AP® Physics C: Mechanics

Grades 11 & 12, Term I, ½ credit

Astrophysics: Light and Stars

Grades 10–12, Term I, ½ credit

This course will allow students to explore the stars and what powers them. Students will start by learning to navigate the sky, then turn to the nature of light, our main (and until recently, only) method of observing the heavens. Finally, the bulk of the semester will be spent on the primary sources of light in the universe: stars. The course will answer questions such as: How does light travel across the universe, and what hinders it? What powers stars? How do stars form, and what conditions create different types of stars? What happens as a star’s fuel runs out? The semester will end with topics of the students’ choice, which may include exoplanets, cosmology, solar system formation, black holes, galaxies, quasars, and more. Throughout the semester, the course will exchange in-class days for other events, such as observations at night with Hopkins’ telescopes. (Prerequisite: Algebra 2; Co-requisite: Chemistry)

Design Engineering 

Grades 10–12, Term II, ½ credit, Student may declare credit for Science or Art

Answering the call of  twenty-first century research to recognize the powerful synergy between art and science, this multidisciplinary course is team-taught by teachers in both disciplines. Students explore the space where science and art overlap by working individually and collaboratively on a series of projects and research-based experiments. Equal time in the classroom, laboratory, and art studio enables students to learn the science, practice visualizations, and produce viable, creative, and whimsical solutions to scientific problems. Projects may include designing vehicles in which fluid dynamics serve as inspiration for beautiful line patterns and vice versa, creating structures that recognize the relationship of form and function in architecture, mapping the mathematics in nature, manipulating waveforms in the production of music and optical effects. This course counts as an academic course for determining course load. (Co-requisite: Precalculus or higher)

Earth Science: Core to Crust

Grade 7

Earth Science: Surface to Space

Grade 8

This course exposes students to additional topics within the area of Earth Science. Using the world around us as our subject, students study topics that include climate and weather, water, and other natural resources. Introductory physics concepts such as mechanics, energy transfer, and gravity are taught within the context of these topics. Through lectures, labs, and projects, students develop an awareness of some of the complexities of the modern world, including the transfer and transformation of energy, climate change, and resource allocation. The course emphasizes the development of analytic thinking and reasoning. The course aims to portray science as a relevant and rewarding field of study and to prepare students for more advanced work in the high school.

Engineering Nature:
Earth System Science and Climate Change

Grades 10–12, Term I, ½ credit 

Can we control nature? In the age of engineering, can solutions which once seemed like science fiction be the answers to our climate problems? Students will build on their understanding of the kinematics and dynamics behind how the Earth's climate system functions and learn how humans have perturbed this system. Through hands-on experiments, they will explore multiple case studies about how our impact on Earth's thermal system has made major changes in areas such as ocean chemistry, storm intensity, and coastline geomorphology. The capstone of this course is a student-driven design engineering project which will engage students in posing questions and using maker spaces to develop solutions.

Science Research Program

Hopkins Authentic Research
Program In Science (HARPS)

Grade 11 ONLY, Full-year course, 1 credit;
Additional Summer Lab Research, ½ credit

Hopkins provides students with an opportunity to engage in authentic scientific research at a partner university or other research lab after completing a year-long experimental design curriculum on campus. In Term I of Grade 11, students concentrate on specific elements of the scientific method by executing physical and biological science techniques, completing targeted experiments, and delving into and critiquing current scientific articles in a journal-club format, all while learning content to complement experimental work. Upon this foundation, students begin to narrow their focus to a scientific area and identify potential laboratories doing work which aligns with their interests. After the summer experience, students share their research with the greater community during a poster session. The top presenters at this session will be invited to deliver a talk to their peers during the Fall science seminar. (Prerequisites: Biology and Chemistry, application, and departmental approval)

