Science

Our sequence of science studies at BACS supports students in applying the scientific method to the world around them. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science classes are offered to students and cover the following topics:

• Biology - study of cells, the microscope, measurement, photosynthesis and respiration, genetics, DNA, ecology, and evolution.

• Chemistry – atoms, conversions and measurement, the periodic table, ionic and covalent bonding, acids and bases, biochemistry, and organic chemistry.

• Physics – linear and projectile motion, vectors, momentum, Newton’s laws of motion, energy, and rocket science.

• Environmental Science – water quality and river life are examined in the Blackstone River while larger issues of pollution and quality of life are examined through a critical examination of the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls.

In all classes, students conduct group projects and lab work and participate in a school-wide science fair.

Mathematics

What are BACS students learning in their math classes?

Ask our Algebra I students: What is absolute value? (HINT: It’s not the absolute best value for a plasma TV!)

Ask our Algebra II students: What is FOIL? (HINT: It’s not for wrapping leftovers!)

Ask our Precal/Trig students: What is an angle of depression? (HINT: It’s not an unhappy angle!)

Ask our Numeracy students: What are weighted averages? (HINT: They are not the same as your average weight!)

Ask our Geometry students: What is a hypotenuse? (HINT: It’s not a big, fat water beast!)

World Languages

The World Languages department at Blackstone Academy offers courses in both Spanish (Levels 1, 2, and 3) and Portuguese (Levels 1 and 2). Courses are interactive and focus on building grammar and vocabulary fundamentals first. Our communicative, hands-on approach to language learning inspires students to learn in authentic ways and legitimizes their own cultural contributions to language study. Through a community partnership, BACS students may also take Japanese courses for credit at the Japan Language and Culture Center in Providence.

Humanities

• English

The BACS English department offers a diverse curriculum that uses a wide variety of literature as a launching pad for connecting text to life using inquiry-based methods that integrate the arts and encourage students to make links in their knowledge across academic disciplines and life experiences. The faculty focuses on writing as a process and involves students in pre-writing activities, the revision process, and the critical evaluation of their own and peers’ writing. Through the teaching of explicit reading skills, BACS students are encouraged to read both deeply and widely. English classes focus on higher order cognitive skills and push students to get to the “why” in their reading, writing, and class discussions.

• Social Studies

Through our teaching teams, learning in Social Studies is integrated under a Humanities framework that links historical inquiry to personal experience, the examination of literature, and the analysis of contemporary culture in both the immediate community and the wider world. Students apply this learning framework through the study of both World History and U.S. History:

o World History – Rather than a broad survey of history, students focus on critical eras and events from early civilizations to the 20th century that are studied in depth to probe the connections to other disciplines and to contemporary life and culture.

o U.S. History - Our evolution as a democratic republic is examined through detailed, critical looks at specific periods and events that shaped our character and values as a nation. Regular collaboration with English classes under the Humanities banner help strengthen connections across disciplines and enrich and enliven the learning process with inputs from literature, the arts, and popular culture.