By Rachel Vigil

A new Advanced Placement class is coming to the Farm this fall, and along with it are opportunities for field work and real-world science experience.

AP Environmental Science is the study of human beings’ influences on the environment. It ties in chemistry, biology, and earth science and how they all affect the world and its ecosystems.

Science teacher Toni Budoff will be heading up this course. She has already taken the required class to teach AP Environmental and has been preparing for it this whole year.

After this year’s addition of an AP Physics Calculus based, the science department decided that it would also be good to include an AP course that was better for those who don’t plan to major in any science in college. Budoff said , “I love AP Environmental because it helps relate science to the real world. Students won’t sit in class wondering, When am I going to use this?”

Students are also taking this class for the variety of the subject matter. Maggie Hoffman, who is taking the class next year says she is taking the class because, “I like the mix of Biology and Earth Science in AP Environmental. I think it will be helpful in deciding what I want to do in the future.”

To take this course, you must have already taken biology and earth science. Chemistry is also recommended, but if you took chemistry in eighth grade, you will probably know enough to get by. According to Budoff, about two-thirds of those going into the course next year have taken chemistry while a third haven’t.

There will be 56 students taking this class for a total of two classes. Block day will be spent out in the field. Field work could include visiting local water treatment plants or visits to Clear Creek. Budoff hopes to immerse the students in the subject through its applicability to the real world. The students will be engaged by this new real world subject.