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SCIENCE

Students listening to a guest speaker

We as a science team believe that science literacy is necessary to be a conscientious citizen in our ever changing world.  In a society where there is an overabundance of information, it is imperative for all our students to have an understanding of scientific concepts and be able to think like scientists.  

 

Students are naturally inquisitive and have many questions about the world around them.  Our job as science teachers is to teach students the tools and skills necessary to seek answers to these questions.  To prep our students to be future investigators and innovators, our students will learn:

  • How to ask scientific questions, 

  • Think critically about scientific concepts, 

  • Analyze and interpret data,

  • Design and conduct experiments

  • Communicate and present information.

 

In 9th grade physics students will learn about how to explain the world around them using a mixture of observation, experimentation, and mathematics. Units are project-driven, and will each build towards creating a final product using the tools from the unit. Some examples of this are creating a camera from scratch based on the principles of light and optics, designing and building a model roller coaster to demonstrate transfer of energy, and creating a scale-model of the solar system to better visualize the distances between planets.

 

In 10th grade biology students will learn about function and processes of the human body. Students will have opportunities to create authentic projects in the following units - thinking like a scientist, cells, body systems, reproduction, genetics, and evolution. Through inquiry and interactive projects, students have unique learning opportunities to create scientific models of a healthy and a non-healthy female reproductive system and play the role of OBGYNs at a mock Health Clinic Day. They will have opportunities to go on a DNA Learning Center trip and conduct a full laboratory investigation with real scientists. In addition, guest speakers will come in and speak to our students about the HIV and AIDS unit, where students had to create an awareness pamphlet and consult with a potential patient.

 

In 12th grade chemistry students will learn about matter and energy and how they interact.  Through inquiry and hands-on investigations students will explore big chemistry concepts such as scale & proportions, structures & properties, transformation and energy.  Students will have opportunities for authentic investigations in the following units - thinking like a chemist,  food chemistry, nuclear chemistry, art in chemistry, and molecules & reactions.

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