Overview

Science Department Mission Statement

The mission of the JCHS Science Department is to create a district-wide learning community and to support literacy through high academic achievement of the science learning standards. Science educators will present science concepts through inquiry and identification, descriptions and models, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation.

The Science Department stresses the importance of critical thinking and logical reasoning using various methods of investigation, such as observation, comparison, experimentation, and mathematical manipulation of data.

The Science Department is also committed to the concept that science has a practical application and has to be understood in a larger cultural context. It is through inquiry that students are able to view science as an interdisciplinary study applicable to society.

Science Department Vision

Science is taught through investigations, observations, data analysis, and rational explanations of natural phenomena. Emphasis is placed on the importance of critical thinking and logical reasoning in the pursuit of scientific knowledge because rigorous scientific instruction prepares students for the deep thinking associated with 21st Century skills. This is accomplished through all of our course offerings, including biology and physical science, both of which have a state-mandated end-of-course test, chemistry, physics, environmental science, human anatomy and physiology, and forensics.