Upper School

Academic Requirements

One credit is comparable to a year-long course.  A minimum of 24 credits is needed to graduate.  Required courses are BOLD, electives are italicized.  Course Descriptions
 

9th Grade	10th Grade	11th Grade	12th Grade	# of Credits Required for Graduation
English 9	English 10	English 11	English 12	4
			Advanced Writing Seminar
Ancient History	Medieval History	U.S. History	Modern History	4
			Post WWII America	Students also complete a junior and senior thesis
Conceptual Physics	Biology	Chemistry	Physics or	3 or 4 (Students must take a 4th year of either math or science for a combined 7 credits)
		Physics	Advanced Biology
		Wildlife and Conservation Biology as an option for 11th and 12th	Wildlife Research Seminar as an option for 12th
		(Students may double up in science in 11th grade)	Advanced Chemistry
			Advanced Physics
Algebra I	Geometry	Algebra II	STAM or Pre-Calculus	3 or 4 (Students must take a 4th year of either math or science for a combined 7 credits)
or	or	or	or
Geometry	Algebra II	Pre-Calc and/or STAM	Calculus or
(Some students double up in math in 9th and 10th)			Calculus 2
Beginning Spanish	Spanish 1	Spanish 3	Spanish 4	3
or	or	or	or
Spanish 1	Spanish 2	Spanish 4	Spanish 5*
Spanish 2	Spanish 3		Spanish 6*	(Students must complete 2 years of US Spanish)
Latin 1	Latin 2	Latin 3	Latin 4	2
P.E.	P.E.	P.E.	P.E.	2
Fine/Perf. Arts	Fine/Perf. Arts	Fine/Perf. Arts	Fine/Perf. Arts	2
				TOTAL: 24
		Computer Programming	Computer Programming

(Fine/Perf. Arts include Art (2D, 3D, Drawing & Painting, Digital), Drama, Drama Tech, Theater Production, Mixed Chorus, Treble Ensemble, String Ensemble (Serenata & Intermezzo) & Band)
 
* Some students are recommended by the Spanish department for higher levels of upper school Spanish.  Spanish 6 is available for these students.

Independent Study

Students in the upper school may arrange to take independent study projects for credit. The course must be supervised by a faculty member and arrangements must be made with the head of the upper school.

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UPPER SCHOOL CURRICULUM

UPPER SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

In order to graduate from the upper school, a student must successfully complete the requirements set forth below. One credit is equivalent to a year-long course.
 

English	4		Latin	2**
History/Humanities	4		Spanish	2**
Math	3*		The Arts	2
Science	3*		PE/Health	2

In addition, students participate in Service Learning each year.
* Students must take a fourth year of either math or science during their upper school years.
** Language requirements are sometimes modified for students who enter Bosque School after their freshman year. Other languages studied outside of Bosque School may not be substituted for Spanish or Latin.
 

UPPER SCHOOL HONOR ROLL

An upper school student must have a yearly B+ average with no grade lower than a B- to be on the honor roll. The honor roll is determined at the end of each school year.

 

Course Descriptions

UPPER SCHOOL FINE ARTS

The Art Department is designing a new curriculum structure for the upper school that will give students more elective choices while providing a solid foundation in the visual arts. We are establishing two foundation courses – Two-Dimensional Foundations and Three-Dimensional Foundations – each, one semester in length. Students are required to take these foundation classes before they will be able to take additional art electives. The goal of the foundation courses is to provide the background that will enhance visual thinking skills for future growth in the visual arts. During these courses, we will work with a variety of media that will focus students on particular issues necessary to succeed in the visual arts. We are also adding two elective choices in the specific art disciplines of drawing/painting and digital media for those who have successfully completed one year of foundation studies.
 

 TWO-DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS

This course will encourage students to develop skills by applying the fundamental elements and principles of art in systematic and creative ways. Students will engage making art that emphasizes creative risk taking, problem solving and experimentation, while guiding students toward developing higher levels of abstract visual thinking. A series of projects will culminate in students orchestrating a final project that realizes each student’s individual expression while demonstrating a mastery of visual issues. Emphasis will be on visual communication, observation skills, drawing and abstract design. This one-semester course is a prerequisite for any advanced level art electives.
 

 THREE-DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS

This course will help students develop skills used in creating works in three dimensions. The course explores the elements and principles of design as they relate toform, space, volume depth. Students will gain skills in design and drawing to plan three-dimensional works. We will explore traditional and non-traditional sculptural techniques while learning about their historical significance. The course will explore both additive and subtractive methods of realizing three-dimensional volumes. There will be a series of assignments that will build upon each other to provide a solid foundation for future growth in sculpture, architecture, and three-dimensional design. This one-semester course is a prerequisite for any advanced level art electives.
 

 DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital Media will explore the elements and principles of art and design from the view point of modern technology. This class will explore visual storytelling and art as communication. Topics will include media literacy, digital photography, and graphic design in order to create works of personal significance. This course will encourage cross-curricular connections where students will access concepts they are learning in other academic disciplines as well as their personal lives and incorporate themes and ideas for their creative projects.
 

 DRAWING AND PAINTING

Drawing and Painting will explore methods of visual communication as it is presented to us from art history. We will study the concepts and methods that have been developed over the centuries in order to create works relevant to our world today. Topics include color theory, visual perception, observation, expressionism, impressionism, and realism. Students will work in a variety of painting, drawing and printmaking media to gain mastery of the elements and principles of art.
 

UPPER SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS

Performing Arts play an essential role in shaping the learning experience of all students at Bosque School. As part of the core curriculum, participation in the performing arts will engage students in content and skills that will provide meaningful and successful life experiences. Bosque offers a rich variety of performing art disciplines which include drama, technical theatre, choir, string ensemble, wind ensemble, dance and guitar. All performing arts activities at Bosque lead to performance opportunities where students build self-confidence and a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
 

UPPER SCHOOL DRAMA

The primary goals of the Upper School Drama program, also known as The Bosque School Theatre Conservatory, are fourfold: 1) To provide a learning environment that is fun, safe and nurturing. 2) To help students develop strong acting skills. 3) To expose students to a broad range of international theatrical literature. 4) To present students with numerous performance opportunities. Participants will study many different acting techniques, including acting for the camera, and will learn to expand the scope of their creativity through theatre games, exercises and improvisation. This work will result in an end-of-year staged performance, as well as having their camera work filmed and screened. Students will also read and discuss many classics of world theatre, from ancient to modern times, to gain an appreciation and understanding of the universality of theatre. This will culminate in a theme-based performance of selected scenes from the plays they have studied. Students will not only read plays, they will also create their own. Working as an ensemble, they will write a play, and design the set. Their play will then be performed at the I.S.A.S. Arts Festival (Independent Schools Association of the Southwest) which may include travel to another state. Students will also learn audition technique and etiquette, have opportunities to work with some of New Mexico's finest stage and film professionals, and will gain firsthand knowledge of Albuquerque's theatre community by attending at least two local productions.
 

DRAMA TECH

This class is intended to give students a broad experience in stage design, scenery, props, lighting, sound, and stage management. Students will learn the components of stage production including safety, history, lore, etiquette, and protocol. Every student will learn the proper use and care of tools and equipment in each discipline. During the course of the year, production needs will be supported by the work done during class. Students will increase the depth of experience as a working member of the stage crew on at least four Bosque productions.
 

THEATRE PRODUCTION

This class will encompass the theatre arts as a whole from pre-production to post-production. Students will learn the entire process of putting on a play including selecting a show, designing and building, directing, stage managing, casting, rehearsal, publicity, and performance. All aspects of theatre will be covered, and students will have the opportunity to choose an area of interest to study in greater detail. The year will culminate with a performance where students can demonstrate what they have learned.
 

UPPER SCHOOL CHOIR

Cantate and Treble Choir are groups that focus on healthy singing and excellent choral tone. In addition, students work each day on sight-reading music, and attention is paid to learning about and understanding all aspects of the repertoire. This includes learning the history of the music and composer, considering any cultural or political influences that shaped the music, and gaining an understanding of the structural composition of the music through basic music theory.

UPPER SCHOOL BAND

UPPER SCHOOL STRINGS

Upper School String Ensemble offers two courses: Intermezzo and Serenata.  Both teach the students the subject of music through performance. Serenata is comprised of advanced players and moves at a much faster pace.  Each level of ensemble provides a unique learning experience to strive for musical excellence and challenge the individual to grow as a confident musician. Ensemble classes cover a wide variety of subjects, including string technique, music theory, music history, form and analysis, improvisation and composition. The goal for both ensembles is to develop a lifelong appreciation for music, beginning with performance. 
 

ECONOMICS

So much of what passes for public discourse today consists of sound bites and angry over-simplifications of deeply complex issues. Terms like liberal, conservative, Democrat, and Republican are often used in public speech as shorthand for whole sets of ideas and beliefs, shutting down discourse rather than enriching it.

The goal of this course is to help students becoming meaningful participants in our democracy by teaching them how to ask and answer questions about real issues using the lens of economics. What happens when the federal government spends more money during a recession? What sort of health care system would create the most jobs? Will raising the minimum wage help or hurt teenagers who need a job this summer? This is just a sampling of the sorts of questions we’ll explore. We will begin with Adam Smith and Karl Marx and study the writings of prominent economists throughout history in order to ground ourselves in the basic principles of economics. We’ll try to come to terms with the differences between different schools of thought (i.e. What’s the difference between a Keynesian and a Neo-Classicist?) then apply and expand those principles as we grapple with issues in the real world.

