Science

The goal of the Oyster River Science Department is to provide an educational experience that considers the student's cognitive and social development as well as their academic interests and goals. Our primary pathway (see figure) enable students to take a variety of courses, but the department will work with each student to find the best pathway to meet his or her unique needs. The flexibility of our offerings will enable students to reach goals ranging from entering the workforce after high school, to entering two-year technical programs, as well as majoring in science and/or engineering in college.

While the courses we offer vary in their content focus, they all share the objective of helping our students learn how to ‘do science’. Each course is designed around a foundation of asking questions, designing experiments to test ideas, and interpreting and presenting results. Our collective goal is to help our students grow into more critical thinkers who are able to find the resources they need, make connections in the world around them, and differentiate between legitimate information and ‘fake news’.

While students are required to complete a minimum of two years of science in order to graduate, we strongly urge all students to explore the various electives we offer, both to broaden their backgrounds in science as well as to develop their perspective of the world around us. Beyond the core of Introductory Biology, Earth, Oceans and Space (EOS), Chemistry, and Physics, we offer electives that range from semester-long courses (Forensics, Marine Biology, and Astronomy) to year-long courses such as Anatomy and Physiology, Environmental Science, and several AP selections.