Course Descriptions: Science

Students will learn about the Earth’s history, systems, weather and climate, space systems, and human sustainability. Throughout the course, students will engage in hands-on laboratory activities and investigations to help them develop scientific inquiry and data analysis skills. They will also be encouraged to make connections between the Earth and Space Science concepts they are learning and real-world applications. A minimum of 1200 minutes of successful laboratory work is required to sit for the Regents exam.

Biology is the study of life, living organisms, and living processes. Major emphasis in the new biology includes molecular and cellular biology; maintenance in animals and plants; reproduction and development; heredity; evolution and diversity; and ecology and conservation. Considerable time is devoted in the laboratory to microscopic and macroscopic study of representative organisms. A minimum of 1200 minutes of successful laboratory work is required to sit for the Regents exam.

The goal is to provide students with a basic foundation in scientific principles in sustainability. This course will introduce students to the basic principles of sustainability as they appear to analysis of environmental systems on a global scale. It will address causes of ecosystem and biome degradation including pollution, land use, coast degradation as well as means to mitigate these causes such as environmental law, environmental economics, and renewable energy. The concepts of sustainability will be infused into the course with an emphasis on the importance of sustaining resources and mitigating pollution to ecosystems. It is also designed to instruct students on how they can apply this knowledge to pursue active careers in sustainability. This is a non-lab elective science course without prerequisites.

This class consists of a full year of academic work in college-level biology. Topics in this class include biochemistry, cell morphology and energetics, classical and molecular genetics, evolution, biodiversity, botany, and ecology. Laboratories are hands-on and highly quantitative. Laboratory work is required. The topics and labs are covered in more detail than in Regents Biology.

This is a dual-credit course with AP designation. Students who earn a 75 or higher may earn eight (8) college credits from TCCC, transferrable to most two-and four-year colleges. BIOL 104 and BIOL 105 fulfills the SUNY General Education Natural Science Requirement. Students enrolled in this course are expected to take the AP exam in May.

Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure and properties of matter, the changes that matter undergoes, and the energy accompanying these changes.

Areas studied include atomic structure, chemical bonding, periodic table, mole concept, kinetics, and equilibrium. Chemistry is offered as a year course for the more able students planning on college or a future in some field of science. A minimum of 1200 minutes of successful laboratory work is required to sit for the Regents exam.

This non-Regents course is for the student that is interested in science, but is not planning on pursuing a science-related career of science-content focused college major. The course consists of 40 weeks of instruction/hand-on topics on fundamental science techniques in crime investigations:

Crime scenes, eyewitness application, collecting forensic samples, blood and impression evidence, identification of fresh and decomposed tissue, questionable documents, trace evidence, toxins, bone and DNA evidence.

It is designed to provide students with the basic theoretical and philosophical understanding of the investigatory process in the sciences of criminalistics.

Forensic Science is focused on the application of scientific methods and techniques to crime and law. Recent advances in scientific methods and principles have had an enormous impact on science, law enforcement and the entire criminal justice system. In this course, scientific methods specifically relevant to crime detection and analysis will be presented. Emphasis is placed on understanding the science underlying the techniques used in evaluating physical evidence. Topics included are blood analysis, organic and inorganic evidence analysis, fingerprints, hair analysis, DNA, drug chemistry, forensic medicine, forensic anthropology, toxicology, fiber comparisons, soil comparisons, and fire and engineering investigations, among others.

This concurrent enrollment class is offered to students desiring to earn four college credits transferable to 90% of two- and four-year colleges. It is imperative that students understand the expectations of this course. This course is for students who are looking to challenge themselves academically and therefore, should approach this course with an established work ethic and willingness to prepare outside the class. This is the same course that students take at Syracuse University. Collegiate effort is expected.

This is a tuition-bearing course.

This course consists of a full year of academic work in college-level chemistry. It is a more thorough and quantitative study of basic chemistry principles than in Regents Chemistry, and it is designed for science majors. Topics include atomic theory, bonding, stoichiometry, phases of matter, thermochemistry, kinetics, electrochemistry, solutions, and equilibrium. Laboratory experiments are hands-on activities and are performed in a traditional chemistry lab under supervision of a chemistry instructor.

This is a dual-credit course with AP designation. Students who earn a 75 or higher may earn eight (8) college credits from TCCC, transferrable to most two-and four-year colleges. CHEM 107 and CHEM 108 fulfill the SUNY General Education Natural Science requirement. Students enrolled are expected to take the AP exam in May.

Physics is a science course for the student who requires the course for college entrance, such as a student pursuing any field of science or engineering in college.

A modern view of physics is presented with emphasis on the fundamental concepts of mechanics, electricity and magnetism, waves, atomic and nuclear physics. Laboratory investigations and hands-on demonstrations are used whenever possible to reinforce basic physical principles that govern interactions from the size of an atom to the size of the universe. For the first half of the year, these investigations will focus primarily on mechanics and energy while the second half of the year will focus on electricity and magnetism through the building and designing of electronic circuits.

Students should be proficient in Google Docs and Google Sheets to submit lab reports as a minimum 1200 minutes of successful laboratory work is required to sit for the Regents exam.

It is the nature of man to wonder what enables people to move, how it is possible for them to walk, how they can see the expanse of the world and feel the objects about them, what happens to the food they eat, how they derive the energy for activity, and by what process they reproduce other beings like themselves. All these and other human activities make up life. Physiology attempts to explain them and, hence, to explain life itself.

In the laboratory, students will conduct experiments involving muscle contraction, nerve transmission, respiration, EKG, and other, physiological problems. A major lab emphasis includes the dissection of vertebrate organs and Felis domesticus (the cat). Mandatory dissections.

Introduction to Nanotechnology is designed to introduce students to the emerging field of Nanotechnology and its implications for society. Students will understand Nano-Science as a process through lecture, labs (hands-on & computer simulations) and project-based learning. Students will understand the relevance of Nanotechnology as it relates to chemical and physical systems, electric and magnetic nanostructures, nano-applications with light and material nanofabrication.

This class consists of a full year of academic work in college-level environmental science. Topics in this class include human population by dynamics, human health and toxicology, wildlife biology and management, food production, pest control, air and water pollution, traditional and alternative energy sources, climate change, environmental justice, and environmental law. Laboratories are hands-on and highly quantitative. Laboratory work is required. The topics and labs are designed to encourage students to become more aware of his/her role in the environment and how she/he can change his/her lifestyle to cause less damage to the earth’s systems. This class will promote a greater understanding of environmental issues and career opportunities in sustainability.

This is a dual-credit course with AP designation. Students who earn a 75 or higher may earn six (6) college credits from TCCC, transferrable to most two-and four-year colleges. ENVS 101 and ENVS 102 fulfills the SUNY General Education Natural Science requirement. Students enrolled are expected to take the AP exam in May.