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At Brandon Middle School, we use the Mi-STAR Science Curriculum, a middle school curriculum that supports both the Next Generation Science Standards and the Michigan State Standards. With the Mi-STAR curriculum, students become solution builders as they use science and engineering practices to address a real-world challenge that spans each unit.
Key characteristics of this curriculum:
Students are engaged in studies of problems related to the 21st-century Grand Challenges identified by the National Academies of Engineering and other science/engineering societies.
All of the problems addressed by students are relevant to the lives of children and families in the Great Lakes Region.
Science disciplines are integrated to prepare today’s students to design the solutions to tomorrow’s challenges.
Science 6 Units of Study
Science 6 Units of Study
The Water Cycle
The Water Cycle
Students work to describe why a local community is having a flooding problem by investigating the multiple pathways water can take when moving through the water cycle. Students evaluate proposed solutions to the flooding by accurately defining the criteria and constraints of a successful solution based on the needs and wants of the local community members.
Investigating and Modeling Body Systems
Investigating and Modeling Body Systems
Students address the problem of emerging diseases and the use of tissue engineering to solve problems by learning of a fictitious outbreak of the Random Acts of Dance (RAD) disease within their school. As students progress through the unit, they identify the pathogen, construct explanations about how the pathogen affects organ systems and their subsystems, and design a tissue engineering strategy to repair the damage.
Forces and Motion
Forces and Motion
Students use hands-on experiences and modeling to explore properties of force and motion by designing a protective cell phone case that meets specific criteria and constraints. Students plan and complete fair investigations for dropping and crushing the cases, sharing their results in a culminating presentation.
Interactions Within Ecosystems
Interactions Within Ecosystems
Students confront the problem of invasive species by learning about various Michigan ecosystems, making predictions about how an invasive species may affect organisms and ecosystems within Michigan, and identifying appropriate management strategies for the invasive species.
HIV & AIDS Awareness
HIV & AIDS Awareness
Students will examine the risk factors for contracting HIV. In the spring, more information will be sent home through the mail about this unit and its contents.
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