9th grade science options

[Anonymous]

Can anyone tell me how difficult/how much work the accelerated bio/chem double-period class is in 9th grade? That's the recommended course for my daughter but she's also going to be in CAP and is worried about overload.

[Anonymous]

That seems like a lot to pile on. With SMCS they typically do not recommend APUSH because of the workload. I'd reach out to your kid's counselor.

[Anonymous]

That’s going to be a workload. Tell her speak with her counselor about her concerns.

[Anonymous]

What is that course? Never heard of it.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that it is doable -- I don't think the CAP required classes are super-hard (my youngest has a lot of friends in CAP). All three of my kids did both honors bio and honors chem freshman year and managed just fine -- one in RMIB and two at WJ.

[Anonymous]

Blair magnet freshmen have double period physics and chemistry in 9th and it’s not been a lot of work. If kid is at least s as like stem inclined then biology and chemistry should be doable,

[Anonymous]

So she won’t have room in her schedule for either PE or a foreign Language if she takes a double period science plus all of the required CAP classes. HS can be a tough transition - my CAP kid was happy that Honors Bio is fairly easy.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Blair magnet freshmen have double period physics and chemistry in 9th and it’s not been a lot of work. If kid is at least s as like stem inclined then biology and chemistry should be doable,[/quote]

The catalog says that Magnet Phycis and Chemistry are not double period.

https://old.mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/courses_sci.php

[Anonymous]

You should ask this question at the CAP information night next week - I was not aware that this was being recommended for CAP students (or was this a general recommendation from the Blair counseling department). I have a CAP sophomore - this double science path was not available last year and just started this year so you really should seek out CAP freshmen doing this. A couple of things to consider: 1) as someone pointed out, it will mean no other electives besides language, core classes, and CAP classes. It is difficult to get in the graduation requirements with CAP electives to begin with (PE, technology, health), and many kids do health and/or technology in the summer or as an additional online class during the school year (but CAP students already have 8 classes so this is a lot if there are any kind of ECs). 2) this path would likely mean AP Physics 1 in sophomore year and then 2 more AP science classes after that. Does your child love science enough to take 3 AP science classes in addition to a lot of rigorous humanities classes? On the other hand, if she might want to do something related to science in college, Blair is crazy competitive in terms of college applicants (go look at the magnet student profile that is linked under parent resources on the magnet page to see what she will be up against). CAP is not crazy demanding most of the time, but there are a lot of group projects and it is more rigorous than a regular high school program. So also keep in mind how the adjustment to high school might be and whether your daughter may do better having a PE class (such as yoga) freshman year.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Blair magnet freshmen have double period physics and chemistry in 9th and it’s not been a lot of work. If kid is at least s as like stem inclined then biology and chemistry should be doable,[/quote]

The catalog says that Magnet Phycis and Chemistry are not double period.

https://old.mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/courses_sci.php[/quote]

Look at the MCPS course bulletin, not that old link.. They are double period (DP) meaning they are full credit courses each taught in one semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So she won’t have room in her schedule for either PE or a foreign Language if she takes a double period science plus all of the required CAP classes. HS can be a tough transition - my CAP kid was happy that Honors Bio is fairly easy.

This makes no sense. CAP administration strongly encourages students to get the required courses out of the way so they urge 9th graders to take PE, foreign language or an art/tech requirement. There wouldn't be room with two periods of science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should ask this question at the CAP information night next week - I was not aware that this was being recommended for CAP students (or was this a general recommendation from the Blair counseling department). I have a CAP sophomore - this double science path was not available last year and just started this year so you really should seek out CAP freshmen doing this. A couple of things to consider: 1) as someone pointed out, it will mean no other electives besides language, core classes, and CAP classes. It is difficult to get in the graduation requirements with CAP electives to begin with (PE, technology, health), and many kids do health and/or technology in the summer or as an additional online class during the school year (but CAP students already have 8 classes so this is a lot if there are any kind of ECs). 2) this path would likely mean AP Physics 1 in sophomore year and then 2 more AP science classes after that. Does your child love science enough to take 3 AP science classes in addition to a lot of rigorous humanities classes? On the other hand, if she might want to do something related to science in college, Blair is crazy competitive in terms of college applicants (go look at the magnet student profile that is linked under parent resources on the magnet page to see what she will be up against). CAP is not crazy demanding most of the time, but there are a lot of group projects and it is more rigorous than a regular high school program. So also keep in mind how the adjustment to high school might be and whether your daughter may do better having a PE class (such as yoga) freshman year.

Agree. I don't know why a science kid would do CAP. The electives are very PR/Journalism focused almost. If she didn't get into the magnet, and Blair is the home school, I'd just opt for regular APs. This seems unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone tell me how difficult/how much work the accelerated bio/chem double-period class is in 9th grade? That's the recommended course for my daughter but she's also going to be in CAP and is worried about overload.

Who recommended that course? I think it would be fine if your child is really eager to do advanced science early as CAP homework is not that bad.

[Anonymous]

It’s just the suggested course based on her math class, so I wasn’t sure how advanced or challenging it was supposed to be. Anyway, thanks everyone for the advice.