Science Course Offerings
Science Course Offerings
Yearlong Courses
Biology
As the Science Department’s foundational course, Biology is designed to introduce students to our extraordinary campus while building scientific skills they will use throughout our curriculum. In addition, this course teaches students how to understand evolution, ecology, genetics, cell biology and molecular biology. Particular emphasis is placed upon systematic observation and the formation and testing of scientific hypotheses. Students learn to be skeptical and to construct scientific explanations that are detailed, logical, and supported by evidence. The course also seeks to stimulate student appreciation for the natural world. The culminating experience of the scientific skills curriculum is a “Curiosity Quest” in which each student explores some aspect of biology that interests them. This exploration is a hands-on study that involves collecting, analyzing and presenting data. Areas of primary conceptual focus include:
- Introductory Evolution
- Ecology, Biodiversity, and Human Impacts on the Environment
- Population Sampling and Data Analysis
- Metabolism, Cellular Respiration, and Photosynthesis
- Cellular Processes and Genetics
- Advanced Topics in Evolution
- Curiosity Quest
Physics
In Physics, students discover the fundamental laws that govern nature through the process of holistic inquiry—using carefully curated experiments and logical reasoning to determine when assumptions can and can’t be made. The class is taught using Modeling Instruction pedagogy, a research-based approach developed at Arizona State University. Students organize their knowledge according to a series of physical models which can be used to analyze and explain increasingly complex phenomena using diagrammatic, mathematical, graphical, and pictorial representations. By the end of this course, students understand the fundamental principles of Newton’s Laws, kinetics, dynamics and conservation principles including under what constraints they can be applied. Multi-step reasoning and problem- solving skills are emphasized.
Honors Physics
This rigorous curriculum covers Newtonian mechanics and conservation principles. It is inspired by the Modeling Instruction pedagogy — a unique and research-based approach to teaching physics. This approach guides students through experiments and conceptual constructions that require authentic scientific thinking and practice. Rather than asking students to memorize a catalogue of facts and equations, coursework is organized around a series of physical models students use to explain and predict the effects of interactions of matter. Each student is called on to develop his or her abilities to analyze, infer, evaluate, synthesize and reason quantitatively from the results of his or her experimental work. Laboratories involve extensive use of computer-interfaced instrumentation.
Chemistry
Chemistry is designed to provide students with a concept-driven and laboratory-centered introduction to chemical principles. Students will develop a deep understanding of matter, atomic structure, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, and quantitative problem solving. Emphasis is placed on scientific inquiry, data analysis, mathematical reasoning, and effective communication, helping students build both conceptual understanding and practical laboratory skills. Throughout the course, students investigate essential questions that guide scientific thinking: how chemists collect and analyze data, apply mathematical models, design and interpret experiments, and use digital tools to communicate findings. Students regularly engage in laboratory experiments, data analysis, and scientific writing to strengthen their understanding and gain confidence in applying scientific concepts. By the end of the course, students will be able to explain chemical phenomena, interpret experimental results, and apply quantitative problem-solving strategies to real-world situations.
Honors Chemistry
Honors Chemistry strives to identify and quantify macroscopic patterns of material behavior and to construct submicroscopic (i.e., atomic scale) theories to explain them. We achieve this by building on the foundation of concepts, computational techniques, and laboratory practices students learn in Honors Physics to support their study of chemistry. The course begins with an introduction to descriptive and analytical chemistry through several weeks of laboratory work. Students here become familiar with important chemical properties and tools for uncovering patterns of chemical behavior and the laws that govern them. Laboratory work remains the central focus of the course as it recreates the empirical lines of evidence and creative reasoning from which modern chemical theory evolved during the 19th and 20th centuries. Students are challenged to construct their knowledge from their own experiments and collaborative discussions that utilize both their prior and new knowledge.
Advanced Study Biology
The aim of this advanced biology course is to more closely examine a range of topics in biology, with a thematic emphasis on the unity of life and life’s molecular basis. Topics that recur throughout the year include:
- evolution
- the structure-function relationship
- the importance of energy
- the role of information
In addition to its factual content, the course stresses rigorous scientific analysis and reasoning. Many lab investigations are student-designed and involve long-term, open-ended inquiry. Several labs cover material that overlaps with the College Board’s Advanced Placement recommendations.
Advanced Study Chemistry
This course offers students an opportunity to continue their study of chemistry at an advanced level by further exploring topics in physical and organic chemistry. The course is laboratory-centered with structured experiments that extend the students’ experience with analytical techniques and instrumentation, followed by open-ended projects that develop students’ research skills.
Advanced Study Physics: Calculus-Based
This course covers a calculus-based college-level physics curriculum, and includes explorations of mechanics, energy, and entropy. This course assumes a deep curiosity about physics and willingness to work on the part of the students. The course approaches the above topics by focusing on matter and its interactions at the atomic scale through students’ creation and application of models. Toward this end, students learn V-Python, a powerful object-oriented computer-programming language that they use to model real physical systems. Students are prepared to sit for the Advanced Placement Physics examination, Level C, Mechanics.
