Basic Math skills and maybe graphing (Score 1)

I teach college chemistry. At the HS level you really don't need a lot of computer experience, but the students need to have basic math skills and be able to use their calculators - including scientific notation, exponents and logs. Being able to make graphs and use related spreadsheet skills would be helpful. For example, measure transmittance of a sample, have the spreadsheet calculate Absorbance and then plot Abs vs Concentration to make a Calibration Curve. Add a trendline, too. More for fun, you could also look at the 3D structure of smallish molecules. I recommend Avogadro, http://avogadro.openmolecules.net/ it can build 3D structures so you don't have to find the molecule files to look at.