Science Course List

Prerequisite: 101-NYA
Topics covered in this course include the molecular basis of life: an introduction to the chemistry of biological molecules; the structure and function of cell membranes; bioenergetics: photosynthesis, cellular respiration, metabolism; molecular genetics: an introduction to the molecular basis of heredity and biotechnology. This course is recommended for students pursuing Health Science studies at university.

Prerequisite: 101-NYA
Human Anatomy and Physiology introduces the science student to the dynamic workings of the major organ systems of the human body. Particular focus is placed on the intricate workings of the nervous system for control of bodily functions, as well as the vital functions of the cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine systems. The lab provides students with the opportunity to use themselves as test subjects while learning about their own unique physiology. This course is recommended for students pursuing Health Science studies at university.

Prerequisite:101-NYA
Genetics has revolutionized our understanding of human biology, from the transmission of heritable diseases and the genetic influences on behaviour, to our shared evolutionary history. This genetic revolution has been accompanied by major advances in applied genetic technologies that are having an increasing impact on individuals as they make decision about their health and reproduction. Human Genetics is designed to continue the study of genetics begun in Biology NYA, focusing on fundamental knowledge about the human genome and the function and variation of genes, which will be considered in the context of understanding, diagnosing and treating genetic disease. The laboratory component of this course will provide students the opportunity to develop skills in traditional genetics, such as genetic counselling, and new methods of genetic and genomic analysis, such as PCR and bioinformatics. The profound importance of genetics in modern health care, bioethics, and biotechnology make this an interesting course for any science student.

Prerequisite:101-NYA
This course is designed as an intensive practical and applied approach to Marine science. This field program offered at the Calabash Caye Field Station in Belize provides a unique experience in applications within Biological and Environmental disciplines by investigating a dynamic Caribbean marine environment. Topics include coral reef and fish diversity, underwater sampling techniques (including photography, survey methods), in situ sampling, and laboratory and field experiments of marine biotic and abiotic factors, food web dynamics, taxonomy, fish anatomy, and an investigation of coastal processes. This science option course is recommended for general interest and for students pursuing university studies in environmental or Earth and planetary sciences.

Prerequisite: 202-NYA
An introduction to the chemistry of organic molecules including alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic systems and their derivatives, this course employs a mechanistic approach to the understanding of typical organic reactions. Laboratory work is an important part of the course.

Prerequisite: 202-DCP
A continuation of Organic Chemistry 1 (202-DCP), this course extends the study of mechanism, structure and synthesis in organic chemistry. Methods introduced in 202-DCP are reviewed by application to the study of aromatic and carbonyl compounds. The use of spectropic techniques for determining molecular structure is emphasized. Practical laboratory work, including the use of chemical instrumentation, is an important component of the course.

Prerequisite: 202-NYA/NYB
This course is designed for science students who want to learn more about the chemistry of the natural and the modified (polluted) environment, and how we determine the concentration and behaviour of key chemical compounds in an environmental context.

We will examine:

1. the chemistry of  the atmosphere, natural waters and soil;
2. pollution of these environmental media, and how such pollution may be controlled

Topics include climate change, smog, metals and organic pollutants in the environment, nuclear chemistry, water contamination and treatment,  and greener chemical synthesis.

Familiarity with material from chemistry NYB and NYA is assumed.

Prerequisite: 202-NYA
Is that blood on your hands? Did the urbane Claus von Bulow attempt to murder his rich socialite wife by surreptitiously injecting insulin into her medication? Remember the famous ‘Acid Experiments’ of the 1960’s conducted in our back yard at McGill University and secretly funded by the CIA? What role does a chemist play in the mysterious death of a woman – a death later uncovered as murder due to arsenic poisoning?
From sensational high-tech cases like the O.J. Simpson trial to less well-known crimes, intriguing details are revealed in the course appropriately subtitled Arsenic Milkshake. This course gives students the opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes look at the techniques used by today’s new scientific sleuths. You will have a chance to play forensic detective, learn how to analyze gunshot residues, detect fingerprints, check Breathalyzer test results, identify different blood types and analyse drug poisonings.

Prerequisites: 202-NYA/NYB & 203-NYA/NYB
This course is about energy, the methods we use to create and convert it, and the adverse environmental affects these practices have on our planet. From the tar sands in Alberta to the coal pits in Wyoming, we will study how we find, process and distribute our limited fossil fuels. We will learn about CO₂ emissions, and how climate change has spurred the emerging green economy of wind farms, tidal generators and solar arrays. How do these things work, and how “green” are they?

