City of Fairfax Schools: Road Map to Science Success

Road Map to Science Success

“Take four years of science — and enjoy every moment of it,” says former Fairfax High science department chairman Malcolm Leinwohl, who recommends freshmen start with biology and move on to take chemistry in 10th grade. From there, he advises students to pick the science classes that match their skills, and their long-term goals.

Following are the science course options that students can choose from to help them achieve success in science from kindergarten to 12th grade:

Elementary School
Grades K-6

Curriculum is defined by the Program of Studies (POS) of Fairfax County Public Schools and the Standards of Learning (SOL) by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Content includes: living systems, earth and space, physical science, investigation, measurement

Middle School

Grade 7: Investigations in Environmental Science Honors, Life Science
Grade 8: Investigating Matter and Energy Honors, Physical Science

High School

Grade 9: Biology Honors, Biology 
Grade 10: Chemistry Honors (Algebra 1 prerequisite), Chemistry (Algebra 1 prerequisite), Active Physics 
Grade 11: Physics Honors, Physics, Geosystems 
Grade 12: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, Physics Honors, Physics, Geosystems
Science electives: Human Anatomy and Physiology
Click here to view the entire High School Course Description Guide.

Note: Students may take AP Sciences during the 11th or 12th grade provided they have met the prerequisites. Algebra 1 is a prerequisite for Chemistry and Chemistry Honors. Biology and Chemistry are prerequisites for Geosystems. Some college do not accept Active Physics as a laboratory science course. Active Physics is not mandatory in the sequence. It is a high school course recommended for students who did not sucessfully complete Algebra 1.

WHAT STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW TO ACHIEVE IN SCIENCE

From Close-Up, May-June 2007

Beloved science department chairman Malcolm Leinwohl will leave Fairfax High and the end of this year, and when he does he’ll pass the baton to his colleague, science teacher Chris Bird. “Chris is going to do a great job,” says Leinwohl, who has been a science teacher at FHS since 1996 and the department chair since 2001.

What departing message does the science guru have for students?

“Take four years of science — and enjoy every moment of it,” says Leinwohl, who recommends freshmen start with biology, move on to chemistry in 10th grade. From there, he advises students to pick the science classes that match their skills, and their long-term goals.

“Students who think they’d like to become engineers should take physics or AP biology in 11th grade and AP physics C in 12th grade. If they want to be nurses, they should take anatomy and physiology in 11th grade and AP biology as seniors.”

And if they want to go into restaurant management, students should sign up for Geosystems or Physics in 11th grade and another academically challenging science class in 12th grade.

“The most important thing is for students and parents to talk about possible scenarios with their teachers and guidance counselors,” Leinwohl shares. “There are typical sequences of classes, but that sequence should fit a student’s long-term goals. The point of all of these classes is for students to challenge themselves so they can learn to think scientifically.”

For Leinwohl (pictured left), that means getting students into a classroom and playing with all the fascinating stuff that science is made of.

“Science in high school is all about the labs—just getting in there to dissect everything from a flower to a fetal pig. We also talk about the legal and ethical aspects of science, genetics and how blood flows through the heart. Scientists don’t just wear white lab coats and chart data of their findings. On the contrary, science is the stuff that life is made of.”

And parents can help their children excel. “The number one thing I advise parents to do is know what courses their kids are taking,” he says. “It sounds obvious, but sometimes parents back off a little too much when their children get into high school. To make sure they stay on top of things, I encourage them to talk to their children about what they did in science when they cook dinner. Have them make connections. There’s a lot of science going on in the kitchen.”

Leinwohl also suggests students “teach” their parents what they are learning so everyone in the family can start to think about the world in a more scientific way. “Science really is the greatest subject,” he says.

