Syllabus:
Middle School Sciences:
Course Syllabus: Science
School Year: 2026-27
Instructor: Mrs. Brown-Shuford
Room: 108
Phone: 355-0214
Email: kbrownshuford@greenville.k12.sc.us
General Course Description and Objectives: Middle Sciences
Lab Safety and SEP Skills (Unit 1: Lab Safety and SEP Skills for grades 6th-12th)
Science and engineering practices represent what scientists and engineers do as a matter of routine
and illustrate how scientific knowledge and concepts develop through asking questions and
conducting investigation, obtaining and analyzing data, constructing explanations, arguing claims
supported by evidence, and communicating and evaluating information. They also describe how
needs and problems are addressed through the design process that designs, constructs, tests,
evaluates, and refines solutions.
Science is the study of the universe and all of its contained phenomena. Engineering is the way we
fulfill human needs and solve problems. These practices represent the skills and knowledge
necessary for scientists and engineers to accomplish what they do.
Scientific practices start with questioning that leads to inquiry, seeking evidence to ultimately
construct explanations and develop models that can be used to best describe and predict (at the
present) how and why natural phenomena occur. Engineering practices start with defining problems and identifying human needs; this
process leads to designing, testing, and refining solutions in order to accumulate evidence necessary to determine the best possible solution
(at the present) for the perceived need or problem.
As defined by the performance indicators of the standards, the science and engineering practices
serve to identify performance expectations that our students will demonstrate in the context of
disciplinary core content ideas. Not only will these practices serve as a means by which students
will develop scientific conceptual understandings, but they will also function as the means by which
students will demonstrate these understandings in an authentic manner. These practices should be
used to drive the instructional design of learning experiences in such a way as to guide students to
develop the capacity to perform these science and engineering practices as part of the process of
developing an understanding of scientific concepts. The practices also serve to drive assessment as teachers are tasked with not only
assessing conceptual understandings related to content but also assessing the degree to which their students are able to meet the
performance expectations of the different scientific and engineering practices (scaled appropriately for the age and grade of the student).
ALL students assigned to Science classes in 6th - 12th grades must participate in “Science Safety Training” with their teacher prior to engaging
in any lab work. This unit focuses on safety training for the Secondary Science Lab experience and introduces students to the practices of
“doing” science as identified in the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs).
The softback Textbook for Middle School is Elevate Science by Savvas
Middle School Science 6th Grade
Unit 1: Energy & Waves
Students explore the interactions of matter and energy. Matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space. Energy is the ability to do work. This unit includes wave properties and behaviors, heat, and energy transfer. Students may build and design a device to minimize or maximize heat transfer. Students will use models to describe wave behavior. Students will explore how waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Unit 2: Life Science
Students explore the properties of living things. This unit includes opportunities for students to conduct investigations on cells, create models of the parts of the cell, and explore how groups of cells make up the human body. In addition, students will discover how the brain responds to stimuli and stores memories.
Unit 3: History of Earth
Students explore the geologic processes that shape earth. Topics include plate tectonics, meteor impacts, weathering, landslides, continental drift, and the geologic time scale. Students will apply their knowledge by using data on natural hazards to forecast and mitigate a potential catastrophic event.
Unit 4: Earth and the Atmosphere
Students explore the water cycle and weather patterns. They will develop models to understand how the uneven heating of earth and the rotation of earth determines the climate of a region. Students will apply their knowledge by using data to forecast and mitigate a potential catastrophic event.
Middle School Science 7th Grade:
Unit 1 Matter
Students will explore the interactions of simple molecules and extended structures. They will analyze the properties of substances before and after a chemical reaction and how matter is conserved during this reaction. Students will also describe how the properties of matter change when thermal energy is added and removed and design a device that produces these changes.
Unit 2: Energy
Students will analyze how the mass and distance of an object affects the amount of kinetic and potential energy it has. They will explore how energy is transferred between systems and how that affects the temperature of a sample. Students will then design a device that either minimizes or maximizes this transfer of thermal energy.
Unit 3: Molecules to Organisms
Students will analyze the cycling of energy through living systems in both plant and animal cells. Students will compare and contrast the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration and how food is broken down and rearranged into usable energy for the cell.
Unit 4: Ecosystems
Students will predict the interactions and flow of energy between organisms in various ecosystems. They will investigate how various factors like resource availability impact population dynamics and students will design solutions that address biodiversity and how to create services to maintain it.
