For a printable Science 6 syllabus, click here.
A charged Chromebook
Your charger, just in case your Chromebook loses power quickly
Pencil
We will work through a Student Journal through Google Classroom in class. We carry out investigations, evaluate data, discuss concepts, and debate situations, then pause to type our thinking and connections in the Student Journals. Unless absent or behind, you can expect minimal work outside of class.
Most work, including Student Journals, is submitted online through Google Classroom and returned back to you when scored. If something is completed on paper, Mrs. Spencer will collect, score, and store it until it is time to get it back for studying for a test.
Check your To-Do List in Google Classroom. Be sure to click on the Missing tab to view work that is past due. Each class has its own To-Do List, or you can check your combined To-Do List in the Classes view.
Check your grades in StudentPortal at mistar.oakland.k12.mi.us/brandon/studentportal/. Your login is your student ID, and your password is your first initial, last initial, and 6-digit birthday.
Grades in StudentPortal and ParentPortal are updated soon after a due date.
Visit the homepage of this website at sites.google.com/brandon.k12.mi.us/sspencer. No login is needed to view this site.
Scroll down to the agenda. Find the row of the week and your class, then follow the row across to the right to view the right day. You can open this in a new tab if it is difficult to read within the website. This agenda is where you can find what we did each day.
Go to your Science 6 Google Classroom. Clicking on the Classwork tab will lead you to the actual assignments as Google Docs, Google Slides, or PDFs. Note that we rarely finish a lesson’s journal in one class period, so read on the agenda what we did on that specific day.
It is your responsibility to check for this work and seek out help, if needed. You have 2 days for each day absent to make up missed work.
If at school, ask Mrs. Spencer! You can also ask many other adults in the building, like Ms. Frieling, the academic interventionist, or Mrs. Hickey, the school counselor.
If at home, email Mrs. Spencer at sspencer@brandon.k12.mi.us. She’ll get back with you soon.
Stay on task
Use tools and materials appropriately and safely
Fully participate in all activities
Respect yourself, others, and the equipment
Michigan has adopted NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards), which consist of Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Scientific Core Ideas.
Science and Engineering Practices are behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories about the natural world. These practices include:
1. Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts are a way of linking the different domains of science and making sense of abstract concepts. They include:
1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect
3. Scale, proportion and quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter: flows, cycles, and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change
Scientific Core Ideas, in conjunction with the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts, will be taught through a series of units that focus on real-world problems. These real-world problems include:
Describing why a local community is having flooding problems and evaluating proposed solutions to address this problem (The Water Cycle)
Designing a tissue engineering strategy to repair the damage caused by a fictitious pathogen affecting organ systems and their subsystems. (Investigating and Modeling Body Systems)
Designing a protective cell phone case that meets criteria and constraints (Forces and Motion)
Identifying appropriate management strategies for an invasive species in Michigan (Interactions Within Ecosystems)
Modeling and explaining how food waste is converted into delicious, healthy food (Cycling of Energy and Matter Through Food Webs)