This course is designed primarily for juniors and seniors. It will focus on a variety of lab skills, experimental design, and data analysis. It will provide the opportunity for students to design their own experiments, as well as to participate in long term data collection. This will also provide students with the opportunity to address specific indicators needed for graduation.

Students will explore and learn about some of the Earth’s environmental challenges. Students will learn content as well as have flexibility to choose their own topics/projects. Our class will field trip several times during the semester to study issues in the community such as electric car technology, surface water run-off, and renewable energies. The class will both learn interesting science as well as take action on some environmental issues.

Description -- A one semester course on the biology covering marine and freshwater environments. Topics include the biology of marine and freshwater organisms, the functioning of these ecosystems, and the many relations between the members of these communities. The course surveys the different types of marine and freshwater habitats and the organisms found in them. Special emphasis is given to the effect of both commercial and recreation use on these systems.

Students will learn about the structure of matter, chemical interaction, phase changes, solutions, gas laws, acid-base reactions, and the scientific laws that describe these processes. Class will include a combination of lecture, projects, readings, and learning lab basics. Laboratory investigations will be used to illustrate concepts discussed, and students will be introduced to many tools and techniques commonly used in a chemistry lab. Lab safety will be a strong focus in the lab.

This course is designed to be an introduction to the study of plants and plant evolution from bacteria to seed plants. Students will look at a variety of plant species, and some time will be spent looking at identification of specimens. Students will compare the complexity of different plant species, and gain an understanding of how populations of plants evolve.

This course will focus on the cultivation of plants in our local ecosystem. We will visit a number of local farms and study the different methods of growing different crops in this area. We will look at both the economic and environmental impacts of farms in Vermont, as well comparing commercial farms to personal garden situations. As a class, we will decide upon a variety of plants that we will cultivate and study here at Twinfield, as well.

This course is meant to be an introduction to the indigenous cultures in Canada and the United States. We will explore their history pre-colonization, as well as how the arrival of Europeans impacted the existing sovereign nations. We will investigate the literature and science of some of these groups, as well as the history of education pre and post colonization.

Bioethics will allow students to delve into a variety of highly controversial issues in society. Students will focus on issues through the lense of current scientific research, while also focusing on societal influences in the making of ethical decisions. In examining the morality of situations, students will formulate arguments based on scientific research, paying particular attention to evidence used to support those arguments. In addition, students will include in their arguments influences that are more difficult to quantify, such as background, personal experience, and religion. Students will also study literature, investigating how authors make connections to science and civilization and how science influences culture. Possible titles for study include The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Flowers for Algernon, and The Martian.

The Climate Change learning experience covers:

• the principles of climate science

• how we measure and reduce our carbon footprint

• the effects that climate change has on social-ecological systems

• clean energy options

• climate change psychology and education

• climate justice and action

• how we can implement solutions and make our communities resilient.