Ms. Jennifer Skardon
7th Grade Science Syllabus
Phone: (864) 452-0326
Email: jskardon@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website: https://sites.google.com/greenvilleschools.us/jskardon/home
Course 7th Grade Science Description
This year’s seventh grade science classes will incorporate the South Carolina Science Curriculum Standards. State standards can be found at https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/science/standards/ .
Yearly Overview & Learning Objectives
Students in 7th Grade will develop their knowledge of the physical, life, and earth sciences through complex investigations and explanations. The concepts they study become increasingly abstract in a developmentally appropriate manner to allow for the slow, incremental development of these cognitively complex ideas. Seventh graders will also cultivate their investigative skills by generating their own questions, recognizing and explaining the relationships among variables, and critiquing the conclusions that are drawn from scientific investigations.
Textbook
Our textbook is a workbook style physical copy that students can keep in the classroom and found in a digital format via Savvas (students sign in through classlink).
Materials
2 composition notebooks – 1 for each semester
Colored pencils & Glue sticks or tape
Wired Earbuds
Pens/pencils
Assessment
Grades will be weighted as follows:
Major Assignments - count 50% of final grades
Tests
Projects
Formal Writings
Research-based Products
Minor Assignments - count as 50% of final grade
Quizzes
Labs
Journals/Small Writings
Informal Presentations
Classwork/Homework
Corrections will only be allowed for Major assignments (e.g. Unit Tests & Projects). Students will have the opportunity to take an alternate test that covers the same material and the higher of the two grades will be recorded.
Grading Scale
The district grading scale will be used for each nine weeks:
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
0-59 F
Important Grading Codes
INC = Incomplete work
ABS = Absent (50%) and has 5 days to turn in for full credit
GFA = Grading Floor Applied (50%)- the student scored 49 or less
NHI = Not Handed In (50%)
EX/Omit = not factored (usually a lab that was missed due to an absence)
Homework Policy
To reinforce science concepts learned in class, homework is sometimes given. Homework generally consists of any class work assignments that were not finished during class time. All assignments are posted in google classroom. Class work that is finished as homework can count as a grade.
Missed Work/Makeup Policy
Students have five (5) school days to make up work missed during an excused absence. If a test is announced before the absence, students should be prepared to take it the day they return to school. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the teacher to make up assignments or request an extension of time. After five days, any assignment not made up will be recorded as late. Students are responsible for getting their own missed work from google classroom.
Communication with Parents
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Parents will be notified by phone, written notes, requested conferences and/or e-mail at appropriate times during the year.
Student Records
Student records, progress and achievement are as follows:
Grade Book: All grades will be recorded in the teacher's grade book with assignment title and due date. The Parent Portal is available for parents to monitor their child's grades.
Progress Reports: Progress reports go out after four weeks of study.
Report Cards: Grades are sent home at the completion of each nine weeks.
Units of Study
1st Quarter
Rules, Procedures, and School Information
Lab Safety and Procedures
Matter and Its Interactions
States of Matter
Composition of molecules
Properties of molecules through chemical reactions
Synthetic material and natural resources
Conservation of mass, energy, and atoms in chemical reactions
2nd Quarter
From Molecules to Organism
Cellular Life Processes
Energy transfer from food to organism
Ecosystem Dynamics
Effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem
Interactions of organisms across multiple ecosystems
Flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem
How changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
3rd Quarter
Earth & Human Activity
Explain how uneven distributions of resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
Design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
Analyze how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
Clarify evidence of the factors that have impacted global temperatures over the past century.
4th Quarter
Energy
Transfer of energy in chemical reactions
Kinetic and potential energy
Interpret and analyze the relationships of energy from object to object
MagicSchool AI Tools for Students
This year, students will have access to MagicSchool AI, a generative AI platform built for schools that will help them learn to use the technology safely and responsibly. With tools like ChatGPT and others being used in the professional world, it’s important that students learn how to use the technology safely. By using MagicSchool in our classes, your student will be prepared for the future of technology in the workforce. While students use MagicSchool tools for purposes such as receiving real time feedback, getting their questions answered, generating images, and in other exciting ways, I will have access to their chats to ensure that it’s used appropriately. Rest assured, MagicSchool does not collect or train on student data. Be sure to ask your child about how they’re using AI in the classroom and take a look at the engaging ways they’ve utilized the MagicSchool tools to enhance their learning!
For more information, go to www.magicschool.ai.