4 Period Junior Elective Form

This form is the sign-up request form for your 4-period elective in the Junior year.

As you consider your elective options, please keep the following in mind:

• AP courses are college-level courses, the most rigorous level taught at Ramaz. Students who take these courses are expected to take the official AP exam in May as their final exam for the course.

• Requests to join an AP course are subject to department approval.

• Consider the overall rigor/challenge in your high school curriculum; students who take mostly accelerated or honors general studies courses should either continue with a world language or consider an AP course.

• Students in mostly regular-level courses or a mix of regular and accelerated courses should consider whether adding an AP course would be too heavy a course load.

• Consider options that align with your overall academic interests and future studies.

• You must Rank ALL courses in order of your preference. DO NOT Rank any choices with the same rank.

Although we cannot guarantee you will receive your first-choice selection, we do our best to place students in a highly-ranked course.

College advisors will be available next week during your 6th period lunch to answer your individual questions.This form is the sign-up request form for your 4-period elective in the Junior year.

Rank your interest in each course from 1 (highest) to 9 (lowest) by moving the slider. You must rank every course. No two courses can have the same ranking *

Email *

AP Microeconomics

Selected Value: 4

This full-year course follows the College Board’s AP Microeconomics curriculum and prepares you to take and pass the exam in May which is required. Enrollment in the course requires approval. AP Microeconomics is an introductory college-level one-semester course with the following goals: Study the economic principles that attempt to explain the complex choices that households, businesses, and societies make in their pursuit of happiness and greater common good Explain and analyze the role of markets, government, and other institutions in our lives Learn about the tools and methodologies that economists use as social scientists to arrive at economic theories Critically examine the role of government policies in achieving greatest common good both at micro and macro levels The AP course and exam description which is available on the AP Central website. https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-microeconomics

AP Psychology

Selected Value: 4

AP Psychology is a full-year rigorous and fascinating course which will provide an enhanced understanding of the mind and behaviors. Through the systemic and scientific study of biological and social influences related to our mental process, students will emerge with an appreciation of the complexity of human experience. The course is designed to provide students with a broad overview of the diverse field of psychology and prepare students for the AP Psychology Exam given in May. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the 14 major subfields within psychology. They will also learn about methods psychologists use in their practice and ethical considerations. Class time will incorporate lectures, dynamic discussions, multimedia presentations, experiments, and activities. Students will need a strong work ethic as there will be regular required readings, quizzes and exams, creative homework assignments, and a term paper.

AP Studio Art

Selected Value: 4

The Advanced Art Studio Class is an intensive yearlong hands-on course of independent inquiry, personalized instruction, and regular peer critiques. The curriculum is divided into two parts. Initially, students are given weekly conceptual assignments that challenge their ideas and creativity. In the second half of the course, students will complete a body of work of their own design - selecting their subject matter, content, and media - and pushing their theme in different ways in a series of artworks. The rhythm of the course is built around constructive peer critiques. The challenge of speaking about one's art and the pleasure of learning from others is at the heart of this course. These efforts culminate in students exhibiting their work and for interested students' submission of an AP Art portfolio. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-studio-arts-course-description.pdf

AP US Government

Selected Value: 4

How does our political system work? The course will cover the origins and evolution of the major institutions and documents of the American political system: checks and balances, federal state relations, how Congress is organized, how laws are made, political parties, interest groups, and the media. The course will also survey the development of the American Constitution, primarily by examining major legal decisions issued by the Supreme Court. Students will develop an appreciation of different theories of constitutional interpretation and of the interaction between social values, political power and court decisions.

Astronomy

Selected Value: 4

This course is designed to introduce the students to the cosmos by exposing them to known facts, evolving ideas and frontier discoveries in astronomy today. The course covers the following topics: Earth and the solar system, stars, stellar evolution, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and cosmology.

Forensics

Selected Value: 4

This course explores the science of crime scene investigation. The textbook provides an extensive overview of the complexities of the crime scene, physical evidence, and the crime laboratory. In addition, case studies and hands-on lab activities will be used to demonstrate such topics as Fingerprints, DNA Typing, Cause and Time of Death, Victim Identification, Shoe and Tire Tracks, Blood Analysis, Ballistics, and Fiber and Glass Analysis.

French or Spanish (AP, Advanced or 3rd Year)

Selected Value: 4

The French and Spanish courses aim at achieving a high level of proficiency in the spoken language and developing excellence in written skills. Students will listen to radio programs and read both literary texts and newspapers to enhance their fluency. Students will be placed in a course level appropriate to their proficiency, subject to sufficient enrollment.

Space

Selected Value: 4

Understanding the way a space works (the rules of a space) confers power over that space. Power over a space confers the privilege to define that space. From the universe to the mind, the course will examine how humans think about the spaces we live in and how our knowledge or understanding of those spaces defines our lives

Religion and Society

Selected Value: 4

This course will provide an overview of different philosophical conceptions of the nature of ethics. We will study excerpts from the great thinkers of the Western philosophical tradition and compare them with Judaic sources. Seminars will be discussion-based with the objective of enhancing our analytical and critical thinking skills.