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Below you will find a listing of the topics that we will cover in Science class this year as well as some of the projects and tasks that you will be working on. The topics that we teach and the ways that we will be assessing your projects and tasks are based on the Next Generation Science Standards; a link to applicable standards will be listed in the theme description.
Theme: What is Science?
Theme: What is Science?
Competency Statement: Given any natural phenomenon, Students will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively and individually to generate testable questions or define problems, plan and conduct investigations using a variety of research methods in a various settings, analyze and interpret data, reason with evidence to construct explanations in light of existing theory and previous research, and effectively communicate the research processes and conclusions.
Standards:
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Scientific Practices.
NGSS Info: Next Generation Science Standards
Performance Task(s): Students will compose a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (C.E.R.) Statement to describe the findings of a scientific investigation using purposeful and accurate vocabulary, data, observations, and logical thinking.
Theme: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Theme: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Competency Statement: Given any ecosystem, students will be able to model the patterns of interactions between organisms and the flow of energy and matter through that ecosystem.
Standards:
MS-LS2-1: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-2: Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS.LS2-3: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
NGSS Info: MS-LS2
Performance Task(s): Students will create a presentation to identify the damage caused to an ecosystem within the United States by an invasive species of their choice. The presentation will identify the natural habitat of the species, how the species became introduced to its new ecosystem, and how the introduction of this invasive species has caused changes to the host ecosystem.
Theme: Earth's Systems: Weather & Climate
Theme: Earth's Systems: Weather & Climate
Competency Statement: Given maps and diagrams of global circulation patterns, students will be able to draw conclusions about the climate for any location on Earth.
Standards:
MS.ESS2-5: Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
MS.ESS2-6: Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
NGSS Info: MS-ESS2
Performance Task(s): Students will identify the five (5) effects on climate in either a 2D or 3D manner to identify the causes of and effects of these ideas on climates around the world.
Students will use maps, graphical data, and diagrams to determine the geographical climate patterns, identify and describe the differences in weather patterns, ocean effects, atmospheric winds patterns, and rain-shadow effects between two locations on a geographic map, and determine and describe differences in climate based on a change in altitude and other climographical effects.
Theme: Matter and its Interactions
Theme: Matter and its Interactions
Competency Statement: Students will model atomic structures and determine whether reactions between substances are physical or chemical in nature.
Standards:
MS.PS1-1: Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
MS.PS1-2: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
NGSS Info: MS-PS1
Performance Task(s): Students will research and build a three-dimensional model of a common compound and create a poster displaying their compounds properties and common uses.
Students will also construct a claims and evidence statement based on their observations of the "Sunset in a Bag" and "Elephant Toothpaste" lab activities as to whether the reactions observed are physical or chemical changes.
Students will be assessed on their ability to identify physical and chemical changes during a series of laboratory experiments conducted by both the students and by the teacher during demonstrations.
Theme: Biological Evolution: Similar Structures through Geologic Time
Theme: Biological Evolution: Similar Structures through Geologic Time
Competency Statement: Given objects and/or data students will explain how biological evolution accounts for the unity and diversity of living organisms.
Standards:
MS.ESS1-4: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.
MS.LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
MS.LS4-2: Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
Performance Task: Students will be able to use the Law of Superposition to create claims about events and phenomenon that have occurred throughout the geographic history of the Earth using evidence provided in graphs, data, and other diagrams.
Students will identify the similarities between fossilized and currently existing skeletal artifacts to identify evolutionary relationships and heritage.
Theme: Energy
Theme: Energy
Competency Statement: Given objects and data students will observe, explain, and predict natural phenomena governed by Newton's laws of motion.
Standards:
MS.PS3- 5: Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
MS.PS3-2: Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
MS.PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
NGSS Info: MS-PS3
Performance Task: Students will be able to identify the amount of potential and kinetic energy present in a pendulum in motion and describe the relationship between the energies present.
Theme: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Theme: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Competency Statement: Given materials and data students will investigate and draw conclusions about the interactions between objects and between fields.
Standards:
MS-PS2-1: Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
MS-PS2-2: Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
NGSS Info: MS-PS2
Performance Task: Students will be able to identify and explain the forces at work during the launch and descent of a rocket. Students will also be able to apply knowledge of Newton's Laws of Motion during a rocket's launch and descent by identifying the laws present at various stages.
Students will successfully engineer and explain how a Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) train would function in a local community based on an engineering activity conducted in class.
Habits of Mind
Habits of Mind
These skills are lifelong, professional strengths required for a successful future. The importance of habits of mind will be a focus throughout the year.
A Habits of Mind score will be incorporated into the scoring rubric of projects completed inside and outside of the classroom while other assignments will be tracked and noted within Infinite Campus.
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