If you are looking for a homeschool marine biology course then let me suggest Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set from Apologia Educational Ministries. If you love Apologia Science, you are going to LOVE this Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set!
The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. -Psalm 95:5
The Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set includes a Student Textbook, a Student Notebook, Solutions Manual, and an MP3 Audio CD. It is everything you need for a high school level science course, presented in the Biblically-centered perspective that is expected from Apologia.
This advanced Biology course is intended for high school level students. It focuses exclusively on marine wildlife and marine habitats, providing a survey of members of each kingdom that lives in underwater environments. The text contains 16 modules and is easily a year long course.
Modules include:
- ocean’s of our planet
- life in the sea
- first four kingdoms
- marine invertebrates
- marine vertebrates
- marine ecology
- intertidal zone
- estuary community
- coral reefs
- continental shelf communities
- epipelagic zone
- the deep ocean
- ocean resources
- effects of humans on the sea
The Student Textbook includes all the student reading, instructions for labs, “On Your Own” questions, and a study guide at the end of each module. The text has beautiful pictures and and illustrations, easy to understand presentation of the topics, and answers to the “On Your Own” questions that are included in each module. The “Think About This” section is very interesting and sprinkled throughout the chapters.
There is a test after each module, and after each quarter there is a test. These are in a paper booklet that your student can write directly in. These tests consist of short answer questions so your student’s answers reflect their grasp of the material. All of the answers to the Study Guides, Summaries and Tests are in one paperback book.
Essentially these 2 books are all you need to complete the course; however, the additional materials that are available, and that we received, include the Student Notebook and audio CD. I would highly recommend these if you are using the course for you or your high school student. They really make the course complete and more interactive and fun.
The Student Notebook includes a daily schedule, note-taking pages, and space for answering all the “On Your Own” questions found in the Student Textbook. But the most important and exciting section of the notebook is the lab report section. Since no science course is complete without experiments and labs, this is a great way to give the student a place to record the labs and experiments. The daily schedule is a HUGE help and very easy to follow. I love that all the notes and studying are in one place in the Student Notebook.
The Student Notebook is very large and spiral bound for easy use. It is full-color and consumable (meaning that the student writes directly in it). The book contains:
- a handy suggested schedule to keep you on track,
- a grading rubric for tests and experiments,
- a place to take notes as you read the textbook,
- a place to answer the On Your Own questions in the textbook
- Study Guide questions
- Summary questions
- a table for the vocabulary words
- instruction on creating a Presentation Poster
- a place to record your labs
The MP3 Audio CD is a complete audio recording of the course. If you have an auditory learner, a slow reader, or just a student that prefers to be read to, this MP3 format is for you. You will need an MP3-compatible CD player but it ran on our computer and CD player without any issue. The student can follow along in the book if they wish, as everything in the book is read on the CD, even the questions. The quality is excellent and the voice is easy to understand and follow.
There are 3 types of labs used in this course: microscope labs, dissection labs, and household labs. Since biology is a prerequisite for this course, you will likely already have a microscope. The microscope labs require a prepared slides kit, which contains several prepared slides. The dissection labs require a dissection specimens set. The household labs use only household equipment. A complete list of all lab supplies is located in Appendix C of the student textbook.
Since I do not have high school kiddos yet, I decided to work through the course and use the CD to allow my son, who is a HUGE animal lover, to learn more about marine life. He LOVED listening to the textbook on the audio CD. Though some of the content was obviously over his head, he really enjoyed what he listened to and we listened together. I enjoyed working through the course and I look forward to completing the course. I really enjoyed the notebook. I would have loved using something like the Student Notebook when I was working through Advanced Biology in high school and even in College.
I really love the review section as well. This is a really great way to work through reviewing the module. This was very helpful to me.
You can see the set types available from Apologia in this great video from Apologia.
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