Biology 1980's vs 2020's

[Anonymous]

I took Biology (level 1) in 10thh grade back in the 80's. From what I remember, it was a hard class. I ended up with a B for the year.

Next year my DC will have the option to take Biology, Biology 40 (level 2), or Honors Biology. For other science classes, they will be able to take AP versions.

Is my 80's Biology class more similar to an Honors or an AP class in the 20's?

[Anonymous]

Biological science has had advancements since the 80s so there is more science to cover. Science fields gets harder as time goes on, not easier

[Anonymous]

Honors Bio at our MCPS school is really a difficult class. My strong student got a B after begging for a tutor. In comparison, he easily earned an A in honors chem and AP physics. My youngest is now taking the class and is admittedly not nearly as strong a student. He earned a C last quarter. I have been trying to learn alongside him and I can’t believe the amount of material covered or the depth.

[Anonymous]

My 9th grader is in Honors Bio now, and it has not been a hard class at all so far. I think they only offer "Honors" Bio for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader is in Honors Bio now, and it has not been a hard class at all so far. I think they only offer "Honors" Bio for all.

Same for my DC currently at Blair… this may vary by school or district.

[Anonymous]

Mine is taking Honors Bio now, and is really enjoying it and doing well, in spite of an overly-enthusiastic teacher who rarely manages to actually cover all the material. But from what they’ve talked about at home, it does seem quite a bit more complex than when I took in in the late 80s. I’m more humanities-oriented than science-y, and I thought it was easy back then. I even took AP Bio, and I don’t remember covering stuff like chemosynthesis.

Interestingly, because of some weird scheduling quirks, my 10th grader is taking Honors Bio and Honors Chemistry simultaneously, after taking Honors Physics as a freshman. She says she thinks it’s really helped her understanding of the biology concepts to do it this way. Physics has helped to understand things like energy transfer, and even the rudimentary chemistry from Q1 has made the molecular parts of photo-, chemo-, and other types of synthesis more accessible. Apparently the freshmen are having a much harder time with Bio as their first HS science class.

So you may be on to something, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine is taking Honors Bio now, and is really enjoying it and doing well, in spite of an overly-enthusiastic teacher who rarely manages to actually cover all the material. But from what they’ve talked about at home, it does seem quite a bit more complex than when I took in in the late 80s. I’m more humanities-oriented than science-y, and I thought it was easy back then. I even took AP Bio, and I don’t remember covering stuff like chemosynthesis.

Interestingly, because of some weird scheduling quirks, my 10th grader is taking Honors Bio and Honors Chemistry simultaneously, after taking Honors Physics as a freshman. She says she thinks it’s really helped her understanding of the biology concepts to do it this way. Physics has helped to understand things like energy transfer, and even the rudimentary chemistry from Q1 has made the molecular parts of photo-, chemo-, and other types of synthesis more accessible. Apparently the freshmen are having a much harder time with Bio as their first HS science class.

So you may be on to something, OP.

Some scientists have been saying for awhile that a beginning Physics class before Bio and Chem would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Interestingly, because of some weird scheduling quirks, my 10th grader is taking Honors Bio and Honors Chemistry simultaneously, after taking Honors Physics as a freshman. She says she thinks it’s really helped her understanding of the biology concepts to do it this way. Physics has helped to understand things like energy transfer, and even the rudimentary chemistry from Q1 has made the molecular parts of photo-, chemo-, and other types of synthesis more accessible. Apparently the freshmen are having a much harder time with Bio as their first HS science class.

So you may be on to something, OP.

Yes! A few short years ago, when I actively taught in MCPS, the biology teachers were livid that the courses were being rearranged so that Bio was before chem. Given how molecular based biology has become over the last 50 years, one really can't do modern molecules-first biology without a solid chemistry background. So...biology teachers predicted this problem, but were of course ignored by the Wondrous Beast known as Central Office.

Sigh

[Anonymous]

Biology is basically a foreign language now. The kids can even do molecular biology now. I remind them that working with DNA and proteins is technically nanotechnology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Interestingly, because of some weird scheduling quirks, my 10th grader is taking Honors Bio and Honors Chemistry simultaneously, after taking Honors Physics as a freshman. She says she thinks it’s really helped her understanding of the biology concepts to do it this way. Physics has helped to understand things like energy transfer, and even the rudimentary chemistry from Q1 has made the molecular parts of photo-, chemo-, and other types of synthesis more accessible. Apparently the freshmen are having a much harder time with Bio as their first HS science class.

So you may be on to something, OP.

Yes! A few short years ago, when I actively taught in MCPS, the biology teachers were livid that the courses were being rearranged so that Bio was before chem. Given how molecular based biology has become over the last 50 years, one really can't do modern molecules-first biology without a solid chemistry background. So...biology teachers predicted this problem, but were of course ignored by the Wondrous Beast known as Central Office.

Sigh

Physics and chemistry has more math so a lot of kids struggle immediately. There is a weird bias that bio is easier since the kids spend so much time on bio in middle compared to chemistry and physics.

[Anonymous]

Biology is memorization it is not a hard class. Students take that class information in middle school as well.

Chem and physics are much harder

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Biology is memorization it is not a hard class. Students take that class information in middle school as well.

Chem and physics are much harder

That’s how I remembered bio from my own HS courses, but I do think there are more difficult concepts covered now.

[Anonymous]

"Honors" is a joke. Read the thread about English honors class.

If your kid wants a challenging Bio class, take AP Bio.