Karen Walters Contributes to Science Department

This year the FC science department has had several new additions including the provision of zoology and Advance Placement (AP) biology classes. Both courses and regular biology are taught by Dr. Karen Walters. This is Walter?s first year on the FC staff. Previously she taught at UC Davis and more recently in the agricultural department at Sierra High School.

Walters grew up in the upstate New York area, where she came in contact with agriculture frequently. This exposure to farm animals and the natural world led her to love horses and want to become a veterinarian. She took her undergraduate degree at Cornell University and studied biology and animal science courses. Upon graduation from Cornell, Walter’s decided to pursue business in the horse riding industry.

Afterwards, she met her husband on the East coast and they decided to move to California in 1992. She did her graduate work at Davis in physiology and received her doctorate for reproductive biology. Independently, she researched horse pregnancies and the communication between the embryo and the mare. Walters has also previously worked at a feed store, selling animal feed. Among her other responsibilities she also cares for her son Stephen Walters who is an eigth grader at FC this year and breeds sport horses on her free time.

Walter’s says that she believes FC provides a perfect way to search the natural world through a Christian perspective.

“This opportunity came up and I thought, ‘I love science and I love God,'” Walters said. “This is such a unique school where we can explore those together. You can believe the Bible is true and see how it lines up with the truth in science. I think the world is very hostile to that right now and we need to be confident in our faith.”

These new classes offer greater opportunities and more challenges. They also come with new expectations that participants of the classes will have to learn.

Zoology has not been available at FC until this year. It is classified as a branch of biology that deals with the animal kingdom. The class generally includes information about an animal?s anatomy, behavior, and interactions with the natural world.

Walters says that zoology participants will get to learn all about the animal kingdom and the features that make creatures special.

“Zoology students will learn about all the different kinds of animals,” Walters said. “We will go through all the phylum from single cell organisms to insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. We get to look for what makes each creature unique. AP Biology is an upperclassman course so they should already have taken biology and chemistry. It’s a rigorous course with a lot of material to cover, and they are expected to learn more independently. The labs will be more involved and require more in depth thinking. AP students are really scientist in training.”
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Sophomore zoology student Emmaline Krohn says that zoology provides a way to observe animals that usually get overlooked.

“I like zoology because you get to learn about the whole animal world,” Krohn said. “I took this class because it sounded interesting and fun. We learned about lab safety and about the Tarantula wasp so far.”

Biology deals with a wide range of concepts and is generally classified as the study of life. Usually Biology classes cover cellular processes, genetics, plant life and much more.

Sabrina Kumar senior AP Biology Student hopes that she hopes the class will further prepare her for a science related career. She also says that she enjoys learning from Walters and is intrigued by the subject.

“I did the class because I am probably going into a medical field, and I want to get a good background in biology,” Kumar said. “It will prepare me for college and ready me for other science classes. I like the class because it is very interesting and I think we have a good teacher to help us learn the different parts of biology. So far, we have covered the functions of electrons, protons and neutrons.”

This year the school has welcomed many changes to the science department, including the addition of Dr. Walters, AP biology and zoology. These new developments offer FC students a wider and more in depth science education.

For more features, read the Aug 20 article, Back to School Night bridges parents, teachers (VIDEO).

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