Science Department

The seventh grade is a physical science program, supplemented with laboratory exercises and demonstrations. It includes topics in motion, forces, energy, matter, and changes in matter.

Eighth grade science is earth science. Content includes: astronomy, geology, earth’s history, meteorology, climatology, and environmental science. Supplemental activities include laboratory exercises, demonstrations, simulations, and field studies.

This course provides students with an understanding of the many concepts of biology through laboratory work, text content, activities and simulations. Areas of study will include: cytology, organic chemistry, genetics (both classic and molecular), evolution, taxonomy, botany and zoology.

Prerequisite: 90% or above in Chemistry/Chemistry in the Community and Biology, teacher recommendation.

This course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory biology course. The course depends heavily on the student’s ability to perform and evaluate many laboratory experiences that illustrate basic biological concepts. It is the goal of this course to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly growing science of biology.

Credit: 1

Prerequisite: 80% in Algebra I & Biology

This is a college-preparatory, math-oriented chemistry course. The emphasis is placed on learning chemical principles and laboratory skills. Topics covered include atomic theory, electrochemistry, gas laws, equilibrium, chemical reactions and equations, solutions, acids and bases, and oxidation and reduction. Laboratory work introduces and reinforces textbook material.

Credit: 1

Designed for a year-long high school chemistry course geared for college-bound students, ChemCom covers traditional chemistry topics with coverage organized around societal issues with less emphasis on mathematics. With this program, students learn organic and biochemistry as well as environmental and industrial chemistry. The text is 50% laboratory- based. ChemCom features decision-making activities to give students practice in applying their chemistry knowledge in various problem-solving situations.

Credit: 1

This is a course in applied physics designed for eleventh and twelfth grade students. It blends an understanding of basic physics’ principles with practice and application. The course is designed to present the discipline of physics in the context of how it is practically experienced in the world and how it is used in technology. Students will learn the concepts of mechanics, properties of matter, heat, sound and light, electricity and magnetism, and atomic physics through a series of laboratory experiences focusing on realistic problem-solving.

Credit: 1

Cosmology: This 0.5 credit elective course covers the exploration of cosmology, birth, and ultimate fate of the universe, inflation theory, origins of matter, origins of galaxies, quasars, dark matter, and dark energy. This class is designed for students who want to pursue further the questions of cosmology.

The success of the Big Bang theory in explaining the expansion of the Universe, the synthesis of the chemical elements, and the background radiation leftover from the first moments are reviewed. Some of the questions discussed are still debated in the scientific community. For example: What is the dark matter and dark energy that may have emerged from the Big Bang, and seems to make a larger contribution to the mass of the universe than all of the material we are familiar with? What can the most distant and oldest objects we know of, the quasars, tell us about how galaxies formed?

This course is mainly an independent study class. Students will review PowerPoint presentations, videos, and read articles independently. We will then meet about once a week to review content, discuss questions that arise, and review assignments. This meeting time can be outside of the normal school day.

The Eco-Schools course is semester long science elective for middle school and high school students that will create more opportunities for student involvement and outreach in the Eco-Schools program. The Eco-Schools is a program sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation that promotes collaboration between students, administrators, teachers and community members to promote “green” management of the school grounds and facilities.  Students will investigate “Pathways” that the Eco-Schools program has identified and to quote Eco-Schools to “use the school building and grounds as a learning laboratory capable of transporting students through a sustainability journey that is rigorous, experiential and fun”.

Students will collect data relating to the pathways they choose to investigate, perform analysis, come up with ideas of how to implement change to correct any problems they identify, create materials to reach out to other students and also the community through different modes of communication selected by the students. Skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication will be developed as well as an appreciation for environmentally friendly practices.

The Environmental Science Course is designed to provide the student with a balanced approach to the diverse study of our environment. The main goal is to equip them with the science background necessary to analyze for themselves many of the issues concerning our environment. Major areas of study are ecology, geology, meteorology, human ecology, and investigations of the interactions of the abiotic and biotic environment. (This is not a sequential course)

Credit: 1

Prerequisite: “C” in Algebra 1

This is a one-year college preparatory course designed to fully prepare students for pursuits in Engineering, Math and Science majors, pre-med, etc. It is also suitable for capable students not intending to take college physics, but who wish to round out their high school science. This course puts together the best in newer lab experiments, and demonstrations with a solid content using math as much as students are able. Topics include classical mechanics, relativity, work, energy, momentum, electricity, wave motion, sound, light, magnetism, and atomic physics.

Credit: 1

AP Physics C: Mechanics

This course dives deeper into topics explored in the first year of physics through a calculus approach, focusing on mathematical relationships and experimental practices. This course prepares you for the first installment of college physics, and will give you practical problem solving skills. Topics include Kinematics, Forces and Acceleration, Energy Work and Power, Momentum, Simple Harmonic Motion, and Gravitation. Students will keep a lab notebook and work on scientific writing throughout the year.

Honors Physics- This course dives deeper into topics explored in the first year of physics. Students are introduced to new ways of solving, including introductions to calculus (however students are not responsible for calculus on homework or exams).  This course prepares you for the first installment of college physics and will give you practical problem-solving skills. Topics include Kinematics, Forces and Acceleration, Energy Work and Power, Momentum, Simple Harmonic Motion, and Gravitation. Students will keep a lab notebook and work on scientific writing throughout the year.