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 Welcome to the Science Page

 

 

New Courses Offered for 2009-2010

 

SBI4UP AP Biology

 

 Science Pics

 

 

Here is the brochure for the December Grade 8/9 Parent Night for the science department  Parent Brochure

 

  What's new in Science 

As the snows of November approach, the St. Joseph’s Science Department is keeping warm with an exciting list of projects and activities! Our Grade 9s are busy preparing for their annual trip to the Ontario Science Center, where they’ll get a chance to get up-close and personal with chemistry, electricity, space and genetics. They have just finished blowing up sodium and splitting water molecules into highly explosive hydrogen gas…now they are making sparks fly in their static electricity unit.

Our Grade 10 students have also finished chemistry, but instead of exploding hydrogen, they’ve been building alka-seltzer bombs. It takes about 10 seconds for the bomb to explode, which is plenty of time to run for cover…but we always wear our safety goggles, nonetheless! Their physics unit deals with motion, and they are currently building cars powered by a really alternate fuel source…the power of the wind. Gas prices may go sky-high, but we’ll always have fuel to power the Grade 10 Rocket Racers!

Grade 11 science students are involved in a wide array of experiments this month. The annual "Forensic Sciences Mystery" pits our amateur sleuths against a criminal mastermind. Can you figure out who poisoned the victim? There are clues all over the Science Hallway, if you know where to look. A short hint: analyze the victims stomach contents….then check the floor under the fishtank.

The physics students are racing cars too, but they have the tricky problem of friction to solve first. How high can the car go before it begins to slide? They’ve figured out how to convert potential to kinetic energy in their ramp labs, but finding the "sweet spot" for their friction carts is proving a bit more difficult. As for the chemistry students, they’ve got their own sweets: gummy bears! The sticky candies are used in the Grade 11 chemical reactions lab, which was done in late October.

Our Grade 12 students already figured out the effects of friction, and they’ve moved on to Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion. While they are studying astronomical motion, they’ll be making powerpoint and poster presentations that will be incorporated in the upcoming Grade 9 astronomy unit. The Grade 12 chemists, meanwhile, are making sweet perfumes in their ester labs. As for the biologists, they are working on cellular DNA. After using electrophoresis to analyze DNA samples, they transformed themselves into gigantic DNA molecules…and so long as they don’t divide and replicate, St. Joseph will be safe until next year.

For those planning that far ahead, the new Science Curriculum was released in September, 2009. The Science department will already be offering a brand new course in Grade 12 Forensic Anthropology, for our next generation of crime stoppers…the prerequisite is Grade 11 Biology. The new Science curriculum will be available for parents to download on the Ministry of Education’s website in November. You can find it at the following location:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/

See you next Spring!

  Enrich Your Science Experience Outside of School!

  Students may wish to engage in opportunities to enrich their science experience.

There are several programs available:

     ·        Summer Science Camps for Students & Teachers at Perimeter Institute in Canada

The EinsteinPlus Teacher Workshop. is a one-week, intensive residential workshop for international high school teachers that focuses on key areas of modern physics:

http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Outreach/Teachers/EinsteinPlus/

The International Summer School for Young Physicists (ISSYP) is an exciting and challenging two-week program for Canadian students in Grade 11 and international students ages 16 and 17:

http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Outreach/Students/ISSYP/

  • Students in grades 9-12 have the unique opportunity to go to Queen’s University and study a subject of their choosing at an advanced level for one week. The academic component of the program is designed to allow participants the freedom to interact and learn in an environment sensitive to their level of development.    http://esu.queensu.ca.
  • The science centre offers opportunities for grade 12 students to gain highschool credits in an enriched environment. Students benefit from small, enriched classes and "hands-on" experience using state of the art facilities. Applications are available at the website http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/oscschool

  Curriculum Information

 

Parents who wish to view the Ontario curriculum can go to the web site:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/.

If you would like to see the results of OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test) or if you would like some test tips and practice material for your son or daughter, please visit this web page: http://www.eqao.com/Parents/parents.aspx?status=logout&Lang=E