Marine Ecology and Animal Behavior Electives Popular
Elective courses fill an important niche in Huntington High School’s educational program. Two of the more longstanding offerings are Marine Ecology and Animal Behavior. The pair of one-semester, half-credit classes is again running this year and a combined 90 students are registered.
Students completing Living Environment are eligible to enroll in Animal Behavior, which is being offered this fall. “The characteristic behavior patterns of various groups of animals will be discussed in terms of their biological components, causes, implications and survival value,” states the course description. “Among the topics to be investigated will be: animal rights, ethology, innate and acquired behavior, communication among animals and social behavior.”
Taught by Anna Fabela and Rosanne Brienza, the Animal Behavior course requires students to actively participate in laboratory investigations including setting up and maintaining a habitat for live animals. Additional activities include reading assignments, lectures, videos and films on animal behavior.
"In this class, students will continue the learning that started in their Living Environment class,” said David Casamento, director of science. “Students will explore a wide range of animals and their behaviors. This is a great class for students interested in science and/or psychology. I love that we can run this class and provide an opportunity for students to explore an area of study that they may not even know exists in the real world. This is another example of the dedication of the science staff to provide courses that will be of interest to our students."
Marine Ecology is scheduled for the spring semester and will be taught by Joseph Altavilla and Nancy Goddard. Students can still secure a spot in the class since additional seats are available.
“A hands-on approach will be applied to investigate various ecological relationships in the marine environment,” according to the course description. “Students will actively participate in various laboratory investigations including setting up and maintaining a marine aquarium, observing marine life and measuring physical aspects of the ocean environment.”
"This class is a great way for students to learn about an environment that is in their own backyard,” Mr. Casamento said. “In this class, students will learn about marine eco-systems and the human impact on these eco-systems. I am personally excited about this class and how students can learn to be good stewards of the marine environment."
Mr. Casamento said the goal of every science education program is “to promote an interest and understanding of science and that is exactly what these classes offer for the students at Huntington High School.”
For more information on either of these courses or about any other Huntington science course contact Mr. Casamento at 673-2078 or dcasamento@hufsd.edu.
All graphics, photographs, and text appearing on the Huntington Public Schools home page and subsequent official web pages are protected by copyright. Redistribution or commercial use is prohibited without express written permission. Comments or Questions? email the Public Information Office