MS Science Course Descriptions

SCIENCE 6

GRADE 6

This course presents substantial, general science content in a flexible format, building on skills and concepts from grades K-5. Students gain a solid, well-balanced foundation of science concepts based on several major strands: Force, Motion, and Energy, Matter, Life Processes, Living Systems, Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems, Earth Resources, and Scientific Investigations, Reasoning, and Logic. Students are expected to use the scientific method and hands-on-discovery to conduct group and/or individual projects/experiments.

LIFE SCIENCE 7

GRADE 7

Students in this course will explore the world of plants and animals using the scientific method in experimentation and hands-on-discovery. There is an emphasis on a more complex understanding of changes, cycles, patterns, and relationships in the world. Subjects covered will include the characteristics of living things, life origins, the classification and characteristics of plants and animals, the human body, heredity, adaptation, and ecology.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE 8

GRADE 8

Physical Science 8 continues to build on skills of systematic investigation. Major areas covered include the organization and use of the periodic table, physical and chemical changes; nuclear reaction, temperature and heat, sound, light, electricity and magnetism, and work, force, and motion. Students will plan and conduct research involving both classroom experimentation and literature reviews from written and electronic resources. Note: Students will be administered the Science 8 Standards of Learning (SOL) Test on Science 6, Life Science 7, and Physical Science objectives near the end of this course.