• Science ELECTIVES

       

       

      Science Electives are available at various NHPS High Schools. The required 3 science courses are PhyChem, Biology, Chemistry. Physics is suggested as the preferred elective for students going on to other science careers (including nursing, etc.). All science electives still involve hands on science learning, science practices, critical thinking, scientific communication. They include: Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Science, Forensics, Geology, Astronomy, Science & Society, Science Research, Science Careers, Oceanology, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Environmental Science and others. Please check with each high school for their offerings.

      Skills

      • Make observations about demonstrations, experiments and phenomena.
      • Form questions and wonderings about phenomena using observations and prior knowledge.
      • Ask questions about others’ explanations.
      • Use appropriate tools to make measurements and collect numerical data.
      • Plan and conduct cause/effect investigations that are “fair tests”.
      • Explain safety and ethical impacts of science investigations and solutions.
      • Design and refine visual or physical models that explain science events.
      • Display data using visual representations, including tables and graphs.
      • Connect data to appropriate explanations.
      • Construct and defend explanations about science concepts based on evidence.
      • Communicate with others about science claims and flaws in reasoning based on evidence
      • Use appropriate science vocabulary when communicating about science events.
      • Relate the use of science and technology to both causes of societal problems and possible solutions.
      • Design multiple solutions to real-life problems, and be able to improve them based on results.

      Science How You Can Help Your Child

      • Visit together, observe together, wonder together, think together, tinker together and most importantly, talk together!
      • Be positive about science learning. Don’t ever say science (or math) is “hard”!
      • Encourage perseverance. Often in science/math there is not an answer immediately, it takes time and effort.
      • Be positive about your child being curious about the world and taking time to “figure things out” by predicting, talking, investigating, not just “learn about” by looking up an answer.
      • Encourage students to develop and test their own understandings and explanations of the world.
      • Encourage exploration of objects around the house (movement, light, sound, heat), the world outside (sky, weather, trees, yard, the earth), living things (humans, animals, plants) and technology (cars, TVs, machines).
      • Encourage use of measurement tools at home (hand lens, rulers, thermometers, scales).
      • Encourage use of math, especially statistics in solving problems and analyzing data.
      • Help your child investigate the wide variety of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
      • Use and visit local resources (museums, parks, family nights, science programs/events at Yale, other places).

       *** GRADE 11 IS ALSO THE STATE REQURED NGSS SCIENCE ASSESSMENT

      GUIDE TO NGSS FOR PARENTS, Interpretive Guide to NGSS Testing

       

      DETAILED GRADE BY GRADE OVERVIEW WITH NextGenerationScience Standards per Grade/Course and Quarter