Science Department Mission Statement

  • MSHS science teachers inspire students to become lifelong learners, collaborators, and problem solvers through creative scientific exploration.

Madera South offers several science courses including:

    • Living Earth
      • The Living Earth is a one-year laboratory science course that combines life science and earth science in order to examine how the biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere are all interconnected. This course relies on the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts to guide how students are interacting with topics such as inheritance, ecosystems, evolution of the Earth, the evolution of life on Earth, and structure and function in complex organisms. This course uses real-world phenomena about life on Earth to engage and make personal connections to students’ lives. This is the first course in a three-year sequence.
    • Chemistry of the Earth Systems / Honors

      • Chemistry in Earth Systems is a one-year laboratory science course that combines physical science and earth science in order to examine how chemical processes help drive Earth systems. This course relies on the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts to guide how students are interacting with topics such as combustion, heat and energy transfers, atoms, elements, molecules, chemical reactions, the chemistry of climate change, and the dynamics of chemical reactions, and ocean acidification. This course uses real-world phenomena of Earth systems driven by chemistry to engage and make personal connections to students’ lives. This is the second course in a three-year sequence.
    • Physics of the Universe

      • Physics of the Universe is a one-year laboratory science course that combines physical science and earth science in order to examine how physical processes govern everything in the universe. This course relies on the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts to guide how students are interacting with topics such as forces and motion, gravitational and electromagnetic forces, energy conversions, nuclear processes, waves, and electromagnetic radiation, and stars and the origin of the universe. This course uses real-world phenomena to engage students and demonstrate how physics is necessary to explain the world around us. This is the third course in a three-year sequence.
    • Human Anatomy & Physiology / Honors

      • Human Anatomy and Physiology is a third or fourth-year science course for those students interested in biology, medicine, or related health care professions. This course relies on the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts to guide how students are interacting with topics such as characteristics of living things; mechanisms of life; the complexity of organization in humans; the identications and location of body cavities, organs, and organ systems. In addition, the terminology necessary to understand the anatomical system will be embedded throughout the course. Students will finish the year-long course with a general understanding of how body systems work together to maintain the function and health of the human body. 
    • AP Chemistry

      • AP Chemistry is an introductory college-level chemistry course. Students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquiry-based lab investigations as they explore the four Big Ideas: scale, proportion, and quantity; structure and properties of substances; transformations; and energy.
    • AP/DE Biology

      • AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes — energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.
    • Agricultural Science Courses (CTE Pathway)