Advanced Study Environmental Science
This college-level course is intended to foster awareness and appreciation of the natural world, the interdependencies that exist within it, and human impacts and interactions with it. You will explore the natural environment and resources of the School and surrounding areas while becoming acquainted with the principles and methods used to examine environmental issues. AS Environmental Science will expand on the skills and knowledge introduced in biology, chemistry, and physics. Topics include:
- Sustainability
- Ecology & Biodiversity
- Species & Population dynamics
- Water resources
- Agricultural resources
- Energy (renewable and nonrenewable resources)
- Human Health
- Climate change
- Air, Water, & Solid Pollution
- Economics, Politics, & Ethics
The course includes visiting speakers, supplemental readings, investigations and labs drawn from college curricula, and an independent project. An overnight camping trip to Assateague Island will expose you to the natural beauty of the world and the impacts of course topics on the barrier island.
Semester-long Electives
AS Microbiology
This course will build on the Cellular Biology course but is also appropriate as a standalone course for students with some background in biology and chemistry whose interests include the study of microbes or who simply have an interest in microbiology. This course introduces the basic principles of microbiology, examining the microbes that inhabit our planet, and their impact on the biosphere. This course explores this impact through multiple areas of microbiology. Students will assess the influence of microbiology and 21st-century challenges and opportunities that arise from our changing relationship with, and understanding of, microbes. Through lectures, case studies, in-class
group work, laboratory exercises, and homework projects, students will probe the science of microbes and the social issues and concerns relevant to the field of microbiology including emerging infectious disease, antibiotic resistance, the anti-vaccine movement, microbial communities, biofilms, and food production. Students will demonstrate their mastery of these concepts through quizzes, lab reports, a term project working to identify an unknown organism, and a final examination.
Cellular Biology
This course will introduce and explore basic concepts and theories of cell biology with an emphasis on its application in understanding human health. Topics include an introduction to cell theory, the chemical composition of cells, cellular functions and cell signaling, reproduction, and genetics. Each of these topics will be explored through course readings, lectures/demonstrations, discussions, and laboratory exercises, and will culminate in a course project to evaluate an unknown human disease. Students will demonstrate their mastery of cell biology concepts through quizzes, lab reports, and a final examination. This course may be taken either as a standalone semester course or as a foundation for the AS Microbiology course.
Engineering
The goal of Introduction to Engineering is to provide an introduction to design thinking and a variety of engineering disciplines. The course will be broken into six parts that include: design thinking, experimental design, mechanical advantage, structural engineering, aeronautical engineering, and a culminating independent design project. In each part of the course, students will learn the basic principles associated with the subject and conduct hands-on projects using the principles learned. Students will leave the course with a greater appreciation of engineering problems and solutions.
Solar Physics
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the science behind obtaining energy for human uses from the radiation generated by the Sun. The course will focus on fundamental concepts, basic physical principles, and practical applications. We will first establish why solar energy is so important. We’ll then study how the Sun generates radiation, how much of that radiation reaches the surface of Earth, and, finally, how much of that is useful to us. A summary of how electrons in solids move, transfer energy and absorb light will allow us to link the absorption of light by solids to thermal and electrical energy generation. Creation of our own small, demonstration solar-driven devices will conclude the course.
Nuclear Physics & Ethics
This semester-long course introduces students to fundamental nuclear physics, giving them the scientific knowledge needed in order to then tackle difficult ethical questions regarding its applications. After exploring decay processes on a subatomic level, this course reviews how radioactive materials are used in abundance in industry and medicine. We then explore the human cost of technological development, and — by introducing utilitarianism, duty ethics, and virtue ethics — grapple with questions raised in nuclear medicine, particularly in cases involving children and pregnancy. The course moves on to nuclear power and the design, operation, and safety features of modern reactor design. Students will grapple with ethical decision-making around nuclear power versus fossil fuels, deciding the location of a nuclear plant, mining for uranium, and safe handling of radioactive waste. Finally, we will consider nuclear warfare: the development, testing, and design of atomic bombs as well as their human and environmental impacts. Students will consider the experience of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, through which the weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were developed, and — through considerations of Just War Theory and Deterrence — contemplate whether the usage of nuclear weapons in warfare can ever be justified.
Advanced Study Astronomy
This advanced course focuses on not just what we know about the Universe but also how we know it. By combining quantitative and conceptual astrophysics principles, we can learn a great deal about distant objects solely by examining the light we receive from them. Astronomy students begin by investigating the nature of electromagnetic radiation and atomic structure to understand the tools astrophysicists use to learn about the cosmos. We then use these tools to forge an understanding of the solar system’s features and formation, the methods for exoplanet discovery and the search for distant, habitable worlds, and the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. Students complete multiple independent research projects within these units that require them to delve into real peer- reviewed scientific research and present an overview of their specific, chosen topic.