Biology

This course utilizes traditional classroom techniques to study living organisms from the simplest to the most complex. The objective of the course is to bring the student to a clearer understanding of the significance of life and the balance of nature via the study of the interrelationship of living things and their environmental adaptations. Students will be introduced to microscope work, lab procedures, and dissections.

Biology Honors

This course is taken by those students whose academic record and science background indicate the ability to work at an advanced level. The course covers the same topics as biology in more depth and includes enrichment activities and additional laboratory work and dissections.

Biology II Honors AP

This course shifts from a traditional “content coverage” model of instruction to one that focuses on enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that supports them. This approach will enable students to spend less time on factual recall and more time on inquiry-based learning of essential concepts and will help them develop the reasoning skills necessary to engage in the science practices. Topics in this course include the process of evolution driving the diversity and unity of life; biological systems utilizing free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis; living systems storing, retrieving, transmitting, and responding to information essential to life processes; biological systems interacting, and these systems and their interactions possessing complex properties. Students must have a credit in Biology Honors. Students will be expected to take the AP Exam in the spring. Prerequisite: Chemistry.

Earth Science

This is a survey of the principles of Earth Science. Content includes the processes that have changed the earth throughout its history: plate tectonics and volcanic activity as well as mineralogy, oceanography, astronomy, and meteorology. Course work includes technology-based lessons and lab work as well as traditional classroom instruction.

Chemistry

This is a basic course in general inorganic chemistry. Major topics include atomic structure, periodicity of elements, chemical reactions, molecular interactions, and the nature of matter. Students will be introduced to proper lab safety, material handling, and lab procedures to prepare them for the college experience. Prerequisites: Algebra I and Geometry

Chemistry Honors

This course is taken by those students whose academic record and science background indicate the ability to work at an advanced level. The course covers the same topics as chemistry and includes additional material and laboratory work. Prerequisites: Algebra I and Geometry

Chemistry II Honors AP

This course is an elective course in which students will attain a depth of understanding of fundamentals and a reasonable competence in dealing with chemical problems. The course should contribute to the development of the students’ abilities to think clearly and to express their ideas, orally and in writing. This course is a combination of classroom lecture, laboratory investigation, and outside classroom work by the student. Topics include structure of matter, states of matter, reactions, and the math calculations that accompany each major topic. Students must have a credit in Chemistry Honors. Students will be expected to take the AP Exam in the spring.