This live online Honors Biology course is designed for high school homeschoolers. Students will learn how our understanding of biology has developed over the ages, and they will consider its impact--both personal and societal--in the 21st century.
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Live Class: Students will meet live with their instructor and classmates for 90 minutes once a week to discuss topics covered in weekly lessons, collaborate with their classmates, and ask questions.
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Optional Study Hall: In addition to the live class, the instructor will offer a live study hall every Thursday from 4-5:30 p.m. Eastern. Students can utilize these study halls in two ways:
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Drop in. They can drop in to a Zoom study hall at any time for a quick question.
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Homework time. They can log in to a Zoom study hall--with microphones muted and videos on or off--to work on their any science homework, and then unmute to get immediate help when questions arise.
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Class Details
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Honors Biology | Traditional, full-year, live, lab-science class
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Looking for options? See General Biology
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Tuition & Fees:
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Tuition: $775
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Digital Resources Fee: $50 (includes the course ebook)
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Custom Lab Kit: approximately $82
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See all required class resources HERE.
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Instructor: Bekah Hilton
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Dates: August 18, 2025 to May 8, 2026
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Weekly Classes: Live or asynchronous option (choose one or the other at registration)
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Live option: Tuesdays @ 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern
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Students attend and actively participate in live classes weekly with cameras on.
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Asynchronous option:
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Students watch the recording of each week's live class and lead a weekly discussion forum for their synchronous and asynchronous classmates.
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Please note:
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The asynchronous option is NOT a self-paced class.
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The instructional content, assignments, and deadlines are the same for live and asynchronous.
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Students will register for one mode (live or async) and stay in that mode during the year.
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Optional Live Study Hall: Thursdays @ 4-5:30 p.m. Eastern
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Grade level: 9th and up (14+); will accept advanced 8th graders (13+)
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Class size: 20
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See our FAQ for:
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age/grade guidelines, prerequisites, and class fit recommendations
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a complete list of days, times, and breaks
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a list of CA charter schools where this course is a-g approved
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Format:
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Students share an interactive online classroom and meet live on Zoom.
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Students who attend live classes will be expected to keep their webcams on and participate.
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Live classes will be recorded for those who must miss a class or prefer to watch later.
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Average weekly time estimate: 7-9 hours
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All Blue Tent science courses are NCAA-approved.
Foundational Elements
A variety of interactive tools and class dialogue will guide and enhance the journey as students connect biological concepts to relevant, real-world applications.
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In this pre-AP Biology class, students will perform both virtual and hands-on labs. This will allow the examination of life through a different lens, emphasizing inquiry-based investigations that provoke questions and encourage observations that spring from experiments.
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Hands-on and virtual labs will utilize various resources, including videos and live demonstrations.
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Dissecting a crayfish, a perch, and a frog will allow a close examination of the internal structures of different species as students learn to identify each of the body’s systems.
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In all class labs, students will collect and critically analyze data, constructing hypotheses based on their findings.
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Understanding that biology is not a static field—but one in which there is ongoing investigation and debate—they will become well informed and present their own findings and opinions on a current biology-related issue or topic in several unit projects.
Core and Supplemental Resources
Your digital resources fee includes:
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An ebook of Pearson's Campbell Biology: Concepts & Connections (2021)
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This ebook has audio capability; it can read pages aloud to a student if that is desired.
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Pearson's text-aligned tools that offer representations, videos, models, and activities that instruct, explain, and reinforce scientific phenomena and help students explore and solve scientific problems.
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eMind software for virtual dissections
In an active online classroom, the interweaving of dynamic virtual tools, weekly collaboration and interaction with classmates, and instruction and guidance by the instructor will offer an engaging and enjoyable class experience. We hope students will join Honors Biology with an eager anticipation to work with other homeschooled students as together they microscopically and macroscopically explore the world around them!