By Esther Eisen
Accounting
Culminating Task (with percentage): None
Exam (length and percentage): 2 hours, 30%
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I did enjoy this course because it is a mix between business and math. I liked learning information about the financial aspects of service and merchandising businesses.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
I particularly liked learning how to make financial documents (e.g. trial balance, income statement, 8 column worksheet, balance sheet, general journal) in order to keep track of a business’ money and day-to-day transactions.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
I did find this course useful because I did not know anything about the types of records businesses needed to maintain prior to taking this course.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and are you happy with your decision?
I took this course because I was unsure whether or not I might want to be an accountant when I am older and because I thought that I would enjoy it.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish I had known that it is a much simpler course than other university and mixed courses and has a much lighter workload.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. Lots of textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
We were not assigned that much homework. We had textbook questions to do once every few weeks or so and they only took around half an hour or less to complete.
Chemistry
Review #1
Culminating Task (with percentage): None
Exam (length and percentage): 2hrs, 30%
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
Yes, I did enjoy this course. I really liked the information we learned.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
I enjoyed learning about organic chemistry the most and I enjoyed how much more in depth it was than grade 9 and 10 science.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
I did find this course useful because I want to go into sciences.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I took this course because I like chemistry and I’m thinking about studying it in university. I am happy that I took it.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish that I knew that math is a part of chemistry. It’s not hard math but just know that it’s there.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
It’s not an overwhelming amount of homework, probably just a bit less than the amount of math homework. It was mostly worksheets and sometimes there was textbook reading.
Review #2
Culminating Task (with percentage): None
Exam (length and percentage): 2hrs, 30%
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it because it required a lot of study time and I had a lot of homework. I started to find it kind of somewhat enjoyable halfway through the semester.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
Learning about how to find the amount of product produced when given reactant info was fun, as it was just a calculation. Finding the percentage of an element in a given compound was interesting as well (called percentage composition).
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
It’s not useful in my opinion, but might be for some people. I don’t think knowing about how to calculate things like an element’s concentration in reactions will be used in the future unless you work in a lab or with chemicals. So for me, it wasn’t useful because I won’t be using this information in the future, but for someone heading in that direction, it would be.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I felt like it would be useful for getting into university. I’m glad I took it because I know that it’s required for what I plan on majoring in for university (life science). But other than that, I would have liked to take a different course, as I didn’t enjoy this one.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish I knew that I would have to study a lot, and not to underestimate the course due to how easy it was in grade ten. Also, that it’s a huge jump from previous years.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
Occasionally I’d get some homework, usually textbook questions. Homework was given about 2-3 times a week on average, but about 6-11 questions are often given (which takes a while to complete, so I’d consider it carefully). Sometimes we’d be required to do a lab report (about 7 questions long) and hand in a typed hard copy. I had to do about 3-4 of these in the semester.
Physics
Review #1
Culminating Task (with percentage): N/A
Exam (length and percentage): 2 hours, 30%
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I did enjoy this course because I really got a chance to understand how everything in life works. In the other sciences like chemistry and biology, you get to look at the structure of things, such as atoms or living organisms. In physics, you get to understand how the things we take for granted work, such as motion, forces, and energy.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
The main three units discussed were kinematics (motion), dynamics (forces), and energy. They were all interesting in that once you learn the first few concepts, everything begins to build on each other, making it interesting to understand how the world works. My personal favourite was kinematics.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
Personally, I didn’t find this course very useful in that it is a science that is not used as often and does not really tie into other parts of my day (other than math). However, for those that want to go into a field of something that involves physics, or even just want to better understand how things work, this course is very useful and interesting.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and are you happy with your decision?
My reason for taking this course was because I want to go into something in the future involving science, so taking all three sciences in high school was my best bet. I’m happy with my decision because even though physics is not my favourite science, it was really cool to learn about it. I had never understood physics until I took this course.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
Before going into this course, I wish I knew that the whole thing involves math, specifically trigonometry and algebra. Even though we are learning physics concepts, we use math to apply the concepts, making it tricky sometimes. For those who really don’t like math, or it isn’t one of their stronger subjects, I don’t recommend they take it.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. Lots of textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.) ?
My teacher always wanted us to study every day after his lessons, so that was mainly our homework. He also liked us to use the textbook, so he would either assign textbook note making and questions, or he would just expect us to do it, especially at the beginning or very end of a unit. Overall though, the workload was not that bad.
Economics
Culminating Task (with percentage): Present your ISU on an economic issue (15%)
Exam (length and percentage): in class (15%)
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I did enjoy this course because I got a chance to understand the economy better and understand how everything works.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
There are 2 main units: microeconomics (the individual and the economy) and macroeconomics (the economy as a whole). In microeconomics, students get a chance to learn about the laws of supply and demand for a product, while in macroeconomics they learn about the supply and demand for all of the goods and services in the economy. I enjoyed learning both of these units.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
This course was useful in the way that it allows me to better understand how money circulates through the economy, and learn interesting material such as how to calculate GDP, the pros and cons of different business ownership, how income is distributed throughout the country, and so much more.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I took this course because I wanted to better understand the economy. I feel like before I took this course, whenever I would listen to the news and they would be talking about economics, I didn’t fully understand it the way I wanted to. With taking this course, I wanted to get a chance to learn about the basics of economics, in order to be able to understand the economic side of the world better. From this course, I got the information I wanted to think like an economist, making me happy with my decision.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish I knew there was a culminating project. Personally, I’m the type of person that doesn’t mind tests, so a final examination would have been fine with me. Now that I have to work on an ISU for the culminating, and study for the in-class exam that comes shortly after, it makes the final days of this course much more stressful.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
Because Grade 11 Economics is a mixed course, I never got crazy amounts of homework. We had tests at the end of every chapter that I had to study for, so we would get assigned a little bit of textbook homework to review. We had a couple of short essays and worksheets, but other than the final ISU, the homework load wasn’t that bad.
Introduction to Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychology (SAP)
Culminating Task: None
Exam: 30%, 1.5 hours
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I loved this course! It was definitely one of my most favourite courses that I’ve ever taken. I just found it so interesting and the lectures were so captivating. The classes went by so fast.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
My favourite unit was psychology, but honestly I found all of it to be very interesting. I also enjoyed when we talked a lot about how the school system could be changed.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
I found this course very useful because it helped me improve my note-taking skills. I also think it’s a very good basis of knowledge if I want to continue social sciences in university.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I took this course because it seemed interesting and I was very happy with this decision. It was my favourite class of the day!
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish I had known that the first unit (anthropology) is the most challenging and not as interesting as the other units. If you decide to take this course, which you should, just don’t be discouraged if you don’t do as well as you’re hoping for in anthropology because it counts less at the end and it will get easier.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
This is a university course so the homework can get pretty heavy, but always manageable. The good thing is that the actual material is not very hard. There are a lot of textbook questions and reading and there are some essays and maybe one project.
Philosophy
Review #1
Culminating Task: None
Exam: 1.5 hours, 30%
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I loved this course. The social sciences are honestly so interesting, especially philosophy. You get all of your deepest questions (What is life? Why are we here? Is there a god? What is my identity?) about life answered. By the end of the course, you learn so much about yourself and the world around you and it really changes your perspective on things.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
This is probably the most interesting course you will ever take in high school, in my opinion at least. It can get so trippy and mind-boggling sometimes you just question everything you thought you knew and it’s so cool.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
This course was really useful for me personally because I love all the social sciences and this course really helped me understand more of what I am interested in. Especially if you’re also planning on taking the grade 11 SAP course, a lot of the terminology intersect and both courses benefit each other.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I honestly didn’t know what I was going into, going into this course. I took whatever I knew about philosophy which was basically just the “what is life?” course to me. I’m so happy because I took a chance on this course and came out so successful.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
I wish I had known the amount of studying this course requires. It doesn’t come as a problem to me most of the time, but I really underestimated it. Most days you don’t get homework (maybe only once or twice a week if even that) but a lot of time is needed to study for tests, essays, etc.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
You’ll get the occasional worksheet once or twice a week, but unless there’s an essay, assignment, project or test, there’s not much else. Spend a lot of time studying for the tests! They’re not hard if you pay attention!!
Biology
Culminating Task (with percentage): N/A
Exam: 30%, 2 hours
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I really enjoyed this course. I love sciences and learning about the way things work, and this course sparked my interests and made me more excited to continue with senior level sciences (as this was the first one I took).
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
In this course, we learned all the basics of every major field in biology, but didn’t go into too much detail so it wasn’t that hard to understand. First we learned the basics of life by learning about all the different kingdoms and domains, and then we learned how life came to be through evolution, the mechanism of change with genetics, and then more specifically into the anatomy and physiology of plants and the anatomy and physiology of animals (which led to a fetal pig dissection).
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
It was a really good basic introduction into the way biology works, and we learned enough that I felt satisfied with what I had learned, and it kept me engaged and excited to take more biology because I knew that there was so much more that I could further my knowledge in.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and are you happy with your decision?
I have always been interested in sciences and think that this is what I want to study in university. This was the first senior science I took and it really solidified my decision. I really liked the way it was taught and it made me excited for future biology and science courses.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
There were minimal projects and few lab reports. The main way that we were evaluated was through units tests, with a few quizzes to check our learning at various points through units. It’s mostly memorization, so it takes time to study but generally wasn’t that challenging. The course was also taught with handouts and taking notes from powerpoint presentations, and the textbook was used more to support what we learned in class (not a primary source of knowledge).
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. Lots of textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.) ?
There was minimal homework assigned, usually just a few textbook questions a couple times a week and then studying before big tests.
Girls’ Gym
Culminating Task: Sports skills evaluation (15%) and a presentation (15%)
Exam: None
1. Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not?
I enjoyed this course because I enjoy playing sports and it had a relatively small workload.
2. What were some course highlights (what did you enjoy learning, what did you find interesting)?
My favourite units were the swimming unit and the badminton unit. I also enjoyed the assignments that we did because we got to pick our own topics.
3. Did you find this course useful? Why or why not?
I found this course useful because it allowed me to stay active and exercise. I also learned a lot about mental health during the health unit.
4. What was your reason for taking this course and were you happy with your decision?
I took this course because I enjoyed gym in grades 9 and 10. I made the right decision by taking it because once again I enjoyed it.
5. What do you wish you had known going into this course?
There’s nothing I wish I would’ve known going into this course.
6. What was the amount of homework and typically what kind of homework were you assigned (ie. textbook work, essays, projects, worksheets, etc.)?
Grade 11 gym is more project based so we only had like 2 quizzes and I don’t think we ever had a test. For culminating we had sports skill evaluations and had to do a presentation.
Extra: Overall it’s pretty similar to grade 10 except we do more assignments and fewer tests.