Samo's science department puts Physics First
By Jadyn Miyahira, Staff Writer
Next school year, Samo plans to adopt a new science curriculum geared to encourage students to participate in science classes for at least three years. Changes in the course order are to be expected.
Incoming freshmen for the 2021-22 school year will have the option to take Physics as their first science course. As sophomores, they will take Chemistry, and as juniors, they will finally take Biology. Opportunities to choose a science elective such as AP Environmental Science, Physiology, Marine Biology, etc., will be available in their senior year. By the 2022-23 school year, all freshmen will be subjected to this course order.
The freshmen Physics course will be very hands-on and Algebra focused, and will be based on tangible, real life examples. This “Physics First” sequence will have four available sections. Each section will start with Physics P freshmen year, but will begin to diverge sophomore year. For example, one section may go from Physics P to Chemistry P and another may go from Physics P to Chemistry HP.
Samo’s science department has been thinking about this change for more than a year and was inspired by a science movement known as Physics First. The Physics First approach will be implemented to lay a healthy foundation in science before students take on more progressive courses in Chemistry and Biology. Because Physics is one of the more daunting subjects, studies have shown that if Physics is taken in first, students will have more confidence to participate in AP Physics later and stay in STEM classes until they graduate.
“What I believe is that if we do Physics first, we will open up the eyes of a lot of our students. We want to give more kids more access to science, and by getting what people fear out of the way, you create that opportunity,” Principal Antonio Shelton said.
One issue that has arisen because of this change is the fact that many freshmen Biology teachers will have to wait a few years before they can teach again. Thus, the administration is working on various solutions—perhaps having them teach AP courses, or teach other electives. However, once the freshmen become juniors, Biology will be up and running again.
Since this will be a big transition, there are many fine details that need to be ironed out. Despite this, Samo’s science department chair, Kate Song, expresses her optimism.
“I'm hopeful that once we implement this and everybody transitions into this pathway, our sciences will be stronger as a result and then there'll be a growing interest in the physical sciences,” Song said.
Because Physics may seem intimidating, the science department is hoping that this introductory course will end the stigma about it. Song expressed that the teachers who developed the course have great ideas for fun projects throughout the year. Interested incoming freshmen can sign up through their advisors.
