Foundations of Science now UC “d” lab science

Current freshmen and sophomores will now earn lab credit toward graduation for the Foundations of Science course.

By late August, science department chair Winnie Litten and science teacher Yukako Kawakatsu, began the process.

Oak Park High School has a three-year science requirement for graduation: FOS, Biology and Chemistry. FOS is now a designated “d” laboratory science course. Some colleges require three or four years of “d” laboratory science. This designation allows freshman year science to count towards that requirement.

“Ms. Kawakatsu and I started by reading through many different examples of University of California approved courses,” Litten wrote to the Talon. “[We] created a Google Doc and started curating the lessons, labs, activities and phenomena that occur in this course.”

When the course was only an idea, the entire science department, former Assistant Principal Bryan Martin and Ventura County Science Coordinator Nathan Inouye strategized the objectives and focused on individual courses.

“We live in a world that requires students to be prepared for jobs in the future that do not even exist today,” Inouye wrote to the Talon. “It is essential that all students are equipped with critical thinking and problem skills that are learned and practiced in the Foundations of Science course.”

“[Kawakatsu, Ellen Chevalier and I] worked to align the FOS class with the Next Generation Science Standards by integrating Earth Science with both physics and chemistry so we knew that we were working from a firm foundation to get it approved,” Litten wrote.

Prior to the 2017-2018 school year, FOS was split into two courses: chemistry, developed by Kawakatsu and Labnow, and biology, developed by Chevalier and Litten. The ninth grade science course previously received the designation of “e” elective. It is now approved as “d” laboratory science by University of California.

“[Science teacher] David Sloan contributed heavily to the physics sections to check for accuracy and continuity with the curriculum in the subsequent courses,” Litten wrote. “We have received strong support, from the very beginning from the district, especially Jay Greenlinger [Director of Curriculum and Instruction], to trust us to write and implement the curriculum.”

Litten and Kawakatsu began viewing samples of the criteria they needed for their course approval. They submitted their approval Sep. 12, and the course was approved on Sept. 26.

“We knew that the Foundations of Science course was a rigorous, investigative, collaborative and innovative course and we wanted students to receive the designation and credit for all of their hard work” Litten wrote.

Sophomore Emily Warren said she supports this change and is glad it has gone into effect.

“I loved Foundations of Science last year. The teachers really take the time and put in the extra work to make sure that their students know the curriculum,” Warren wrote to the Talon. “I’m so glad that all of our hard work in science from last year is now counting for [lab] credits.”

According to Litten, the high school is currently investigating if it is possible for Class of ‘19 and ‘20 to receive college credits, as it was a similar class with slightly different criteria, although it was just as rigorous.

“I had a good experience in Foundations,” senior Jeremy Orriss wrote to the Talon. “It was pretty easy, to be honest, which was nice, but it also gave me a good background to build off in later, advanced classes.”

The FOS course went through major development over the past five years, undergoing changes in both curriculum and alignment with NGSS.

“I am very proud to be a member of this innovative team,” Litten wrote. “To build a foundational course that provides both the foundation in the science practices (ways in which scientists “do” science) as well as the curriculum that leads to a better understanding of our universe.”