Psychology

Grades 11 & 12, Term I & II, ½ credit

This course includes topics typically studied in a standard college introductory psychology course. It provides a general overview of the following topics: methods, approaches, and history; biological basis of behavior; sensation and perception; state of consciousness; learning; cognition; motivation and emotion; testing and individual differences; developmental psychology; personality; abnormal psychology; treatment of psychological disorders; and social psychology. In addition, students begin to explore the process of self-discovery through classroom assignments and individualized projects. For those students interested in taking the Advanced Placement® Examination in Psychology, supplemental preparation is offered. (Prerequisites or Co-requisites: Biology and Chemistry)

Robotics Engineering

Grades 10–12, Term I, ½ credit

This is a multi-disciplinary and project-based learning course which will introduce students to robots and engineering in our technologically-advancing global society. The driving question for this class will be “How can robots make a positive impact and solve problems and challenges in our global community?” Working in guided inquiry teams, students will research and identify their community problem and work towards the goal of successfully designing, building, and testing a robot that can provide a viable, robust solution. Using the Engineering Design Process, students will learn how to logically and methodically progress through their identified challenge through the stages of robot design and develop an understanding for the iterative nature of problem solving. Students will learn how to design a robot chassis with motion, sensor control hardware, and arm manipulation. Students will also learn how to code the hardware for both driver-controlled and autonomous modes.

Biology

Grades 9 & 10

Chemistry

Grades 10–12

This fundamental science course includes lecture, problem-solving, integrated activities, and laboratory experiments, and is designed to introduce the student to the nature of matter. The material is presented with both descriptive and quantitative considerations, with emphasis on problem-solving skills and abstract (theoretical) conceptualization. Topics include: gas laws and kinetic theory, properties of matter, basic kinetics, the structure of the atom, periodicity of the elements, chemical bonding and molecular structure, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, thermodynamics, nuclear chemistry, equilibrium, and acids and bases. Placement in the Chemistry classes will be based on a placement test and departmental approval. Please note, while both Chemistry and Chemistry Accelerated are first year chemistry courses, material is taught in a different order. Movement in either direction between the two courses after the school year has started is burdensome for the student.  (Prerequisite: Biology)

Chemistry Accelerated

Grades 10–12

This course is designed for students with high science aptitude and proven achievement in both science and mathematics. Thus, self-motivation and a significant time commitment are required for mastery of the material. Topics include: the structure of the atom, nuclear chemistry, periodicity of the elements, chemical bonding and molecular structure, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, gas laws and kinetic theory, kinetics, thermodynamics, equilibrium, and acids and bases. The course may also include some of all of the following topics: oxidation/reduction, electrochemistry, and biochemistry. Placement in the Chemistry classes will be based on a placement test and department approval. Please note, while both Chemistry and Chemistry Accelerated are first year chemistry courses, material is taught in a different order. Movement in either direction between the two courses after the school year has started is burdensome for the student. (Prerequisite: Biology and departmental approval)

Physics

Grades 10–12

AP® Physics 1

Grades 10–12

This foundational course takes an analytical and algebra-based approach to understanding the workings of the universe, with greater emphasis on mathematical modeling of physical phenomena and both guided and open inquiry-style experimentation in the laboratory. Topics covered include kinematics, Newtonian mechanics, rotational dynamics, gravitation, energy, momentum, and simple harmonic motion., The course follows the Advanced Placement® Physics 1: Algebra-Based curriculum.  (Co-requisites: Precalculus Enriched or Introduction to Calculus or higher, and departmental approval)

AP® Physics 2

Grades 11 & 12

The second course in the foundational algebra-based AP® Physics sequence follows Physics or AP® Physics 1 and covers topics including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and atomic and nuclear physics. The course follows the Advanced Placement® Physics 2: Algebra-Based curriculum. (Co-requisites: Precalculus Enriched or Introduction to Calculus or higher; Prerequisites: Physics or AP® Physics 1, and departmental approval)