Our texts will include Principles of Economics (Gregory Mankiw) and Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Charles Wheelan and Burton Malkiel), although we will rely most on current journals, newspapers, and pod casts as resources in our work.
 

UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH

NINTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course explores myth in its varying forms. From the personal myth to cultural foundations, myth guides us as individuals, giving us definition and contrast while allowing us to position ourselves in a larger context. Personal interaction between a reader and text stimulates understanding, and with an emphasis on reading in context, perspective and social awareness, we will explore literature as both a cornerstone and an ever-shifting site of struggle. Ninth grade English is a companion to the ninth grade History course. Example texts include classics and contemporary voices: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Homer’s Odyssey (paired with The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood), and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Additional short stories, essays and poetry complement the major texts. Writing assignments are designed to empower student voices and focus on mastery of crafting strong thesis statements, developing paragraphs, and solidifying standard usage. In addition to reading and formal essay writing, students develop college level vocabulary, practice debate, discussion and presentation, and function in small group settings.
 

TENTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course focuses on writing about and reading great works of literature that deal with the themes of exile and alienation. The first semester introduces the theme in major readings including Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Grendel by John Gardner. In the second semester, students read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Candide by Voltaire, and Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman. In each semester, major readings will be supplemented with thematically related short stories, essays, and poetry. This course heavily emphasizes close reading and writing skills. Students concentrate on developing sentence, paragraph, and essay structure, while strengthening their vocabulary. Throughout the year, students will be asked to complete several essays that require them to direct their writing from draft form to polished essay.
 

ELEVENTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course provides a traditional grounding in American literature while exploring diverse voices. The texts in this course inherently address themes of the American experience, including but not limited to ideals of freedom, the place of the individual, identity, non-conformity, the ‘American Dream’ and subsequent disillusionment. Examples of major texts that might be taught in this class include The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison and The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Main texts are augmented with the study of essays by the likes of Henry David Thoreau, James Baldwin and Richard Rodriquez as well as poetry by Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman and Sherman Alexie. Students deepen their skills in primary source analysis and learn how to employ relevant secondary source material.
 

TWELFTH GRADE ENGLISH

Twelfth grade English at Bosque continues to challenge students to think critically about themselves and their world, both the one they are living in as high school students and the wider one they will be encountering as they move beyond Bosque. The course centers on completing the senior thesis, a culminating project that challenges students to develop an original argument in answer to a question of their choice. Students will write a research question, a prospectus, an annotated bibliography, and numerous drafts of a twenty-plus page paper as they complete this project. They will present their research to the community in the spring. As students complete this work, they will be learning to see themselves as competent scholars, ready to take their places among the adults in their fields. In addition to the senior thesis, students will continue to interact with great literature from around the world. They will read, write, and talk about literature and the mystery of the human condition. In the fall, students will read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee, and The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Spring readings will include novellas by Alice Munro and Heinrich von Kleist, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. By the end of the year, students should feel well-prepared to research in college libraries, read fiction and nonfiction critically, write extensive arguments, and participate meaningfully in both civic and scholarly discourse.
 

ADVANCED WRITING SEMINAR

Using a portfolio model, students will explore four forms for writing: the personal essay, the one-act play, the poem, and the short story. Students will keep a journal and read published model works in each form as well as drafts of peers’ work. Operating as a writing workshop, the class will focus on voice, revising, and editing. In order to find voices, claim writing territories, and support the college application process, the first quarter will engage the personal essay. The second quarter will use one-act plays performed at the national Young Playwrights Festival to guide each student’s writing of one-act plays. Play writing develops dialog, conflict, and character skills. The third quarter will explore the poet’s craft. Poetry writing hones word choice, editing skills and rhythm. The last quarter, students will write short stories and shape a final portfolio of their strongest work. Each student will submit three pieces for publication to venues like Teen Ink, the Young Playwrights Festival, and The Sun. Texts for the class will include Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott; Writing to be Read, Ken Macrorie; Naked, David Sedaris; I’m Not Stupid, David E. Rodriguez; The Most Massive Woman Wins, Madeleine George; The Basement at the Bottom at the End of the World, Nadine Graham; Letter to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke; Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse, Mary Oliver; Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form, Madison Smart Bell; The Elements of Style, Strunk and White.
 

FILM

This course focuses on introducing students to historically and aesthetically important films of the 20th and 21st centuries. It starts with a historical overview of film, beginning with Edison and the Lumière Brothers. As with all historical surveys, not all important films can be included, but the crucial ones will be thoroughly examined. Students will learn basic terms and tools for analyzing movies as they look at the origin and development of cinematic storytelling techniques. In addition to getting a strong foundation in film history, students will examine the artistic and narrative possibilities of film. They will be required to “read,” discuss, and write about movies in a way that critically examines both the methods of the filmmakers and the way that we look at the films. The goal is to have students see both what film is and what it can be.

UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY

Bosque’s upper school students are required to complete a four-year course of study in history: Ancient World History, Medieval World History, United States History, and a culminating senior course in Modern History. The program embraces a unique approach to the study of world history. Using the major events and personalities as a framework for studying ancient, medieval, and modern world histories, students read enduring works of literature and study dominant philosophies, major religions, and characteristic art and architecture to understand the distinctive societies and cultures that make up the human experience. Through the close reading of original texts, class discussions, and historical research, students investigate these civilizations and seek to understand their worldviews, cultural values, religious ideas, institutions, daily life, and place in world history. This program is designed to engage students’ minds, demand their active participation in learning, and challenge them to attain an in-depth knowledge and deeper understanding of humanity’s story.

Different from but complementary to these three civilization courses is the one-year United States course that focuses on historical method and process. Students grapple with historical cause and effect, description, and exposition as they study the major events and personalities of American history.

Because we believe a fundamental grounding in the liberal arts is essential, our history courses emphasize analytical reading, critical thinking, meaningful discussion and debate, and effective writing. To these ends, the study of primary sources is central to our upper school history curriculum.
 

NINTH GRADE: ANCIENT WORLD HISTORY

The first course of the upper school history program focuses on studying the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. In particular, this course emphasizes the human story—the details of human life, thought, and culture – underlying the facts of history. What was life like in the ancient world? What motivated ancient peoples? What were their hopes and fears? What did they value? What beliefs shaped their lives? To answer these questions, students grapple with works such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Ramayana, The Analects of Confucius, and The Iliad of Homer. And yet, the unifying theme of this course is the idea that we cannot fully understand the peoples of these civilizations unless we try to understand the society and time in which they lived. To this end, students also study the history and development of each ancient civilization in depth.
 

TENTH GRADE: MEDIEVAL WORLD HISTORY

In the second year, students explore life, thought, and culture in the early Islamic world, medieval Europe, classical and feudal Japan, and the West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Using the historical narrative as a framework for studying each civilization, we continue to concentrate on primary sources to better understand the past on its own terms. In this course, we study literary compositions (poems, prose, letters, biographies), narrative histories (chronicles, annals, histories), documentary records (laws, writs), material sources (art objects, manuscripts, archeological evidence), and architectural structures (monuments, edifices, public works). In particular, students study Arthurian Legends, Al Qur'an, The Ten Foot Square Hut, and the old Malian epic Sundiata, among other works. Through close reading and the careful examination and interpretation of these primary sources, the humanity and history of medieval people come alive for us.
 

ELEVENTH GRADE: UNITED STATES HISTORY

The third year of study focuses on the history of the United States. This course devotes more time to historical method and process. Students explore how historians construct their stories of the past by studying the economic, political, and social developments of the United States from the Pre-Columbian era to the end of the Cold War. Using selected primary documents and secondary sources, students answer some of the most important questions about the historical evolution of the United States. Most of the texts for the class change yearly. This year, students are reading: Indian Uprising on the Rio Grande; A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; and Why We Can’t Wait. Other texts used in the past are: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; A Woman’s Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution; Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and The Coming of the Civil War; My Antonia; Twenty Years at Hull House; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; A Rumor of War; With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln; and Coming of Age in Mississippi. Students also improve their ability to write expository, descriptive, and narrative essays through writing extensively. The most significant project they undertake is a 15- to 20-page research paper where they conduct original research at the University of New Mexico. Students who put in additional time and effort in this course are prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement U.S. History exam in May.
 

TWELFTH GRADE: MODERN HISTORY

In this course, students will examine the central figures, events, and ideas of the modern period and write their senior thesis papers. During the modern period, the West becomes the dominant force in the world. As new meanings are assigned to what it means to be human, the question of power and how it is to be distributed socially, economically and politically and what it means to us personally, characterize our inquiry. With the required research project, students engage in an inquiry of their own devising and defend an original thesis. Through this process, students develop and refine critical thinking, reading and writing skills. The project culminates in the Senior Colloquium, a presentation of their research to the entire Bosque community at the end of the year.
 

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

The Bosque Student Government class is in part a student-directed class that is driven by a clear mission statement and bylaws that focus its efforts on supporting the student body and the Bosque community at large. Students will plan, implement, participate in and reflect on school activities and policies as well as make decisions which affect the overall school culture. Students will be given an opportunity to set goals, organize events, debate school policies, manage time and budgets, and problem solve, as well as develop team building skills. In addition, students will have an opportunity to examine our nation’s political structures by studying campaigns, elections, and domestic and foreign policies. The class is designed to help students compare and contrast their involvement with Bosque School policies and culture with that of our city, state and federal governments.
 

UPPER SCHOOL LANGUAGES

Upper school students are required to take Spanish until they attain a Spanish III level of proficiency. Interested students may continue a course of study that prepares them to continue on with the language at the university level. Throughout their studies, students will improve their proficiency in the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. They will also acquire a command of the key vocabulary and structures necessary for personal communication, as well as an appreciation of the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.
 

