Honors Biology

This is a highly intensive course, designed to challenge while mastering the unifying principles of life at the organismal, cellular, and molecular levels of organization. This course is intended for students who have excelled at the highest levels in their eighth-grade science and social studies courses and are highly motivated and driven to learn at an advanced level. Students must have highly developed skills in reading comprehension, writing, graphing, critical thinking, and problem solving in order to comprehend the intricate questions discussed in this course.

Supplemental readings from scientific journals are also included in order to enrich application and sharpen critical-thinking skills. Homework will include preparing reading outlines for discussion in class, as well as inquiry-based questions and case studies requiring mastery of theory and the development of string predictive skills. The curriculum parallels the regular biology course curriculum, though it is presented in greater depth, rigor, and pace.

Discussions on ethical issues enriches this course. Laboratory exercises are used to reinforce concepts and to develop advanced inquiry-based and reasoning skills such as designing and planning an experiment, analyzing data with applied mathematics, and connecting concepts in and across domains. For their final lab assessment, students will independently design and perform an experiment which ties together several concepts from the year. Students will be expected to complete a summer reading and writing assignment in preparation for class and to pass an assessment based on the summer reading and writing assignment.