Science Department
Environment Team
Thomas Franco, English Language Arts
Courtney Clark, Social Studies
Jim Kubik, Science and Environmental Studies
631.262.6679
e-team@northport.k12.ny.us
Environment Team Brochure
The Environment Team
is a college preparatory, interdisciplinary program taught in an
experiential fashion. Students on the Environment Team investigate the
interactions of human culture and the natural world. Utilizing class
experiences and field experiences as a vehicle, students study content
in several academic disciplines including social studies, English, and
science.
The Environment Team meets for four consecutive
periods, five days per week. Students are immersed in challenging
experiences that demand participation and dedication going beyond the
traditional academic environment. The effort in this program is to use
direct experience as a basis for the development of skills and
understandings in the various disciplines. To that end experiential
field experiences are conducted in authentic settings including
legislative assemblies, local historical venues, unique geological
sites, ecological environments and anthropological locations. These
field experiences provide a large basis for the curriculum and are
essential parts of the program, which focuses upon gaining an
understanding of the Long Island environment and community.
As
part of their requirements during the year, students must keep a
portfolio, write a college-level research paper, and develop a
comprehensive final project that will be defended before a panel of
educators. Students are involved in school programs, community service,
environmental clean-ups, fund-raising, and some degree of
self-governance. The major focus of the Team is to examine issues from
an interdisciplinary viewpoint and to use the relevant skills in that
examination. The program strives to produce functioning and productive
citizens while preparing them for a future of self-discovery.
Students
interested in the Environment Team must register for all courses listed
below; including course 9130. The curriculum provides a structured,
experience-based series of activities that are governed by course
content across the following disciplines:
E-TEAM ADVISORY
40 weeks every other day (9120)
Students
and E-Team teachers meet during this period to create horizontal
integration between the core classes. Team preparation and team building
exercises are an integral part of this course.
E-TEAM ENGLISH
1 Unit 40 weeks (9121)
The
course covers the English 12 curriculum including reading, writing,
poetry, and public speaking, as well as both MLA and APA college-level
research papers.
E-TEAM SCIENCE
1 Unit 40 weeks (9123)
Topics
taught in Environment Team Science include: local/regional human impact
on the environment, ecology, natural history, meteorology, survival
strategies in extreme conditions, regional flora and fauna,
thermodynamics, alternative energies, bioethics, and green architecture.
Numerous rigorous hands-on activities and laboratory investigations are
performed.
E-TEAM SOCIAL STUDIES
1 Unit 40 weeks (9122)
The
course covers 12th grade curriculum in Participation in Government and
Economics, as well as other social sciences. Students are also involved
in community service projects. This fulfills the 12th grade Social
Studies requirement.
Prerequisites for the program:
The Environment Team is open to seniors only.
Application and interview are required for acceptance.
Please see any E-Team teacher in L-103.
"Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats