The often misunderstood Integrated Science program at Northwood is unique compared to many traditional high school campuses, but ultimately it teaches the same required sciences, just in a different progression.
Initially introduced with the opening of Northwood in 1999, the Integrated Sciences course models each contain a thematic focus — evolution in IS1, energy in IS2, and sustainability in IS3 — designed to ensure that students will see the connections between the traditional branches of science through problem solving scenarios.
“It makes the most sense to teach science this way,” science department chair Mickey Dickson said. “Instead of having the students just endlessly memorize, we are trying to guide them to think for themselves through inquiry-based questions.”
The California Next Generation Science requirements, released in 2013, advocate for high schools to approach science from a cross-discipline perspective in the same way Northwood has designed their instruction. IS3 was added in 2019 to ensure students covered required topics like earth sciences, biological sciences, chemistry and physics in a three-year program, before moving on to discipline specific AP science courses.
“In the third year, we talk about big ideas called ‘unit phenoms’ like perception, stress and societal impacts to see how these sciences impact everything on Earth,” IS3 teacher Jordan Tyo said. “The integrated course allows us to better understand one specific phenomena using various kinds of scientific knowledge.”
Despite numerous science electives on campus, such as ICE and FORCE, IS3 is the only course on campus that fulfills the three year A-G Science requirements. Students have the option to take all three AP Physics, Chemistry and Biology to meet this criteria if they choose not to take IS3.
Moreover, concerns that taking IS3 might interfere with students’ college admissions have proved unfounded.
“We’ve sent kids to great colleges with the Integrated Science curriculum even without taking the traditional AP route,” principal Leslie Roach said. “Overall, the idea that the Integrated Science program is a detriment to Northwood students’ college admissions is completely inaccurate.”
Additional information about the Integrated curriculum can be found in this article: https://thehowleronline.org/1203/viewpoint/1203/.
