Chemistry First?
By Danielle Merritt-Sunseri
There are obviously many opinions on which high school science discipline to do first. Some hold that as a "softer" science, biology should come first, but this seems to undercut the complexity of biology both in a Mason approach to biology (i.e. a feast of ideas) and in any modern general biology course. - In past decades (when you and I likely took Biology) Introductory Biology was mostly zoological classification and anyone studying the discipline would be expected to take additional coursework at a higher level after chemistry and physics. Physiology, Cell Biology, and Genetics all require at least basic chemistry and are more richly understood with chemistry. In a more general approach, therefore, some chemistry is necessary in what may be the one and only course the student takes in biology. So, the student can either take chemistry first, their biology teacher can plan to give them a crash course in the relevant topics when they arise, or they can plan to begin with Zoology and take additional coursework later.
Some hold that physics should come first as it holds the most foundational concepts upon which both biology and chemistry rely, but a physics-first approach typically means an initial, entry course with the intent that the student will take additional physics coursework at a higher level after biology, chemistry, and additional math have been learned. In addition, it should be noted that Alveary Form 3 science includes the same content as the entry-level physics course. Once upon a time (when I was a kid!) this course was called "Physical Science" and some school systems still refer to it in this way. Alveary's course additionally includes history, politics, philosophy, earth science, and engineering and is spread over two years.
Some hold that chemistry should come first as the 'central' science. It touches both biology and physics and, therefore, provides a good starting place to branch into many different directions. It is also perhaps most relevant to citizens, as it touches the products they consume, the food they eat, the policies they vote on, etc. In addition, only basic algebraic manipulations are needed until more advanced concepts are reached, so they can take that foundational course at any time. The text we use can be used for any year of high school, as well as for non-majors in college.
With these arguments in mind, the Alveary team decided to go with a chemistry-first-in-high-school approach for many reasons, including that chemistry in 9th grade avoids redundancy and provides a solid foundation both for biology and for citizenship. However, parents and classroom or co-op teachers can certainly schedule high school science in whatever sequence they prefer.
