For the 2019-20 school year, Bloomfield Hills High School has reinvented the science curriculum to require physics as a graduation requirement and renamed the physics and chemistry class titles. There are many changes to the science curriculum and science requirements.  

For the class of 2022 and beyond, every student must take one credit of physics to graduate. In the past, students were given the choice to take the class, but were not required to take it like biology and chemistry.

“The best thing about the new physics requirement is that all students will now be taking physics. It’s a great class with a lot of real-world information that everyone can use to become a better all-around person in society after graduation,” physics teacher, Lindsey Deluca said.  “There are a lot of practical, real-world topics that are covered in the course. Students will learn about motion and forces, for example, and this will help them understand how a car crash becomes more and more serious as speeds increase. Students will get to utilize a lot of the math skills that they learn in real-world, practical scenarios.”  

The physics curriculum title has also changed from“Physics” to “Physics of the Universe.”          

“Most of the concepts covered in Physics of the Universe are the same that were covered in Physics last year.  We have added a plate tectonics unit to the beginning of the year, and for the past three years we have added an astrophysics unit to the end,” said Deluca.

The students enrolled in physics this year are learning new skills and becoming exposed to new areas of science. 

“I think it’s great that all students are going to get an exposure to physics.  It’s a great class with a lot of fun hands-on activities that students can really “see.”  We launch rockets, design devices to save falling eggs, and use “Turing Tumble,” a marble-powered physical computer system, to learn about programming languages and circuits,” said Deluca.  “We end the year with mind-baffling concepts of astronomy and the universe, which I think all humans should think about every now and then.”  

The chemistry class title has also been changed to  “Chemistry of Earth Sciences.” 

“The chemistry concepts have not changed this year. Some of our units are re-ordered, and some concepts spiral through multiple units,” said chemistry teacher Julie Honkala.  “The earth science standards just provide a different lens through which a topic is explored and include broad topics such as water, energy, and climate change, which have significance in multiple disciplines of science.” 

These changes are affecting a large majority of the student body at Bloomfield Hills High School as it may affect their high school years and more changes may continue to occur. 

“I like the new physics requirement because physics is a really important class and helps you when applying for colleges and jobs,” said sophomore Sydney Kennedy.