Environmental science and technology (STE) and Science and the Environment (SE)

These programs are offered as a continuation of science and technology programs offered in the general education and applied general education pathways. They are usually optional and are added to the list of courses to be taken in Secondary 4.

These courses place more emphasis on citizenship and scientific skills. They attach particular importance to the development of students’ critical thinking, and to consolidating their scientific and technological studies as a prerequisite to optional chemistry and physics courses in Secondary 5.

Some high schools offer choices to students during the year, while others automatically add it to the Grade 4 science curriculum. Refer to your school board or school service centre for more information.

In the STE and SE programs, the notion of environment refers to “a dynamic set of elements in a community that interact with the living organisms in that community.” There is therefore, not one, but several environments defined by their component elements, spatial and temporal boundaries, the specificity of living organisms that live there, the types of relationships between them, etc. The environment “is closely related to all of the other dimensions of the human environment: political, economic, cultural, technological, etc.”

In the general education path

Continuing with the Science and Technology program

The optional environmental science and technology course, offered as part of the general education pathway for the second year of Secondary Cycle 2, gives access to the optional programs (chemistry and physics) offered in the last year of high school.

Various fields of study

The course creates a single discipline by integrating five scientific fields – astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, physics – with technology. The curriculum is organized this way because it is often necessary to simultaneously refer matter and methods from several fields to solve various problems or form opinions about major scientific and technological issues.

In the applied general education path

Continuing with the Applied Science and Technology program

The optional science and the environment course, offered in the second year of the general applied education program (Secondary 4), complements the Applied Science and Technology program. It gives access to optional courses offered in science and technology (chemistry and physics) in Secondary 5.

Fully scientific concepts

This course content is made up entirely of scientific concepts. It creates a single discipline by integrating four scientific fields (biology, chemistry, geology and physics). The curriculum is organized in this way because it is often necessary to refer to subject matter and methods from several fields at once to solve problems or form opinions about major environmental issues.

Source : Programme de formation de l’école québécoise, enseignement secondaire