How I Teach Biology to Earn College Credit

High school science is a fear for many homeschooling moms, and rightly so! Earlier this school year, I explained how we tackle high school science at home, but I didn’t get in to the nitty gritty of how each week looks. Today, we’ll talk about how we go through the course work, aiming for the CLEP or AP Biology exam.

The text

I love the thought of starting a curriculum based on an idea rather than a textbook, but at this level, textbooks make me feel more secure that we are covering what needs to be covered. A textbook is my safety blanket. Our text this year is Prentice Hall Biology, AKA the Dragonfly Book. I’ve seen many lesson plans where they do not cover the entire book. Let’s face it, it’s a big book! Especially since there are kids in our group that are not aiming for the CLEP/AP Biology exam, we have chosen to cover the entire book in the course of the year, giving a complete overview of Biology.

For the AP/CLEP students, they have also picked up Cracking the AP Biology Exam 2014 Edition. The idea is this will be a concise way to review the material, and since it will be the first AP exam for all of them, it helps them understand what the exam is, and how to approach questions within it.

The supplements

Prentice Hall has some online supplements ranging from animated graphics to online publications for further reading. We’ve used some of these resources, but I’ve found they add just a little value. Instead, Khan Academy videos, organized by Hippocampus, have been more helpful, and required viewing for the students in our at-home class. For my daughter at least, a mix of text and video helps the concept sink it that much better. I’m a big fan that Hippocampus has a textbook correlation tab, lining up all the available videos from Khan Academy and NROC with the pages in the textbook! Easy peasy!

The work

Each week the students are normally assigned one chapter to read, along with hand chosen supplements, and all Khan Academy videos lined up to the chapter via Hippocampus. Some weeks the kids will have two, and over winter break, they had three chapters to read in two weeks. One mom looked at each chapter and compared it to the subjects in the AP Biology exam prep book. When two chapters are not covered in the AP Biology exam, then those chapters are done together in one week, essentially covering the material a bit lighter than the material that will be on the test. Additionally, there is an assessment at the end of the chapter, and an essay question, which is especially important for the kids planning on taking the AP exam since it includes an essay component.

We meet once a week with everyone where one mom does the lecture, another works on a lab, and I grade the papers. We each keep the same tasks each week because they are within our own strengths and abilities.

AP Biology essay component

We were told by a teacher that regularly teaches an AP Biology class that the essay piece is a big focus in her classroom because it’s too easy to bomb that piece of the test without the right practice. Especially with science, someone can be a whiz at the material, but not be able to accurately answer a question in a limited amount of time, using correct vocabulary rather than descriptions. For this reason, we started working with the kids right away on how to draft their essay. Here are the steps we are going through to build their essay writing skills for the exam. Each week they are given a prompt, normally something I find in the book. The Writing in Science sections in the book are a great resource to use from the book.

1. Write 250 word essay
2. Write 300 word essay
   1. Watch for paragraphs and using them appropriately
3. Write 400 word essay
   1. Start watching for introductions and conclusions. Make sure everything introduced is wrapped up.
4. Write 500 word essay
   1. At this point, writing shouldn’t be as difficult for them. The next steps are making sure they can match the AP exam requirements
5. Create one-level outline for two essay prompts
   1. Should include key vocabulary terms
   2. Time limit of 5 minutes to work on easy essay outline
6. Create two-level outline for one essay prompt
   1. Again include key vocabulary terms and have 5 minute time limit
7. Create outline (up to three levels) for one essay prompt and make rough draft of essay from outline
8. Write 500 word essay, first creating an outline
9. Write 600 word essay, first creating an outline
10. Write 750 word essay, first creating an outline

Each step is progressively harder, with a little “break” in the middle to work on outlining so they know what they will write before they get started on their essay. One could put the outlining at the beginning, but you run the risk of the student only writing what is on the outline, and not feeling like their writing flows together. It really depends on the students.

We have been working on grammar a bit, but it isn’t a big factor in the AP Biology exam, and I have a lot to learn in the grammar department, so it has just been the basics.

From what we’ve heard, Biology is a tough exam. While we are creating an environment for success with the various resources presented, it’s still going to be tough to pass if the student isn’t a fan of Biology. Care Bear isn’t enthralled, to say the least, so this is one exam I’m a bit nervous about for her sake, but if she doesn’t pass, it really isn’t a big deal. You win some, you lose some. We’ll see how this one pans out!

This series is a part of iHomeschool Network’s January Hopscotch, where a group of bloggers are all sharing how they teach each of these subjects. Click on the image below to make sure to check them out, and get more ideas!

The rest of the series to check out!

1. How I Teach Writing to Earn College Credit {Lesson Plan Included} (January 13, 2014)
2. How I Teach Algebra to Earn College Credit (January 14, 2014)
3. How I Teach Biology to Earn College Credit (January 15, 2014)
4. How I Teach US History to Earn College Credit {Lesson Plan Included} (January 16, 2014)
5. How I Teach Fine Arts (January 17, 2014)