Hi everyone, I know this question is a bit of a long shot but thought I would try anyway. I am teaching a science class this year for a co-op and want to make sure the class counts towards high school credits. Is there any kind of a standard for number of labs that need to be included in high school science classes? I assumed it probably depends on the state but then again if I just go and buy a curriculum say from Apologia or BJU they are designed for everyone and was hoping there may be some overall standard I can use as a starting point. This curriculum is for aerodynamics. I have tried and tried and tried to buy a high school level aerodynamics course but there aren’t any so I am creating it myself (I do have the background to do this.) But there is a difference between knowing the material and being able to teach it and making sure all the boxes are ticked for credits. If anyone has any insight that would be so incredibly helpful. My other question would be for people who own a high school science curriculum (physics would be the closest in comparison) how many labs are assigned? Thanks so much.
Hi! I’m teaching a high school chemistry class this year (my first year!) and I have a simpler task since we have a book to follow (Discovering Design with Chemistry). We have 31 weeks (classes are two hours/week) and labs are planned for 26 of those weeks. I plan to spend half of each class on a lab. I think I only had one lab at home as extra credit since most families don’t own chemistry equipment.
I found this link that gives the standard guide of how many hours count for a high school credit:
Good luck! Those kids are blessed to have an aerodynamics class as high schoolers!
LOL, I looked and looked for this kind of info when my kids were in high school, and was pretty surprised to find that there’s really NOT a standard out there! I would think through the kind of labs that you want to do–make a list. My guess is that it will be pretty robust because this is your field. If you’re doing at least 1-2 labs a month, you’re likely doing plenty. Some high schools do much less than that, but I don’t think it does students any favors to not include a good selection of labs. Think about what you would want to include to really feel you were giving your students a good education and to feel good about the class you are teaching.
Thank you so much both of you for your help. I feel much better about it now.