Science

This course focuses on life in relation to the physical and biological environment. The major concern in this study is to develop concepts of the biological world through an understanding of the basic principles that govern life on the earth. In a laboratory setting, students organize, and evaluate scientific data; develop skill in techniques and methods of work as applied in biological science; problem-solving skills; and an orientation to biological sciences in relation to other sciences and curriculum areas. Students are encouraged to do a research paper and/or a science project.

This physical science course emphasizes the recognition and  application of scientific methods, the use of the periodic chart as an
important tool of the study of chemistry, the use of mathematics as the language and tool of science; and the development of skills,
techniques, and attitudes related to laboratory procedures and activities in a laboratory setting. The content of this course includes laboratory safety, atomic structure, atomic bonding, inorganic nomenclature,  equations, stoichiometry, solutions, gas laws, and oxidation-reduction reactions. Organic chemistry may be included.

This advanced life science course provides students with the scientific principles and concepts of interrelationships within the natural world. This course includes studies of population dynamics, renewable and nonrenewable resources, and natural resources of land, water, atmosphere, plant, and animal wildlife in a laboratory setting. This course also identifies and analyzes environmental issues such as global climate change, point and non-point source pollution, biodiversity, biologically modified organisms, and the pesticide dilemma. A theme through the course is focused on energy and resource conservation and minimization of human impact on the natural world.

This course provides an introduction to the nature and structure of the earth and its immediate neighborhood in space. The content of the course includes elementary geology, physical geography, meteorology, and astronomy. Geology is a study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth as recorded in rocks and landforms, and of forces and processes operating to produce the planet’s physical features. Through the study of earth science, basic skills, attitudes and habits of thinking, which are essential in the recognition and solution of problems, are developed in a laboratory setting. This course meets the requirement of a physical science.

This advanced life science course provides a study of the structures and functions of the human body and the principles of human behavior. Consideration is given to physiological concepts through the study of structure and function of body systems in a laboratory setting. Emphasis is placed on the importance of physical health and mental balance in humans. 

This physical science course provides the student with an understanding of the fundamental concepts of the nature of matter and energy and their interrelationship. It includes consideration of the ways in which energy may be changed, controlled, and converted into useful work. A major concern of this course is the study of the physical laws by means of developing skills, habits of thinking, and attitudes through laboratory inquiry and experimentation in a laboratory setting. Methods of measurement and mathematics are routinely applied and utilized as the indispensable tool of physics. Students are required to do a research paper and/or science project. Topics covered include motion, acceleration, forces, vectors, momentum, work, energy, simple machines, waves, sound, light, and electricity.

This course is the equivalent to a first semester college course in algebra-based physics. The course covers Newtonian mechanics (including rotational dynamics and angular momentum); work, energy and power: mechanical waves and sound. It will also introduce electric circuits. The student may earn college credit for successful scoring on the Advanced Placement Examination.