Get a Solid Science Foundation
What do you need to know about science? How much science do you really need to take? I am sorry, but I cannot give you a definitive answer on this subject. What I can tell you though, is that it is important that you get a solid foundation in the basic sciences. Both biology and chemistry are considered the major sciences, and at most colleges even non-science majors are required to take either two semesters of chemistry or two semesters of biology. Obviously, if you wish to major in a science field, it definitely cannot hurt to pursue more science-based subjects. Of course, if you know you are not going to major in science, I could hardly blame you for keeping your science courses to a minimum.
I never cared much for the sciences myself so I did a minimum of science courses while being homeschooled. I did, however, have a basis in biology and chemistry, which came in useful when I had to take college biology. Chemistry plays a part in biology because when things are reduced to small enough levels your familiarity with chemistry comes into play.
Labs
Whether you order lab kits to do your own lab work, or whether you do a lab with another group of homeschoolers, it is important to get some experience doing lab experiments.
My mom ordered us a kit full of preserved specimens that we were supposed to dissect. While I did not do much of the lab myself, the experience was valuable because when I was in college I had some previous knowledge of what it was like to dissect animals.
Similarly, the experience of doing a lab, in general, was valuable because when I first started doing biology labs, I had some idea of what was going on. If it were not for my limited experience, I would have been a little bit lost as to what was going on in my biology lab.
Write Lab Reports
After you have done a lab, it is imperative that you follow up that lab with a lab report. This does not need to be an elaborate paper on all the new scientific findings you made during your lab, but you need to get used to the idea that you will be writing lab reports in conjunction with the labs you will be doing.
Your college lab instructor will tell you format to use for your report but many lab reports have the following format:
• Introduction
- Briefly tell what you are trying to determine
• Purpose / Hypothesis
- State why you are doing the experiment or what you predict the outcome to be
• Materials
- List the materials / equipment used
• Procedure
- List the steps you used to do the experiment
• Data
- List your data in either a table or preferably in a graph or chart Charts are much easier to see data trends.
• Discussion / Results
- Summarize / discuss your findings and your results
• Conclusion
- Your conclusion is based on your results and what you think the experiment has shown you. |
