Monacan High School - Legend Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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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

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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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A Cultural Experience. Studying paintings at the Virginia Museum, Hunter Applewhite and Doug Nierle take part in a field trip organized for European History students. Information Gathering. Hoping to up his grade, John Cudzik receives tutor- ing from Mr. Stadler on the ways and means of information gathering. mS 8 4 765 40 English and Social Studies