SPANISH I

Upper school students who do not yet have the proficiency required for Spanish II take Spanish I. This course presents the basic structures of the language along with situations in which the students use elementary and intermediate expressions of the language and practice topical vocabulary. A variety of methods is used, and Spanish is spoken most of the time. Students learn to tell stories, describe themselves and others, express likes and dislikes, and converse about daily activities and routines, obligations and commitments, home and family, feelings, health, and the environment.
 

SPANISH II

In Spanish II, we will focus our year on story telling, “Cuéntame un cuento”. Stories will come from the Spanish speaking world represented in the Americas and Spain. Students will also come to tell their own stories from their individual and shared experiences. “Cuéntame un cuento” will allow students to learn and use the following tenses and grammar structures: present indicative, including all regular, stem changing, reflexive and irregular forms, past tense forms of preterite (regular with some irregular forms) and imperfect, using the past tense forms together in narration, gustar and the other verbs that function similarly, direct and indirect object pronouns, and concordance between subject/verb, and subject/adjective. Emphasis is given to listening, speaking, reading and writing.
 

SPANISH II ADVANCED

The driving theme of Spanish II Advanced is exploring Ancient Civilizations in the Spanish speaking world. We will capitalize on the frameworks used in 9th grade Ancient civilizations History and English classes to make connections with prominent civilizations that have greatly influenced our present day world. Our focus will be on Iberia and Mexico. In addition to analyzing other cultures from the past, we will seek to understand resulting politics, economics and human development through Spanish.

Students will learn to describe activities and narrate sequential events in the present and past tenses. They will give instructions and express complex thoughts based on possibility and hypothesis. By the end of this course, students know the following tenses and grammar structures: present, preterite (regular and irregular forms), imperfect, imperative, present perfect, present and past subjunctive, conditional, the use of direct and indirect object pronouns, and expressions with hace. Emphasis is given to speaking, listening, writing and reading.
 

SPANISH III

The main objectives of Spanish III are to perfect the students’ command of the structures of the language, as well as to communicate with more ease about more complex topics orally and in writing. We will move at a comfortable pace which will allow for plenty of practice. Usage and grammar will be reviewed and practiced through a variety of fun, challenging activities that will help the students boost their proficiency in Spanish. Throughout the year, topics will be introduced through real-life situations/dialogues that will allow each student to become familiar with the intermediate expressions of the language, as well as to practice topical vocabulary. These situations/dialogues will generally be followed by activities that will extend the use of the structures and functions introduced in ways that will fit different learning styles. A wide range of evaluation techniques will monitor the students’ progress. At the end of this course, my strong hope is for the students to walk out feeling that they have had a rewarding learning experience both culturally and linguistically.
 

SPANISH IV

This course provides advanced students with the guidance they need to continue discovering, learning, and using the language in meaningful, creative, and engaging contexts. It promotes oral and written communication, as well as listening and reading comprehension, through a variety of exercises and thematic units. By the end of the year and having put forth the necessary effort, students should have greatly improved their skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking Spanish. Each unit is based on a Spanish or Latin American author, a historical or cultural subject, or a Spanish-speaking movie. Students will read excerpts from one or more of the authors’ works. With each unit, students learn advanced vocabulary and delve into the most complex structures of grammar. In order to develop students’ writing skills, written essays are required for each unit. Every unit will require that students get closer to the mastery of Spanish by providing a context in which to share vocabulary, sophisticated grammatical formations, and ideas developed through the readings of celebrated authors.
 

SPANISH V

This course exposes students to the literature, customs, and current events of the Spanish-speaking world. Spanish grammar is reviewed and the techniques of literary analysis are reinforced. It promotes written and oral communication, as well as listening and reading comprehension, through a variety of written and oral exercises and thematic units. The students will have the chance to acquire much vocabulary and structural expertise through the reading of literature from Argentina, Chile, and Spain, watching movies from two of these three countries, discussing/debating themes from the readings and viewings, writing opinion and critical papers, and participating in a number of activities in class. Students are prepared to understand a lecture in Spanish and to engage in discussions of literary, social, and historic topics in Spanish. This is a demanding course that will provide the hard-working student with the necessary tools to speak, read and write Spanish with sophistication and ease at an academic level by the end of the school year. Students who put in additional time and effort are prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement exam in May.
 

SPANISH VI Advanced Spanish Seminar: Asuntos Latinoamericanos

In this course we will be studying the history, culture and current events of Latin America. This seminar will allow students the opportunity to achieve a deep understanding of Latin American perspectives on issues of global importance. We will be researching the historical underpinnings of important issues, analyzing policy, debating different inter and intra country perspectives, and formulating possible solutions. Our theme will revolve around six issues: ecology, economy, human rights, indigenous cultures, narcotraffic/the guerrillas, and health care. We will study and analyze these issues from their origins and history to their impact in modern society. This analysis will precede and be the focus of discussions and debate. Equally relevant will be the student’s personal experience living in Latin American countries (if applicable). We will focus on refining writing through essays as well as position and research papers. Grammar will be polished and generated from the material collected from the students’ writing work. Our culminating project will be a simulated United Nations forum. In this project, each student will present and defend topics decided upon in advance.
 

LATIN I

This course provides students with a working knowledge of the Latin language. Students develop Latin grammar and vocabulary, and strengthen and acquire skills in English as a result. Because Latin is primarily a literary language, the focus of the course is translation. During the process of the course, students are taught basic grammatical forms to aid them in translation. Class activities include sight translations, prepared translations, reading out loud in Latin, grammar exercises, and memorization of noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms. The text for this class is Ecce Romani. The topics in Latin I include first conjugation of verbs in the six tenses, active and passive voice, and the first and second declension nouns and adjectives.
 

LATIN II

This course expands on and strengthens the material learned in Latin I. The year begins with a comprehensive review of first year Latin. Class activities include sight translations, prepared translations, reading out loud in Latin, and grammar drills. The text for this class is Ecce Romani. The topics in Latin II include the third, fourth, and fifth declension nouns; participles; ablative absolute; the subjunctive mood of verbs; and sequence of tenses. The objective of this year is to prepare the students to read Latin literature.
 

LATIN III

Latin III is an elective course that reviews Latin grammar in the fall term. The text is Wheelock’s Latin. In the spring term, the course shifts to translation accompanied by frequent review. The students are introduced to Latin poetry through selections from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
 

LATIN IV

Latin IV begins with a grammar review while reading in Latin the primary sources in Finis Rei Publicae, a course in Latin literature focusing on the end of the Republic and the transition to empire. Sources include the Commentaries on the Civil Wars of Caesar and Vergil’s Aeneid. This advanced course in Latin literature develops the student’s ability to translate literally, to analyze, to interpret, and to read poetry. Latin grammar, vocabulary and syntax are reviewed throughout the course. In the spring semester, students read selections from the poetry of Catullus.
 

MATHEMATICS

The courses in the Mathematics Department represent a rigorous curriculum that strives to challenge students while instilling an excitement for math. Ultimately, students are prepared for college-level mathematics. The department places an emphasis on exploring ideas from numerical, algebraic, graphical, and contextual perspectives. The variety and sequence of courses, as well as the multiple entry points for the advanced courses, supports our department philosophy: "Every student in the right place at the right time."
 

ALGEBRA 1

This class covers the fundamental concepts of beginning algebra. Algebraic concepts are viewed from varied perspectives to help students develop their abilities with abstraction and generalization; application of knowledge is fundamental to each topic. This course includes real-world problems with relevant uses of elementary algebra, statistics, probability and geometry. The content of the course focuses on the concept of variables; the four basic arithmetic operations from an algebraic perspective; linear equations and inequalities; the geometry of lines in the plane; and the concepts of distance, square roots and absolute value. The course also studies the algebraic descriptions of lines in the plane, using slope-intercept, and linear combination forms of lines. Other topics include powers, compound interest, exponential growth and decay, operations with polynomials, linear systems and quadratics. The textbook for the course is either Glencoe’s Algebra 1 or Prentice Hall’s Algebra 1.

 
 

GEOMETRY

This course analyzes shapes and their characteristics. Topics covered in the course include lines, angles, two-dimensional figures, three-dimensional figures, area, volume, similarity of shapes, and trigonometry. Rather than merely being given a set of rules to memorize in a lecture format, students themselves are asked to discover and develop properties of various shapes through problem-solving investigations. The students explore these shapes using a mixture of traditional straight-edge and compass constructions and interactive geometry software. This constructive approach allows students to understand how shapes are created and what characteristics they have. Students have an opportunity to fully visualize what is true about two- and three-dimensional objects through a hands-on approach. The students are also challenged to use rigorous logical reasoning throughout the course and are required to justify their conclusions by developing provable arguments. The textbook for the course is Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach by Key Curriculum Press.
 

ADVANCED GEOMETRY

This course is designed to accelerate mathematically talented students. Participants have either completed the Advanced Seventh Grade Math class or been identified in eighth or ninth grade Algebra 1 classes through teacher recommendation and an above-grade-level exam administered in the spring. The exam looks for advanced conceptual, arithmetic, and problem solving skills. Advanced Geometry covers all of the topics in the standard Geometry course and more, but will investigate concepts and connections more thoroughly and at a deeper level. Also, students in Advanced Geometry are expected to present mathematical solutions and proofs with more rigor and thoroughness. The textbook for the course is Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach by Key Curriculum Press. Additionally, some class time is spent solving problems from various statewide and national math competitions. Students are invited, but not required, to participate in competitions sponsored by the school.
 

