Five Living Environment Courses at Huntington High School
Huntington High School’s science department likes to say that it has something to interest every student, and that’s certainly true. Look no further than the course historically known as biology. Students have five Living Environment courses to choose from in meeting their individual learning needs.
“It can truly be said that we offer something for everyone when it comes to Living Environment/Biology,” said David Casamento, district director of science. “We service our students who have limited English proficiency by giving them two years to learn the material and we give our accelerated students the opportunity to be challenged in our honors class. For those students who are unsuccessful the first time taking the Regents we give those students an opportunity to receive additional help in our tutorial class. The overall goal is to give every child, every chance possible to succeed in Living Environment.”
Huntington takes great pride in its science course offerings and teachers work hard with their classes and the results prove it. “Students are required to pass at least one science Regents,” Mr. Casamento said. “Historically, the passing rate in Huntington on the Living Environment Regents constantly exceeds 90 percent. We are here for every student and we are here to ensure their success in these and every other class the science department has to offer.”
The course line-up includes:
Introduction to Living Environment is a full-year, one credit course that includes a lab every other day. “This course will introduce students to the biological sciences and provide a background for the Living Environment course,” according to the high school course bulletin. “It will include characteristics of plant and animal life and the ways in which they interact with their environment. Basic biochemistry, human anatomy and physiology, genetics, ecology and evolution will be major units within the course.”
This introductory level course requires completion of “various projects” and provides an “excellent conceptual understanding of biology.” It does not culminate in a Regents exam or provide Regents credit.
Living Environment is a full-year, one credit Regents level course that includes a lab every other day. “Students will investigate basic biological principles and the applications of life processes,” states the course bulletin. “Inquiry based laboratory work is an integral part of the course. Students are required to complete a minimum of 1,200 minutes of laboratory assignments, followed by written lab reports.” Students take a Regents exam at the end of this course.
A Living Environment Tutorial course is also available. It meets every other day (alternating with the regularly scheduled lab), but provides no academic credit. “This course is designed to support students in the content and skill areas of Living Environment,” according to the course bulletin. “Students will work on topics related to scientific procedure, and develop the skills required to report scientific data.” The topics include those contained in the Living Environment core curriculum.
Bilingual Living Environment is a two-year, two-credit course that is recommended for students who have been identified as English Language Learners and placed at the beginner of intermediate levels. The course, which includes a lab every other day, is specially designed to support English Language Learners “as the study basic biological principles and investigate the scientific method,” according to the course bulletin. Students enrolled in the course must complete 1,200 minutes of lab assignments along with written lab reports. The Regents exam is offered at the end of the second year.
Qualifying students can also choose to enroll in the Living Environment Honors course. It is a full-year, one credit class. “Students will investigate content at an in-depth level, and should be able to maintain the pace necessary to provide comprehensive study of core topics,” states the course bulletin. “This content will provide the groundwork for the more rigorous Advanced Placement work in the field of Biology.” Like the other courses, it requires a lab every other day and students must complete 1,200 minutes of lab work and submit related written lab reports. The course culminates with students taking the Regents exam.
For more information about any other these courses contact Mr. Casamento at 673-2078 or dcasamento@hufsd.edu.
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