Acting Chair: Ms. Binah Freedman, Science Coordinator
[email protected]
Department Goals
Our goal is to provide our students with an environment that will ensure their success in understanding current concepts in science. They will acquire a keen awareness of the broad variety of topics that can be explored using scientific analysis. Our teachers provide superior, modern instruction, based on the latest research, both in science and in education. Students and teachers are provided with the tools they need, including the latest technologies available, to support the intellectual curiosity of our students.
As our students are college bound, we endow our students with the foundation that will permit them to succeed in university science courses. Additionally, we provide students who are interested in careers in science related areas with rich experiences that allow them to excel in advanced courses in college. Our high level advanced placement courses not only provide opportunities to earn college credit, but also meet the admission requirements of the most prestigious universities. Students who may not plan careers in science may also participate in activities that will elevate their critical thinking and research skills.
Freshman Curriculum
All freshmen take the New York State Living Environment/Biology Regents. This survey course emphasizes ecology, scientific method, homeostasis, molecular biology, evolution, and reproduction. Each of these topics is enriched and additional topics such as biochemistry and physiology are included. A major goal of the course is scientific literacy, increasing the vocabulary and comprehension of all students. The Accelerated Biology Class and the STEM Biology class have additional enhancements.
Sophomore Curriculum
All sophomores take the New York State Physical Sciences/Chemistry Regents. This course includes classical chemistry: atoms, formulas, stoichiometry, physical and chemical changes, the periodic table, kinetics, acid-base chemistry, organic, and nuclear chemistry. There is an emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving. Our labs have been recently redesigned to permit the chemistry program to include a college level laboratory component for the A.P. course, and the important hands-on experiences that are part of the New York State Regents program.
Additional Options: Introduction to Scientific Engineering - STEM I
This course is the first course of engineering. It is for students who want to introduce themselves to and broaden their knowledge in all areas of science, technology, math and engineering. Students work independently as well as in teams, learning to solve problems using their newly acquired skills. The lessons are highly interactive in which students build electric circuits, construct and program Lego NXT robots, write computer programs to command Arduino’s electronic interface and much more.
Junior Curriculum
Juniors may select from a wide range of science courses with many of the honor students taking two such courses. Additionally, Juniors may select from Advanced Placement courses as well.
Senior Curriculum
Students must complete at least three years of a science but many students take more than the required number of courses.
Science in the senior year is an elective and students may take any of the courses open to juniors as well as Advanced Placement.
Advanced Placement courses that help our students gain college credit. See a list of our classes here.
Honors Program: Science Research in High School Program
Students who are accepted into the Science Research in High School Program complete their regular science curriculum at an accelerated pace and plan, formulate, and conduct a research project qualifying for entry in all major state, national, and international science competitions. Honor classes are presented with material that goes beyond the syllabus and acquire a deeper understanding of the same material than non-honors classes and as such are expected to comprehend more conceptual information.
Elective Courses
The elective courses are designed to further enhance our students’ critical thinking skills by empowering them to evaluate scientific information make educated decisions as stated above.
Students who may have had no interest in pursuing a career in science will often change their minds after taking a science elective; students who were interested in a career in science often increase their passion for science in an advanced course or, alternatively, find out that their zeal was misplaced.
Science after High School
Scientific research underlies all advances in medicine and many critical issues in politics and government regulation. Our science program provides students a firm foundation of knowledge about the natural world. Equally important, our students learn the process of scientific inquiry and what kinds of questions science can and cannot answer. This approach does more than prepare our students for careers in science and engineering. It empowers our students to evaluate scientific information they will hear as adults and to make educated decisions as individuals and citizens.
As students in the finest colleges and universities, our students will compete with others from fine schools and must have the tools they need for success in their chosen paths.