Initial Plan for 10th Grade

Current plan (and this could definitely change!  I'm at the "extremely optimistic" phase!):

Literature/English/History/American Civics (2 credits):
English (Literature/Composition) and History will focus on American History and Civics.  The following sources will be used in combination to cover the topics.
The Great American Bestsellers:  Books that Shaped America
Institute for Excellence in Writing:  US History-Based Writing Lessons Civil War to Present
Connect the Thoughts:  History VII - American Civics—An Owner's Manual
Thinkwell's American Government

Geometry (1 credit):
Math-U-See Geometry

Biology (1 credit):
Pre-College Course in Hands-On Biology by the Contemporary Science Center
Supplemented with the following texts/study guides
Thinkwell's Biology
Campbell's Biology:Concepts and Connections

Spanish II (1 credit)
TBD

Electives

• Game Design (1/2 credit)
• 2D and 3D game design
  
• Personal Finance (1/2 credit)
• Physical Education (1/2 credit)
• Basic Engineering (CAD, Programming, ME, Robotics)
  
• Basic Business (marketing, graphic design, public speaking, presentations, meetings)

Squishy Circuits

Here's a great way to make circuits and talk about conductors and insulators -- by making playdough recipes that conduct and don't conduct electricity.

Very, Very Cool...

http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/index.htm

Earth Science

Prentice Hall Earth Science
Including Guided Reading and Study workbook (0-13-125901-6)
and online resources:
http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?area=view&wcprefix=cuk&wcsuffix=9999

Teaching Company's
How the Earth Works
or
Geology

Lots of options

GREAT add-on for dysgraphia

Being in high school now, my son's dysgraphia is causing all sorts of challenges when it comes to algebra and chemistry.  Rewriting a chemical equation to balance it takes long, often brings in more mistakes, and is completely demotivating to him.

From a yahoo group for dysgraphia (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dysgraphia), I found out about this software to make writing math equations, drawing graphs, doing chemical equations and chemical structures much easier:
http://www.efofex.com/

I just downloaded it and it integrates completely into Word.  Click on the add-in, type in chemical equations and it automatically formats to subscripts, arrows,  superscripts, etc.  Amazing!  The graphs, math, and chemical structures also are extremely easy to integrate into a Word document.


To get an annual subscription of the entire program (math, drawing, chemistry), it's approximately $150 US per year but with proof of special needs (letter from a school or, for homeschoolers, qualified test results showing learning challenges -- that we have), my son can download it and use it for personal use free for 10 years.

Extremely cool!

High School Chemistry Resources

Top Ten Reasons to Take Chemistry

10) It's fun to say "Erlenmeyer"
9) If your parents ground you, dissolve their car!
8) Mr. Guch's Chili Recipe!
7) Colleges like it more than "Basketweaving 101"
6) It makes you look smart, like what's his name, that physics dude in the wheelchair
5) Find out what's in your school lunch!
4) You don't have to mess with dead things like in Biology.
3) Goggles, Goggles, Goggles!
2) You don't have to get all sweaty like you do in P.E.
1) Many major corporations are now asking applicants to balance equations

Textbook:  Glencoe Chemistry Matter and Change (2002/2001 version)

• Online Quizes/resources by chapter
• Chemistry: Matter and Change, Student Edition
• Chemistry: Matter and Change; Study Guide for Content Mastery
• Solving Problems: a Chemistry Handbook (Matter and Change)

DVD Math supplement
Textbook order goes fairly well with the Teaching Company's Chemistry, 2nd Edition DVD's

Another supplement
For straight forward descriptions, though the title is horrible, Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry follows the same rough outline with descriptions of what's going on.

Here are some online worksheets for Chemistry:
http://misterguch.brinkster.net/practiceworksheets.html
and, from the same site, some online tutorials: http://misterguch.brinkster.net/explains2.html
(Check out the Gas Law tips and how to keep them straight -- some very funny stories!)

• Reaction Worksheets (13): Balancing equations, word equations, stoichiometry, gas stoichiometry, percent yield, reaction types, limiting reagents, redox reactions, solution stoichiometry.
• Solutions Worksheets (16): Molarity, molality, mole fraction, dilutions, acids and bases, pH, pOH, titrations, weak acids, colligative properties, Ksp calculations, making solutions, pop quiz, like dissolves like.
• Covalent and Metallic Materials Worksheets (12): Lewis structures, VSEPR, polarity, intermolecular forces, practice test, properties of metals.
• Naming Compounds Worksheets (9): Naming ionic and covalent compounds, organic compounds, acids and bases.
• Gas Law Worksheets (8): Combined & ideal gas laws, Boyle's law, Charles's law, Dalton's law of partial pressures, RMS velocity problems, gas stoichiometry.
• Calculations Worksheets (6): Unit conversions, molar masses, grams-moles-molecules, percent composition.
• Miscellaneous Worksheets (16): Sig figs, types of solids, phase diagrams, electron configurations, subatomic particles, nuclear reactions, scientific notation, heats of reaction, Le Chatlier's principle, calorimetry, functional groups, first semester review sheet, properties of ionic compounds.
• Practice Final Exam, Multiple Choice Only - It may not cover everything you did in your class, but it's a start!

