NISD SCIENCE COURSES

In Integrated Physics and Chemistry, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical-thinking and scientific problem-solving. This course integrates the disciplines of physics and chemistry in the following topics: motion, waves, energy transformations, properties of matter, changes in matter, and solution chemistry.

 In Biology, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical-thinking and scientific problem-solving. Students in Biology study a variety of topics that include: structures and functions of cells and viruses; growth and development of organisms; cells, tissues, and organs; nucleic acids and genetics; biological evolution; taxonomy; metabolism and energy transfers in living organisms; living systems; homeostasis; ecosystems; and plants and the

Biology II Advanced Placement Biology

This course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year. Some AP students, as college freshmen, are permitted to undertake upper-level courses in biology or to register for courses for which biology is a prerequisite. Other students may have fulfilled a basic requirement for a laboratory science course and will be able to undertake other courses to pursue their majors.

 In Environmental Systems, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students study a variety of topics that include: biotic and abiotic factors in habitats; ecosystems and biomes; interrelationships among resources and an environmental system; sources and flow of energy though an environmental system; relationship between carrying capacity and changes in populations and ecosystems; and changes in environments.

 In Chemistry, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students study a variety of topics that include: characteristics of matter; energy transformations during physical and chemical changes; atomic structure; periodic table of elements; behavior of gases; bonding; nuclear fusion and nuclear fission; oxidation-reduction reactions; chemical equations; solutes; properties of solutions; acids and bases; and chemical reactions. Students will investigate how chemistry is an integral part of our daily lives.

Chemistry II Advanced Placement Chemistry

This course is designed to be the equivalent of the general chemistry course usually taken during the first college year. For some students, this course enables them to undertake, as freshmen, second-year work in the chemistry sequence at their institution or to register for courses in other fields where general chemistry is a prerequisite. For other students, the AP Chemistry course fulfills the laboratory science requirement and frees time for other courses.

 In Aquatic Science, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students study a variety of topics that include: components of an aquatic ecosystem; relationships among aquatic habitats and ecosystems; roles of cycles within an aquatic environment; adaptations of aquatic organisms; changes within aquatic environments; geological phenomena and fluid dynamics effects; and origin and use of water in a watershed.

 In Physics, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students study a variety of topics that include: laws of motion; changes within physical systems and conservation of energy and momentum; force; thermodynamics; characteristics and behavior of waves; and quantum physics. This course provides students with a conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical and scientific skills.

This course ordinarily forms the first part of the college sequence that serves as the foundation in physics for students majoring in the physical sciences or engineering. The sequence is parallel to or preceded by mathematics courses that include calculus. Methods of calculus are used wherever appropriate in formulating physical principles and in applying them to physical problems. The sequence is more intensive and analytic than that in the B course. Strong emphasis is placed on solving a variety of challenging problems, some requiring calculus. The subject matter of the C course is principally mechanics, and electricity and magnetism, with approximately equal emphasis on these two areas. The C course is the first part of a sequence which in college is sometimes a very intensive one-year course but often extends over one and one-half to two years, with a laboratory component.

 In Geology, Meteorology, Oceanography, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students study a variety of topics that include: characteristics and conditions of the Earth; formation and history of the Earth; plate tectonics; origin and composition of minerals and rocks and the rock cycle; processes and products of weathering; natural energy resources; interactions in a watershed; characteristics of oceans; characteristics of the atmosphere; and the role of energy in weather and climate.