New Environmental Science
Course Approved
A new Environmental Science course is on tap in 2010/11 for Huntington High School students. The class has been approved by the district’s Educational Development Committee and Huntington School Board members.
The full year course is aimed at juniors and seniors. “This Environmental Science elective will replace the current Environmental Chemistry course offered at the high school,” said David Casamento, who served for the past two years as the district’s director of science. Mr. Casamento left earlier this month for a similar position in East Williston.
“The difference between Environmental Science and Environmental Chemistry is the overall focus of the courses,” Mr. Casamento said. “Environmental Science is designed for students who are not academically prepared for the math that chemistry course would require.”
The new course has been designed as a class that is both current and relevant “to the students in their lives beyond Huntington High School,” Mr. Casamento said. “Students in this course will receive instruction in chemistry, biology and Earth science topics. It is anticipated that perhaps a few students who succeed in this course will also wish to take AP Environmental Science.” That course is tentatively slated to run in 2011/12.
The discontinued Environmental Chemistry course was designed as a General Chemistry class. “It is my belief, and the department’s belief, that students who would like to take a chemistry course should be enrolled in our Regents Chemistry course,” Mr. Casamento said. “Giving students an option to take a lower level course does not raise standards. This year, 95 percent of our Regents Chemistry students passed the Regents exam.”
The new Environmental Science course can be taught by any faculty member certified in Earth Science or General Science, providing the department with increased flexibility. The discontinued Environmental Chemistry course had to be taught by someone certified to teach chemistry..
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