Technology 2.0 and up sites

Rethinking Education Technology -- book about using the new technologies in education
http://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Education-Technology-Education-Connections-Education-Cnnections/dp/0807750034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264994196&sr=8-1

EduCon 2.2
An online (and in person) conference about using Education and Web 2.2 technology.  Worth exploring some of the different people who attended.
http://www.educon22.org/conversations/The_Decoupling_of_Education_and_School_Where_do_We_Begin

The wiki for the conference above:
http://i3educon.wikispaces.com/


One of the speakers at the EduCon conference -- haven't explored it much yet.
http://sites.google.com/site/sunilityching/


ScienceOnline 2010 Website
Some interesting local people and websites to look at (see the attendees list):
http://www.scienceonline2010.com/index.php/wiki/

Math future wiki -- for the scienceonline website
http://www.scienceonline2010.com/index.php/wiki/

More science and online highschool stuff

Good reviews for Singapore highschool science texts (biology, physics):
http://www.singaporemath.com/Science_Matters_s/128.htm

Also some positives for the U of Texas online highschool classes (don't know anything about them!):
http://www.utexas.edu/ce/k16/cbe-ea/high-school-courses/

And another online highschool list of classes (though I don't like their url and again, know nothing about them):
http://www.govhs.org/

Yenka Physics

Very cool physics gadgets -- free to download for home use:
http://www.yenka.com/

Highschool Biology Links

Part of Pearson's online companion to textbooks -- you can get the online part for $35/year even without the textbook:
http://www.masteringbio.com/

Chemistry recommendation for people who are taking biology without having had all the chemistry yet:
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Chemistry-Biology-Students-9th/dp/0805395717/

Senior Biology 1 and 2 -- a supplement for AP biology.

http://www.biozone.co.nz/Review/SB/SB-02-1.php
http://www.thebiozone.com/international.php

Online supplemental biology labs:
http://www.biologylabsonline.com/index.html


Teaching Company course, Biology:The Science of Life
http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=1500

Compilation of High School Biology Links
http://sites.google.com/site/llapbiology/links

Singapore's Biology Matters (for "O" levels in Singapore) -- with workbooks, etc.
http://www.singaporemath.com/Biology_Matters_Textbook_9_10_gr_p/matbiotb.htm
Might be worth looking into more -- has practical (expts), workbook and text. They also have Chemistry for Gr 9/10.

Free Online Classes from Carnegie Melon

Carnegie Melon also has some free online courses -- though the choices are limited and you sign up for the entire course:

https://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/

Open & Free Courses

We do not provide any certification or verification of completion. If you would like to receive credit or certification for completing the course, you need to make arrangements with your local institution. See some tips on how you can get credit.
No instructors, no credits, no charge.

Use these self-guiding materials and activities to learn at your own pace!
Find a course you are interested in and click on "Get Started". If you want to keep track of your progress, sign in or create a new account. Otherwise click on "Look inside".

Topics:
* Engineering Statics
* Statistics
* Causal and Statistical Reasoning
* Modern Biology
* Chemistry
* Economics
* French
* Logic & Proofs
* Physics
* Empirical Research Methods
* Computational Discrete Mathematics
* Visual Communication Design

Free Online Math Videos

An amazing group of free youtube videos on various math topics -- from pre-algebra all the way up through differential equations, physics, finance, economics, trig, linear programming, etc.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

From the website:
The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere.

We have 800+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, and finance which have been recorded by Salman Khan. He has also developed a free, adaptive math program available here.

The entire video library is shown below. Just click on a category or video title to start learning from the Khan Academy!

Calculus | Precalculus | Trigonometry | Algebra | Finance | Pre-algebra | Arithmetic | Geometry | Physics | SAT Preparation | Probability | Linear Algebra | Differential Equations | Credit Crisis | Banking and Money | Paulson Bailout | California Standards Test: Algebra II | California Standards Test: Algebra I | California Standards Test: Geometry | Venture Capital and Capital Markets | Statistics | Geithner Plan | Current Economics

The Cosmic Computer

Might be a good book! Not sure where I saw it referenced.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20727/20727-h/20727-h.htm

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cosmic Computer, by Henry Beam Piper

Conn Maxwell told them: "There are incredible things still undiscovered; most of the important installations were built in duplicate as a precaution against space attack. I know where all of them are.

"But I could find nothing, not one single word, about any giant strategic planning computer called Merlin!"

Nevertheless the leading men of the planet didn't believe him. They couldn't, for the search for Merlin had become their abiding obsession. Merlin meant everything to them: power, pleasures, and profits unlimited.

Conn had known they'd never believe him, and so he had a trick or two up his space-trained sleeve that might outwit even their fabled Cosmic Computer ... if they dared accept his challenge.

Sixty Symbols

Some very cool 3 to 5 minute videos explaining 60 symbols used in physics and astronomy. You could learn a lot just watching the videos:
http://www.sixtysymbols.com/#

Science Labs

Another source that might work for middle/highschool homeschool science labs:
http://www.esciencelabs.com/

The middleschool one looks interesting -- or should we just wait for now and do it all from the highschool perspective????