SNAPSHOTS IN SCIENCE

From the March-April 2004 issue of Close-Up

Last summer, Daniels Run Elementary was the proud recipient of a $30,000
Small Watershed grant from the National ﬁsh and Wildlife Foundation. The
money has been put to good use, says science resource teacher Lori Huberman who has been working in collaboration with Jeanette Stewart of the EcoStewards Alliance on Bayscaping projects such as “Happenings in the Habitat.“

“Bayscaping is landscaping for the health of our Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and students at Daniels Run realize this is a unique opportunity to learn about our watershed and to physically make a difference,“ Huberman explains. “Bayscaping has now become a familiar word at Daniels Run.“

Under the Microscope

In the science lab, Michael Palma takes a closer look at the hair on a bees leg that helps with pollination. “All sixth grade students, are participating in the project by using the Internet to gather information and analyze the Chesapeake Bay with maps and articles,“ Huberman notes.

Additionally, she says this spring, ﬁfth and sixth graders will use “probeware“ to test water in the stream. They’ll then graph the results and analyze the data on computers in the lab. Over time, Huberman says, students will be able to
In the Rain Garden —Elizabeth Chantha, Nuriz Hernandez, and Diana Hardford are hard at work planting native plants in Daniels Run’s second rain garden that fourth grade students created near the playground in the rear of the school.

“These students planted native plants specially chosen for their ability to tolerate dry conditions and thrive in moist conditions,“ Huberman explains. “Children
then used digital microscopes to examine parts of insects — including bees’ legs — so they can get a better understanding of how pollen is transferred from ﬂower to ﬂower.“ The third grade class is creating a pollinator grade, and when it is complete
later this spring, students will be able to actually observe this process.

Suet Feeder

Elliott Kremenski, Jordan Tomajko, and Daniels Run kindergarten teacher Jennifer Bateson make a helping of suet (the hard fat from beef or mutton) to add to the bird feeders hanging along the edge of the woods by the habitats. “Throughout the
year, kindergartners have learned about the basic needs and life process-
es of plants and animals,“ says science resource teacher Lori Huberman.
“They made suet feeders and a watering facility for wildlife, which address-
es the problems of habitat loss and fragmentation.“

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

From the March-April 2004 issue of Close-Up

PROVIDENCE ELEMENTARY’S new Science Resource Teacher Jason Cicoria is a man on a mission. He’s in the process of teaching sixth graders about 15 billion years of cosmic development.

“It hard for anyone really to conceive of what is 15 billions years,“ Cicoria admits. “So what I needed to ﬁgure out was how to make that real to my students.“

Cicoria opted for a handy tool: a clear plastic ruler. Sixth grade students seem to
be catching on just fine, for Cicoria is having them use the rulers to break down the seemingly incomprehensible into small, understandable increments.

For the purpose of today’s lesson, 1 billion years = 1 centimeter.

“When did the sun form?“ he asks the class. “About 4.6 billion years
ago,“ students reply. “Correct,“ the teacher says. “Now, what would the .6
stand for on your ruler?“

“600 million,“ they respond. “Yes,“ Cicoria says. “Now mark that on your timeline.“
Within weeks, the teacher will have taught students about the major events that have happened in the Milky Way. In late March, students will turn their timelines into posters, then meet with third grades to explain what they’ve learned.
From there, students will work together to create a giant timeline for display in the hallway.

And that’s not all. Cicoria says that in April, his students will turn the Black Box Theater into a working planetarium, complete with three-dimensional models of the plants. By then, students will not only have gotten a good taste of astronomy —
they’ll have learned about the metric system, the origin of the calendar, and one more life lesson that Cicoria believes to be even more important.

“My hope is that students will see that they can actually comprehend a topic as big as the solar system, simply by learning one fact and event at a time,” he says. “If they can grasp that this way of learning is possible, then my hope is that when they are teens and adults they’ll realize that they can have big dreams and manage to accomplish them one step at a time.“

To Inﬁnity & Beyond Understanding a universe that is 15 billion years old isn’t easy when you are a kid. But the new Science and Technology Resource teacher at Providence Elementary helps students reach for the stars.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

From the March-April 2004 issue of Close-Up

What’s the difference between hot and cold on a molecular level?” Sharon Pinsler’s asks her 8th grade physical science class that is studying heat and temperature today.