ALGEBRA 2

This course encompasses the following goals: to help students understand why they need algebra, to develop skills of algebraic manipulation and equation-solving, to apply geometric knowledge gained in previous courses, to develop the ability to read mathematics, to integrate widely available and inexpensive technology, and to introduce fundamentally important mathematical ideas. The content of the course is designed to create mathematically literate students who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of sophisticated algebra. Broadly, that content includes the language of variables and the solving of linear equations and inequalities; subscript notation; proportional relationships; arithmetic sequences; matrices; systems of linear equations and inequalities; linear programming; quadratic equations and complex numbers; translations of graphs; linear, quadratic, absolute value, greatest integer, and power functions; exponents and exponential equations; logarithms; polynomial equations; conics; and quadratic relations and systems. At the completion of this course, students have finished their study of the fundamentals of algebra and geometry. The textbook used is Glencoe’s Algebra 2.
 

STATISTICS AND APPLIED MATH

This course explores the practical application of mathematics through the study of sequences, statistics, matrices, and functions. It involves gathering, organizing, simplifying, analyzing, and interpreting data. Students model real life situations through mathematical equations and develop the capacity to communicate technical information to others. Problems studied in the course arise from financial, scientific, sociological, and historical perspectives. Students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), and they work with these calculators, as well as computers, to solve practical problems. The course includes material from a wide variety of sources, including the textbooks Understandable Statistics and College Algebra published by Houghton Mifflin. Successful completion of Algebra 2 is a prerequisite for STAM.
 

PRE-CALCULUS

This course reviews, extends, and synthesizes algebraic, geometric, and graphical concepts and skills in preparation for a college-level Calculus course. The recurrent theme of the class will be functions, including linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, radical, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric, and inverse trigonometric functions. Students also use mathematical modeling to examine a variety of financial, social, and scientific phenomena. Moreover, this course aims to develop students’ ability to communicate technical information and mathematical knowledge, which places a heavy emphasis on the processes and reasoning used to arrive at answers, as well as proper mathematical notation. The course emphasizes graphing. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred). They work with these calculators frequently to explore and discover concepts and investigate the connections among seemingly different concepts. The course includes material from a wide variety of sources, including the textbook Precalculus With Limits by Houghton Mifflin. Highly successful completion of Algebra 2 is a prerequisite for PreCalculus.
 

CALCULUS

Building heavily upon skills and concepts studied in previous courses, Calculus explores “the mathematics of change.” The concept of a limit is developed while working towards an understanding of instantaneous rates of change. Analytic techniques for evaluating limits lead to derivatives, which are used to analyze and graph functions, investigate rates of change, and explore optimal solutions. Reversing and expanding upon the derivative concept gives rise to definite and indefinite integrals. These are used to solve simple differential equations, find areas of irregular 2-dimensional regions, and find volumes of 3-dimensional objects. Throughout the course, students investigate applications of calculus topics in fields such as science, engineering, and economics. This course also aims to develop a student’s ability to communicate mathematical knowledge and technical information in a sophisticated yet clear manner. Graphical analysis plays a major role in the development of many concepts and realistic applications involve complicated calculations. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), which is used daily as an instructional tool. The course includes material from a variety of sources, including the textbooks Calculus: Single Variable by John Wiley & Sons and Calculus of a Single Variable: Early Transcendental Functions by Houghton Mifflin. With additional effort and understanding, students in this course may be prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement Calculus (AB) exam in May. Highly successful completion of PreCalculus is a prerequisite for Calculus.
 

CALCULUS 2

This course continues where Calculus leaves off. Students quickly review topics from the first course, but at a deeper and more theoretical level. The course then studies further applications of integrals, more sophisticated integration techniques, improper integrals, and numerical approximation techniques for solutions of differential equations. A significant portion of the course examines sequences and series, eventually leading to the creation of Maclaurin and Taylor series for elementary functions. Students also study parametric equations, polar coordinates, vectors, and two-dimensional motion. Calculus 2 is for advanced students in mathematics. As such, the course emphasizes theoretical perspectives, accurate mathematical notation, and an increasing understanding of and facility with proofs. Also, Calculus 2 does not meet daily, so students must accept a larger role in their own learning. Graphical analysis plays a major role in the development of many concepts and realistic applications involve complicated calculations. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), which is used frequently as an instructional tool. The course includes material from a variety of sources, as well as the textbook Calculus by Houghton Mifflin. With additional effort and understanding, students in this course may be prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement Calculus (BC) exam in May. Highly successful completion of a Calculus course that includes the topics listed above (Calculus) is a prerequisite for Calculus 2.
 

UPPER SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The upper school physical education program is directed by three essential goals for each student: 1) attaining a level of personal fitness; 2) using technology to design and implement a personal fitness program based on scientific principles; and, 3) developing proficiency in selected motor skill activities for personal satisfaction and continued activity commitment. These goals are crucial to lifetime wellness. Participation in upper school athletics will be counted as physical education credits.
 

UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE

The upper school science program strives to inculcate scientific literacy by having students obtain a thorough understanding of basic scientific principles, and developing the realization that science—the search for objective truths—is a uniquely human process. Our methodology focuses around the notion that students develop a sharper understanding of their world when they are actively engaged in scientific inquiry. Therefore, laboratory work and experimentation are central to every course, whereby students have opportunities to observe, question, predict, collect data, measure, analyze, evaluate, and express their ideas both verbally and in writing. The upper school program consists of coursework that is consistent with the benchmarks as stated in the National Research Council’s Science Education Standards. The program is comprised of a more traditional sequence of academically challenging coursework—physical science (ninth grade), biology (tenth grade), and chemistry (eleventh grade) are required for graduation. In twelfth grade, students have the option to enroll in physics, advanced biology, or advanced wildlife studies. All science courses are full-year (two-semester) courses that stress exploring concepts in greater depth and complexity. Although possessing a solid foundation in science is one program goal, more importantly, we realize that our students’ success depends less on factual knowledge, but more so on their ability to raise questions, think and learn independently, solve problems, and express their knowledge well.
 

NINTH GRADE CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS

This course is designed to provide students with a full-year physics program (including topics such as mechanics, properties of matter, heat, sound and light, electricity and magnetism, and atomic and nuclear physics). The program takes advantage of students’ everyday world and language in addressing and understanding core principles in physics. Lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and laboratory activities are used to explore everyday problems and experiences, develop an understanding of key concepts, and apply an understanding to answer questions and solve problems. Students are expected to have successfully completed Algebra 1 or be enrolled in Algebra 1 at Bosque.
 

BIOLOGY

This course investigates the topic of biology through independent and group projects, lecture and laboratory work. The course is dedicated to the investigation of the biological composition, structure, and function of natural systems. Topics covered are: biochemistry, cell structure and function, genetics, evolution, and human physiology. The primary textbook used in this course is Biology: the Dynamics of Life by Glencoe. This is supplemented with various readings from outside sources.
 

CHEMISTRY

Chemistry is the science that deals with the materials of the universe and the changes that these materials undergo. It lies at the heart of our efforts to produce materials that greatly influence our lives. The lab-intensive chemistry course is designed to help students gain a better understanding of the composition and properties of matter and how chemical substances undergo changes. Basic chemical concepts as well as the fundamental skills of chemical calculation will be emphasized and form the basis for numerous applications throughout the course. Through lab investigations, students search for patterns, exploring the behavior of many substances common in our world. Students are expected to have mastered the basic algebraic skills of solving equations and using a scientific calculator. The text for the course is World of Chemistry, by Steven S. Zumdahl (McDougal Littell Publishing Company, 2006).
 

ADVANCED BIOLOGY

WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

WILDLIFE RESEARCH SEMINAR

PHYSICS I

Physics is the science that studies how the known universe works. In an inquiry-based, lab-intensive approach, students draw conclusions about the natural world based on the results of experiments. Students must have completed Algebra II in good standing to take this course. Topics include motion, force, work, energy, relativity, and astronomy. At the completion of the course, students should possess a greater understanding of the natural world; an ability to solve problems and draw conclusions from experimental data; and the ability to succeed in a college-level physics class. If taken junior year, students have an opportunity to take the second year of physics their senior year.

ADVANCED CHEMISTRY

In the advanced chemistry course, students build on their general chemistry experience from their junior year, as well as their increasing sophistication in science and math, to explore fundamental concepts not covered in the general chemistry course such as thermochemistry, thermodynamics and equilibrium, electrochemistry, modern atomic theory, organic and nuclear chemistry, all of which are central to acquiring a deeper understanding and application of chemistry. The course is highly quantitative with an emphasis on chemical calculations and mathematical formulation and is focused around a substantial college-level laboratory component. The course will contribute to the development of the students’ abilities to solve problems, work effectively in both independent and cooperative settings, think clearly, and to express their ideas orally and in writing, with clarity and logic. The course intends to meet the needs of students with career interests requiring a strong chemistry background, such as science, mathematics, engineering and the health professions. Although the concepts and labs that form the foundation of this course are included in the College Board’s AP Chemistry curriculum, the goal of this class is not to prepare students to take the AP chemistry exam, but to give the students the opportunity to do advanced work in chemistry.
 

ADVANCED PHYSICS

Advanced Physics is a continuation of Physics and looks at topics not covered in the first year course. Topics that are addressed in the second year course are thermodynamics, waves and sound, electricity and magnetism, and relativity. Advanced Physics has the same prerequisites as Physics with the additional requirement of attaining a grade of C- or better in Physics. Students in this course will extensively use their previous Physics and Algebra backgrounds as Advanced Physics is the capstone of the curriculum. The design of this course is to realistically simulate what students can expect out of a collegiate level Physics class.

