun year!

 

 

Next week at co-op, we will be doing the lab that familarizes students with the microscope (Experiment 1.2). Judah was ready to do this lab, and everyone in the house was ready to get their hands on those microscopes. In fact, for about a week it was all Teeny could talk about. "Can we look through the microscope today?!" I don't know what she thought she would see, but she was excited!

 

 

How can I say no to excitement about learning? They all three did the microscope lab. Hopefully, they don't ruin the fun for everyone else at co-op.
 

They read all the instructions and felt confident that they knew how to use the micrscope properly, but none of us was certain about which direction the mechanical stage should be situated on the microscope. I found this very helpful video that explains the parts of a microscope, how to use it, and how to use the mechanical stage. It's a bit dark, but he explained everything really well.
 

Next week, I'll have a modification to share with you. Yes, already I'm modifying, but only a smidgen. {grin}

 

 

 

HomeSchool High is sponsored by Apologia.

I hope you'll tell them a big "thank you"!

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Now it's your turn. What have you been doing this week with your high school teens?

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