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Course Description
Course Description
In accordance with New York State Science Learning Standards the science curriculum is made up of three dimensions (science and engineering, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts) and provides students with a context for the content of science, how science knowledge is acquired and understood, and how the sciences are connected through concepts that have universal meaning across the disciplines. Over the course of a school year we will be studying kinetic and potential energy, human body systems, plant and animal cells, using the microscope, weather, and human impact on environmental interactions.
Quarter 1: Unit 1
Think Like A Scientist
Measurement and the Scientific Method
I can formulate a graph from information in a data table and interpret the information.
I can analyze a variety of sources to collect science information for solving problems.
I can analyze calculated values and determine appropriate units.
I can utilize the scientific method to solve problems.
Students will be assessed by:
Unit 1 test, target checks, Labs and Scientific Method project
Quarter 2: Unit 2
Setting Things In Motion
Kinetic and Potential Energy
I can explain that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
I can identify three factors that impact an object’s potential and kinetic energy.
Human Body Systems
I can trace the nervous system pathway involved in performing an activity.
I can compare the six main subsystems of the human body (body systems) and predict how they interact with one another to maintain homeostasis.
I can sequence or trace the levels of organization from cell to organism.
Living and Nonliving
I can evaluate and provide evidence that a sample is living or non living based on certain characteristics.
Plant and Animal Cells
I can identify the function of 5 organelles found in an animal cell.
I can identify the function of 7 organelles found in a plant cell.
Students will be assessed by:
Unit 2 Test, target checks, labs including NYS lab "It's Alive" and Human Body project
Quarter 3: Unit 3
Nature vs. Nurture
Weather
I can describe characteristics of air masses and how they flow causing the four weather fronts.
I can identify five factors that influence weather and five ways to determine local weather patterns.
I can describe how unequal heating and rotation of Earth cause patterns that determine regional climate.
Plants and Photosynthesis
I can describe the different parts of a plant and their functions.
I can explain the cell process of photosynthesis and the CO2/Oxygen cycle and what factors affect plant growth.
I can explain how plants reproduce in a variety of ways depending on animal behavior and specialized features.
Genetics
I can explain where the genetic material of a cell is located and what that material is composed of.
I can analyze a Punnett Square to predict the probability of certain traits.
I can explain the two types of sex cells and how they are responsible for carrying traits from one generation to another.
Reproduction
I can describe why the cell cycle is important to living organisms and when normal body cells reproduce.
I can describe the stages of cell growth (mitosis), cell division and what results when cells divide abnormally leading to mutations.
I can explain how plants reproduce in a variety of ways depending on animal behavior and specialized features.
Students will be assessed by:
Unit 3 Test, target checks, Labs including NYS lab "How's the Weather Up There" and Weather Forecasting project
Quarter 4: Unit 4
Using Engineering And Technology To Sustain Our World
Characteristics of Ecosystems
I can identify the levels of organization in an ecosystem (smallest to largest).
I can identify some living and nonliving factors in an environment.
Environmental Interactions
I can describe a variety of different interactions between organisms.
I can describe the flow of energy in an ecosystem (food chains).
I can identify the energy roles in an ecosystem.
Human Impact
I can describe how humans are impacting the environment.
I can create a list of ways that humans can decrease their impact on Earth (Carbon Footprint).
Waves
I can describe a simple wave and its function.
I can describe how waves can transmit digital information.
I can model how a wave is used to model how light interacts with objects
Students will be assessed by:
Unit 4 Test, target checks, Labs and Human Impact project
Scientific Skills and Practices taught
Scientific Skills and Practices taught
I can use what I have learned to ask two unique scientific questions about a specific topic that furthers my understanding:
Students will generate two unique questions in writing that are testable which increase their understanding about the relationship between energy production and object movement.
I can carry out an investigation to perform experiments that test my hypotheses (If….then…because)
Students will conduct one microscope lab investigation and present their findings that all living things are made of cells, either one cell (unicellular) or many (multicellular).
I can analyze and interpret data that supports or does not support my hypothesis.
Students will interpret data gathered from an experiment to determine the difference between a response to a stimulus an a reflex.
I can build a model that shows the scientific idea I am learning.
Students will develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of the cells contribute to the function.
I can create appropriate methods to organize and represent the data of my experiment.
Students will conduct science experiments using the scientific method and a variety of science equipment, identify the independent and dependent variable and clearly convey these results utilizing a graph.
I can explain phenomena using a specific scientific explanation and apply it to solving a problem.
Students will identify factors to explain how cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) inherit traits and determine if this reproductive process leads to more or less genetic variation in that species.
I can display scientific findings from an investigation using the organized logical step of the scientific method.
Students will collect a variety of weather data from valid and reliable evidence to predict the weather in a given area.
I can evaluate a claim using accepted scientific evidence.
Students will construct an argument to support a claim that when kinetic energy of an object changes, the energy is transferred to or from an object.
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