Science

Welcome to our science offerings. Our science program is designed to provide the required courses as well as a number of elective courses for advanced science study.

Middle School Life Science

Course Overview: Designed as a two-semester course for middle-school students, Life Science offers a broad experience in the biological sciences. Beginning with life on a small scale through an introduction to cells, students are introduced to structures and functions of cells, the cell theory, cell reproduction and genetics. A brief unit on evolution gives students some background on Darwin’s theory and evidence of the past. Life Science also provides students with an understanding of the classification and organization of living organisms and the characteristics of the variety of plant and animal groups. An in-depth unit of human biology is included to emphasize the organ systems and their functions in maintaining a healthy life. The course also includes a study of ecology and the interrelationships that help to maintain life on earth.

Earth Science

Course Overview: This two-semester course covers many aspects of earth science including an overview of earth’s structure, rocks and minerals and earth’s resources. A major unit on the forces that change the earth includes lessons on plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes and erosion, concluding in a section that discusses earth’s history of change through the fossil record. A general study of oceanography explores such concepts as the sources of water, currents and climate, and the structure of the ocean environment. Earth Science also includes a section of atmospheric science with lessons that that cover concepts in understanding weather and climate. Rounding out this analysis of the earth is a unit on space science the exposes students to the interactions of the earth, moon and sun and an overview of our solar system and the universe beyond.

Physical Science

Course Overview: Students receive a thorough introduction to chemistry, physics and astronomy in this two-semester course. Chemistry concepts include the structure and properties of matter, elements and the periodic table, chemical bonds and reactions, as well as acids, bases and solutions. An overview of motion, forces and energy is the focus of the physics section of the course. Newton’s laws, work and machines and energy are the major ideas explored. An introduction to the earth and its place in the universe complete the contents of this course.

Biology

Course Overview: This two-semester high school course covers an in-depth view of biological science concepts. A brief section of biochemistry leads into an overview of ecology and the interactions of the environment and populations of living organisms. A comprehensive section on cellular biology and genetics exposes students to biology on a small scale that leads to the theory of evolution and the history of life on earth. The remainder of the course explores the complexity and variety of life on earth with sections devoted to simple organisms, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates as well as human biology.

Chemistry

Course Overview: Designed as a two-semester high school course, Chemistry covers the foundation for the composition, structure and reactions of matter. Beginning with a discussion of scientific measurements and general properties of matter, a good deal of the course covers the structures of the atoms, the periodic table, types of bonds and equations. Other topics involve students in states of matter, reactions and the energy involved in chemical change. Sections on organic chemistry are also included as well as a brief overview of nuclear chemistry. This course requires students to have a solid foundation in math as calculations and conversions are basic components of chemistry.

Physics

Course Overview: An upper-division, two-semester high school course, Physics provides the foundation for an understanding of the laws that govern the concepts of motion and energy. This course relies on the use of mathematics to represent and illustrate different phenomena, so students need to have a strong math background to be successful. Major themes on this course include mechanics, states of matter, waves and light, energy and magnetism and modern physics.