Natural Science - Year II

Methods

Readings and Web Lectures

Your reading and preparation materials will consist of lectures posted to the Natural Science course website, and assigned readings at other sites. Links to off site readings will be given on the Natural Science web page for each week, as part of the science or history of science topic pages. You are expected to read the material and attempt the homework assignment before attending the lecture session.

This requires a special effort on your part to seek out the Web resources. Because of the high volume of traffic on the web, you will need to pace yourself in order to cover all the material. Reading the assigned material thoroughly will require about 2-3 hours of effort each week on your part. You may also find links to other material which may interest you, but be sure to finish the assigned readings first!

So, here are some points to note about this "new textbook" of ours:

• Often a site we use will have many links. I will give you only the top level or home page as a starting point, and I will try to list the areas you will need to cover, but I will not be able tell you whether every link you might encounter is required or not. You will have to make some decisions about how much to read, based on the questions I ask you to answer on the worksheets.
• I cannot guarantee that the site will be available 100% of the time, so plan ahead, and do your web reading early. Don't wait until the last minute.
• I do check sites the week before assigning them; this hasn't stopped the site owner from moving all his files somewhere else over the weekend. Please let me know as soon as possible if links from the NATSCI web lectures are broken, so that I can restore them or find substitute readings.
• This is a high school course which covers a lot of material. Your readings and homework will take you 5-8 hours a week, more if you opt to do the labs. Be prepared to spend that much time reading the material, checking assigned websites, and writing up your answers. Pace yourself.
• Take notes IN YOUR OWN WORDS! This is a much more effective way of learning than just copying material into your homework (which is both plagiarism and may make you liable to a copyright violation suit). Keep a word processor open and make notes in it as you read. If you do decide to download material, remember that graphics can be real space hogs.
• Save bookmarks in your notes so that you can go back to a site without going through the Natural Science pages.
• Most web sites that we visit are provided free of charge to the public by people who are interested in education or in promoting a particular area of knowledge. You may find that you disagree with the presentation of materials, and wish to contact the site owner. Be sure that you have your parent's permission to do so first, and that you act courteously at all times.
• Most sites on the web are interesting and exciting places to visit; but some are definitely unsuitable for Scholars Online students. I visit the web sites we will be using and try to make sure that there are no serious problems with the material, but I do not follow every link on the pages of every site. You know what material you are allowed to view; if you have any questions, ask your parents. If you or they have problems with an assigned reading, contact me immediately.

Homework

Homework consists of worksheets with questions to which you must write brief one-sentence or one-paragraph answers. Occasionally, assignments will require longer essay-type answers. Written assignments will be posted on the Moodle site as part of the week's reading, lecture, and lab materials. Assignments for a unit are due by the day after the chat discussion. This gives you the opportunity of asking about any homework questions you can't answer before you have to turn the homework in.

You "turn in" your homework using the method specified in the assignment. This may require you to email your answers to me, post them to a class forum, or upload an assignment. Please follow the instructions exactly, especially if you are asked to email an assignment with a particular subject line. In that case, an automated mail program will send you an answer sheet by return mail, which you should go over carefully, with one of your parents, if possible. I find that in most cases, this approach helps both you and your parents identify the questions that give you difficulty and determine whether it is the material or the type of question which is causing problems.

I will also read and comment on your homework periodically, addressing any areas where the answer sheet might be inadequate and offering suggestions for improvement. I do not send you an evaluation on every assignment; but this doesn't mean you don't have to do every assignment, or perform your own self-evaluation from the answer sheet.

Discussions

During our chat sessions, which are each 90 minutes long, we will discuss the materials and issues raised in the texts, in my Web lecture, and in your directed web readings. You may raise questions about the material from the text, your homework, your labs, or (if we have time) issues in the media which have an impact on science.

Labs

In addition to homework, you may wish to perform some or all of the science investigations and demonstrations for this class. Some of these will require that you record and work with data; most will require that you observe some aspect of nature closely.

Labs are optional but require parental permission; see the labs page for more information.

Quizzes and Exams

Weekly quizzes will be posted in the course Moodle by the end of the discussion session; you must complete the quiz by the date due (usually the following chat session). This should help enforce the material in your memory. You may also take the quizzes again during the two weeks prior to a final exam. You must take at least 90% of the quizzes before you will be allowed to take the semester final, so do not fall behind on quizzes. Your average quiz score will be used in calculating your final grade.

Semester final exams will be given at the end of each term. These must be taken under parental supervision and returned to the teacher by electronic mail for grading. In addition, a paper copy signed by the parent must be returned by regular United States mail to the teacher, verifying that the exam was taken under the specified conditions.

Midterms and term exams draw their multiple choice and identification questions from the quizzes and homework assignments; if you have done all the homework and taken all the quizzes, you will have seen all the final examination questions once already. I will publish a set of essay questions for the exams one to two weeks in advance so that you have time to prepare for them. Thus nothing on the midterm or term exams will be a surprise.

Even so, you will not be able to master 100% of the material in this course (okay, ONCE someone got a 100% on one of the semester exams....). We cover a great deal of material very quickly—probably more than you have ever had to deal with in one course before. Keep in mind that the purpose of this course is to expose you to the entire history of science and the basic concpets of all branches of science. I hope that you will learn and remember the more important scientists and the major concepts, and if you get 50%-65% correct (depending on grade level) on each of the quizzes and semester exams, you will pass the course.

Keeping track of it all.....

The Scholars Online Moodle and Natural Science Course Materials

The Moodle server at Scholars Online will host our chats, the forums for your class assignements, the quizzes, and the schedule for our work. Access will be limited to class members. We also have the ability to create Wiki entries (good for learning terminology and biographical notes!), take surveys, and work on group activities. Students performing labs for the lab option will have forums for their work in these areas. Since only members of the class will see your postings, you should feel free to use the class forum to ask questions and contact each other about class business, and to continue discussions for which we may not have time in class, but remember:

Goals

Just so we are all headed in the same direction....

• To learn the basic topics of modern science
• To learn how to think like a scientist about our everyday observations and experiences
• To understand the limits as well as the advantages of scientific methodology
• To understand how scientific models and theories compete for acceptance
• To prepare you to take high school or honors high school science courses in specialized subject areas, such as biology, chemistry, or physics

Expectations

You are expected to:

• Attend the lecture class session each week.
• Observe the general rules for chat classroom behavior.
• Read all the assigned materials BEFORE class--plan for internet down time!
• Turn in completed homework assignments on time.
• Treat each other with respect. Some of the topics we discuss will be controversial ones.

You may expect me to:

Cover the topic each week and answer your questions; if I don't know the answer, I will try to find out and get back to you.

Return comments on your homework at regular intervals.

Provide your parents with a quarterly statement of your progress.

Respect your opinions, when they are substantiated with some serious thought, even if I disagree with your conclusions.

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This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through Internet-based courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently enrolled in this course for the Academic Year 2008/2009 or Summer 2008. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.