So far in my life it's a given that the sun will rise each day. See, there it is, just this morning. Like that certainty, there is also the fact I will try to find a way to make my plan work. I don't always win, but I at least try.
Way back like two years ago I developed the desire to what to approach high school science in an integrated way. I read the pros and cons, I looked into the way foreign countries approach science, and I drew up an elaborate plan. Then the budget collapse of this decade happened in our family. I knew my plan was shot. I also knew there was no way I could keep track of all the planning, the books, what concepts to cover when, and I gave up on my plan on doing integrated.
Another reason I had wanted to approach science this way was because of Z's enthusiasm for the three major sciences. Physics, love! Chemistry, okay (what can we blow up?), and biology (yuck!). I also wanted to approach science from a Physics first angle. Z was zipping along in his math skills and I planned on adding an algebra-based physics for this coming year. Well...with the change in math, I decided that the algebra-based physics would be a stretch. I was considering moving to a Conceptual Physics when I stumbled upon The Sciences by Trefil and Hazen. We own and love their non-textbook Science Matters, so I knew the writing would be engaging and the content approachable. I ordered a copy.
While we haven't used the text yet, obviously, there are some pros and cons I see. The pros being that is is an integrated text. It's not picking and choosing concepts from individual books. They also have a separate book on The Great Ideas of Science. According to the TOC, this is excerpts from the scientists discussed in the book. This is great for classical educators, as it's like an anthology of Great Books for science. I will be adding this book to our study.
The cons? It's light on topics for a true study on the individual subjects. It covers physics, chemistry, astronomy, Earth, and biology. It's designed a college course for non-science majors. My plan is to add coverage from outside sources to round out each year and so have three full credits, physics, chemistry, and biology.
For Physics I plan to add NROC Introductory Physics. We will use the readings from the Trefil/Hazen text and do study and videos from NROC. I also plan to add an experiment kit from Home Science Tools.
I've co-ordinated the NROC study with the text. I've added in the appropriate readings and left room for the experiments.
Using this method, we'll have a full year of study, worthy of a physics credit. Next year my plan is similar only focusing on chemistry, and the following year, biology. That will leave his senior year for a science of his choice or dual enrollment. This will also give us time to delve into areas of interest more easily than if we used a full-coverage text. I'm still putting on the final touches, but I am excited that this text was brought to my attention. It's going to be a stellar year. Only a few more weeks.
