2025-26 Course Descriptions - Catalog - Page 22
SCIENCE
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology helps us understand how we know
what we know. Remember the online debates on
whether people saw a blue or gold dress or heard
Yanny versus Laurel? Everyone had a different
interpretation of these situations—why is that?
How do these differences occur? In Psychology,
students learn how people process, analyze,
and interpret their everyday surroundings. The
course emphasizes three main areas of the 昀椀eld:
neuroscience (biology of the brain), learning theory
(rewards and punishments), and our cognitive
processes (memory). Within each unit, students
conduct their own experiments to dive deeper
into their interests and passions using learned
ideas within research methodology. Students
learn how to read and analyze peer-reviewed
scienti昀椀c journal articles to both support their
experiments and critically analyze the core ideas
presented in the course. Through the anchor topic
of abnormality, students dive into the diagnosis of a
mental health disorder to understand how one core
idea can be evaluated with regards to biological,
learning, and cognitive theories of development.
Students engage in interdisciplinary project work,
such as analysis of the portrayal of mental illness in
contemporary media and the performing arts. The
course aims to foster curiosity about the interaction
between human behavior and mental processes
while developing critical thinking skills and a clear
and concise scienti昀椀c writing style.
Note: Prior completion of Biology recommended,
but not required. This course is open only to
students in grades 11 and 12.
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY
How do the molecular and cellular systems in
our body work together to gain energy, maintain
homeostasis, and respond to pathogens? This
course zooms into the more “micro” or molecularbased aspects of biological systems in areas such
as cell biology, metabolism and macromolecules,
microbiology, immunology, disease, gene regulation
and epigenetics. Student-driven choice projects
and lab design, as well as the use of peer-reviewed
journal articles from scienti昀椀c studies play a
signi昀椀cant role in this course. For example, students
have the opportunity to analyze a health claim
of their choice such as analyzing the impact of a
fad diet on the body, or the impact of consuming
an arti昀椀cial sweetener such as aspartame versus
regular table sugar. Another project includes
analyzing the molecular mechanisms and causes
of conditions such as long COVID. Students design
and conduct their own experiments in the laboratory
to apply new techniques such as advanced
microscopy, gram-staining, and antibiotic assays,
while sharpening analytical writing skills. This
challenging course prepares students for higherlevel coursework and careers in biology through
student-driven research and lab skills. Students
interested in any of the health or medical sciences
are especially encouraged to take this course.
Prerequisites: Biology and Chemistry
PHYSICAL AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Building off of the foundations established in
chemistry, this course allows students to dive deeper
into the fascinating and interlocking complexity
of chemical systems and their applications. For
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example, students apply the concept of equilibrium
to extended lab investigations such as analyzing
ways to mitigate ocean acidi昀椀cation. They
determine how burning fuels provide energy, such
