Science
Unity High School offers standard high school science courses, following this sequence: Astronomy/Cosmology, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Most classes during the entire four-year sequence will involve instruction provided by the teacher, viewing a short video, discussion, and hands-on project work, either individually or in groups.
Astronomy/Cosmology
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 9th grade students:
Scale of the Universe
Biology
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 10th grade students:
Biology Foundations
Chemistry
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 11th grade students:
Atoms, Compounds and Ions
Physics
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 12th grade students:
One-Dimensional Motion
Astronomy/Cosmology
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 9th grade students:
Scale of the Universe
- Scale of the earth, sun, galaxy and universe
- Time scale of the cosmos
- Light and fundamental forces
- Big bang and expansion of the universe
- Life and death of stars
- Quasars and galactic collisions
- Stellar parallax
- Cepheid variables
- Plate tectonics: Difference between crust and lithosphere
- Seismic waves and how we know earth’s structure
- Earth’s rotation and tilt
- Moon phases and eclipses
- History of life on earth
- Humanity on earth
- Measuring age on earth
- Life in the universe
Biology
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 10th grade students:
Biology Foundations
- Biology and the scientific method
- Important molecules for biology
- Water and life
- pH, acids and bases
- Introduction of cells
- Basic cell structures
- The cell membrane
- Eukaryotic cell structures
- Prokaryotes and eukaryotes
- Plant versus animal cells
- Introduction of metabolism
- Enzymes
- Passive and active transport
- Osmosis and tonicity
- Photosynthesis
- Cellular respiration
- Types of reproduction
- Chromosome structure and numbers
- The cell cycle and mitosis
- Meiosis
- Fertilization and development
- Introduction to heredity
- Non-mendelian inheritance
- Sex linkage
- Pedigrees
- DNA structure and replication
- RNA and protein synthesis
- Biotechnology
- Evolution and natural selection
- Evidence of evolution
- Phylogeny
- Body structure and homeostasis
- The circulatory and respiratory systems
- The musculoskeletal system
- The digestive and excretory systems
- The nervous and endocrine systems
- The reproductive system
- The immune system
- Introduction to ecology
- Population ecology
- Community ecology
- Ecological relationships
- Trophic levels
- Biogeochemical cycles
- Human impact on ecosystems
Chemistry
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 11th grade students:
Atoms, Compounds and Ions
- Introduction to the atom
- Ions and compounds
- Names and formulas of ionic compounds
- Balancing chemical equations
- Stoichiometry
- Limiting reagent stoichiometry
- Molecular composition
- Types of chemical reactions
- History of the atomic structure
- Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom
- Quantum numbers and orbitals
- Electron configurations
- Introduction to the periodic table
- Periodic table trends
- Types of chemical bonds
- Dot structures and molecular geometry
- Hybridization and hybrid orbitals
- Ideal gas equation
- Non-ideal gas behavior
- States of matter
- Introduction to intermolecular forces
- Mixtures and solutions
- Equilibrium constant
- Factors that affect chemical equilibrium
- Acids, bases, and pH
- Acid-base equilibria
- Buffer solutions
- Titrations
- Solubility equilibria
- Internal energy
- Enthalpy
- Entropy
- Gibbs free energy
- Redox reactions and electrochemistry
- Galvanic cells
- Standard cell potentials
- Electrochemistry, thermodynamics and equilibrium
- Cell potentials under nonstandard conditions
- Electrolytic cells and electrolysis
- Reaction rates and rate laws
- Relationship between reaction concentrations and time
- Arrhenius equation and reaction mechanisms
- Spectrophotometry
- Radioactive decay
Physics
Following is the subject matter sequencing for this course, to be taught to 12th grade students:
One-Dimensional Motion
- Introduction to physics
- Displacement, velocity, and time
- Acceleration
- Kinematic formulas and projectile motion
- Two-dimensional projectile motion
- Optimal angle for projectile
- Newton’s laws of motion
- Normal force and contact force
- Balanced and unbalanced forces
- Slow sock on Lubricon VI
- Inclined planes and friction
- Tension
- Treating system
- Circular motion and centripetal acceleration
- Centripetal forces
- Newton’s law of gravitation
- Work and energy
- Springs and Hooke’s Law
- Mechanical advantage
- Momentum and Impulse
- Elastic and inelastic collisions
- Center of mass
- Rotational kinematics
- Torque, moments and angular momentum
- Simple harmonic motion
- Introduction to mechanical waves
- Sound
- The Doppler affect
- Wave interference
- Density and Pressure
- Buoyant Force and Archimedes’ Principle
- Fluid Dynamics
- Temperature, kinetic theory, and the ideal gas law
- Specific heat and heat transfer
- Laws of thermodynamics
- Charge and electric forces (Coulomb’s law)
- Electric field
- Electric potential energy, electric potential, and voltage
- Ohm’s Law and circuits with resistors
- Circuits with capacitors
- Magnets and magnetic force
- Magnetic field created by a current
- Electric motors
- Magnetic flux and Faraday’s law
- Introduction to electromagnetic waves
- Interference of electromagnetic waves
- Reflection and refraction
- Mirrors
- Lenses
- Michelson and Morley’s luminiferous ether experiment
- Minkowski spacetime
- Lorentz transformation
- Einstein velocity addition
- Photons
- Atoms and electrons
- Quantum numbers and orbitals
- Nuclei