Monacan High School - Legend Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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38 Science Department Taking A Peak. Looking into his ste- reoscope, Jeff Bennett examines the growth of the beans on the petri dish. Precise Measurements. Mising up their substances in test tubes, and heating them on the bunson burner Daniel Shim and Donald Dobbs make their observations.

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Figures That Boggle The Mind. Teaching her class about polygons, Mrs. Swecker explains how to find the center to her Geometry class. Qualified Teacher Answers Stu- dent’s Question. With the help of Mr. Carloni, Robert George is able to bet- ter understand his computer problem. High school mathematics has recently received in- creased attention nationwide from a concerned public which considers it a top priority for the future success of Ameri- 'ca’s youth. The importance of math is not overrated; nor is it ignored at Monacan. Guidance counselors press students into taking more advanced classes, following a progres- sion up to AP Calculus, which offers the opportunity of col- lege credit for work per- formed. Now, some of the less fore-sighted of our breed : might argue that the math re- a subjects are, in fact, ir- relevant and useless in mod- -ernlife. Admittedly, very few of us will be offered an all-ex- pense-paid trip to Cleveland by a stranger on the street if we Can just solve a quadradic equation; nor are we likely to eeniront a soft drink machine displaying a placard: ‘‘Insert : coin of cash value equivalent to the definite integral from zero to ten of the function x squared.’’ Although some math teachers may disagree, such everyday applications of higher mathematics are just not that common. However, math is an essential segment of today’s mushrooming engi- neering, scientific and com- puter fields and the logic and problem-solving skills demon- strated by a good math stu- dent are clues for an employer looking for creativity and de- termination. Calculus might not help you shovel grease at your local fast food establishment, but most bosses know that if an applicant has put up with inte- grals, related rates, and trigin- ometry long enough to gra- duate, he is more likely to ac- cept the challenge of too much work — too little pay with nary a grumble. The school’s math depart- ment supports well the entire sequence of mathematical learning, offering a niche for almost any want or need. Ba- sic Algebra, Geometry, Trigin- Math and Computers Indispensible ometry, Intermidiate Algebra, Math Analysis, and Calculus are included in course offer- ings. Of special interest is the newest addition to the Mona- can math family: a Special To- pics class has been created for interested seniors who have passed Pre-Calculus but choose not to take Advance Placement-oriented Calculus class. This is a prime example of how classes are altered or added in response to stu- dents’ needs. An important, heretofore un- mentioned, subset of the math department is the computer department. Using the school’s new Apple lles, stu- dents can take classes from basic computer skills to the new Pascal-oriented AP Com- puter class. This year’s AP students faced the problem that few colleges immediately grant credit for the Advanced Placement Test in computer science because this is the first year that it is offered. With any luck, this problem will be resolved and students as- piring to advanced learning will be given appropriate cred- it for their work. In addition to taking a separate computer class, students can choose to take basic computer work as part of their Algebra Il — Trig class. Finally, the computer department helps the student body by offering SAT prepara- tory classes aimed in improv- ing scores on College Board Tests. In today’s growing high-tech society, math is clearly an im- portant subject to learn. High schools such as ours are the important link to expanded math understanding, and with qualified teachers such as the ones in the mathematics de- partment, the future is as boundless as the interest of the student. So when you think math, don’t think irrelevant, think indispensible. Math and Computers 37

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A Mad Scientist. Mixing substances, Tee Morris prepares an experiment which he hopes will be a success. A Mister Wizard Experiment. Blow- ing bubbles into some specially treat- ed water, Howard Estes shows the color change with the addition of car- bon dioxide. I, i 9 me Gly is Ba a 4 . “ Sa me, a y ed 7a ‘gees Very Careful. Peering over his lab partner's shoulder, Raymond Keevins offers his assistance when it is need- ed. A Mental Challenge Someone realistic must have planned the schedule that placed AP Chemistry and AP Biology at the end of the school day. If not for this fact about one half of Monacan’s future doctors and engineers would be woefully unprepared for their profession's require- ments aS a consequence of not having completed at home questions, labs, reading, and studying. In fact, it can be said that these two classes alone take up more time during the first four periods of the day than just about any other duo of subjects. The lunch time that the advanced sciences use is alSo a prime contributor to the loss of revenue the cafeteria experiences on test days. Analysis of the infamous “lunch cram session’’ pro- vides a suitable explanation for the observed phenomena of greatly increased french-fry grease, catsup, and other similar food stain concentra- tions, in AP Biology and Chem- istry books. Certainly, these two classes deserve all the mystique given them. AP Biology is taught by Mrs. Margaret Jefferson. Under her guidance, students explore such diverse subjects as Mel- vin Calvin’s Cycle, fetal pig anatomy, and the sex life of the earthworm. In addition, Mrs. Susan Heath, AP Biolo- gy’s student teacher, led the class through the topics of en- ergy use, photosynthesis, and biochemistry in a manner that was mentally challenging but nonetheless academically humbling. Rumor has it that some students began to phos- phorylize spontaneously, with ADP going in one ear and ATP out the other. Following tests the halls of the school rang true with comments such as “But we never did that’ and ‘‘What was the enzyme in num- ber twenty seven?” Just as certainly came the answer, ‘“‘Everybody bombed out’’ along with the hopeful but in- credibly sarcastic “‘But the point system will take care of it,’ a phrase none too comfort- ing to a hapless scholar that only answered a third of the questions on the whole test. Chemistry is a far more ex- act and mathematically based subject than its biological counterpart. Mrs. Barbara Goehle presents her students with the opportunity to memo- rize boardfuls of mathematical equations, chemical reac- tions, constants named after everyone and his dog, and ad- ditional scientific hodgepodge all in an effort to predict the behavior of matter and energy. AP Chemists’ minds are daz- zled with a subject assortment from sigma and pi bonds in mo- lecular orbitals to related rate equations to the nomenclature of organic chemistry. And in the Spring, chemistry proves its inherent superiority to biol- ogy as the smell of hydrogen sulfide wafting through the halls soundly subdues the odor of fetal pig preserving flu- id. In short, AP chemistry and AP biology represent the pin- nacle of high school science achievement as other ad- vanced placement classes do in the humanities and the mathematics. The incentive of college credit drives some to these two rather difficult classes. But for the most part, people enroll to satisfy their curiousity about themselves, their world, and the universe around them. Science Department 39