Bryson Middle School
Believe * Move * Succeed
8th Grade Science Syllabus
Renee Covert
Room: D101 Phone: 864 -355-2171 e-mail Address: rcovert@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website Link Google Classroom Textbook: Savaasrealize.com
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Christopher Evangelist
Room: D103 Phone: 864- 355-2184 e-mail Address: Cevangelist@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website Link Google Classroom Textbook: Savaasrealize.com
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Hope Wilomovsky
Room: D113 Phone: 864 -355-2127 e-mail Address: hwilomov@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website Link Google Classroom Textbook: Savaasrealize.com
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Course Description: Link to state standards
Eighth grade science is a general science class with a focus on the study of physical, earth and biological science.
Performance Expectations:
Students will be able to develop the skills needed to have learning experiences built upon the three dimensional science approach: Scientific inquiry and Engineering design Practices (SEP’s), Crosscutting Concepts (CCC’s) and Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI’s). The performance expectations in eighth grade help students to engage in inquiry questions such as, but not limited to being able to:
1. Apply Newton’s Third Law to related forces to describe physical interactions between objects within systems of objects.
2. Describe the characteristic properties of waves and the behavior related to energy .
3. Describe how genetic changes can affect the structure and function of an organism.
4. Use information and begin constructing an explanation of genetic variation in natural selection and how this leads to traits in a population changing.
5. Analyze and Interpret Data for patterns in how the fossil record documents Earth’s history with existence, diversity, extinction, and changing life forms as well as construct and explanation for the similarities and differences in modern day and ancestral organisms.
6. Explain based on evidence and reasoning how genetic factors, the environment, and an organism’s behaviors and structures influence its growth, development, and reproduction.
7. Investigate for evidence that an object’s motion depends on mass and sum of forces.
8. Describe Earth’s place in relation to the solar system, Milky Way galaxy, and Universe, and evaluate information on scale properties of objects.
Late Work and Retake Policies Missing Work Policy
Bryson Middle School strives to provide students with a rigorous academic curriculum, balanced with multiple modes and opportunities to demonstrate their learning. We understand the unique development and needs of our middle school learners and believe that true learning often takes place at different paces according to individual pathways of readiness. We believe that learning from mistakes is an integral part of developing a lifelong growth mindset, and this process promotes student reflection and ownership of their learning. These beliefs, aligned with district assessment guidelines, provide the rationale for the following policy on late work and retakes:
Students may retake at least one major assessment without penalty within the first seven weeks of the quarter.
Students and parents must submit their request for a redo/retake within one school week of the graded assessment being returned.
When a student retakes a major assessment, the original grade will be overwritten and the most recent grade recorded. The original grade will be noted as a comment in the gradebook.
There is no point penalty for retaking an assessment.
A student will receive an NHI (Not Handed In) in the grade book when he or she does not turn in an assessment.
In addition to remediation/requirements determined and documented by the teacher on the Redo/Retake Form, clearance of NHIs on assessments leading up to the major assessment may be required before the retake.
Retakes will cover the same standards but may not be the original assessment/assignment. Alternative assignments may be required at the teacher’s discretion.
Students may not request a redo/retake on work handed in late.
Test corrections of incorrect answers may be allowed in place of a full retake, as deemed appropriate by the teacher. Test corrections may result in partial credit returned.
A copy of the Retake/Redo form will be located in the teacher’s classroom.
When a student is absent, school policy allows five days after returning to school to complete make-up work. Students are responsible for contacting each teacher for missed work. The request should be made immediately upon returning to school. A parent may request make-up work for extended absences. Make-up work may be picked up after 3:20 p.m. on the day of the request. It is our goal at Bryson Middle School to ensure all students have the opportunity to make up any missing or late work and receive a grade that portrays their knowledge of the assigned material.
Purposely evading or refusing to do work are exceptions to the late work expectation allowance. These situations may be treated as behavioral and follow up with school support staff.
On Tuesdays during team meetings, the team will review student grades and any students with three or more NHIs in their core content classes, then the team will need to document the student’s name on their team agenda and then communicate with both the parent and student through backpack (email and text) the assignments in which the student has not completed. The student will be required to turn in the assignment by Friday of the same week. If students do not turn in the work, an NHI will remain in the gradebook. If the same students are emailed weekly over two weeks, then it is expected that a parent conference will be held to discuss this behavior concern.
A student with one or more NHIs may be denied certain privileges or held accountable for the assignment(s) until the work has been completed and returned to the teacher.
Classroom Guidelines and Expectations:
Success in the classroom is greatly affected by the
conduct of those in the classroom. The most important rule is to “care” about oneself and others. The following rules have been established to support our students' success.
1. Keep your hands and feet to yourself at all times.
2. Be respectful to your classmates and teachers.
3. Be seated with your materials and ready to work when class begins.
4. Food, gum, and drinks are not allowed in the
classrooms or hallways. Clear, screw-top lid water bottles are permissible. Only clear water should be in the water bottle.
In addition, all students should follow all district
and school guidelines as specified in the student
Because we will be conducting some lab activities, it is imperative that students practice safe behavior. They will be expected to follow the guidelines set forth on the Science Safety Contract.
Materials
Section in a three-ring binder
Glue sticks
Tape
Colored Pencils
Pocket folder
Grades
Tests & Major Projects = 50%
Quizzes, Minor Projects, and Assignments = 50%
Students should spend at least 15 minutes a day (OUTSIDE of class time) on the following tasks:
Preview upcoming material
Review covered material
Study for quizzes and tests
Work on projects
Complete any late or missing assignments
Grading Scale
90 – 100 A
80 – 89 B
70 – 79 C
60 – 69 D
Science Textbook
Savvas [click here] Click on "Sign In" at top right corner
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Select Greenville Co School District - INT and press GO
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Course Outline
1st Quarter
Week 1 - Rules, Procedures, and School Info.
Lab Safety and Procedures, and the
3-dimensions SCI approach overview
Unit 1: Motion & Stabilities
Week 2-8
Unit 2: Waves & Their Applications
Week 9
2nd Quarter
Unit 2: Waves & Their Applications
Week 1-2
(10-12)
Unit 6: Earth’s Place in the Universe
Week 3-9
(13-19)
3rd Quarter
Unit 3: From Molecules to Organisms
Week 4-6
(20-22)
Unit 4: Inheritance of Traits
Week 7-9
(23-25)
4th Quarter
Unit 4: Inheritance of Traits
Week 1-2
(26-28)
Unit 5: Biological Evolution
Week 3-9
(29-37)
Testing Week 8
(36)
Disclaimer about Science Pacing for Content: Because our primary goal is to maximize student achievement, material may be added, deleted, and/or substituted at the teacher's discretion based on the individual needs, levels, and learning styles of each class. Creative projects, written assignments and supplemental materials may be included throughout the year as opportunities arise. There will be on-going assessments as well as writing assignments.
8th Grade Science Course Description:
Instruction will include interactive activities/labs which incorporate lab safety, science and engineering practices, cooperative and problem based learning, deductive reasoning, discussion, argumentative writing using evidence, analytical reading, and reflective writing. Students are encouraged to question, form, and reform their own ideas about science concepts and processes pertinent to the South Carolina 8th grade science standards.
Unit 1: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
In this unit, 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 and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
In this unit, 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 6: Earth's Place in the Universe
In this unit, 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 3: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
In this unit, 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 4: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
In this unit, 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 5: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
In this unit, 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.