This is a unique course, team-taught by two teachers from two different departments, allowing a different perspective for today’s most important questions.

Prerequisites: 202-NYB & 203-NYA
You probably already know that a feedback occurs when a guitar gets too close to an amp, but did you know that feedbacks also occur in Earth Systems? The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere on Earth are functioning systems in and of themselves that also interact in complex ways with each other, creating the weather, rocks, ecosystems, and climate. What happens when humans tinker with complex Earth systems that have been in place for millions of years? Learn the science behind the climate change headlines and examine the evidence for potential significant change in our lifetimes from a global geo-historic perspective.

Prerequisites: 202-NYB & 203-NYA
Have you ever wondered why volcanoes erupt in Hawaii, but not in Québec? Did you know that Montreal is moving away from Paris at about the same rate that your fingernails grow? Why are mountain chains where they are? What makes earthquakes tick? Follow the history of Earth from magma ocean to giant iceball; through super-continents and mountain-building episodes to ancient seas; from recent glaciation to modern-day global warming. Learn how geoscientists uncover Earth’s 4- billion-year-story and decipher the deep-Earth and surface processes that continue to shape our home: it’s all in the rocks.

Prerequisites: 202-NYB & 203-NYA
Oceanography is truly an interdisciplinary science incorporating aspects of geology, chemistry, physics, and biology to study the present and past of the world ocean. Learn about the generation of tsunamis and tidal waves (not the same thing!), beaches and tides, surface ocean currents and global thermohaline ocean circulation. Learn why oceans exist in the first place, how their shapes are constantly changing, and explore the chemosynthetic communities of organisms that live at the birthplaces of oceans. Human impact on the oceans and the potential resulting climate changes will also be explored.

This course offers applied interdisciplinary training in environmental science, and allows students to participate in field research projects in ecologically sensitive habitats. Students will be trained in environmental research during the semester by a team of instructors from different departments. At the end of the semester, a field project taking place during a weekend will allow the students to apply their knowledge and skills to complete their own research project on a meaningful environmental issue. A course fee can be charged, depending on the term project.

This course is a capstone research project course for senior students enrolled in the Science Program. It involves the completion of a research task in a scientific or mathematical setting. It will take place under the guidance of a Research Supervisor, in a CEGEP, University or Industrial setting. The experience gained will be a terrific stepping stone to a university science career while providing a wonderful capstone to a highly successful CEGEP performance.

Prerequisite: 201-NYB WITH AT LEAST 65%
This course is strongly recommended for students who intend to study Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics at university. Among the topics discussed are power series and Taylor series, parametric equations, graphs using polar co-ordinates, vector-valued functions, limits, continuity and graphs of multivariate functions, partial derivatives, optimization problems, Lagrange multipliers, multiple integrals, cylindrical and spherical co-ordinates.

Prerequisite: 201-NYC
Recommended for students who intend to pursue Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics in university, this course includes general vector spaces and subspaces, inner product spaces, linear transformations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization and selected applications (linear differential equations, quadric surfaces, linear programming).

Prerequisite: 201-NYA
This introductory statistics course is especially recommended for all Science students. Topics covered include frequency distributions, probability distributions of a discrete random variable, probability distributions of a continuous random variable using calculus, mathematical expectations including moment generating functions, sampling and sampling distributions, linear models, point and interval estimation and hypothesis testing of one and two parameters.

Prerequisites: 203-NYB & 201-NYA
Open to all science students, this course is designed primarily for students planning to study engineering or applied science at university and helps bridge the gap between CEGEP Physics and university engineering courses. Topics could include data analysis using spreadsheets, simple electronic circuits, AC circuit theory, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, rotational motion and static equilibrium. The laboratory component is a single project to design and build a device. In the words of a former student “…you learn the basic fundamentals of three subjects… when you enter the class [at university] you already feel like a pro and are way ahead… the most important thing about this class to me was the hands-on project. This class is a MUST HAVE for any future engineer.”

Prerequisite: 203-NYA
Designed for science students, this course attempts to help the student understand why the universe is the way it is by applying the laws of physics. Topics include: orbital theory and Kepler‟s laws, Newton‟s Universal Law of Gravity, conservation of energy, the ideal gas law, blackbody radiation, the solar system, planetary evolution, the minor bodies in the solar system such as comets and asteroids, stellar structure and lives including white dwarf stars, neutron stars and black holes, the “big bang theory” and the formation of galaxies and various cosmological theories. Time permitting, there may be observation nights.

