MIHS-CLUSTERS(SENIOR INSTITUTE)


		Social Studies (World ^and/or American History & Economics), English, Physics, Career Education (as needed). The Graduation Portfolio written and oral defense.

		General Description	Social Studies	English	Physics	Portfolios	Teachers
General Description		Senior Institute/Transformations is a year long interdisciplinary cluster that includes English literature, Social Studies (American History and/or World History), Physics and career education internship if student did not yet fulfill this requirement. The Senior Institute is the third and final level before graduation. Students will follow a rigorous course of study culminating in a Graduation Portfolio presentation. Seniors need to pass all the courses in the Senior Institute and successfully defend their graduation portfolio before being allowed to graduate. Once a week during cluster classes, Senior Institute students are also provided with outside resources to help them with time and stress management, career counseling, SAT and CUNY exam preparation, and health related matters. The Senior Institute serves primarily to prepare students for a crucial transformation: from young teenagers to young adults. Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*Social Studies*		The chronological framework of the course corresponds to the years of the Industrial Revolution (1750 to approximately 1913), including the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era in American history. Subsequently The New Deal and the McCarthy Era will be examined in detail. A current events project based on student interest is designed to hone research skills and make students aware of the immediacy of historical events Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Essential Questions	� Was the Industrial Revolution inevitable? � How did the Industrial Revolution forge a new cultural, social and economic reality for the world? � Is the Industrial Revolution a perpetual phenomenon? � What are the positive and negative impacts of industrialization? � How has the Industrial Revolution change our societies and the world? � Is there a price to be paid for so much development? � What are the social consequences of rapid development? Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Units of Study	� Analyses of quotes, primary sources and literature � Outlining and intensive note taking of text on the Industrial Revolution � Film analysis of �Metropolis�, introduction to the outcomes of the industrial age to the present 20th century. � Biographical study (Frick, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Jane Addams, Jacob Riis) as keys to understanding the Gilded age. Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*English*		Literary selections, interpreted in English, that parallel the historical themes include Doctorow�s Ragtime, Fitzgerald�s The Great Gatsby, Gilman�s The Yellow Wallpaper, Miller�s Death of a Salesman, Milton�s Lord of the Flies, Sinclair�s The Jungle, and Steinbeck�s Of Mice and Men, and Elie Weisel�s Night. Students also choose works of literature and work in reading groups around themes related to choice, community, identify, family, maturation and tolerance. Works included are: The Breadgivers, Dragonwings, And Now Miguel, Farewell to Manzanar, The Joy Luck Club, The Color of Water, The Giver, The Color Purple, Brave New World, Catcher in the Rye, Angela�s Ashes, etc. Class and gender issues are also explored through various genres. This permits students to explore literature, current events and historical events and relating them to their own lives and historical period. In addition, students also read poetry, short stories, plays and memoirs of the times. Students also experiment and utilize their best creative minds to write their own plays with the assistance of a professional teaching-artist and playwright Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Essential Questions	� How can one express one�s voice in a credible way on issues related to socio-political, economic and historical realities? � Why is appreciation of literature important for one�s life? � How do men and women of letters utilize the pen to convey their thoughts on the human and historical condition? � How do the diverse literary works read in this course portray issues of contemporary and classical times? � How can we develop a critical mind when interpreting or responding to the works of the men and women of letters covered in this course? � How can we spark our imagination and become better writers through our own journal writing? Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Units of Study	� Thematic essays, comparative essays, literary criticism essays � Oral presentations to defend themes and quotes chosen from works read. � Creative and original interpretations of literature and poetry studied. � Outlining, note-taking, mechanics/structural emphasis to improve writing skills. Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*Physics*		Students in Senior Institute will study the laws and phenomena that govern the natural world. Students will begin the school year with a review of the scientific method and also basic skills , i.e. using various measuring instruments, collection of data, graph reading and interpretation, writing of lab reports, review of basic algebra skills, etc. They will then move on to a rigorous physics curriculum. Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Essential Questions	� What are the different physical forces that we experience during the course of a regular day? � Why is it important to understand conservation of energy? � Do the laws of physics influence the motion of the solar system? � How has physics benefited and harmed the world? � Who are the great thinkers in Physics and how have their work influenced our world? � In what way does your knowledge of physics change your view of the physical world? � Why is my knowledge of physics important? Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*	Units of Study	� Newton�s Law of Motion � Linear motion (including velocity & acceleration) � The motion of planets and satellites in the solar system � Gravity and free fall (Galileo) � Force � Work, simple machines, levers, pulleys and inclines � Potential and Kinetic energy � Conservation of Energy � Evaporation, condensation and the three states of water � Heat transfer (basic thermodynamics) � Buoyancy and Archimedes's principle � Simple optics: convex and concave lenses, and imagers through different mediums � Electricity, serial and parallel circuits � Nuclear physics (no experiments!) Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
*Portfolios*		Back to Top Back to Clusters Page
Teachers		Back to Top Back to Clusters Page