Mr. Johnston's BASE Science Page

This webpage is a resource for science students at Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE K547) in Prospect Heights Brooklyn.  Check the page often as I will update each class section with announcements, assignments, and resources.  If you have questions, remember to email me at [email protected]

All of my class grade books are available online at:  http://snapgrades.net.  At any time, students and parents can login to the website and access up-to-date grades, missing/late assignments, and attendance records.  I update snapgrades 1-2 times weekly, so the information is usually accurate.  If you have any questions regarding grades or assignments, please email me and we can discuss them.

Living Environment is a regents based course that meets national, NYS, and NYC learning standards.  Living Environment is a specialized biology class where the focus is on learning our place in the natural world.  Students will learn about biochemistry, cellular biology, human body systems, genetics, evolution, and ecology.  The course has a lab component for hands on learning.  Students MUST complete a minimum of 1200 lab minutes to be eligible to sit for the regents exam.

Field Studies is a rigorous, hands on learning experience that is a required science elective course for all incoming freshmen.  BASE partners with the Prospect Park Alliance and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens to offer students the unique opportunity to learn outside of the classroom.  Students will engage in long-term field studies, controlled experiments, and inquiry based lessons.  This course meets once weekly.

Science Research I is the first stage of a three-tiered, rigorous science curriculum offered at BASE.  Science research students are selected through student interest and teacher recommendation.  In science research I, students will engage in several long-term scientific studies where the focus is on the honing of science research skills.  Students will explore a variety of research topics to allow them to focus on their personal interests.  This culminates with each student generating a research proposal that they will pursue as juniors in science research II.  BASE happily partners with Brooklyn College's GK-12 program to allow actual scientists to work side-by-side with students in the classroom.

Animal Behavior is a new elective course at BASE.  Students in Animal Behavior will learn about the history of behavioral research, specific case studies of animal behavior, and the evolution of behavior.  BASE is partnered with the Prospect Park Zoo and Staten Island Zoo to allow students to have unique, up close learning experiences with live animals in the classroom.  Students will be given the tools, knowledge, and resources needed to conduct a long-term behavioral study of their own.