NEW! COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

We are excited to offer a year-long online Programming Fundamentals course for 2013-2014 through UNM. The course will have a lab component at Bosque School and earns UNM ECE 131 credit. This course will begin during the 2013-2014 school year and is available for rising 11 and 12 grade students.

 

SERVICE LEARNING

UPPER SCHOOL CURRICULUM

UPPER SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

In order to graduate from the upper school, a student must successfully complete the requirements set forth below. One credit is equivalent to a yearlong course.

English	4		Latin	2**
History/Humanities	4		Spanish	2**
Math	3*		The Arts	2
Science	3*		PE/Health	2

In addition, students participate in Service Learning each year.
* Students must take a fourth year of either math or science during their upper school years.
** Language requirements are sometimes modified for students who enter Bosque School after their freshman year. Other languages studied outside of Bosque School may not be substituted for Spanish or Latin.

UPPER SCHOOL HONOR ROLL

An upper school student must have a yearly B+ average with no grade lower than a B- to be on the honor roll. The honor roll is determined at the end of each school year.

UPPER SCHOOL FINE ARTS

The Art Department is designing a new curriculum structure for the upper school that will give students more elective choices while providing a solid foundation in the visual arts. We are establishing two foundation courses – Two-Dimensional Foundations and Three-Dimensional Foundations – each, one semester in length. Students are required to take these foundation classes before they will be able to take additional art electives. The goal of the foundation courses is to provide the background that will enhance visual thinking skills for future growth in the visual arts. During these courses, we will work with a variety of media that will focus students on particular issues necessary to succeed in the visual arts. We are also adding two elective choices in the specific art disciplines of Drawing/Painting and Digital Media for those who have successfully completed one year of foundation studies.

TWO-DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS

This course will encourage students to develop skills by applying the fundamental elements and principles of art in systematic and creative ways. Students will engage making art that emphasizes creative risk taking, problem solving, and experimentation while guiding students toward developing higher levels of abstract visual thinking. A series of projects will culminate in students orchestrating a final project that realizes each student’s individual expression while demonstrating a mastery of visual issues. Emphasis will be on visual communication, observation skills, drawing and abstract design. This one-semester course is a prerequisite for any advanced level art electives.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS

This course will help students develop skills in thinking and creating works in three dimensions. The course explores the elements and principles of design as they relate to three dimensions – form, space, volume, depth. Students will gain skills in design and drawing to plan three-dimensional works. We will explore traditional and non-traditional sculptural techniques while learning about their historical significance. The course will explore both additive and subtractive methods of realizing three-dimensional volumes. There will be a series of assignments that will build upon each other to provide a solid foundation for future growth in sculpture, architecture, and three-dimensional design. This one-semester course is a prerequisite for any advanced level art electives.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital Media will explore the elements and principles of art and design from the view point of modern technology. This class will explore visual storytelling and art as communication. Topics will include media literacy, digital photography, and graphic design in order to create works of personal significance. This course will encourage cross-curricular connections where students will access concepts they are learning in other academic disciplines as well as their personal lives and incorporate themes and ideas for their creative projects.

DRAWING AND PAINTING

Drawing and Painting will explore methods of visual communication as it is presented to us from art history. We will study the concepts and methods that have been developed over the centuries in order to create works relevant to our world today. Topics include color theory, visual perception, observation, expressionism, impressionism, and realism. Students will work in a variety of painting, drawing and printmaking media to gain mastery of the elements and principles of art.

Upper School Performing Arts

Performing Arts play an essential role in shaping the learning experience of all students at Bosque School. As part of the core curriculum, participation in the performing arts will engage students in content and skills that will provide meaningful and successful life experiences. Bosque School offers a rich variety of performing art disciplines which include drama, technical theatre, choir, string ensemble, wind ensemble, dance, and guitar. All Performing Arts activities at Bosque lead to performance opportunities where students build self-confidence and a sense of pride in their accomplishment.

UPPER SCHOOL DRAMA

The primary goals of the Upper School Drama program, also known as The Bosque School Theatre Conservatory, are fourfold: 1) To provide a learning environment that is fun, safe and nurturing. 2) To help students develop strong acting skills. 3) To expose students to a broad range of international theatrical literature. 4) To present students with numerous performance opportunities. Participants will study many different acting techniques, including acting for the camera, and will learn to expand the scope of their creativity through theatre games, exercises and improvisation. This work will result in an end-of-year staged performance, as well as having their camera work filmed and screened. Students will also read and discuss many classics of world theatre, from ancient to modern times, to gain an appreciation and understanding of the universality of theatre. This will culminate in a theme-based performance of selected scenes from the plays they have studied. Students will not only read plays, they will also create their own. Working as an ensemble, they will write a play, and design the set. Their play will then be performed at the I.S.A.S. Arts Festival (Independent Schools Association of the Southwest) which may include travel to another state. Students will also learn audition technique and etiquette, have opportunities to work with some of New Mexico's finest stage and film professionals, and will gain firsthand knowledge of Albuquerque's theatre community by attending at least two local productions.

DRAMA TECH

This class is intended to give students a broad experience in stage design, scenery, props, lighting, sound, and stage management. Students will learn the components of stage production including safety, history, lore, etiquette, and protocol. Every student will learn the proper use and care of tools and equipment in each discipline. During the course of the year, production needs will be supported by the work done during class. Students will increase the depth of experience as a working member of the stage crew on at least four Bosque productions.

THEATRE PRODUCTION

This class will encompass the theatre arts as a whole from pre-production to post-production. Students will learn the entire process of putting on a play including selecting a show, designing and building, directing, stage managing, casting, rehearsal, publicity, and performance. All aspects of theatre will be covered, and students will have the opportunity to choose an area of interest to study in greater detail. The year will culminate with a performance where students can demonstrate what they have learned.

UPPER SCHOOL CHOIR

Cantate and Treble Choir are groups that focus on healthy singing and excellent choral tone. In addition, students work each day on sight-reading music, and attention is paid to learning about and understanding all aspects of the repertoire. This includes learning the history of the music and composer, considering any cultural or political influences that shaped the music, and gaining an understanding of the structural composition of the music through basic music theory.

• BAND
• STRING ENSEMBLE

ECONOMICS

So much of what passes for public discourse today consists of sound bites and angry over-simplifications of deeply complex issues. Terms like liberal, conservative, Democrat, and Republican are often used in public speech as shorthand for whole sets of ideas and beliefs, shutting down discourse rather than enriching it.

The goal of this course is to help students becoming meaningful participants in our democracy by teaching them how to ask and answer questions about real issues using the lens of economics. What happens when the federal government spends more money during a recession? What sort of health care system would create the most jobs? Will raising the minimum wage help or hurt teenagers who need a job this summer? This is just a sampling of the sorts of questions we’ll explore. We will begin with Adam Smith and Karl Marx and study the writings of prominent economists throughout history in order to ground ourselves in the basic principles of economics. We’ll try to come to terms with the differences between different schools of thought (i.e. What’s the difference between a Keynesian and a Neo-Classicist?) then apply and expand those principles as we grapple with issues in the real world.

Our texts will include Principles of Economics (Gregory Mankiw) and Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Charles Wheelan and Burton Malkiel), although we will rely most on current journals, newspapers, and pod casts as resources in our work.

ENGLISH

NINTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course explores myth in its varying forms. From the personal myth to cultural foundations, myth guides us as individuals, giving us definition and contrast while allowing us to position ourselves in a larger context. Personal interaction between a reader and text stimulates understanding, and with an emphasis on reading in context, perspective and social awareness, we will explore literature as both a cornerstone and an ever-shifting site of struggle. Ninth grade English is a companion to the ninth grade History course. Example texts include classics and contemporary voices: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Homer’s Odyssey (paired with The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood), and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Additional short stories, essays and poetry complement the major texts. Writing assignments are designed to empower student voices and focus on mastery of crafting strong thesis statements, developing paragraphs, and solidifying standard usage. In addition to reading and formal essay writing, students develop college level vocabulary, practice debate, discussion and presentation, and function in small group settings.

TENTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course focuses on writing about and reading great works of literature that deal with the themes of exile and alienation. The first semester introduces the theme in major readings including Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Grendel by John Gardner. In the second semester, students read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Candide by Voltaire, and Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman. In each semester, major readings will be supplemented with thematically related short stories, essays, and poetry. This course heavily emphasizes close reading and writing skills. Students concentrate on developing sentence, paragraph, and essay structure, while strengthening their vocabulary. Throughout the year, students will be asked to complete several essays that require them to direct their writing from draft form to polished essay.

ELEVENTH GRADE ENGLISH

This course provides a traditional grounding in American literature while exploring diverse voices. The texts in this course inherently address themes of the American experience, including but not limited to ideals of freedom, the place of the individual, identity, non-conformity, the ‘American Dream’ and subsequent disillusionment. Examples of major texts that might be taught in this class include The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison and The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Main texts are augmented with the study of essays by the likes of Henry David Thoreau, James Baldwin and Richard Rodriquez as well as poetry by Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman and Sherman Alexie. Students deepen their skills in primary source analysis and learn how to employ relevant secondary source material.

