This course will build upon the skills developed from Spanish for Heritage Speakers 1 Honors. Students in this course come from Spanish-speaking family backgrounds. They speak and understand Spanish in the home, and they demonstrate some skills in reading and writing Spanish.
In Spanish for Heritage Speakers 2 Honors, students will continue to develop their formal composition skills, deepen their academic reading ability, and build their vocabulary for increased proficiency in multiple contexts–academic, professional, and personal. Through culturally relevant units and authentic resources from the Spanish-speaking world – including videos, articles, art, music, and literature – students will increase their knowledge of the cultural practices, products, and perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world.
Many of the unit assessments will begin to familiarize students with the Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture Exam tasks, which include comparing and contrasting, persuasive writing, analytical reading, and listening to authentic texts.
Taught exclusively in Spanish, this course is designed for heritage speakers only.
Upon successful completion of this course and the course final exam, students are recommended to enroll in further Spanish courses, such as Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture or the Spanish electives.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Spanish 3 is an intermediate level language course designed for those students who have acquired satisfactory competency during their first two years of language study. The course builds upon the skills and material covered in Spanish 1 and 2. It reviews all major grammatical structures and introduces a broader scope of grammatical knowledge. Emphasis is given to improving oral skills, broadening the range of grammatical structures the student can effectively use in writing and conversation, enriching the student’s vocabulary and deepening his/her awareness of present day social justice issues within the Spanish-speaking world, as well as examining immigration issues facing Latinos. This class is conducted in Spanish, except when complex grammar concepts require a clearer explanation in English. Students are expected to speak in Spanish at all times.
Spanish 3H is an advanced language course designed for students identified during their first two years as those superior Spanish students, who wish to become fluent in Spanish and prepare themselves for Spanish 4 AP. Students will practice the major grammar structures previously studied, as well as more complex grammar concepts, including expanded uses of the subjunctive mood. Considerable emphasis will be given to enriching the students’ active vocabulary and increasing their ability to comprehend and express themselves in spoken and written Spanish. Students will be required to speak in Spanish in a variety of situations ranging from class discussion to oral presentations and situations. Students will be able to read with comprehension selected short stories and newspaper and magazine articles. They will also become more informed about some of the contemporary problems and difficulties affecting Hispanic communities. This class is conducted in Spanish, and students are expected to speak Spanish at all time.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
The first part of the course reviews basic terminology, notation, concepts, skills, and application of elementary algebra by examination of the real number system. This part includes real number concepts and skills involving operations with positive and negative numbers and zero, solution of linear equations and inequalities, one and two variable equations, solving verbal problems, properties of polynomials and rational expressions. Ideas such as set, variable, number line, open sentence, ordered pair, equivalent sentences, and Cartesian coordinate system are studied and the student is required to demonstrate ability to solve problems involving these concepts.
The course also includes the concepts of function and relation and emphasizes linear and quadratic relations and functions. The text chapters discussing this material employ symbols, concepts, and methods presented in the earlier chapters. Thus, the course continually grows and builds on learned material. The course also includes discussions on exponential functions and logarithms, and a short look at trigonometry. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
Precalculus mathematics is a course designed for the student who intends to continue the study of mathematics in the direction of the natural or physical sciences and is a preparation for Calculus. Traditional analytic trigonometry is taught at the beginning of the course which includes an intense study of right triangle trigonometry, its applications to vectors, circular functions, and trigonometric identities, and solving trigonometric equations. The rest of the course is an analysis of families of functions and relations – polynomials, rational functions, radical functions, trigonometric functions, logarithmic functions, and exponential functions — and their graphs both algebraically and through the graphing calculator, including an introduction to the fundamental aspects of Calculus. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
Precalculus mathematics is a course designed for the student who intends to continue the study of mathematics in the direction of the natural or physical sciences and is an intensive preparation for Calculus. Most of the course is an analysis of families of functions and relations – polynomials; rational function; radical functions; trigonometric functions, including an intense study of right triangle trigonometry, its applications to vectors, circular functions, and trigonometric identities; logarithmic functions; and exponential functions — and their graphs both algebraically and through the graphing calculator, including an introduction to the fundamental aspects of Calculus. Significant independent work is considered a requirement for this course – students will be asked to perform independent study tasks, including (but not limited to) viewing and taking notes from screencasts, taking online quizzes, and collaborative learning. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
This course is designed to give a thorough preparation for college Calculus. The course content is the same as Precalculus Honors, but is presented at a slower rate and with additional algebra review. Most of the course is an analysis of families of functions and relations – polynomials; rational functions; radical functions; trigonometric functions, including an intense study of right triangle trigonometry, its applications to vectors, circular functions, and trigonometric identities; logarithmic functions; and exponential functions — and their graphs both algebraically and through the graphing calculator, including an introduction to the fundamental aspects of Calculus and an introduction to limits, derivatives, and general curve sketching. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
This course is designed for the student who is interested in pursuing a college major with a strong emphasis in mathematics. The course will cover three main topics of Calculus: limits, derivatives, and integrals. The course will emphasize a multi-representational approach to calculus with concepts and solutions expressed graphically, numerically, and analytically. The course emphasizes conceptual understanding of derivatives, integrals, and limits, as well as applications of these concepts. In order to develop these concepts, functions and graphs are a fundamental part of this course. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
AP Calculus BC is an extension of AP Calculus AB rather than an enhancement. This course includes all topics covered in the AP Calculus AB course, with similar emphases and similar depth of understanding required. The course also presents intensive study of parametric, polar, and vector functions; sequences and series; and elementary differential equations. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Biology (Life Science) is the scientific study of life and living organisms. This course aims to develop students into scientifically literate citizens who have mastered the critical thinking skills that will allow them to make informed decisions in a world increasingly impacted by scientific discovery. This course also aims to develop in students an appreciation for the natural world and our role in its stewardship. Units of study in this course include evolutionary biology, genetics, heredity, cell structure and function, human reproduction, and ecology.
