According to the science department, the new zoology course will benefit students’ schedules as well as widen their interests and knowledge  of science.

Jason English, the science department chair, said the course will include studying the important philea of the animal kingdom, as well as animal adaptations, behaviors, evolution, diversity, human impact, and animal impact on changing ecosystems. 

“Students will learn about animals all over the world [as well as] why we have certain animals in say Africa that we don’t in South America,” said English. 

Because it is a single semester, the class lessens stress for students deciding which courses to put on their schedule and which ones to veto. 

English said there are some students who want to take more science courses than required for graduation. However, when reading the course offerings, they realize they can’t take a full year of science because they need to fit in civics or another elective. Since zoology is one semester, they can take another science course without disrupting their schedule. 

Science teacher John Burnside said a different benefit of the course being one semester is that students can pair it with another semester-long course.

They’ll get the experiences of both classes and therefore gain the advantage of being knowledgeable in multiple areas of science.”

Zoology allows students to have a better understanding of the human body, Burnside said. And students can use what they learned in zoology when in the anatomy and physiology course to compare the bodies of animals and humans. 

“Therefore the students will understand not necessarily how we’re designed, but why. That comparative anatomy component is a really interesting dynamic when we look at [our] own tissues, organs and systems,” explained Burnside. 

English is excited about the number of students who are interested in animals and zoology. 

“I am excited to see if we have hit sort of a nerve in terms of student interest.”

Burnside added that he hopes this course will cause students to explore other unique areas of science. 

“Things that people might not realize are options or possibilities and so hopefully this opens a window to more possibilities”

English said that the science department will not expand their current course options. However, they have a few possibilities lined up. 

“We’ve talked in the past about doing something like [the] physics of video games where students do a little bit of coding and a little bit of physics at the same time.We have options like a geology course [which] might be really interesting down the line,” stated English. 

Burnside said that the thought process in adding zoology was to offer more opportunities to all students. 

“The more options and opportunities kids have the more choices they can make to follow their passions.”