Want a quick list of all the Magnet courses? Click here...otherwise, for the full description, read on:

So what is it like to be a Blair Magnet student? First of all, Blair Magnet students have an eight-period schedule instead of the seven-period day like most Montgomery County Public Schools high schoolers. That means the school day ends a little later than the rest of Blair — 3:00 PM instead of 2:10 PM. So while we think this is the most exciting and fascinating place to be in high school, it can also be one of the most rigorous.

But!...that doesn't mean Magnet students are all work and no play. Even though the Magnet day in class is longer, and their workload is challenging, Blair has adapted to make sure Magnet students can fully participate in Blair's athletics teams and after school clubs and activities (And they do!).

During the school day, ninth and tenth grade students take four of their classes with the general school population in arts, humanities, social sciences, physical education, etc. The other four classes are Magnet classes, one in each of the four Magnet disciplines of science, mathematics, computer science, and interdisciplinary research and experimentation (or "R & E"). During eleventh and twelfth grade, Magnet students have far fewer required courses, and are able to choose amongst a plethora of electives offered by the Magnet and the other departments in the school. Below, you will find a year by year outline of the Magnet courses and activities a Magnet student will participate in (or jump straight to a section: ninth grade, tenth grade, eleventh and twelfth grades, and every year). Links to webpages about particular classes will, at the very least, be a more in depth description of the class, though often it will be a page designed by the students and/or teacher of the class itself. If you prefer, we also have our classes outlined by discipline, science, mathematics, computer science, and R&E, instead of by grade. Also, we encourage you to visit the webpages of Blair's other departments, too, so you can explore the other classes a Magnet student takes.

Ninth Grade

In the ninth grade, the Magnet courses are strongly linked to each other. Students may learn a concept first semester in Physics, or second semester in Chemistry and bring that conceptual knowledge to their ninth grade R & E class. In R&E, they apply the knowledge they've gained from their science classes, and learn problem solving skills, not to mention a few engineering techniques. The data students have collected in their science and R & E classes is brought to their Fundamentals of Computer Science course, where the data is analyzed and further modeling of the experiment is completed on the computer. The Fundamentals of Computer Science course is not your typical computer science programming course at all. In fact, very little programming is done in this class — that comes sophomore year! Instead, students learn some of the ways scientists and mathematicians use a computer. They use modeling programs to perform virtual experiments and simulations. And they learn some of the fundamentals of computer science such as Boolean algebra and circuitry.

Magnet students come into the program with different backgrounds, though all have taken at least Algebra I. Many students begin in Magnet Geometry, while others start the three-semester Magnet Precalculus or the two-semester Magnet Functions course; both of these courses cover the same topics, but at different paces.

Ninth grade is also the time many students start getting involved with clubs, extracurriculars, and athletics. Several (though by no means all) of Blair's clubs have webpages you can check out.

Tenth Grade

Again in the tenth grade, the science and R & E courses are heavily linked. While learning Earth Science, knowledge is being applied in the tenth grade R & E class, particularly through their Mission Possible research project. The second semester Biology course is integrated with a year-end, three day, indisciplanary field experience to Wallops Island, just south of Assateague on the Virginia coast, where students apply the knowledge they've acquired in all their science courses.

In computer science, students move to Algorithms and Data Structures, a programming course currently taught in C++. Students learn the fundamental forms of computer programming and software design.

In mathematics, students who took geometry in the ninth grade take Magnet Precalculus or Magnet Functions. If the student completed Functions the freshman year or Precalculus midyear during the sophomore year, the student is then enrolled in Analysis I, the Magnet's first calculus course.

Eleventh and Twelfth Grades

There are fewer required courses in the last couple of years of the Magnet curriculum. Mathematics proceeds through the various calculus courses: Analysis I, and Analysis II. R & E continues junior year with the Research Design class. Most Magnet students then go on in their Senior year to complete his/her major Research Project, in which students often intern in area laboratories (NIH, NIST, etc.), and submit their work to contests such as the Intel (formally Westinghouse) National Science Search.

The rest of a student's Magnet schedule is completed with mix of the wide variety Magnet electives, and courses offered by other departments at Blair. All Magnet electives can also be taken by any of Blair's non-Magnet students, if they have completed appropriate prerequisites (see specific courses for details).

In physics, a student can take Optics, where they investigate the physics of light (and make their own homemade camera), the ever-popular Quantum Physics, a class designed to teach the fundamental principles of atomic physics and chemistry, Thermodynamics, all about the physics of energy, and Mathematical Phyiscs, or MathPhys for short, one of our most challenging courses.