TWELFTH GRADE ENGLISH

Twelfth grade English at Bosque continues to challenge students to think critically about themselves and their world, both the one they are living in as high school students and the wider one they will be encountering as they move beyond Bosque. The course centers on completing the senior thesis, a culminating project that challenges students to develop an original argument in answer to a question of their choice. Students will write a research question, a prospectus, an annotated bibliography, and numerous drafts of a twenty-plus page paper as they complete this project. They will present their research to the community in the spring. As students complete this work, they will be learning to see themselves as competent scholars, ready to take their places among the adults in their fields. In addition to the senior thesis, students will continue to interact with great literature from around the world. They will read, write, and talk about literature and the mystery of the human condition. In the fall, students will read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee, and The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Spring readings will include novellas by Alice Munro and Heinrich von Kleist, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. By the end of the year, students should feel well-prepared to research in college libraries, read fiction and nonfiction critically, write extensive arguments, and participate meaningfully in both civic and scholarly discourse.

ADVANCED WRITING SEMINAR

Using a portfolio model, students will explore four forms for writing: the personal essay, the one-act play, the poem, and the short story. Students will keep a journal and read published model works in each form as well as drafts of peers’ work. Operating as a writing workshop, the class will focus on voice, revising, and editing. In order to find voices, claim writing territories, and support the college application process, the first quarter will engage the personal essay. The second quarter will use one-act plays performed at the national Young Playwrights Festival to guide each student’s writing of one-act plays. Play writing develops dialog, conflict, and character skills. The third quarter will explore the poet’s craft. Poetry writing hones word choice, editing skills and rhythm. The last quarter, students will write short stories and shape a final portfolio of their strongest work. Each student will submit three pieces for publication to venues like Teen Ink, the Young Playwrights Festival, and The Sun. Texts for the class will include Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott; Writing to be Read, Ken Macrorie; Naked, David Sedaris; I’m Not Stupid, David E. Rodriguez; The Most Massive Woman Wins, Madeleine George; The Basement at the Bottom at the End of the World, Nadine Graham; Letter to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke; Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse, Mary Oliver; Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form, Madison Smart Bell; The Elements of Style, Strunk and White.

FILM

This course focuses on introducing students to historically and aesthetically important films of the 20th and 21st centuries. It starts with a historical overview of film, beginning with Edison and the Lumière Brothers. As with all historical surveys, not all important films can be included, but the crucial ones will be thoroughly examined. Students will learn basic terms and tools for analyzing movies as they look at the origin and development of cinematic storytelling techniques. In addition to getting a strong foundation in film history, students will examine the artistic and narrative possibilities of film. They will be required to “read,” discuss, and write about movies in a way that critically examines both the methods of the filmmakers and the way that we look at the films. The goal is to have students see both what film is and what it can be.

UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY

Bosque’s upper school students are required to complete a four-year course of study in history: Ancient World History, Medieval World History, United States History, and a culminating senior course in Modern History. The program embraces a unique approach to the study of world history. Using the major events and personalities as a framework for studying ancient, medieval, and modern world histories, students read enduring works of literature and study dominant philosophies, major religions, and characteristic art and architecture to understand the distinctive societies and cultures that make up the human experience. Through the close reading of original texts, class discussions, and historical research, students investigate these civilizations and seek to understand their worldviews, cultural values, religious ideas, institutions, daily life, and place in world history. This program is designed to engage students’ minds, demand their active participation in learning, and challenge them to attain an in-depth knowledge and deeper understanding of humanity’s story.

Different from but complementary to these three civilization courses is the one-year United States course that focuses on historical method and process. Students grapple with historical cause and effect, description, and exposition as they study the major events and personalities of American history.

Because we believe a fundamental grounding in the liberal arts is essential, our history courses emphasize analytical reading, critical thinking, meaningful discussion and debate, and effective writing. To these ends, the study of primary sources is central to our upper school history curriculum.

NINTH GRADE: ANCIENT WORLD HISTORY

The first course of the upper school history program focuses on studying the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. In particular, this course emphasizes the human story—the details of human life, thought, and culture – underlying the facts of history. What was life like in the ancient world? What motivated ancient peoples? What were their hopes and fears? What did they value? What beliefs shaped their lives? To answer these questions, students grapple with works such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Ramayana, The Analects of Confucius, and The Iliad of Homer. And yet, the unifying theme of this course is the idea that we cannot fully understand the peoples of these civilizations unless we try to understand the society and time in which they lived. To this end, students also study the history and development of each ancient civilization in depth.

TENTH GRADE: MEDIEVAL WORLD HISTORY

In the second year, students explore life, thought, and culture in the early Islamic world, medieval Europe, classical and feudal Japan, and the West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Using the historical narrative as a framework for studying each civilization, we continue to concentrate on primary sources to better understand the past on its own terms. In this course, we study literary compositions (poems, prose, letters, biographies), narrative histories (chronicles, annals, histories), documentary records (laws, writs), material sources (art objects, manuscripts, archeological evidence), and architectural structures (monuments, edifices, public works). In particular, students study Arthurian Legends, Al Qur'an, The Ten Foot Square Hut, and the old Malian epic Sundiata, among other works. Through close reading and the careful examination and interpretation of these primary sources, the humanity and history of medieval people come alive for us.

ELEVENTH GRADE: UNITED STATES HISTORY

The third year of study focuses on the history of the United States. This course devotes more time to historical method and process. Students explore how historians construct their stories of the past by studying the economic, political, and social developments of the United States from the Pre-Columbian era to the end of the Cold War. Using selected primary documents and secondary sources, students answer some of the most important questions about the historical evolution of the United States. Most of the texts for the class change yearly. This year, students are reading: Indian Uprising on the Rio Grande; A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; and Why We Can’t Wait. Other texts used in the past are: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; A Woman’s Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution; Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and The Coming of the Civil War; My Antonia; Twenty Years at Hull House; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; A Rumor of War; With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln; and Coming of Age in Mississippi. Students also improve their ability to write expository, descriptive, and narrative essays through writing extensively. The most significant project they undertake is a 15- to 20-page research paper where they conduct original research at the University of New Mexico. Students who put in additional time and effort in this course are prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement U.S. History exam in May.

TWELFTH GRADE: MODERN HISTORY

In this course, students will examine the central figures, events, and ideas of the modern period and write their senior thesis papers. During the modern period, the West becomes the dominant force in the world. As new meanings are assigned to what it means to be human, the question of power and how it is to be distributed socially, economically and politically and what it means to us personally, characterize our inquiry. With the required research project, students engage in an inquiry of their own devising and defend an original thesis. Through this process, students develop and refine critical thinking, reading and writing skills. The project culminates in the Senior Colloquium, a presentation of their research to the entire Bosque community at the end of the year.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

The Bosque Student Government class is in part a student-directed class that is driven by a clear mission statement and bylaws that focus its efforts on supporting the student body and the Bosque community at large. Students will plan, implement, participate in and reflect on school activities and policies as well as make decisions which affect the overall school culture. Students will be given an opportunity to set goals, organize events, debate school policies, manage time and budgets, and problem solve, as well as develop team building skills. In addition, students will have an opportunity to examine our nation’s political structures by studying campaigns, elections, and domestic and foreign policies. The class is designed to help students compare and contrast their involvement with Bosque School policies and culture with that of our city, state and federal governments.

UPPER SCHOOL LANGUAGES

Upper school students are required to take Spanish until they attain a Spanish III level of proficiency. Interested students may continue a course of study that prepares them to continue on with the language at the university level. Throughout their studies, students will improve their proficiency in the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. They will also acquire a command of the key vocabulary and structures necessary for personal communication, as well as an appreciation of the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.

SPANISH I

Upper school students who do not yet have the proficiency required for Spanish II take Spanish I. This course presents the basic structures of the language along with situations in which the students use elementary and intermediate expressions of the language and practice topical vocabulary. A variety of methods is used, and Spanish is spoken most of the time. Students learn to tell stories, describe themselves and others, express likes and dislikes, and converse about daily activities and routines, obligations and commitments, home and family, feelings, health, and the environment.

SPANISH II

In Spanish II, we will focus our year on story telling, “Cuéntame un cuento”. Stories will come from the Spanish speaking world represented in the Americas and Spain. Students will also come to tell their own stories from their individual and shared experiences. “Cuéntame un cuento” will allow students to learn and use the following tenses and grammar structures: present indicative, including all regular, stem changing, reflexive and irregular forms, past tense forms of preterite (regular with some irregular forms) and imperfect, using the past tense forms together in narration, gustar and the other verbs that function similarly, direct and indirect object pronouns, and concordance between subject/verb, and subject/adjective. Emphasis is given to listening, speaking, reading and writing.

SPANISH II ADVANCED

The driving theme of Spanish II Advanced is exploring Ancient Civilizations in the Spanish speaking world. We will capitalize on the frameworks used in 9th grade Ancient civilizations History and English classes to make connections with prominent civilizations that have greatly influenced our present day world. Our focus will be on Iberia and Mexico. In addition to analyzing other cultures from the past, we will seek to understand resulting politics, economics and human development through Spanish.

Students will learn to describe activities and narrate sequential events in the present and past tenses. They will give instructions and express complex thoughts based on possibility and hypothesis. By the end of this course, students know the following tenses and grammar structures: present, preterite (regular and irregular forms), imperfect, imperative, present perfect, present and past subjunctive, conditional, the use of direct and indirect object pronouns, and expressions with hace. Emphasis is given to speaking, listening, writing and reading.

