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Science

The Science Department at Tappan Zee High School follows the recommendations set forth by the New York State Education Department as well as guidelines proposed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Teachers Association.

The core of the Science Program is comprised of Regents courses in Living Environment, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science. Other science courses are offered in an attempt to meet the needs and interests of all students. Advanced Placement courses are available to juniors and seniors who have demonstrated a special interest and aptitude in the sciences. Students who successfully complete Advanced Placement courses may receive, in addition to high school credit, one or more college credits at most of the major colleges and universities across the country. Courses marked as college level give students the option to enroll for credit, for a fee, through a SUNY school while taking the class at TZHS.

To meet graduation requirements, the student must complete the following:

  1. Complete three years (3 credits) of high school level science courses. One of those 3 credits must be in either Living Environment or Honors Living Environment.
  2. Complete a minimum of one Regents science course and meet the lab requirement of 1200 minutes of documented lab time.
  3. Take and pass at least one Regent’s science examination. If, however, a student takes and passes two or more Regents science exams, he/she may be eligible for an Advanced Regents diploma.

Regents core-based courses are: Regents Earth Science, Regents Living Environment, Honors Living Environment, Regents Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, Regents Physics, AP Physics 1.

Standards-based courses are: Bioethics, Astronomy, Forensics, Environmental, Oceanography, General Science, Active Physics, AP Physics C, AP Biology, AP Environmental, AP Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology.

Currently we have three courses where you can obtain college credit:  AP Physics (through SUNY New Paltz), Anatomy and Physiology (through Dominican College), and Oceanography (through SUNY Oneonta).

The Science Department strongly recommends that all students take the four Regents science courses (Earth Science, Living Environment, Physics, and Chemistry) prior to graduating. Additionally, students taking the AP courses should have a strong work ethic, interest in the subject, and willingness to put in a lot of time into the subject. Labs in our Regents and AP courses involve a double period every other day and provide hands-on experience with laboratory techniques and experiments.

Non-Regents science courses count towards graduation but receive no extra weighting in calculating grade point averages. Regents level courses are weighted by a factor of 1.03, Honors courses by a factor of 1.05, and Advanced Placement and college level courses are weighted at 1.10.

Students and teacher seining in the river on a sunny day

Course Offerings

The following semester courses are also available through Virtual High School (VHS):

  • General Science credit, One semester, ½ credit
  • Animal Behavior and Zoology
  • Biotechnology
  • DNA Technology
  • Epidemics: Ecology or Evolution’
  • Genes and Disease
  • Great Inventions and Scientific Discoveries
  • Integrated Mechanical Physics
  • Meteorology: A Study of Atmospheric Interactions
  • Nuclear Physics: Science, Technology and Society
  • Pre-veterinary medicine
  • The Human Body

STEM & Strategy Clubs