Science

Grade level: 9
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: None

This course includes laboratory work, study of specimens, projects, and a thorough understanding of scientific inquiry.  Course content encompasses interrelationships of living things, levels of biological organization, cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and evolution.  Students should be prepared to conduct projects and write a formal lab report. Instruction centers around inquiry-based learning that is incorporated into class activities. Real world application is a daily objective.  Higher-level thinking will be incorporated into each lesson as well as the use of technology, when applicable, to increase student achievement. 

Grade level: 9
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: None

Biology Honors is a more challenging course focusing on  major life processes. Topics covered include those from the simplest to the most complex levels of biological organization.  Methods of scientific research, beginning chemistry, cellular biology and genetics are a few of the major topics covered.  This course moves at a faster pace than College Prep Biology and involves more lecture-based classes.

Grade level: 10
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: None

Chemistry is the study of the structure and properties of matter. The course follows a sequential development of major chemistry principles, including measurement, chemical formulas and reactions, molarity, atomic and molecular structure, the periodic table, solutions, acids and bases, and oxidation‑reduction reactions. Students will perform experiments in which they collect and interpret data related to these topics.

Grade level: 10
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: None

Chemistry Honors is a more challenging study of the structure and properties of matter. The course includes measurement, chemical formulas and reactions, molarity, atomic and molecular structure, the periodic table, solutions, acids and bases, and oxidation-reduction reactions and more. Students will perform experiments in which they collect and interpret data related to these topics. Testing will require higher level critical thinking and interpreting data.

Grade level: 11,12
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Biology I, Chemistry

This upper-level science course is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of how the organ systems within the human body work together to maintain homeostasis, and how a failure in homeostasis results in a disease or health issue.  The course was designed with a focus on hands-on and creative assessments that cultivate students’ critical thinking, research, and communication skills. Each unit includes laboratory work in the form of traditional labs and/or simulation activities, the study of specimens, and research-based projects.  Students should be prepared to conduct research, work in small groups as well as independently, write scientifically, and communicate their understanding in a variety of methods. Real world application is a daily objective.  Higher-level thinking will be incorporated into each lesson as well as use of technology, when applicable, to increase student achievement.

Grade level: 11,12
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Biology I, Chemistry

Anatomy Honors is a course designed for juniors and seniors who have completed Biology and Chemistry.  In this class, students will do an in-depth study of each of the body systems and how the systems interact with each other to maintain homeostasis.  Organs and their functions will be studied along with disorders of the different systems.  The course concludes with a mammalian dissection that involves a study of all the systems.

Grade level: 12
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: GPA 95 or better

Physics is a unique course that allows students to explore many invisible aspects of creation including gravity, magnetism, sound, and the relationship between these forces. We explore the visible and invisible aspects of creation and order through a conceptually-based approach, including mathematical applications. The major topics covered during the course include: mechanics (the study of motion, Newton's Laws of Motion, momentum, and energy); waves (both sound and light); electricity and magnetism; and modern physics. The course will also include a number of laboratory exercises as well as outside projects.