Students research, plan and design an experiment project which may take a variety of formats such as long-term data collection, culminating in a research paper or research that culminates in an exhibit with artifacts created in Stuart’s MakerSpace. Final presentations are made to a panel of educators and students at the end of the term.

Students study the body as a whole, its major components and how they are arranged to carry out basic life processes. Consideration of the structure and function of the various organ systems will be studied through dissection of vital organs such as the heart, kidney, eye and brain and physiology lab work. Comparative systems dissections will be performed on cats and sharks.

Students will study the field of science that uses biological organisms or processes to improve the quality of human and animal life. Topics will include how biotechnology has improved our understanding of complex biological processes, our understanding of disease and medical treatments, and the production and quality of food. The laboratory component of this course allows students to use state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and techniques. Additionally the economics and ethics of the use of Biotechnology will be addressed and students will gain a better understanding of how modern Biotechnology research affects their everyday lives today and how it will influence their future.

This course will introduce students to the application of science to law enforcement and investigation and encompasses many aspects of STEM, including biology, chemistry, physics, materials science, and technology. Topics to be discussed will include the chemical and physical analysis of evidence, DNA and fingerprint analysis, and the use of deductive reasoning and logic. In addition, this course is designed to provide students with the theoretical and philosophical understanding of the investigatory process. The history of crime and criminals will also be a major topic of discussion.

Students on the SPARKS robotics team develop the basic engineering principles they need to successfully build a functioning LEGO robot. Students will explore computer programming and the synthesis of science and math as they focus on teamwork, project management, and problem solving to increase their technological literacy.

In this hands-on, project-based course, students learn to build devices that interact with computers, learn how emerging technologies interact, and how they can be used. Students explore connecting hardware to software through a myriad of input and output devices using fundamental programming. Physical computing takes a hands-on approach, which means the students spend a lot of time building circuits, soldering, writing programs, building structures to hold sensors and controls.

In this course students use ideas from algebra, geometry, probability and statistics to create mathematical models of reality. These models will use concrete, algorithmic, graphical and technological tools to investigate and solve real problems. Students are given the opportunity to sample a variety of applications of mathematics while reinforcing and extending many of the topics introduced in Algebra II and Functions. By the end of the course, students model and explore a problem or real-world scenario of their choice with their new mathematical skills.

This course examines the history of western medicine and disease through the twentieth century. Students in the course study the biological and cultural impact of medicine and epidemics on society. We look at the formation of the western medical tradition, the development of anatomy, the rise of epidemiology, scientific breakthroughs in medicine, and the role of medicine in shaping attitudes toward disease. Dissections are also performed on various specimens for comparative anatomy and physiology purposes.