Science

Science Courses
 

Biology

Core textbook:  Biology – The Dynamics of Life (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 2002)

Curriculum Goals:
For students to study all living things, they will move from the macro (Ecology and Biodiversity) through Ecosystems and Resource Cycling to the micro (Cells and Genetics).  Then they move on the systems of the body, which are further investigated through the dissection of worms and frogs.  Because Biology is a vocabulary-based course; note taking and study strategies are emphasized. 

Biology Goals:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how biodiversity, resources, equilibriums, and humans can affect the stability of an ecosystem.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the cells different structures and their functions.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the interactions between DNA and RNA in terms of protein synthesis
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how asexual and sexual reproduction works and how Mendel’s Law helps explain the probability of gene expression in sexually produced offspring can be calculated.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the many systems of the body, how they function, and how they interact to keep us alive.
   

Computer Science 

Core Textbook: Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner (Prima Publishing – 2001)

Curriculum Overview:
Students will learn the difference between hardware and software by first building their own computers. We will then use these computers to use Excel and Notepad to learn the many aspects of a computer language. The year culminates in coding a Tetris-like game in Java using only Notepad!

Computer Science Goals: 

• Students will be able to multiply and divide monomials.
• Students will be able to solve rate-distance-time problems.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the many parts of a desktop computer and demonstrate the ability to exchange each part.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of variables, how to manipulate them, and understanding of their scope.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how a program works through function calls and how large tasks are broken up in to many tiny, ordered tasks.
• Students will demonstrate successful coding of Java programs that use multiple classes and multiple variable types.Students will demonstrate knowledge of loops and recursion.

Physics 

Core textbook:  Physics – Principles and Problems (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill – 2009)

Curriculum Overview:
For students to learn the many forms of energy, starting with the more tangible and moving to the more abstract, the class starts with Newton’s Laws and then moves on to Momentum, Energy Conservation, Heat, and Waves and ends with Electricity and a circuitry final project.  The class emphasizes personalizing the scientific method by designing the experiments to test the hypotheses. 

Physics Goals:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the relationships between Newton’s Laws of Motion, changes in direction and circular motion.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the laws of conservation of energy, laws of momentum, and how to use them to predict the movement of an object.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how energy is often transferred to the environment as heat.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of waves.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of Ohm’s Law and how to use electricity for practical purposes.

Chemistry

Core textbook: Chemistry – Concepts and Applications (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 2005)

Curriculum Overview:
For students to learn about the Elements and their properties, the class focuses on the atomic model, bonding, the Periodic Table and the relationship between energy and structure.  The class also emphasizes how to write a clear, concise lab write up that describes the experiments run in class, the data gathered, and the conclusions drawn from them. 

Chemistry Goals:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how the Periodic Table is arranged and how to use it to predict how elements will bond to make compounds.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how acids and bases interact and how to calculate pH.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how the particles of gases move and are affected by changes in volume, temperature and/or pressure.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how particles of solutions interact and how temperature, pressure and surface area affect dissolving.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of how chemical reactions and heat are related.