Science
The general pattern for students is to study physics in ninth grade, biology in tenth grade, and chemistry in eleventh grade; these subjects can be studied at different levels, from modified to regular and to advanced/honors. Science department supervisor Tom O'Dowd explained that "teaching physics in ninth grade has been identified as the best option because physics is the fundamental science ... It is potentially the most concrete and the best suited for inquiry-based learning." A movement towards teaching physics has been going on for years, explained one school spokesperson, who explained that physics is "more basic than biology" and "makes for a more rigorous and thoughtful curriculum."
Generally honors and AP programs require test scores or honors applications (see chart) for a student to be accepted, and students in these programs are expected to maintain a B- average or better to continue in the next year's accelerated science courses. It's possible for students to apply for a more accelerated course each year by getting a favorable teacher recommendation or applying to an honors course. (One note not shown on chart: students taking modified biology in grade ten have a choice to study environmental science in their eleventh grade year.) Students in their sophomore, junior, or senior years of high school also have the option of participating in a shared-time program offered through the Union County Vocational Technical Schools (UCVTS). Student enrolled in the shared-time program can receive science credits for their coursework at UCVTS, and should discuss this option for science credit with their guidance counselors.
Single semester electives are available to juniors and seniors in the following subjects: Forensic science; Marine Biology/Oceanography; and Astronomy. Full-year courses for seniors include: Environmental science, Honors physics, and AP study. AP courses offered include: AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, and AP Physics B. Generally, honors and AP courses have prerequisites of past study in honors or AP courses (and maintaining grades of B- or better in those courses); and students can be admitted via a teacher recommendation.
Read more about this topic: Summit High School (New Jersey)
Famous quotes containing the word science:
“Where have those flowers and butterflies all gone
That science may have staked the future on?
He seems to say the reason why so much
Should come to nothing must be fairly faced.....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Nothing great in science has ever been done by men, whatever their powers, in whom the divine afflatus of the truth-seeker was wanting.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us.... This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is obvious in that no one’s brain rejects it; for laymen and people who are utterly illiterate know how to count and reckon.”
—Roger Bacon (c. 1214–c. 1294)