In the realm of chemistry, we have Physical Chemistry first semester and the related course Analytical Chemistry second semester, together know affectionately as "Phamistry" after the classes' instructor, Mr. Pham. These courses introduce the connection of physics to chemistry and the analytical and instrumental techniques of a chemist.

Earth science's electives include Astronomy, an investigation of current topics of astronomy and planetary geology (plus a scientific study of current science fiction!), and Plate Tectonics and Oceanography, a study of many of the current trends in geology and physical oceanography.

Those who want further study in biology will find courses in Cell Physiology, a course in biomedical research and chemistry on the cellular level, Introductory Genetics Analysis, designed for students interested in Mendelian, medical, and molecular genetics, and Marine Biology, a study of aquatic ecosystems, organisms, and environmental issues—includes field work!

One last science course, which does not fit into any of the four disciplines above, is, perhaps, the most popular Magnet elective, Origins of Science. The Origins course discusses the development of science in its historical context, and its relationships to culture, philosophy, and humankind.

There are a variety of computer science electives for students to take. Most who want to go on further into the computer science electives must take Analysis of Algorithms, as several of the other electives require this course as a prerequisite. Analysis of Algorithms extends where the Tenth Grade Algorithms and Data Structures left off, further elaborating on the fundamental principles of computer programming. At the conclusion of the Analysis course, students are prepared for and most students take the A.P. Computer Science exam.

Modeling and Simulation continues on a section of the ninth grade computer science course, using the computer to model physical, biological, economic, and social systems on a computer. Students use traditional programming languages, mathematical computer languages, such as Matlab or Mathematica, and scientific modeling programs, such as Stella.

In Computer Graphics, Java is used as the principle language of the course. Thus students not only learn fundamental image processing techniques and graphic-related computer algorithms, a new programming language is learned, as well. Recently, we've also added a separate 3D Graphics course.

Topics can vary from year to year in Advanced Application Software, where students concentrate of mastering professional software packages or development environments. In the past, students have focused on publishing and graphics packages such as Pagemaker, Pov-ray, and Photoshop, web design, and programming languages such as Java.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence examines the concepts and recent developments in artificial intelligence. Students are also exposed a programming language unlike the procedural and object-oriented style programming languages they have used in the past (BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Java, etc.), as the course is taught in the functional-style language LISP.

Students plan, design, and implement their own original group programming project in Software Design. In the past, projects have included game design, network analysis tools, and educational software.

Some fundamentals in Information Systems are taught in Introduction to Data Communications and Networking. Students research current trends in computer networks and learn the basics of network and system administration.

Last, but not least, the computer science track offers Computational Methods, where students implement numerical algorithms used to solved programs in mathematics, science, and engineering. Students use both traditional programming languages, and those designed specifically for computational problems, such as Matlab and Mathematica.

The Interdisciplinary Research and Experimentation track offers two electives (three, if you count Origins of Science, which could listed here as well as Science), beyond the required and optional research courses mentioned above.

In Material Science, students solve engineering problems using a variety of materials and investigate the use of materials as they relate to real world problems. And they make their own shoes.

Robotics is one of our newest courses, where students work on the engineering challenges of designing and building mechanized robots.

Finally, we have the mathematics electives. Applied Statistics is a crucial course of the future scientist or mathematician, focusing on the statistical techniques used in research. In Linear Algebra, students learn the theory and practice of matrices and determinates applicable to the sciences, economics, psychology, and engineering. Discrete Mathematics is a course on the subject of non-continuous mathematics, often used in computer science. Students learn graph theory, probability, linear programming, matrices, and game theory. Lastly, for the student who finished Analysis II and yearns for more, we have Complex Analysis for particularly advanced mathematical topics involving complex variables.

Other Activities

Aside from the classes and projects, there are other activities for the Magnet student. One of the most popular is the annual Magnet Arts Night, an evening where Magnet students get to show that they are not just future scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers. Its a night that celebrates our students amazing ability in the Arts: music, theater, dance, and the visual arts are explored. It is an event eagerly anticipated every year.

Magnet students also can show off their talents with Silver Quest, a yearly publication of facts, opinion, art, poetry, and prose.

The annual Magnet Picnic at the end of the year allows our students to kick back with some well earned R&R. A little food, a little volleyball, and a lot of fun.

And, of course, there are the many other courses, activities, and opportunities that the rest of Montgomery Blair offers. Magnet students are and/or have been captains of Blair sports teams, writers and editors for the school newspaper, President of the Blair SGA, leads in the school plays, members of Blair's various bands and orchestras, and so much more, we can't list it all here. Please see the rest of Blair's website to find out more about what Montgomery Blair High School has to offer.

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