This year, a new science course is being offered at Tuscarora that wasn’t being offered in the past. The class is called Anatomy and Physiology, and it helps to cover the human body parts and their functions. The fall semester is being taught by Mrs. Farmer, and the spring semester is being taught by Mrs. Hayden. The course, according to both teachers, acts as a baseline for the typical college level Anatomy and Physiology course, which tends to be extremely difficult. Mrs. Farmer loves teaching the course because “it’s hands on” and it has “a lot of labs.” The course helps a lot for basic knowledge going into college, but Mrs. Farmer says that even if you don’t plan on going to college, “it gives you an idea of how your body works.”

The students get to participate in all kinds of fun and interesting labs, including the one pictured to the right, in which students dissected real bones to examine their contents. Students were also able to perform fun experiments such as creating fake wounds on their arms. As a whole, the class seems to be a fun and engaging experience for all involved, including the teachers.

So far, the course is intended to be permanently offered at THS. Just for this first year, enough people signed up to support two sections, or two blocks, of the course. Although it covers similar curriculum to our school’s Biology and Biomed courses, both Mrs. Farmer and Mrs. Hayden agree that the class itself is very different. Anatomy and Physiology is considered to be a merit, or unweighted, course, serving as a simple science elective like Forensic Science, whereas Biomed is a weighted and very difficult course.