Thursday, July 17, 2008
Does Chemistry Level II Meet High School and/or SAT Requirements?
Before I discuss what is not covered in Level II Chemistry, I wanted to let you know about the scope and sequence for all of the RS4K future products. A “B” series is now in development. The “B” series will compliment the current RS4K books from each level. Topics not covered in the “A” series, will be covered in the “B” series. I have put some tentative release dates for a few of the books, but these are, as always, subject to change. This should give you some idea of how the final RS4K series will look.
Several of you have asked if Level II Chemistry can be used as a high school text and if Level II Chemistry meets the high school SAT requirements.
Level II was not intended as a high school text and I have not typically promoted the text as a high school textbook. However, after looking at the high school SAT subject requirements, I think it comes very close. With the exception of a few topics, Level II Chemistry nearly meets the full requirements for high school SAT preparation and, from what I can see, I think it covers enough topics in enough detail to qualify as a high school chemistry credit.
I have prepared a series of tables illustrating the high school SAT subject requirements for Chemistry and the topics that RS4K Level II Chemistry meets.
Anticipated Skills
The first table shows a list of the Anticipated Skills from the SAT Chemistry subject webpage.
Structure of Matter
The next table shows a list of specific requirements for the topic “Structure of Matter.” As you can see there are a few specific topics, such as Lewis dot structures and dispersion forces not covered in Level II Chemistry. Also, oxidation-reduction is not covered in Level II Chemistry. That will be covered in Level II Chemistry “B” series.
States of Matter
The next table shows a list of specific requirements for the topic “States of Matter.” As you can see there are a few topics related to gases that are not covered in Level II Chemistry. Those will be covered in Level II Chemistry B series.
Reaction Types
The next table shows a list of specific requirements for the topic “Reaction Types.” The Bronstead-Lowry theory of bases is not covered in Level II Chemistry, instead the Arrhenius theory is introduced.
Stoichiometry
The next table shows a list of specific requirements for the topic “Stoichiometry.”
Equilibrium and Reaction Rates
The next table shows a list of specific requirements for the topic “Equilibrium and Reaction Rates.” As you can see, there is no discussion of Equilibrium in Level II Chemistry. That will be covered in the “B” series.
Carbon Chemistry
The next table shows a list for the topic “Carbon Chemistry.” Organic chemistry and biochemistry topics are not listed on the SAT website specifically. However, some introduction to both organic chemistry and biochemistry is helpful for college level chemistry, and because Level II Chemistry does cover these in some detail, I have included these topics in a table called “Carbon Chemistry.”
Summary
You can see that RS4K Level II does not cover some of the recommended topics for high school SAT preparation, but it does cover other topics not discussed on the SAT webpage. So the decision to use the RS4K Level II book for high school or SAT preparation is really up to the individual parent and student. I wrote these books to cover some of the core foundational topics in greater detail than typical science text books. I believe that covering a few topics very well is more important than covering many topics not-so-well. One of the major complaints I hear from both professors and students about college freshman chemistry is that it covers far too much material in a semester for many students to really grasp. The same is often true of high school chemistry. So with that in mind, I wrote the RS4K series to cover fewer topics, but in greater detail and although RS4K Chemistry Level II does not cover every SAT recommended topic, I believe it gives students a much better understanding of the topics that are covered.
Let me know if you found this helpful or if there is other information you need.
Warm wishes,
Rebecca Keller