Science courses

SCIENCE
Science 9
This course builds on skills students learned in previous grades.  It provides an opportunity for students to continually develop a healthy curiosity about the world around them and to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to understand their role as responsible citizens in Science. Units of study include: biological diversity, matter and chemical change, environmental chemistry, electrical principles and technologies, and space exploration. 

Science 10 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite: Science 9
This course is the first in the academic sequence leading to Biology 20-30, Chemistry 20-30, Physics 20-30.  This course emphasizes the role of radiant energy from the sun in sustaining life and driving weather systems on Earth.  It deals with the processes by which matter and energy are exchanged between living forms of energy and the principles that govern energy transformations. Units of study include: essentials for life and weather, solar energy in action, cellular dynamics and pathways, explorations in matter and matter in transition, and energy in transition and energy pathways.

BIOLOGY
Biology 20 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Science 10
This course is the first in the Biology 20-30 academic sequence and builds upon applicable units from Science 10. Students will study the biosphere, ecosystems and populations, cellular matter and energy flows, and matter and energy exchanges in the human organism. Biology 20 is tied to Biology 30 by emphasizing key science themes such as energy, matter, change, systems, diversity and equilibrium. Units of study include: dynamic equilibria that exist for matter and energy in the biosphere and the systems that regulate those equilibria, interactions of the organisms mediating the flow of matter and energy through those ecosystems, tracing the energy from the environment through photosynthetic and cellular respiratory processes with the associated cycling of matter in the form of carbon, and the human organism system, its matter and energy exchanges with the environment, along with its biotic interactions with pathogenic organisms.
*Biology 20 is also offered as an Advanced Placement Course– see Advanced Placement section for details *

 Biology 30 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Biology 20
This course is the second in the Biology 20-30 academic sequence. Students will be able to make connections between the 4 units of study in this course as well as from Biology 20. Units of study include: systems regulating change in human organisms, reproduction and development, cell division, genetics, molecular biology, and change in populations and communities .
*Biology 30  is also offered as an Advanced Placement Course– see Advanced Placement section for details *

CHEMISTRY
Chemistry 20 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Science 10
This course is the first in the Chemistry 20-30 academic sequence and builds upon applicable units from Science 10.  Units of study include:  matter that forms solutions, stoichiometry, chemical bonding, and gas laws.  Chemistry 20 is tied to Chemistry 30 by emphasizing key science themes such as energy, matter, change, systems, diversity and equilibrium. 

Chemistry 20 consists of four units of study:
A.The Diversity of Matter and Chemical Bonding
B. Forms of Matter: Gases
C. Matter as Solutions, Acids and Bases
D. Quantitative Relationships in Chemical Changes

Chemistry 30 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Chemistry 20
This course is the second in the Chemistry 20-30 academic sequence and furthers student knowledge from Chemistry 20.  The themes of change, energy and systems are central in Chemistry 30, as well as equilibrium and matter.  Students explore how changes to one part results in changes to other parts of the system. Units of study include thermochemical changes, electrochemical changes, chemical changes of organic compounds, and acids-base systems. 

Chemistry 30 consists of four units of study:
A. Thermochemical Changes
B. Electrochemical Changes
C. Chemical Changes of Organic Compounds
D. Chemical Equilibrium Focusing on Acid-Base Systems

 
PHYSICS
Physics 20 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Science 10
This course is the first in the Physics 20-30 academic sequence and builds upon applicable units from Science 10. Units of study include: kinematics and dynamics, circular motion and gravitation, work and energy, oscillatory motion and mechanical waves.  In studying the science of motion, students will explore kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy, heat energy and wave energy.  Various properties of waves such as reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference will be examined in more detail.

Physics 20 consists of four units of study:
A. Kinematics
B. Dynamics
C. Circular Motion, Work and Energy
D. Oscillatory Motion and Mechanical Waves

 Physics 30 (5 credits)
Pre-requisite:  Physics 20
This course is the second in the Physics 20-30 academic sequence and furthers student knowledge from Physics 20.   The themes of diversity of energy and matter are predominant in this course.  Units of study include: momentum and impulse, forces and fields, electromagnetic radiation, and the nature of matter.
Physics 30 consists of four units of study:
A. Momentum and Impulse
B. Forces and Fields
C. Electromagnetic Radiation
D. Atomic Physics