Grade: 10, 11 or 12
Subject Area/Course Credit: Science, 1 credit
Prerequisite: A- or above in Coordinated Science I, or B or above in Coordinated Science II or science teacher recommendation.
The Honors science courses are vertically aligned to the science practices embedded in secondary school and college courses, including AP. This gives students multiple opportunities to think and work like scientists as they develop and strengthen these disciplinary reasoning skills throughout their education in the sciences:
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Emphasis on analytical reading and writing: Students engage in analytical reading and writing to gain, retain, and apply scientific knowledge and to carry out scientific argumentation.
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Strategic use of mathematics: Students use mathematics strategically in order to understand and express quantitative aspects of biology, to record and interpret experimental data, and to solve problems.
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Attention to modelling: Students go beyond labelling diagrams to creating, revising, and using models to explain key patterns, interactions, and relationships in biological systems.
These four big ideas are addressed across all units:
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The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
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Growth and reproduction in biological systems are dependent upon the cycling of matter and the transformation of energy.
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Biological systems, occurring at various scales, respond and adapt to stimuli in order to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
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Genetic mechanisms are essential to maintaining biological systems.