AP® Biology

Grades 11 & 12

Students study molecular and cellular biology as it applies to the physiology of organisms, ecology, and evolution. The course follows the Advanced Placement® Biology curriculum, which emphasizes classical and contemporary methods of solving biological problems. This course, with the addition of out-of-class review work, prepares students for the Advanced Placement® Examination in Biology. (Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry, and departmental approval)

AP® Chemistry

Grades 11 & 12

This second-year chemistry course follows the Advanced Placement® Chemistry curriculum, which includes theoretical treatments of atomic structure, chemical behavior in terms of energy and structural changes, as well as a mathematical study of inorganic and physical chemistry concepts. Lab work is highly investigative and involves quantitative and qualitative analysis. This course, with the addition of out-of-class review work, prepares students for the Advanced Placement® Examination in Chemistry.  (Prerequisites: Chemistry or Chemistry Accelerated; Co-requisites: Precalculus Enriched or Introduction to Calculus or higher, and departmental approval. AP® Physics 1 is recommended but not required.)

AP® Physics C:
Electricity and Magnetism

Grades 11 & 12, Term II, ½ credit

In the second half of this second-year Physics course sequence, students investigate Maxwell’s laws of electricity and magnetism. Calculus is an essential tool in both terms while the range of topics discussed becomes more focused and the depth of problems explored dramatically outstrips those seen in the preparatory course, AP® Physics 1. This course prepares students for the Advanced Placement® Examination in Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, and concludes with a review period covering both mechanics and electromagnetism. (Prerequisite: AP® Physics C: Mechanics).

Anatomy and Physiology

Grades 11 & 12, Term II, ½ credit

This course gives students the opportunity to explore how the human body works by investigating the structure and functions of its parts and systems. Topics include the muscular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems, as well as other topics that demonstrate the interconnectivity of all the systems. The lab component of this course allows students to compare anatomical structures among various species and to investigate the evolutionary relationships across taxa. (Prerequisites: Biology and Chemistry or Physics)

Contemporary Issues In Science

Grades 11 & 12, Term II, ½ credit

This course gives students a chance to dive into science topics that they may not have otherwise had a chance to consider. Are stem cells the new magic bullet in eradicating human diseases? Do detox diets do a better job than your own liver?  Is the statement “I took a homeopathic remedy, and two days later my cold was gone. Homeopathy really works!” a post hoc logical fallacy or an argumentum ad ignorantiam? What emerging diseases should we watch out for, and should science eradicate mosquito species entirely? Class participation and discussion are essential components of this course. (Prerequisites: Biology and Chemistry or Physics)

AP® Environmental Science

Grades 11 & 12, 1 credit

Students examine the four spheres of the natural world, the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere, from an interdisciplinary perspective that incorporates the data collected through scientific research with the social, economic, political, and legal issues of human society. Using a combination of laboratory and field experimentation, as well as local field trips, students examine issues of environmental concern that are both current and local, gaining understanding of the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world. In addition, through readings and classroom discussions, students can further evaluate the history of environmental issues, our society’s attempts to identify and address them, and potential solutions to prevent or resolve these issues in the future. Students are expected to write both formal laboratory reports and more informal persuasive response papers on a regular basis. Topics include: the loss of biodiversity, population and community ecology, renewable and non-renewable resource use, energy consumption and production, agricultural systems and food distribution, human population growth and economic development, and the effects of pollution on human health and the environment. (Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry and departmental approval)

Psychology

Grades 11 & 12, Term I & II, ½ credit

This course includes topics typically studied in a standard college introductory psychology course. It provides a general overview of the following topics: methods, approaches, and history; biological basis of behavior; sensation and perception; state of consciousness; learning; cognition; motivation and emotion; testing and individual differences; developmental psychology; personality; abnormal psychology; treatment of psychological disorders; and social psychology. In addition, students begin to explore the process of self-discovery through classroom assignments and individualized projects. For those students interested in taking the Advanced Placement® Examination in Psychology, supplemental preparation is offered. (Prerequisites or Co-requisites: Biology and Chemistry)