Biology

Twelfth grade Biology is either AP Biology taken as a senior, or a specialist elective — most commonly Anatomy and Physiology, and in some schools Genetics, Microbiology or Environmental Science. Students choose it because they are heading for medicine, nursing, veterinary science or a biology major, so the work is aimed squarely at college readiness.

Anatomy and Physiology is organised system by system and rewards students who can trace a disturbance through the body — how a change in one system produces compensatory change in another. Where the course is AP Biology, the priority in senior year is exam technique and the free-response sections, with college applications competing for the same time.