Syllabus and Materials List 2010 - 2011

TEAM SYLLABUS

2010 - 2011

“Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.”

- Leonardo da Vinci -

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

-Winston Churchill -

Welcome to our Team!

Our primary goal is to support students and strengthen their critical thinking and analytical skills. These skills can be applied to our rigorous academic environment here at High Tech High, their collegiate career, and beyond into their professional endeavors. In the 'real' world there are no bells to tell you when to start doing math and stop reading a book. No one asks you to write an essay about the French Revolution in 30 minutes or finish a worksheet with 100 math problems by 3 o'clock. In reality, we all use knowledge from various school subjects interchangeably and at the same time. Our team strives to mirror the 'real' world. We all have questions about how and why the world is the way it is. Learning how to analyze and research these questions is at the heart of this year's curriculum. We explore the great questions of life by integrating various activities, experiences, and readings that support learning math, literature, world cultures, physics, and geography.

Material List

Please click here for the complete materials list.

Team Essential Questions

Throughout the year we will work together to explore the following questions:

1. How can I use my individual interests and talent to create positive changes in my community?

2. How do we use the scientific method to formulate ideas, solve problems, and build a better understanding of our world?

3. How does mathematics, physics, history, and geography influence individuals and the world?

4. How do my actions affect people in other parts of the world?

   1. How does the physical geography and natural resources affect the political, economic and social development of communities and ultimately, our lives?

Working within our Team: Our Expectations

In general, we have the following expectations for student conduct:

1. Respect yourself, your classmates, and your environment by using positive language, being an active participant, listening attentively, and helping out.

2. Come to school prepared with paper and writing utensils. You should also have a binder to hold all project papers and assignments.

   1. Please be flexible! All dates and assignments are subject to change due to the nature of project-based learning.

3. Keep up with current events by reading national newspapers and distinguished journals.

4. Adhere to the class contract. We will write this contract as a team during the first week of school.

Design Teams and Collaborating

Students will be primarily working in “design teams” throughout the school year. Working within a group can be challenging but at the same time extremely rewarding. Learning how to communicate and collaborate with a group teaches the “soft skills” that studies have shown to be a pivotal part to being successful in college and in a career. Students will not be assessed based on their team's performance but rather on their individual contributions within the team.

Assessments/Evaluation

Grades will be determined by equal weighing (25%) of the following categories:

• Classroom Collaboration Credits - Punctuality, participation, engagement, time management, self-advocacy

  • Final Product, Process, and Benchmarks - Important parts of the project that will be critiqued, assessed, and presented to an audience

  • Homework - Gathering information and materials, mini-assignments that support classroom activities and projects

  • Progress Assessments - Portfolio, DP updates, quizzes, reflections, check-ins for improving on skills and project work

Challenge Yourself!

It is the expectation that students who are excelling in their studies challenge their abilities by proposing alternative learning options. Challenge options are not to be viewed as additional work but rather a deeper level of work. Challenge work is our opportunity to celebrate student strengths. Students who have completed assignments/classwork may opt to complete a challenge option for their project and/or classroom task. Guidelines for these projects will be pre-determined and expanded upon by the students accepting the challenge. We strongly encourage students to propose challenge options and work with others to complete the expanded assignment.

Presence, Punctuality, and Late Work Protocol

As is the case with the real world, your presence greatly affects the outcome of projects. If an absence is necessary, please notify the school and bring an official note explaining the absence. It is the student's responsibility to make up missed work, please contact teammates and check the team DP. Please notify the teacher if a student will miss more than three consecutive days. Working as a team means that everyone must communicate and fulfill their responsibilities on time. 10% will be deducted from assignments for every day it is late. Collaboration is 25% of a student's grade because we value every individual and everyone's contribution is necessary for the team to succeed.

Course Schedule

The following is an introduction to the topics we will be exploring. These are brief project descriptions; topics and readings are not limited to the information listed. Please note that because we try to personalize projects and the nature of project-based learning, topics, readings, due dates, and projects are subject to change depending on student interest and current events. Refer to our Digital Portfolios (DPs) for updates on projects and an in-depth project description with homework and due dates. All projects will be fully integrated and incorporate elements of Math, Physics, World Literature, Geography, and World Cultures.

