Frequently Asked Questions For each elementary subject, you may choose your topic of interest (Astronomy, Botany, or Zoology) and do them in any order you wish. We recommend doing Zoology, which has 3 books, in order because there are terms defined in Book 1 that are used in Book 2, and terms defined in Book 2 that are used in Book 3. However, if a parent has a general knowledge of life science and you do the Zoology books out of order, the parent can just explain those terms as they are encountered.

Yes, our Physical Science course can be counted as either a junior high or high school science credit.

No, but there are programs that you can download that will allow you to select text on the computer and have it read to you. Here are some web links to free readers: http://www.naturalreaders.com , http://www.spacejock.com/yRead.html . In addition, keep in mind that our course audio CD's do read the course content to you, minus experiments, figures & tables, and end of module questions.

No, the 2nd edition books and all associated 2nd edition CD products are different from 1st edition material.

The companion CD is designed to be a companion to the book version of the science course, and has additional multimedia instructional material that will be helpful to the student. The content of each companion CD includes items such as audio pronunciations of difficult vocabulary terms, animations and/or videos to accompany and further explain figures in the text, demonstrations of experiments not included in the course. Companion CD content will differ depending on the topics covered in each course. The companion CD material is completely contained within the full course CD.

We cover earth science topics within our general science and physical science courses. The topics break down as follows:

In our General Science course, geology (including historical geology, mineralogy, sedimentology, stratigraphy, and paleontology) and the theories of uniformitarianism and catastrophism are contained in the following modules
Module #5: The History of Life: Archaeology, Geology, and Paleontology
Module #6: Foundations of Geology
Module #7: The Fossil Record
Module #8: Uniformitarianism and Catastrophism

In our Physical Science course, atmospheric science, hydrology, plate tectonics, and weather (meteorology and climatology) are contained in the following modules
Module #2: Air
Module #3: The Atmosphere
Module #4: The Wonder of Water
Module #5: The Hydrosphere
Module #6: Earth and the Lithosphere
Module #7: Factors That Affect Earth's Weather
Module #8: Weather and Its Prediction

To be successful in chemistry, a student needs to be extremely proficient at rearranging algebraic equations to solve for an unknown variable. Typically, this proficiency is achieved by the time a student has completed one year of an algebra course. Pre-algebra does not qualify as fulfilling this prerequisite.

Because our courses are designed for independent study, there are no teacher's editions. We do have separate solutions and tests manuals that include answers to all end-of-module review questions and practice problems, tests for each module, and test answers with fully worked out solution. There is also helpful material for parents and instructors that can be found at the beginning of each solutions and tests manual. For co-op instructors and school teachers using our material, we recommend that they purchase a full textbook set (student text plus solutions and tests manual) for their own use.

As far as course placement goes, please see page X of this catalog for course sequencing information and suggestions. Also, here are a couple of additional guidelines: You know your student and his/her abilities best. Our courses do not have science prerequisites until you reach Marine Biology and our other advanced courses. It's okay to start right into biology, or chemistry, or physics if your student is ready for that course. As always, we're happy to discuss your individual situation with you and make a recommendation for course placement.

Elementary: Our elementary courses come as a single hardbound book. There is no lab kit required as all of the student activities use common items.

Secondary: Our secondary courses (General Science and up) come as 2-book sets which include a hardbound student text and a softbound solutions and tests manual. The price includes both books, and they are all you need in terms of curriculum. Lab equipment is comprised of household items or a set that you purchase. The different options of lab equipment for each course are described throughout this catalog.

If something doesn't make sense to you, call us at 888-524-4724.

We deliberately chose not to include daily lessons in our curriculum, in order to allow maximum flexibility for the student working at his or her own pace. However, if you really want the structure of lessons for our secondary courses, we recommend that you first look at the table of contents of each book. You will see that each book has 16 modules. If you work through each module in 2 weeks, you will complete the course in 32 weeks, which fits nicely into a "typical" school year with a little time to spare. To break it down further, if you do science every day for 5 weekdays, you will have 10 work days available in 2 weeks. Do the reading, the "on your own" problems, and experiments on days 1-7, review and do the study guide (or review questions + practice problems) on days 8-9, and take the test on day 10. This puts an emphasis on review and reinforcement of concepts. Flex this schedule when necessary to work on harder concepts, review problem areas, or to move faster through the curriculum. Note that this is a suggestion and not a mandate! Some students work through a course in a semester, while others need 2 years to master the material. Remember, it's okay to do it differently. That's the beauty of homeschooling!

An online resource that you might find helpful is at http://www.donnayoung.org, where you can find free lesson schedules, tips and worksheets. Donna Young is not affiliated with Apologia.

There is helpful information about grading at the beginning of the solutions and tests manual in the "Teacher's Notes" section, under "Pedagogy of the Text", part (3). This curriculum was written based on a grading scale of A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, F=59 or below. Partial credit is allowed.

Laboratory experiments, properly done, help to reinforce concepts learned through reading. They are also especially helpful for the student who learns best by doing and touching. However, they are not absolutely necessary. Scientific concepts can be learned without doing labs at this level of learning. On the other hand, students who intend to go to college will need the lab credits for college admission. Once again, this is one of the perks of homeschooling — you decide what is best for your student. We included labs designed specifically so that you could do them at home with minimal equipment, and they are written to make them easy to do or skip if you so choose.

There is a discussion of lab reports at the front of the student textbook under "Student Notes" in the "Experiments" section. Once the experiment is completed, the student should already have data and any calculations in his/her lab notebook. As is stated in the books, "The write-up should be a brief discussion of what was done and what was learned. You should not write a step-by-step procedure. Instead, write a brief summary that will allow someone who has never read the text to understand what you did and what you learned." The complexity of the experiment and the resulting depth of the discussion should naturally increase as the student progresses into higher level courses. If you need help, you can download sample write-ups from the Knowledge Base in the support area of our website at www.apologiaonline.com.

We wrote this curriculum just for you and your student. It is designed with the idea that the student is on his or her own with the course. This means that all of the explanation that a teacher would normally give orally in class has to be included in the book, step by step. This is also why the course is written conversationally, to make the student feel like someone is speaking directly to him or her. If you want to work with the student and work through the course too, that's great. If questions come up that you can't answer, we provide a free question and answer service. There's information in the front of the student textbook telling you how to reach us.