Honors Courses at Islip High School
Students have the option to enroll in honors-level coursework at Islip High School for two Regents-level courses, namely Living Environment and Chemistry. Both courses have enriched curricula that significantly go beyond the scope of the Regents-level courses with many topics added in to bridge the gap to AP courses and also the SAT II Subject Tests in Biology-E and Chemistry.
Living Environment Honors is a very rigorous and comprehensive course that incorporates many topics included in the SAT II Biology Subject Test; however, at the same time, it is not an SAT II preparation course. The students are still immersed in the Living Environment curriculum and are required to complete the state-mandated 1200 laboratory minutes for hands-on experimentation. The SAT II Biology Subject Exam has significantly different exam questions compared to the Living Environment Regents exam. Throughout the course of the year, students will be given examinations which have both styles of exam questions so that they will definitively prepared for the Regents and also exposed to higher-level SAT II Biology Subject Exam questions. Since the course is still a first-year biology course, it is impossible to cover all facets of both the Living Environment and SAT II Biology curricula. The additional exposure to higher-level biology concepts will help students begin their preparation for the Subject Test if they choose to take the exam in June. It is strongly recommended that students purchase a Subject Test review book so that they can fill in the necessary gaps. If parents and students have questions about whether they should take the exam, please consult your classroom teacher before signing up, as they will be able to assist you in that decision.
Chemistry Honors is again a very rigorous course aligned to higher-level curricula with the goal to immerse students in pre-college level chemistry topics. In doing so, the transition to AP Chemistry or a similar chemistry-course would not be as significant. To meet this instructional goal, we have taken many topics from the SAT II Chemistry framework to supplement the traditional Regents Chemistry coursework. However, as this is a first-year chemistry course, it is impossible to align all topics found in the NYS Regents Core Curriculum and the SAT II Chemistry framework since students are still responsible to accrue 1200 laboratory minutes of hands-on experimentation. The students will be exposed to the different style of SAT II Chemistry exam questions throughout the year in addition to the traditional Regents-level questions. With the exposure to the style of questions on the exam, students will gain some experience with the overall framework of the SAT II Chemistry Subject Test; however, the course does not solely serve as a Subject Test preparation course since the students are responsible to take the Regents at the conclusion of the school year. It is strongly recommended that students purchase a Subject Test review book so that they may learn the additional topics on the exam if they choose to take the assessment in June. If parents and students have questions about whether they should take the exam, please consult your classroom teacher before signing up, as they will be able to assist you in that decision. Lastly, the SAT II Chemistry Subject Test has a limited number of reference materials available to the students to use. To better prepare the students for those areas that would need to be memorized for the SAT II Exam, the NYS Reference Tables are not provided during exams; however, throughout the year, depending on the topics, the teachers do include key Reference Tables on the exams that the students would not be expected to memorize for the SAT II Subject Test, and the students are taught in each unit how to use their Reference Tables for the Regents exam.
After Chemistry, honors students are strongly recommended to take AP Physics 1, which is the next appropriate course to take in the honors-course sequence. The AP Physics 1 curriculum is very strongly aligned to the Regents curriculum, but the material is taught at a deeper conceptual level. The students would take both the AP exam in May and the Regents exam in June in the AP Physics 1 course. Student participation as a junior in AP Physics 1 will better prepare them for the rigors associated with their potential AP science course (AP Physics 2, AP Chemistry, or AP Biology) in their senior year. In addition, for students pursuing the AP Capstone Diploma, it provides one more additional AP course that could serve toward the diploma requirements.
Living Environment Honors is a very rigorous and comprehensive course that incorporates many topics included in the SAT II Biology Subject Test; however, at the same time, it is not an SAT II preparation course. The students are still immersed in the Living Environment curriculum and are required to complete the state-mandated 1200 laboratory minutes for hands-on experimentation. The SAT II Biology Subject Exam has significantly different exam questions compared to the Living Environment Regents exam. Throughout the course of the year, students will be given examinations which have both styles of exam questions so that they will definitively prepared for the Regents and also exposed to higher-level SAT II Biology Subject Exam questions. Since the course is still a first-year biology course, it is impossible to cover all facets of both the Living Environment and SAT II Biology curricula. The additional exposure to higher-level biology concepts will help students begin their preparation for the Subject Test if they choose to take the exam in June. It is strongly recommended that students purchase a Subject Test review book so that they can fill in the necessary gaps. If parents and students have questions about whether they should take the exam, please consult your classroom teacher before signing up, as they will be able to assist you in that decision.
Chemistry Honors is again a very rigorous course aligned to higher-level curricula with the goal to immerse students in pre-college level chemistry topics. In doing so, the transition to AP Chemistry or a similar chemistry-course would not be as significant. To meet this instructional goal, we have taken many topics from the SAT II Chemistry framework to supplement the traditional Regents Chemistry coursework. However, as this is a first-year chemistry course, it is impossible to align all topics found in the NYS Regents Core Curriculum and the SAT II Chemistry framework since students are still responsible to accrue 1200 laboratory minutes of hands-on experimentation. The students will be exposed to the different style of SAT II Chemistry exam questions throughout the year in addition to the traditional Regents-level questions. With the exposure to the style of questions on the exam, students will gain some experience with the overall framework of the SAT II Chemistry Subject Test; however, the course does not solely serve as a Subject Test preparation course since the students are responsible to take the Regents at the conclusion of the school year. It is strongly recommended that students purchase a Subject Test review book so that they may learn the additional topics on the exam if they choose to take the assessment in June. If parents and students have questions about whether they should take the exam, please consult your classroom teacher before signing up, as they will be able to assist you in that decision. Lastly, the SAT II Chemistry Subject Test has a limited number of reference materials available to the students to use. To better prepare the students for those areas that would need to be memorized for the SAT II Exam, the NYS Reference Tables are not provided during exams; however, throughout the year, depending on the topics, the teachers do include key Reference Tables on the exams that the students would not be expected to memorize for the SAT II Subject Test, and the students are taught in each unit how to use their Reference Tables for the Regents exam.
After Chemistry, honors students are strongly recommended to take AP Physics 1, which is the next appropriate course to take in the honors-course sequence. The AP Physics 1 curriculum is very strongly aligned to the Regents curriculum, but the material is taught at a deeper conceptual level. The students would take both the AP exam in May and the Regents exam in June in the AP Physics 1 course. Student participation as a junior in AP Physics 1 will better prepare them for the rigors associated with their potential AP science course (AP Physics 2, AP Chemistry, or AP Biology) in their senior year. In addition, for students pursuing the AP Capstone Diploma, it provides one more additional AP course that could serve toward the diploma requirements.