SPANISH III

The main objectives of Spanish III are to perfect the students’ command of the structures of the language, as well as to communicate with more ease about more complex topics orally and in writing. We will move at a comfortable pace which will allow for plenty of practice. Usage and grammar will be reviewed and practiced through a variety of fun, challenging activities that will help the students boost their proficiency in Spanish. Throughout the year, topics will be introduced through real-life situations/dialogues that will allow each student to become familiar with the intermediate expressions of the language, as well as to practice topical vocabulary. These situations/dialogues will generally be followed by activities that will extend the use of the structures and functions introduced in ways that will fit different learning styles. A wide range of evaluation techniques will monitor the students’ progress. At the end of this course, my strong hope is for the students to walk out feeling that they have had a rewarding learning experience both culturally and linguistically.

SPANISH IV

This course provides advanced students with the guidance they need to continue discovering, learning, and using the language in meaningful, creative, and engaging contexts. It promotes oral and written communication, as well as listening and reading comprehension, through a variety of exercises and thematic units. By the end of the year and having put forth the necessary effort, students should have greatly improved their skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking Spanish. Each unit is based on a Spanish or Latin American author, a historical or cultural subject, or a Spanish-speaking movie. Students will read excerpts from one or more of the authors’ works. With each unit, students learn advanced vocabulary and delve into the most complex structures of grammar. In order to develop students’ writing skills, written essays are required for each unit. Every unit will require that students get closer to the mastery of Spanish by providing a context in which to share vocabulary, sophisticated grammatical formations, and ideas developed through the readings of celebrated authors.

SPANISH V

This course exposes students to the literature, customs, and current events of the Spanish-speaking world. Spanish grammar is reviewed and the techniques of literary analysis are reinforced. It promotes written and oral communication, as well as listening and reading comprehension, through a variety of written and oral exercises and thematic units. The students will have the chance to acquire much vocabulary and structural expertise through the reading of literature from Argentina, Chile, and Spain, watching movies from two of these three countries, discussing/debating themes from the readings and viewings, writing opinion and critical papers, and participating in a number of activities in class. Students are prepared to understand a lecture in Spanish and to engage in discussions of literary, social, and historic topics in Spanish. This is a demanding course that will provide the hard-working student with the necessary tools to speak, read and write Spanish with sophistication and ease at an academic level by the end of the school year. Students who put in additional time and effort are prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement exam in May.

SPANISH VI Advanced Spanish Seminar: Asuntos Latinoamericanos

In this course we will be studying the history, culture and current events of Latin America. This seminar will allow students the opportunity to achieve a deep understanding of Latin American perspectives on issues of global importance. We will be researching the historical underpinnings of important issues, analyzing policy, debating different inter and intra country perspectives, and formulating possible solutions. Our theme will revolve around six issues: ecology, economy, human rights, indigenous cultures, narcotraffic/the guerrillas, and health care. We will study and analyze these issues from their origins and history to their impact in modern society. This analysis will precede and be the focus of discussions and debate. Equally relevant will be the student’s personal experience living in Latin American countries (if applicable). We will focus on refining writing through essays as well as position and research papers. Grammar will be polished and generated from the material collected from the students’ writing work. Our culminating project will be a simulated United Nations forum. In this project, each student will present and defend topics decided upon in advance.

LATIN I

This course provides students with a working knowledge of the Latin language. Students develop Latin grammar and vocabulary, and strengthen and acquire skills in English as a result. Because Latin is primarily a literary language, the focus of the course is translation. During the process of the course, students are taught basic grammatical forms to aid them in translation. Class activities include sight translations, prepared translations, reading out loud in Latin, grammar exercises, and memorization of noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms. The text for this class is Ecce Romani. The topics in Latin I include first conjugation of verbs in the six tenses, active and passive voice, and the first and second declension nouns and adjectives.

LATIN II

This course expands on and strengthens the material learned in Latin I. The year begins with a comprehensive review of first year Latin. Class activities include sight translations, prepared translations, reading out loud in Latin, and grammar drills. The text for this class is Ecce Romani. The topics in Latin II include the third, fourth, and fifth declension nouns; participles; ablative absolute; the subjunctive mood of verbs; and sequence of tenses. The objective of this year is to prepare the students to read Latin literature.

LATIN III

Latin III is an elective course that reviews Latin grammar in the fall term. The text is Wheelock’s Latin. In the spring term, the course shifts to translation accompanied by frequent review. The students are introduced to Latin poetry through selections from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

LATIN IV

Latin IV begins with a grammar review while reading in Latin the primary sources in Finis Rei Publicae, a course in Latin literature focusing on the end of the Republic and the transition to empire. Sources include the Commentaries on the Civil Wars of Caesar and Vergil’s Aeneid. This advanced course in Latin literature develops the student’s ability to translate literally, to analyze, to interpret, and to read poetry. Latin grammar, vocabulary and syntax are reviewed throughout the course. In the spring semester, students read selections from the poetry of Catullus.

MATHEMATICS

The courses in the Mathematics Department represent a rigorous curriculum that strives to challenge students while instilling an excitement for math. Ultimately, students are prepared for college-level mathematics. The department places an emphasis on exploring ideas from numerical, algebraic, graphical, and contextual perspectives. The variety and sequence of courses, as well as the multiple entry points for the advanced courses, supports our department philosophy: "Every student in the right place at the right time."

ALGEBRA 1

This class covers the fundamental concepts of beginning algebra. Algebraic concepts are viewed from varied perspectives to help students develop their abilities with abstraction and generalization. Application of knowledge is fundamental to each topic; this course includes real-world problems with relevant uses of elementary algebra, statistics, probability, and geometry. The content of the course focuses on the concept of variable; the four basic arithmetic operations from an algebraic perspective; linear equations and inequalities; the geometry of lines in the plane; and the concepts of distance, square roots, and absolute value. The course also studies the algebraic descriptions of lines in the plane, using slope-intercept and linear combination forms of lines. Other topics include powers, compound interest, exponential growth and decay, operations with polynomials, linear systems, and quadratics. The textbook for the course is either Glencoe’s Algebra 1 or Prentice Hall’s Algebra 1.

GEOMETRY

This course analyzes shapes and their characteristics. Topics covered in the course include lines, angles, two-dimensional figures, three-dimensional figures, area, volume, similarity of shapes, and trigonometry. Rather than merely being given a set of rules to memorize in a lecture format, students themselves are asked to discover and develop properties of various shapes through problem-solving investigations. The students explore these shapes using a mixture of traditional straight-edge and compass constructions and interactive geometry software. This constructive approach allows students to understand how shapes are created and what characteristics they have. Students have an opportunity to fully visualize what is true about two- and three-dimensional objects through a hands-on approach. The students are also challenged to use rigorous logical reasoning throughout the course and are required to justify their conclusions by developing provable arguments. The textbook for the course is Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach by Key Curriculum Press.

ADVANCED GEOMETRY

This course is designed to accelerate mathematically talented students. Participants have either completed the Advanced Seventh Grade Math class or been identified in eighth or ninth grade Algebra 1 classes through teacher recommendation and an above-grade-level exam administered in the spring. The exam looks for advanced conceptual, arithmetic, and problem solving skills. Advanced Geometry covers all of the topics in the standard Geometry course and more, but will investigate concepts and connections more thoroughly and at a deeper level. Also, students in Advanced Geometry are expected to present mathematical solutions and proofs with more rigor and thoroughness. The textbook for the course is Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach by Key Curriculum Press. Additionally, some class time is spent solving problems from various statewide and national math competitions. Students are invited, but not required, to participate in competitions sponsored by the school.

ALGEBRA 2

This course encompasses the following goals: to help students understand why they need algebra, to develop skills of algebraic manipulation and equation-solving, to apply geometric knowledge gained in previous courses, to develop the ability to read mathematics, to integrate widely available and inexpensive technology, and to introduce fundamentally important mathematical ideas. The content of the course is designed to create mathematically literate students who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of sophisticated algebra. Broadly, that content includes the language of variables and the solving of linear equations and inequalities; subscript notation; proportional relationships; arithmetic sequences; matrices; systems of linear equations and inequalities; linear programming; quadratic equations and complex numbers; translations of graphs; linear, quadratic, absolute value, greatest integer, and power functions; exponents and exponential equations; logarithms; polynomial equations; conics; and quadratic relations and systems. At the completion of this course, students have finished their study of the fundamentals of algebra and geometry. The textbook used is Glencoe’s Algebra 2.

STATISTICS AND APPLIED MATH

This course explores the practical application of mathematics through the study of sequences, statistics, matrices, and functions. It involves gathering, organizing, simplifying, analyzing, and interpreting data. Students model real life situations through mathematical equations and develop the capacity to communicate technical information to others. Problems studied in the course arise from financial, scientific, sociological, and historical perspectives. Students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), and they work with these calculators, as well as computers, to solve practical problems. The course includes material from a wide variety of sources, including the textbooks Understandable Statistics and College Algebra published by Houghton Mifflin. Successful completion of Algebra 2 is a prerequisite for STAM.

PRE-CALCULUS

This course reviews, extends, and synthesizes algebraic, geometric, and graphical concepts and skills in preparation for a college-level Calculus course. The recurrent theme of the class will be functions, including linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, radical, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric, and inverse trigonometric functions. Students also use mathematical modeling to examine a variety of financial, social, and scientific phenomena. Moreover, this course aims to develop students’ ability to communicate technical information and mathematical knowledge, which places a heavy emphasis on the processes and reasoning used to arrive at answers, as well as proper mathematical notation. The course emphasizes graphing. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred). They work with these calculators frequently to explore and discover concepts and investigate the connections among seemingly different concepts. The course includes material from a wide variety of sources, including the textbook Precalculus With Limits by Houghton Mifflin. Highly successful completion of Algebra 2 is a prerequisite for PreCalculus.

