Science

The study of science is at the heart of the human desire to understand the world around us. All children are natural scientists; they are keen observers of events occurring around them and seek to understand how these events come about and how they can predict similar events in the future.

Capitalizing on the natural curiosity of students, the science program at The High School engages students more formally in understanding the natural world. In their science classes, students are taught to develop careful observation, to generate relevant questions, to analyze and interpret data, to discuss and defend ideas before peers, and to apply knowledge to novel situations. These skills are essential to all scientific study and are used by students throughout their high school career.

Students study conceptual physics in ninth grade. In this course they learn the fundamentals of how to do science with hands-on activities and experimentation within the context of traditional physics content including forces, motion, and energy. In tenth grade students take chemistry and learn that all matter is composed of atoms and molecules, and that thousands of chemical reactions occur within and around us every moment of our lives. By eleventh grade, students study biology, in which they investigate cell structure and function, molecular biology, genetics, ecology, evolution, and the human body.

Students may be placed into a comprehensive chemistry in class in tenth grade and/or a comprehensive biology class in eleventh grade, in which one goal is to develop a strong enough foundation to prepare the students for the SAT subject tests in those fields. Seniors are encouraged to take elective courses that in the past have included optics, genetics, health and the environment, and scientific patenting. Plans for future courses include astronomy, fuels and energy, and oceanography; other topics may be developed according to student interest.