Who Are We? (3 weeks)

(Act I of What Did You Just Call Me?)

September 1 - 22

Description: Team Name Campaign explores topics of personal and group identity, marketing, use of tools and materials in building projects,

• Readings: Excerpts from Plato, E.B. White, various academic articles

• World Cultures: The history of the concepts of individual and group identity. Comparative study of USA and China.

• Math: Scale and Proportion, Probability & Statistics, Datametrics

• Physics: Properties of matter, effective use of materials, mechanics, appropriate tool use and safety, process of project design

What Did You Just Call Me? - Act II (2.5 weeks)

September 23 - October 8

Description: Exploring individual identity. Future goals, individual characteristics, defining moments, turning points. Can we judge a book by it's cover and/or title?

• • Readings: Romeo and Juliet, Stuck in Neutral and/or Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime

  • World Cultures: defining culture, influences and evolution of culture. Characteristics of leaders across cultures (India, China, UK, USA, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia)

  • Math: Functional modeling, linear equations, geometrics

  • Physics: Mechanics, motion, conservation laws

A Study of Global Dynamics (MUN) (3 weeks)

October 11 - 29

Description: International politics affects the economic, political, and technological development of all countries. Students will research an important global issue and represent a country at a mock United Nations meeting. This project will be in collaboration with the other ninth grade teams.

• • Readings: Lord of the Flies, Melian Dialogue (Thucydides), John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Mary Astell, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx.

  • World Cultures: understanding the cultural influence over a country's political, economic, and technological decisions. Understand characteristics of major political and economic systems.

  • Math: International economics, Boolean Logic, measurement, estimation

  • Physics: Fluid mechanics, thermodynamics

The Paradox of Imperialism (6 weeks)

November 1 - December 17

Description: This project is in collaboration with the tenth grade students. Students will analyze imperialism from all perspectives (the conquerers and conquered).

• • Readings: King Leopold's Ghost and choice of one other book, Clash of Civilizations

  • World Cultures: Development of the modern world and ethnic identities and racism

  • Math: Geometrics, lines, triangles, circles, higher order equations

  • Physics: The physics of conflict and warfare (mechanics, motion, waves, light and sound)

ALEKS

ALEKS is an artificial intelligence driven online math software that the team will be utilizing throughout the year. This program provides skill building classroom component when used in conjunction with projects, class discussions, direct instruction, and demonstrations. ALEKS provides a "real time" assessment of progress and gives teachers an important insight in each student's strengths and areas of improvement assignments, learning, and support. On our team ALEKS will be used primarily as a homework assignment. It is the expectation that students will spend 30-45 minutes a day (M-F) or approximately 3 to 4 hours a week actively working with ALEKS. For students who are having issues accessing ALEKS from home it is imperative that we work out a solution within the first two weeks of the semester. Additional information will be provided the first week of school. Please check out the program by going to http://www.aleks.com/.

Course Content

The content that will be covered throughout the year.

"If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it." - anonymous

Suggested Team Materials

If you prefer, you may get these materials from the instructors. Please contact us if you need to get these materials.

• 3-ring binder (min. 1 1/2”)

• loose leaf-college ruled (to use in a 3-ring binder)

• pens (black and blue for assignments)

• pencils

• pencil pouch

• highlighters

• post-it notes

• 3x5 notecards

• graphing paper

• flash drive - 2 GB (min)

• calculator (TI scientific or graphing recommended)

• compass

• protractor

• ruler (metric and English units)

• colored pencils

• markers

Class Wish List

This is a partial list based on our team's past needs. There are limitations to donation items that we can accept for classroom use, please contact us to discuss further. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at any time.

• looseleaf paper

• pencils

• pens

• art supplies* (markers, colored pencils, paint, paint brushes, etc.)

• building supplies* (wood, metal, fasteners, rope, mono-filament, etc.)

• tools* (hand and power, tape measures, straight edges, staple guns and staples, etc.)

• notecards

• calculators

• staplers and staples

• kleenex

• hand sanitizer

  • world flags and maps