Grades: 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 chemistry, 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 big ideas are addressed across all units:
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Structure and Properties: All matter is composed of particles that are in constant motion and interact with one another. This movement and interaction is responsible for the observable properties of matter. Observed properties can be used to infer the number and types of particles in a sample of matter.
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Energy: Energy is transferred in all physical and chemical processes. During these processes, energy is either redistributed within the system or between systems.
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Transformations: At its heart, chemistry is about rearrangements of matter. These rearrangements, or transformations, involve the breaking and forming of intermolecular forces or chemical bonds. Macroscopic observations can be used to quantify and describe these rearrangements at the atomic scale.