Science
COURSE LIST
Earth Science
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
* 4 years are required for graduation.
Grade 9
Earth Science
Earth Science is a redesigned course that offers 100% alignment to Virginia’s 2018 Science Standards of Learning. The updated standards are more conceptual in nature and integrate scientific inquiry and engineering design into content to support the development of deeper learning. This inquiry- and lab-based course is designed to support modern science curriculum and teaching practices. Content topics include studying Earth and space science, the Universe, the Precambrian Earth, the solid Earth, the fluid Earth, and human interactions.
Grade 10
Biology
This inquiry- and virtual-lab-based course is designed to support modern science curriculum and teaching practices. It robustly meets NGSS learning standards for high school biology. Content topics include cells, organ systems, heredity, organization of organisms, evolution, energy use in organisms, and the interdependence of ecosystems.
Each lesson includes one or more inquiry-based activities that can be performed online within the context of the lesson. In addition, the course includes a number of virtual lab activities in which students will exercise experimental design, data analysis, and data interpretation skills while working through a simulated laboratory situation.
Grade 11
Chemistry
This inquiry- and lab-based course is designed to support modern science curriculum and teaching practices. It robustly meets NGSS learning standards associated with high school chemistry along with additional concepts and standards typically included in a full-year high school chemistry course. Content topics include atoms and elements, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, quantitative chemistry, molecular-level forces, solutions, and energy and changes in matter.
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It also addresses additional concepts and standards typically included in a full-year high school chemistry course, including molar concentrations, acid-base reactions, advanced stoichiometry, gas laws, and organic compounds. Each lesson includes one or more inquiry-based activities that can be performed online within the context of the lesson.
Grade 12
Physics
Physics introduces students to the physics of motion, properties of matter, force, heat, vector, light, and sound. Students learn the history of physics from the discoveries of Galileo and Newton to those of contemporary physicists. The course focuses more on explanation than calculation and prepares students for introductory quantitative physics at the college level. Additional areas of discussion include gases and liquids, atoms, electricity, magnetism, and nuclear physics.