Middleschool Science Options

Still wonder about doing a middleschool highschool overview science -- we've got a year and a half! I'd like to just do an overview to pull in some pieces that we might be missing -- but I'm not sure where it would fit in our day. Our focus right now seems to be technology, without much extra on any of the sciences or social sciences!

Here's a couple sources that came up recently:

Singapore Science -- Interactive Science for Inquiring Minds (Gr 7,8)
http://www.singaporemath.com/Secondary_Science_s/31.htm

And K12's Science program -- for middleschool, they have a regular and advanced version of Earth Science, Biology and Physics:
http://www.k12.com/curriculum_and_products/science_main/

Bj would really like some background on Microcontrollers and ways to put together basic robotics since FRC and FTC keep coming up. B's boys are working with the Thames & Kosmos kit for the Microcontroller which would be interesting to look at. Also there's some pretty "geeky" kits called "Nerd Kits" that look interesting:
http://www.nerdkits.com/kits/

Middleschool Science

Tons of options for middleschool science -- both structured and non.

Some local resources to check into:

NC Science House (http://www.science-house.org/index.html ) -- they do all sorts of programs both for middleschool students as well as teachers. It might be worth trying to set something up for homeschoolers.

They offer a great resource called LabWrite that helps students/teachers write lab reports -- online or print version: http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/ This might be worth working through for a few official labs that we should do this year. They offer tutorials for standard labs, descriptive labs and student-designed labs (great for science fairs!). Under resources, there are many graphical/data type resources -- when to graph, when to use tables. There is also a small section specifically tied to Middleschool lab writing.

A middleschool text reviewer tied to the Science House is:
http://www.science-house.org/middleschool/index.html (last updated 5/2008). It sounds like the Science House has lots of different resources to look at. Would they do a "show and tell" of Middleschool science programs for homeschool parents? (The reviewer: John Hubisz) seems supportive of homeschoolers and said he's answered lots of homeschool inquiries.)

One of his good reviews was for CPO Science texts. (BTW: Part of a 4-company group that has middleschool resources -- should get a catalog but server was down this morning:
http://www.schoolspecialtyscience.com/ -- group includes CPO Science, Delta Education, Frey Scientific and Neo/SCI). Most of CPO's stuff focuses on Investigative Science where kids do activities to explore the different science topics.

Reading level (but Physical Science with Earth/Space might be good for Gr 7/8)
CPO Focus on Earth Science: Grade 6
CPO Focus on Life Science: Grade 7
CPO Focus on Physical Science: Grade 8
Foundations of Physical Science: grades 8-10
Foundations of Physical Science with Earth and Space Science: grades 8-10
Introduction to Earth and Space Science: grades 8-10
Integrated Physics and Chemistry: grades 8-10
Foundations of Physics: grades 10-12 and non-physics-major college students

Atom Building Game: http://www.cpo.com/sc_atombuilding.shtml
A very thorough approach (including electron shells) for talking about atoms and the periodic table. The game is $85 plus a teacher's manual -- but would work great if it was a 2 month class (or some such thing) for upper middleschoolers or lower highschoolers.

This comes from a series of supplemental material that looks good. Could this be used for 6 week science units for middleschool? (worth the $?)
http://www.cpo.com/sc_gallery.shtml

(NOTE: Lots of good links on the Middleschool Science Text Review website above)

Also, worth thinking about is how we talk about science to our kids and the fallacies/myths that are perpetrated throughout the texts and "dumbing down" of science in attempt to make it accessible to kids. This website has some examples of "Bad Science":
http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/BadScience.html

Other options:
Environthon: http://www.envirothon.org (but does it need to be a competition?)

AND NCSU's Chemistry Dept has an Outreach program:
http://www.ncsu.edu/chemistry/outreach/

Science: My Science Box

My Science Box
Description from website:
At My Science Box you'll find complete, scaffolded lesson plans to teach a 4-6 week middle school science unit through activities, projects, and field trips. Every lesson has been kid-tested with students at Archway School. Create a printable version of any lesson plan or even a whole teaching box by clicking the "printer friendly version" button at the bottom of any page. If you use these lesson or have feedback, please register and post a comment for other teachers to view

http://www.mysciencebox.org/

Science: The Elements

August 6, 2008
The Elements: Ingredients of the Universe
A hands-on science program, I think for middle school...

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/index.html

Science: Wildlife University

8/3/2008 Wildlife University
Look at this option for Bj for the fall -- free 30 minute online classes to do a series on endangered wildlife, etc. Of course, there is some bias but worth talking about!

http://www.nwf.org/wildlifeuniversity/catalog.cfm?series=Endangered%20Species%20Series

Science: Periodic Table Videos

8/1/2008 PERIODIC Table Videos
A VERY cool website put out by the University of Nottingham with a 5ish minute video of every element in the periodic table -- showing experiments, properties, and other info about each one.

http://www.periodicvideos.com