Seated around big square science lab tables, students are quick to jot down their thoughts in notebooks before Pinsler moves on to the really fun part of the lesson: the hands-on lab.

“We are going to ﬁnd out exactly what is occurring inside the molecules,“ Pinsler explains, pointing next to the center of the lab table where the materials for today’s experiment are located: a couple of glass beakers, some food coloring, hot and cold water, a thermometer, colored pencil and a timer.

“Ready,” she says. “Go.”

Just Add Water

Students start by writing down in their notebooks a water temperature in degrees Celsius that they would consider to be cold. Ditto for a hot one. At the table in the front of the classroom, eighth grader Amy Nicki Marwaha does the same with the cold water. They record the temperature before Amanda Abrams drops a bit of food coloring into each beaker.

“Cool,“ she says, as the food coloring in the hot water begins to spread through the water at a quick pace. The coloring in the cold water, however, disperses very slowly. “Who knows why this is happening?“ Pinsler asks the class.

Several students shout out the answer before the teacher announces the correct one. “Heat may be deﬁned as the energy transferred from one substance to
another because of a temperature difference between them,“ she explains.
“The temperature of a substance is the measure of the average kinetic energy
of its molecules, and your experiment shows the distinctions between heat
and temperature.

“Who predicted the right temperature?“ Several students raise their hands.
“Great,“ says Pinsler, noting that this is but one of the many lessons students
have mastered as they progress through the year. “Science is fun,“ she says, “especially when students get to see the results of an experiment for themselves.“

Periodic Antics

Making classroom activities entertaining is Pinsler’s goal. In fact, each Halloween she partakes in some of the middle school antics. This year she dressed up as a
Rock-N-Roll Mad Scientist by punking hair, donning a safety pin earring,
and playing a guitar she crafted that boldly displays the Periodic Table.

“My goal is always to engage the kids,“ she says. “Sometimes that means I
get to act like them!”Hot stuff — Science Teacher Sharon Pinsler engages eighth grade students at Lanier with hands-on experiments, including this one that helps them determine what is happening at the molecular level when water is cold vs. when it is hot.

BLOOD SIMPLE

From the March-April 2004 issue of Close-Up

ANATOMY TEACHER APRIL Keating doesn’t ever wield her ﬁeld hockey stick to get
her students to pay attention, but just having it tucked away in the corner of her classroom sure comes in handy.

“My coach said I need to play around with this stick every day to stay nimble so in between classes I pick it up and practice a few strokes,“ explains the woman who is a member of the U.S. Women’s Indoor National Team, and this March is attending the Second Indoor Pan American Cup games in Valencia, Venezuela.

If the team qualifies, Keating will be playing in the 2006 World Cup Games. Until then, she says she’s happy to spend her days inside the Anatomy & Physiology
lab at Fairfax High.

“I was a pre-med student when I went to college at Mary Washington University,“ Keating explains. “But my mom is a teacher, and she always made it sound so
fabulous. So I decided that if I wanted to play field hockey and have a family, that teaching high school science would be a great thing to do with my life.“

Students at Fairfax High are the better for her decision. In fact, Keating has done some amazing work with her classes — including taking them watch open heart surgery at Fairfax Inova Hospital last semester.

“It was an awesome experience for everyone,“ Keating says, before turning to her class to explain today’s lesson: Blood Typing. Into a beaker, she drips puts four drops of simulated blood Type A. “If it clots, that means the antibody attacked the
antigen and the blood in the beaker is identified as Type A,“ Keating instructs. “If it doesn’t, we continue doing research to determine the exact blood type.“

Keating’s students seem to be getting as big a kick out of the lab as they do learning from their celebrity athlete teacher. “I really enjoy anatomy class,“
says Fairfax High junior Tanvi Sojitra.

“It’s always fascinating to learn about what’s happening inside the body and how everything works. Mrs. Keating always
makes our science lessons come to life.“

City of Fairfax Schools

Fairfax High School

Lanier Middle School

Providence Elementary School

Daniels Run Elementary

Road Map to Science Success