Science at Woodstock

The High School department of Science at Woodstock has been a driving force in developing ambitious scientific young minds. The department has been able to achieve stability with a consistent set of staff over the past two years, and it is now looking forward to further incorporating technology, debate, excursions, and practical lessons to help make the teaching of science relevant to the students.

"The department was built over several years of effort by Susan Datt, and because of her, we were able to get a stable start," says head of department Ray Husthwaite, "We can now broaden the courses that we are offering; it is also important for us to upgrade our ICT facility to have a system for the 21st century."

Husthwaite, who teaches Biology, is planning to rationalize his biology notes into a mini-textbook and link it to resources on Moodle. He feels that setting up such a model will help create a structured course where materials are easily available. "Having resources in electronic form will be extremely helpful - for example, I can use animation in biology to show diagrams or images in several dimensions and be able to explain it better in a classroom."

Husthwaite also feels that it will be necessary to take biology out of the classroom and study the thriving life on the Woodstock hillside. From productive liaisons with the Hanifl Centre and the Turner Organic Garden to trips to Corbett National Park (Environmental Science) and the Tehri Dam (Physics), the department is continuing to use teaching resources outside the classroom.

Angie Endo, who teaches 9th Grade Science and 10th grade Biology, says that her classes have been doing a lot of work with the organic garden, using experiential learning situations. She says that her future plans include taking the 9th graders to learn about the classification of ferns in the surrounding ecosystem with the help of outdoor and environmental education coordinator Darab Nagarwalla.

Another highlight was the visit of Tom "Dr. Bunhead" Pringle, a popular BBC Science TV personality, who entertained and educated Woodstock students. There are other ways in which the classes have been kept active and engaged: for example, Angie Endo's 10th grade Biology class dissected a goat's lungs to the bronchial level and blew into it to inflate it and learn how the lungs work.

Tamara Cavanna, who teaches Environmental Studies, Chemistry, and Grade 9 Science, says that she has introduced more debates and case studies in her ES classes, so students can examine and explore the subject themselves. A favourite amongst the students was the 'Community of Enquiry,' in which the students had a debate on natural selection and extinction. The exciting ES course includes learning about ethics and economics of environment, how ecosystems work, use of energy, structure of earth and atmosphere, and issues relating to population, agriculture, and pollution.

Chemistry teacher James Rice shares a similar enthusiasm for fun, experiential learning. "I try to get the students into the lab manipulating equipment and chemicals, so that they can come up with the information themselves," says Rice, "This makes things more interesting and gives them ownership of their learning."

Currently, 9th and 10th grades follow the IGSCE system, while grades 11-12 are taught AP courses. Physics teacher Niranjan Bose is teaching the algebra-based AP Physics B to his 12th graders, but he is hoping to introduce the more calculus-based Physics C in the future. Bose commented: "The Physics curriculum is comprehensive; students are being taught to work in research-based projects which will help them in later education. I'm trying to work more on experimental portion of physics. For example, I will be hoping to introduce certain wave-optics experiments that haven't been done before."

Speaking about the IGSCE system, Rice says, "I like it that the curriculum has real world examples built in. For example, when we start doing organic chemistry, we will have a whole section on the petroleum industry and will discuss how crude oil is refined and made into petrol, kerosene, etc."

As for future plans, Rice is looking to introduce more electives. One would be a survey of different disciplines of chemistry, looking at things like organic, inorganic, physical, analytical and biochemistries and how these fields relate to everyday life. Another idea is to teach a joint biochemistry course with Dr. Cavana in a class that looks at various biological systems and studies the chemistry behind them. Cavana is also hoping to introduce a psychology course as part of the offerings of the Science department.

With well-equipped facilities and infrastructure and a smooth system to allow easier integration for new staff, the department is looking to sustain its growth in effective science education.