Introduction
Health Science at Western High School is a semester-long comprehensive and up-to-date course that teaches ways for our students to develop life skills that are essential to a lifetime of good health and wellness. During the semester students will learn:

Decision-Making
Establishing Goals
Nutrition and Weight Management
Mental Health
Self-Esteem
Suicide Prevention
Basic First Aid
CPR and Rescue Breathing
Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs
Refusal Skills
Reproduction
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
HIV/AIDS Awareness
Sexual Abstinence

Grading Procedures
The students in Health Science will be graded by the following means:

Semester Long Projects
SDD's - A daily writing assignment that is the equivalent to journal writing. This assignment is due every Thursday and equals 19% of their total semester grade.

Periodicals - A weekly writing assignment in which the students select a newspaper, magazine or Internet article about health and write a two-paragraph summary. The first paragraph is a summary of the article, while the second paragraph is about his or her opinions and how the article relates to his or her own life. This assignment is also worth 19% of the total semester grade.

First Quarter
Nutrition Unit - In this unit the students learn the basics of the decision-making process, healthy eating, importance of exercise and proper ways to manage their weight. (8 % of semester grade)

Mental Health Unit - This unit covers mental and emotional health, stress awareness, building self-esteem, and suicide prevention. (8% of semester grade)

First Aid Unit - The first aid unit teaches the students basic emergency care, strategies to use in case of an emergency, home safety and CPR skills. (8% of semester grade)

Health Notebook - This is often called a portfolio. Each student will keep all of their assignments and place them into a notebook. The student will need to put his or her work into a folder that has three fold-down brads. (8% of semester grade)

Second Quarter
Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Unit - Within this unit the students learn the physical, emotional, financial and criminal aspects of illegal drug use. They will also find out about how legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol effect their own health and the health and safety of others. Furthermore, the students will learn and practice using refusal skills that will give them confidence to make healthy decisions. (10% of semester grade)

Family Living Unit - This unit is also called "sex education" by many. Within the first half of this unit our students learn about human anatomy and physiology and reproduction including financial, educational, and social costs associated with teen pregnancy. The second half of this unit deals with Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS. The students will learn about how these diseases effect not only themselves, but those who love them too. However, the most important aspect of this unit is in the area of dating responsibilities, relationships and sexual abstinence. (10% of semester grade)

Term Paper - Every student must do the term paper in order to pass Health Science. This assignment has specific guideline and a list of over 25 different topics (or with prior teacher approval the students could select a topic not on the list) This paper must follow the AUHSD Research Paper Standards and be four typed pages with works cited and cover page. Research must be from at least one book and one Internet site. (10 % of semester grade)

Homework
Although the majority of all assignments are done in class, there is always homework. Students are encouraged to read the current chapters for 20 minutes a day. They are also to do the "Recalling the Facts" questions found at the end of each chapter. Students are to write out the questions and underline their answers. Finally, since the students need to turn in a Periodical assignment each week, they need to do these at home as well.

Posting of Grades
The grades are posted in the classroom every week, and students who are in danger of receiving a poor grade are shown ways to raise their grade.