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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 6 units that cover a range of topics including; climate change, human impact on the environment, science and engineering practices to solve a problem, natural hazards and disasters, genetic engineering and species adaptations.
Unit 1 Nature of Science
[Sept-Oct]
I can make a claim based on evidence and data.
I can develop a scientifically sound hypothesis using appropriate independent and dependent variables.
I can accurately determine and use the tools needed for lab measurement such as length, volume, mass and density with appropriate units.
I can analyze and compare an objects density based on it's measured mass and volume.
I can use science and engineering practices to design and defend a solution to a problem.
Unit 2 Warmer World
[Oct-Nov]
I can create a model to show how water moves between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
I can explain how adding or removing thermal energy can cause phase changes.
I can describe how heat moves through matter (conduction, convection and radiation).
I can analyze evidence to support the claim that humans directly impact the rise in global temperatures.
I can model the negative impacts of climate change.
Unit 3 Natural Hazards
[Nov-Dec]
I can design and construct a structure to demonstrate how buildings are affected by earthquakes.
I can analyze and interpret data on natural hazards.
I can predict future catastrophic events using historical and current data.
I can describe how scientists use technologies to prepare for and mitigate the effects of natural hazards.
Unit 4 Our Changing Planet
[Jan- Feb ]
I can explain how geoscience processes have changed the Earth's surface.
I can analyze rock strata to determine the relative ages of fossils and major events in Earth’s history.
I can analyze the location of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of past plate motions.
I can describe the mechanism of plate tectonics, explaining how and why the plates move.
I can analyze landforms and explain how they were formed through geoscience processes.
Unit 5 Disruptions to Ecosystems
[Feb-Mar]
I can model the levels of an ecosystem.
I can analyze the flow of energy through an energy pyramid.
I can explain how past and current geoscience processes are responsible for the uneven distribution of Earth’s mineral, energy and uneven ground water resources.
I can analyze and interpret how resources (biotic/abiotic factors) effect an organism and other populations in an ecosystem.
I can analyze how human activities have impacted our planet.
I can predict possible solutions for environmental problems (invasive species) on our planet.
I can evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Unit 6 Adapt or Die
[Mar-Apr]
I can evaluate a variation of an organism’s traits and determine the impact that variation has on the organism's survival.
I can formulate a mathematical representation to support explanations of how natural selection increases, or decreases traits over time.
I can contrast similarities and differences among modern organisms and fossils.
I can analyze data in the fossil record to find patterns of changes in organisms and determine the history order.
I can compare patterns of similarity in embryological development among organisms in a variety of species.
I can gather information and synthesize information about how humans can affect the inheritance of desired traits.
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 ask two unique questions that increase their understanding about the relationship between human activities and the change in Earth's climate.
I can carry out an investigation to perform experiments that test my hypotheses (If….then…because)
Students will conduct experiments to determine how heat moves through matter utilizing their understanding of; conduction, convection, radiation.
I can analyze and interpret data that supports or does not support my hypothesis.
Students will analyze and interpret data on natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes.
I can build a model that shows the scientific idea I am learning.
Students will construct a model of a given ecosystem and explain the impact of climate change on that given ecosystem.
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 their results referencing the data they collected (data tables and graphs) as evidence for their findings.
I can explain phenomena using a specific scientific explanation and apply it to solving a problem.
Students will explain how past and current geoscience processes are responsible for the uneven distribution of Earth's natural resources.
I can display scientific findings from an investigation using the organized logical step of the scientific method.
Students will describe how scientists use technologies to prepare for and mitigate the effects of natural hazards.
I can evaluate a claim using accepted scientific evidence.
Students will analyze the location of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of past plate motions.
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