Prerequisite: 203-NYA
This course is designed as a student-directed introduction to the rapidly changing world of Astronomy, providing science students with the basic information, skills and possible career paths for those with any level of interest in space. Beginning with an overview of Canada’s role in Space Sciences and the historical roots of Astronomy, students determine the depth of coverage for topics within the field for the remainder of the semester. Possible topics include primitive and modern views of the Universe, understanding the night sky, the origin of the Solar System, planetary motions and composition, the structure of our Sun, the birth, life and death of stars, the origin of galaxies, the Big Bang Theory, dark matter, and the future evolution of the universe. Students will work on self-directed projects throughout the term to explore areas of specific interest to them. Students will be introduced to the use of telescopes in Astronomy, and on select Wednesday nights students will have opportunities for observation and for participation in Astronomy Library nights.

Prerequisites: 202-NYA/NYB & 203-NYA/NYB
This course is about energy, the methods we use to create and convert it, and the adverse environmental affects these practices have on our planet. From the tar sands in Alberta to the coal pits in Wyoming, we will study how we find, process and distribute our limited fossil fuels. We will learn about CO₂ emissions, and how climate change has spurned the emerging green economy of wind farms, tidal generators and solar arrays. How do these things work and how “green” are they.
This is a unique course, team-taught by two teachers from two different departments, allowing a different perspective for today’s most important questions.Students may not take this course if they have successfully completed either 202-ENV-AB or 202-DDN-05.

Equivalent to Secondary V Chemistry, this course is intended for students who wish to pursue science or technology programs and have passed Secondary IV Environmental Option (558-404 or 558-402), or its equivalent (982-003-50), but lack Secondary V Chemistry. This course provides sufficient chemistry for entry into many technology programs (such as Dental Hygiene and Nursing) and subsequent Chemistry courses.

Prerequisites: SEE MATHEMATICS SEQUENCE CHART (Equivalent to TS4)
This course covers order of operations, fractions, exponents, radicals, arithmetic on polynomials, factoring, work with linear, exponential, quadratic and piecewise functions, solving of linear, quadratic and exponential equations, solving equations with one radical, solving systems of two linear equations, trigonometric relations in right triangles, and analytic geometry on lines.

Prerequisites: SEE MATHEMATICS SEQUENCE CHART (Equivalent to TS5)
In this course students learn algebra, radicals, polynomials, rational expressions, factoring, equations and inequalities, functions, graphs, composition of functions, inverses, polynomials, multiplication, long division, rational functions, parabolas, exponential and logarithmic functions, solving equations, trigonometry, angles, triangle trig, trig functions of any angle, identities, evaluating inverse trig functions and applications.

Equivalent to Secondary IV Environmental Option courses (558-404 or 558-402), this course is intended for students who wish to pursue science or technology programs, but lack the necessary Physical Science prerequisite. The course will provide sufficient chemistry, physics, and biology to prepare students for the Secondary V equivalents 202-001-50 and 203-001-50.

Prerequisite or Co-requisite: Sec. V Math Technical & Scientific Option OR Sec. V Science Option OR 201-015-50
Designed for students with no previous background in physics, this course is equivalent to Secondary V high school physics. It introduces kinematics (emphasizing graphing techniques), vector analysis, and Newton’s laws of motion.

⇒ To analyze the organization, functioning and diversity of living beings.

⇒ To analyze chemical and physical changes in matter using concepts associated with the structure of atoms and molecules.

⇒ To analyze the properties of solutions and reactions in solutions.

⇒ To apply the methods of differential calculus to the study of functions and problem solving.

⇒ To apply the methods of integral calculus to the study of functions and problem solving.

⇒ To apply the methods of algebra and vector geometry to problem solving.

⇒ To analyze various situations and phenomena in physics using the basic principles of classical mechanics.

⇒ To analyze various situations and phenomena in physics using the basic laws of electricity and magnetism.

⇒ To analyze various situations or phenomena associated with waves, optics and modern physics using basic principles.

⇒ To apply acquired knowledge to one or more subjects in the sciences.

⇒ To apply the experimental method in a scientific field.

⇒ (Optional) To analyze the structure and functioning of multi-celled organisms in terms of homeostasis and from an evolutionary perspective.

⇒ (Optional) To solve simple problems in organic chemistry.