CALCULUS

Building heavily upon skills and concepts studied in previous courses, Calculus explores “the mathematics of change.” The concept of a limit is developed while working towards an understanding of instantaneous rates of change. Analytic techniques for evaluating limits lead to derivatives, which are used to analyze and graph functions, investigate rates of change, and explore optimal solutions. Reversing and expanding upon the derivative concept gives rise to definite and indefinite integrals. These are used to solve simple differential equations, find areas of irregular 2-dimensional regions, and find volumes of 3-dimensional objects. Throughout the course, students investigate applications of calculus topics in fields such as science, engineering, and economics. This course also aims to develop a student’s ability to communicate mathematical knowledge and technical information in a sophisticated yet clear manner. Graphical analysis plays a major role in the development of many concepts and realistic applications involve complicated calculations. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), which is used daily as an instructional tool. The course includes material from a variety of sources, including the textbooks Calculus: Single Variable by John Wiley & Sons and Calculus of a Single Variable: Early Transcendental Functions by Houghton Mifflin. With additional effort and understanding, students in this course may be prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement Calculus (AB) exam in May. Highly successful completion of PreCalculus is a prerequisite for Calculus.

CALCULUS 2

This course continues where Calculus leaves off. Students quickly review topics from the first course, but at a deeper and more theoretical level. The course then studies further applications of integrals, more sophisticated integration techniques, improper integrals, and numerical approximation techniques for solutions of differential equations. A significant portion of the course examines sequences and series, eventually leading to the creation of Maclaurin and Taylor series for elementary functions. Students also study parametric equations, polar coordinates, vectors, and two-dimensional motion. Calculus 2 is for advanced students in mathematics. As such, the course emphasizes theoretical perspectives, accurate mathematical notation, and an increasing understanding of and facility with proofs. Also, Calculus 2 does not meet daily, so students must accept a larger role in their own learning. Graphical analysis plays a major role in the development of many concepts and realistic applications involve complicated calculations. Thus, students are expected to have a graphing calculator (the various versions of the TI-83 or TI-84 are preferred), which is used frequently as an instructional tool. The course includes material from a variety of sources, as well as the textbook Calculus by Houghton Mifflin. With additional effort and understanding, students in this course may be prepared to take the College Board Advanced Placement Calculus (BC) exam in May. Highly successful completion of a Calculus course that includes the topics listed above (Calculus) is a prerequisite for Calculus 2.

UPPER SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The upper school physical education program is directed by three essential goals for each student: 1) attaining a level of personal fitness; 2) using technology to design and implement a personal fitness program based on scientific principles; and, 3) developing proficiency in selected motor skill activities for personal satisfaction and continued activity commitment. These goals are crucial to lifetime wellness. Participation in upper school athletics will be counted as physical education credits.

UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE

The upper school science program strives to inculcate scientific literacy by having students obtain a thorough understanding of basic scientific principles, and developing the realization that science—the search for objective truths—is a uniquely human process. Our methodology focuses around the notion that students develop a sharper understanding of their world when they are actively engaged in scientific inquiry. Therefore, laboratory work and experimentation are central to every course, whereby students have opportunities to observe, question, predict, collect data, measure, analyze, evaluate, and express their ideas both verbally and in writing. The upper school program consists of coursework that is consistent with the benchmarks as stated in the National Research Council’s Science Education Standards. The program is comprised of a more traditional sequence of academically challenging coursework—physical science (ninth grade), biology (tenth grade), and chemistry (eleventh grade) are required for graduation. In twelfth grade, students have the option to enroll in physics, advanced biology, or advanced wildlife studies. All science courses are full-year (two-semester) courses that stress exploring concepts in greater depth and complexity. Although possessing a solid foundation in science is one program goal, more importantly, we realize that our students’ success depends less on factual knowledge, but more so on their ability to raise questions, think and learn independently, solve problems, and express their knowledge well.

NINTH GRADE CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS

This course is designed to provide students with a full-year physics program (including topics such as mechanics, properties of matter, heat, sound and light, electricity and magnetism, and atomic and nuclear physics). The program takes advantage of students’ everyday world and language in addressing and understanding core principles in physics. Lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and laboratory activities are used to explore everyday problems and experiences, develop an understanding of key concepts, and apply an understanding to answer questions and solve problems. Students are expected to have successfully completed Algebra 1 or be enrolled in Algebra 1 at Bosque.

BIOLOGY

This course investigates the topic of biology through independent and group projects, lecture and laboratory work. The course is dedicated to the investigation of the biological composition, structure, and function of natural systems. Topics covered are: biochemistry, cell structure and function, genetics, evolution, and human physiology. The primary textbook used in this course is Biology: the Dynamics of Life by Glencoe. This is supplemented with various readings from outside sources.

CHEMISTRY

Chemistry is the science that deals with the materials of the universe and the changes that these materials undergo. It lies at the heart of our efforts to produce materials that greatly influence our lives. The lab-intensive chemistry course is designed to help students gain a better understanding of the composition and properties of matter and how chemical substances undergo changes. Basic chemical concepts as well as the fundamental skills of chemical calculation will be emphasized and form the basis for numerous applications throughout the course. Through lab investigations, students search for patterns, exploring the behavior of many substances common in our world. Students are expected to have mastered the basic algebraic skills of solving equations and using a scientific calculator. The text for the course is World of Chemistry, by Steven S. Zumdahl (McDougal Littell Publishing Company, 2006).

ADVANCED BIOLOGY

WILDLIFE BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Wildlife Biology and Conservation (WBC) is a field-based, college preparatory course devoted to student participation in actual wildlife research and conservation projects. Through those activities, and supported by supplemental readings, students gain a broad understanding of the fields of wildlife and conservation biology as well as an understanding of each studied species’ natural history, its landscape and ecological context, as well as its relationship with humans. Students select one of the WBC research projects to take primary responsibility for managing and analyzing its data and preparing its annual technical report. Furthermore, during each semester, students participate in a substantial outreach activity related to a WBC research or conservation project with groups beyond the Bosque School community. Each quarter WBC students provide leadership and environmental education programs to younger students on several wildlife and conservation projects. Key areas of study in WBC projects include: the ethical and moral implications of live animal research; safety; wildlife management techniques and procedures; field research design and execution; data management; and the preparation of technical reports. WBC is an elective science class open to juniors and seniors and can be used to meet the fourth credit of science that a student must complete to graduate from Bosque’s Upper School. Furthermore, students enrolled in WBC can also enroll concurrently with NM State University’s online wildlife biology class “WLSC 110 Introduction to Natural Resource Management”.

WILDLIFE BIOLOGY RESEARCH

Wildlife Biology Research (WBR) builds upon the coursework in Wildlife Biology and Conservation (WBC). After having had a broad exposure to research techniques, wildlife biology, and conservation issues in WBC, students in WBR focus in on a particular wildlife biology research topic. Students design, execute, and prepare for scientific publication and/or professional presentation a wildlife research project or comparable project. Each student, in addition to Bosque School’s WBR teacher, works with an additional mentor who has specific research experience in the studied topic. Supporting coursework and activities are based upon the selected research topic and vary from one student to the next, though principles of research design, data analysis, and ethical live animal research are components of all WBR projects. Furthermore, students enrolled in WBR can also enroll concurrently with NM State University’s online wildlife biology class “WLSC 110 Introduction to Natural Resource Management”.

PHYSICS I

Physics is the science that studies how the known universe works. In an inquiry-based, lab-intensive approach, students draw conclusions about the natural world based on the results of experiments. Students must have completed Algebra II in good standing to take this course. Topics include motion, force, work, energy, relativity, and astronomy. At the completion of the course, students should possess a greater understanding of the natural world; an ability to solve problems and draw conclusions from experimental data; and the ability to succeed in a college-level physics class. If taken junior year, students have an opportunity to take the second year of physics their senior year.

ADVANCED CHEMISTRY

In the advanced chemistry course, students build on their general chemistry experience from their junior year, as well as their increasing sophistication in science and math, to explore fundamental concepts not covered in the general chemistry course such as thermochemistry, thermodynamics and equilibrium, electrochemistry, modern atomic theory, organic and nuclear chemistry, all of which are central to acquiring a deeper understanding and application of chemistry. The course is highly quantitative with an emphasis on chemical calculations and mathematical formulation and is focused around a substantial college-level laboratory component. The course will contribute to the development of the students’ abilities to solve problems, work effectively in both independent and cooperative settings, think clearly, and to express their ideas orally and in writing, with clarity and logic. The course intends to meet the needs of students with career interests requiring a strong chemistry background, such as science, mathematics, engineering and the health professions. Although the concepts and labs that form the foundation of this course are included in the College Board’s AP Chemistry curriculum, the goal of this class is not to prepare students to take the AP chemistry exam, but to give the students the opportunity to do advanced work in chemistry.

ADVANCED PHYSICS

Advanced Physics is a continuation of Physics and looks at topics not covered in the first year course. Topics that are addressed in the second year course are thermodynamics, waves and sound, electricity and magnetism, and relativity. Advanced Physics has the same prerequisites as Physics with the additional requirement of attaining a grade of C- or better in Physics. Students in this course will extensively use their previous Physics and Algebra backgrounds as Advanced Physics is the capstone of the curriculum. The design of this course is to realistically simulate what students can expect out of a collegiate level Physics class.

SERVICE LEARNING

During political election seasons, we encourage open conversations about issues, candidates and overall politics. Attached here is an outline of a presentation givien to upper school students demonstrating how we discuss politics at school.