6th Grade Discovery and Inventions in Physical Science
“What happens if I change just this one thing…?” Science is a way to study relationships, and how those relationships change as conditions change.  This course approaches this concept of relationships through the perspectives of scientists (questioning, observing, measuring, describing, analyzing, and explaining) as well as engineers (building, innovating, problem-solving), using topics in physical science as the medium for these explorations.
In this course, students explore the processes, tools and questions of current scientists, and design experiments of their own.  They also build things (toys, tools, etc…) and take things apart, applying scientific principles to solve problems and create new tools.

7th Grade Marine Science
The 7th grade marine science curriculum is a natural extension of the 6th grade watershed focus. Students investigate estuarine processes, near shore environments, and open ocean habitats. Taking advantage of our diverse marine surroundings, students actively engage in learning about oceanography and the natural history of native marine life. The students spend time performing beach surveys, participating in wildlife population studies, plankton tows, and benthic investigations. In addition, the students will be introduced to the impacts of human development decisions on shoreline ecology. The deep thread of human connection to the seas in fact and mythology will also be explored as a topic for consideration.

8th Grade Earth Science
This course introduces the student to the fundamental workings of the Earth. Investigations into geology, meteorology, and astronomy launch the student into contemplation of the dynamic nature of our home planet and its place in the universe. Students will find themselves learning the skills to actually make their own to-scale map. They will also learn how to read and use topographic maps. The course investigates the nature of deep time, the wonders of minerals, and the geologic history of our country and region. It also explores the nature of weather – from its fundamental elements to the complexities of understanding the physics of how rain shadows work. At the close of the school year the class makes its way out into the cosmos to consider the wonders of astronomy. A visit to a local large reflecting telescope near the end of the school year leaves the student to ponder the depths of the cosmos.

Biology
If we find life on another planet, how will we recognize it? In Biology, the scientific study of life, we will explore what it is that defines something as alive and how the structures and processes of life work.
Perhaps we will be able to find life elsewhere by recognizing its chemical signature. The first unit will explore the properties of water and its importance in living systems and will investigate other chemicals that organisms take in and produce. It may also be possible to spot living forms by finding cells, a fundamental building block of life on earth. The second unit will focus on cell structures and functions and types of cells. On the other hand, we may detect an organic energy flow as we search for life. The third unit will explore photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, fermentation and cellular respiration, the ways organisms on earth store and access energy. The fourth unit will study how life reproduces itself. We will learn about DNA (the directions for making and operating life), mitosis (the process of creating new cells), and meiosis (the process of mixing up the directions to get something a little different). The fifth unit will focus on evolution, the central, great idea of modern biology that demonstrates a unity to life. There are so few chemical building blocks, so few ways a cell is put together, very few ways of using energy and a consistency to reproduction. These few variables combine in a myriad of ways to create the diversity of life on earth. Finally, we will explore that diversity of life on our own planet. The final unit will look at how scientists classify life and will explore the structural and behavioral adaptations of the microbes, fungi, plants and animals.

Physical Science
“Richness in life is not only seeing the world with wide open eyes, but knowing what to look for”  (P. G. Hewitt).  This course creates a forum for exploring a conceptual understanding of physical science – seeking richness by learning what to look for.  These explorations take various forms as students are challenged to:

• expand their understanding through developing and exercising problem-solving techniques,
• make connections through applying theoretical concepts to how things actually work, laboratory experiments, design projects and student-led demonstrations,
• practice the communication skills that allow a person to think deeply and share information about complex subjects.

Topics in Modern Physics are explored throughout the year through student research and presentations on current literature from both primary and secondary scientific journals.

Advanced Physics
The Advanced Physics course combines hands-on explorations of classical physics with rigorous mathematical analysis to pursue and form a deep understanding of physics in the universe.
Topics that provide the foundation for these explorations include Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism. Topics in Modern Physics are explored throughout the year through student research and presentations on current literature from both primary and secondary scientific journals. This course has a pre-requisite of Algebra, and a co-requisite of Trigonometry.

Chemistry
The goal of this course is to provide a firm foundation in chemical concepts and principles and to instill in students an appreciation of the vital role chemistry plays in our daily lives. The course begins with a scientific look at the macroscopic world and proceeds with an examination into the microscopic realm of atoms and molecules. This opens the way for the exploration of chemical properties and relationships as well as the mechanisms of chemical change. Chemistry is an experimental science, therefore emphasis is placed on developing problem-solving skills. Beginning with chemical terminology and measurement, students are moved through atomic structure, chemical bonding, states of matter, water and solutions, acids and bases, oxidation and reduction, reaction rates and chemical equilibrium, nuclear energy, as well as brief introductions to organic and biochemistry. Throughout the course, students are asked to make connections to their daily lives as well as to physics and biology by investigating the relationship of energy to changes in matter and how these changes are utilized by living organisms.

Advanced Environmental Science
Environmental Science is the scientific study of relationships between humans and the environment and it is the study of issues that can be emotionally and politically charged. We will begin the year by stepping back in time to two case studies from the past. These case studies will give us a chance to think how one evaluates data and arguments and to think about how much evidence one needs to draw a conclusion. Then we will begin a series of case studies of modern environmental issues. In the unit about water issues, we will investigate a local endangered species and over fishing issues. In the unit about air issues, we will study global warming, ozone thinning and El Nino. In the unit about land issues, we will study land use decision making and identification of wildlife corridors. We will pause midyear to take a look at environmental literature. Finally, students will choose an issue of their choice and do their own case study.

Introduction to Geology
This course is an introduction to many of the basic elements of the science of geology. It is taught to selected 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students through the “University of Washington in the High School Program” as a 5-credit university course. The curriculum takes the student on a journey that investigates the large-scale tenets of the science such as plate tectonic theory and orogenic processes. The student will also be introduced to geologic structures, landforms, map interpretation, mineralogy, rock chemistry, volcanology, seismicity, and geology in the field. The class will include laboratories that provide a strong hands-on component to augment various learning styles. There will be several field trips during the course of the year to local and regional features of geologic importance. In addition there will be a weeklong field trip to the southwestern U.S. during spring break. This trip provides the student with a strong experience that paints the learning canvas with the incredible geologic diversity of the American west.