SCIENCE DEPARTMENT  

All students are required to take four science courses. The science department provides students with three basic required courses that are completed over three years. In addition, six elective courses offer senior students an option to choose their fourth year course based on interests and career goals. Students planning careers in science related fields are able to earn additional elective credits in both their junior and senior years. The content of all courses is geared to produce an understanding of the basic scientific laws to provide a foundation for more difficult concepts. All courses stress the importance of the scientific research method and problem solving. Because the information in science is ever changing, students are lead to anticipate and accept new concepts. Students are encouraged to question and apply information to new, emerging situations.

ALL SCIENCE STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE AN INDEPENDENT SCIENCE RESEARCH PROJECT DURING THE FIRST SEMESTER. Project concepts, guidelines, and the research method will be introduced in the first quarter. Projects are generally due in mid-December. Students winning at the school fair (December) are expected to compete at the regional level and beyond.

BIOLOGY I

This is a required course in life science. It includes the interrelationships of all living things to the environment, the structure and function of organisms, the systems of those organisms, and the diversity of living things (Freshman required course)

BIOLOGY II

Biology II is an elective, second year course. It provides and in-depth study of cellular biology, taxonomy, human anatomy and physiology, genetics, and evolution.

Chemistry I

This is a required course that deals with the study of matter in terms of its composition, structure, and interaction. Concepts are designed to both satisfy and challenge today’s high academic students (Sophomore required course).

 AP CHEMISTRY

This course is designed to be the equivalent of the general chemistry course usually taken during the first college year. For some students, this course enables them to undertake, as freshmen, second-year work in the chemistry sequence at their institution or to register for courses in other fields where general chemistry is a prerequisite. For other students, the AP Chemistry course fulfills the laboratory science requirement and frees time for other courses.

The AP Chemistry course is designed to be taken after the completion of a first course in high school chemistry. It is strongly recommended that Chemistry I be taken before enrollment in an AP Chemistry class. In addition, the recommended mathematics prerequisite for an AP Chemistry class is the successful completion of a second-year algebra course.

PHYSICS I

Physics I is a required course designed to introduce students to the relationships between matter and energy. In this course, students will be given the opportunity to study the scientific laws and hypotheses that describe or explain natural phenomena in matter-energy relationships (Junior required course)