Unit 5: Earth & Human Activity
Students will explore how human activity and consumption of natural resources impact the environment and earth’s systems. They will design a method for monitoring and minimizing this impact and investigate the various factors that have led to a rise in global temperature over the past century.
Middle School Science 8th Grade:
Unit 1: Motion
Students will explore interactions among colliding objects through the lens of Newton’s Laws of Motion. Students will investigate how the forces acting on an object and the mass of the object determines the object’s motion. In addition, students will identify factors that impact the strength of magnetic and electrical forces.
Unit 2: Waves
Students will examine the relationship between the amplitude of a wave and the energy of that wave. Students will defend a claim that digital devices transmit information through waves and are a more reliable way to transmit data.
Unit 3: Earth's Place in the Universe
Students will explore the objects in the solar system through scale models. Students will create an Earth-Sun-Moon model and use it to describe the existence of lunar phases, eclipses, tides, and seasons. Students will use models to explain how gravity impacts the motion of celestial objects. Students will create sound scientific arguments about the relationship between the masses of objects and the gravitational attraction among them. In addition, students will use the experimental design process to determine if fields exist between objects that exert forces on other objects even though they are not in direct contact.
Unit 4:Molecules to Organisms
Students will create a scientifically sound argument that explains how animal behaviors and plant structures impact the probability of successful reproduction. Students will explain how the environment and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
Unit 5: Heredity:
Students will describe why chromosomal mutations might result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism. Students will model how asexual and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation. In addition, students will research the impact technologies have influenced the expression of desired traits in organisms.
Unit 6: Biological Evolution
Students will analyze the fossil record through the lens of uniformitarianism to document the existence of diverse flora and fauna throughout time. Students will construct explanations as to why modern and fossilized organisms have similarities and differences. Students will explain how genetic variation in a population increases the organisms’ chances of survival. In addition, students will use mathematical reasoning to explain how natural selection increases or decreases a population’s specific traits over time.
Electives Courses
Agriculture
Students will be provided a broad overview of ornamental gardening and how it plays a crucial role in sustainable farming practices, crop production, livestock management, and sustainable farming methods. As they learn about the plant life cycle, maintaining a garden, taking care of livestock, and the business side of farming.
PLTW: Automation & Robotics
Students are given the opportunity to combine mechanisms with input and output devices to automate the mechanisms. Construction and programming skills are layered, and projects and the problem provide students the opportunity to connect their learning throughout the lessons in the unit. Students take on the role of interns, and work in teams to identify design requirements and create prototypes to meet the needs of clients. They also explore different aspects of automation and robotics, and experience how solving real-life problems involves the teamwork of mechanical engineers, software developers, and electrical engineers
Unit Assessments: Journal entries, tests, quizzes, projects, portfolio assessment, worksheets, teacher observations, graphic organizers, student interviews
Materials Needed: Students need to come prepared for class with a pencil and loose-leaf notebook paper and Chromebook. The teacher will provide journals.
Grading Policy and Assessments:
A= 90-100
B= 80-89
C= 70-79
D= 60-69
F= 0-59
Major Assessments: 50%
Minor Assessments/Homework: 50%
Homework: Homework will be assigned to the students. Each student will receive their homework via Google Classroom and/or folder during the current week. It is expected for all homework to be turned in by Friday of the same week.
To receive full credit for homework, the work must be completed according to the directions given during class.
If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get the assignments from the teacher.
Attendance Policy: Per School Policy, a student may not miss more than ten days from a yearlong course. Those ten days include parents’ notes, suspensions, unexcused absences, administrative, or late arrivals. After ten absences, a doctor’s note or administrative excuse must be provided or the student will not receive credit for the course.
What to do if you miss a class: You need to provide Mrs. Brown-Shuford with a full explanation both written and verbal for an excused absence. Make up work will be provided for excused absences.
Academic and Behavioral Expectations:
Appropriate Language
Be respectful
Speak academically
Use kinds words
Tell the truth
Following Directions
Follow directions completely
Do first ask later
Respond appropriately
Safe Behavior
Respect personal space and things
Be where you are supposed to be
Practice self-care
Work Completion
Participate actively
Be awake and alert
Give your best effort
All school and district rules apply to the class.
Discipline procedures are as follows:
First offense: Verbal Warning
Second offense: Student Teacher conference
Third Offense: Parent phone call
Fourth offense: Referral
** Any severe disruptions will result in an immediate referral and removal from class**