Environmental and Life Sciences

Environmental and Life Sciences Course Descriptions:

Chemistry

• Chemistry helps students build a base of scientific principles and methods, which better prepares them for other higher-level science courses. In chemistry, students will learn trends and applications of the periodic table, and how chemical reactions occur at the molecular level. This is a heavily lab-based course, requiring a basic understanding of algebra. 

Honors Chemistry

• This course covers the same basic content as the course Chemistry, with an expectation that the students will engage more deeply with inquiry activities and practice pre-college lab skills. Students considering careers in science or medicine should take this course. 

AP Environmental Science

• This is a 10-credit, full-year, college-level course for 10th-12th grade students. The goal of the AP Environmental Science course is to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world; to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made; to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. Students are expected to perform on the level of a first year college student. All students are required to take the AP Environmental Science Exam in May. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Biology 1 and Biology 2. All Advanced Placement (AP) Courses have a mandatory summer assignment which must be completed before the course begins. Students enrolled in AP courses will be required to take the AP Exam in May. 

Plant & Soil Science  

• Plant and Soil Science is a hands-on course with a focus on basic scientific principles, as well as applications to the real world. We study plant anatomy and physiology, with applications to plant production and propagation. We also study and measure soil characteristics, soil texture, and nutrient content. We make extensive use of the campus greenhouse for our class projects, which include growing greens for the cafeteria salad bar. We will learn how to propagate and tend plants in the greenhouse and in the campus perennial garden. This course involves many hands-on activities; therefore, attendance in school and homework completion is necessary for student success in the course. 

Climate Science

• In this course, students will explore in great detail the current research surrounding climate change and study the implications it will have on plants, animals, and the human species through the lens of ecology, socioeconomics, and globalization. This course offers a unique opportunity for students to use their understanding of science to analyze media coverage of scientific phenomena for bias and accuracy, as well as develop social activism skills to raise awareness of global impacts of misinformation campaigns. Major topics include: geosciences, physical science, foundations of climate, ecosystems, and climate mitigation.