WEEK OF:  9/28 - 10/2

WELCOME TO 7th GRADE!

Teacher:  Rhonda Clark

To all 7th grade students and their families, I want to welcome you to the Selwyn 7th Grade Science Class.  I have been a  Selwyn educator since 2021, and I have taught many different grade levels and subjects.  Science is one of my favorite subjects to teach, and I am very excited about teaching Life Science (specifically the Biosphere) to the incoming 7th graders.  

The Biosphere is the global ecological system that includes all life on Earth, from the deepest parts of the ocean to the lower atmosphere. It connects living things with the land, water, and air that support life. Throughout the year, we will explore living things, or biotic factors, including plants, animals, fungi, and microscopic organisms such as bacteria. We will also investigate how these organisms interact with the non-living, or abiotic factors, of their environment, including sunlight, soil, water, air, temperature, and nutrients. It's going to be a great year!

A typical day in our science class will include the following types of activities:

• Activities designed to build science/STEM skills

• Cornell note-taking and/or science journaling 

• Activities for the different phases of the 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate):

  • Engage activities are pre-assessments

  • Explore activities are typically hands-on experiments or observational in nature

  • The Explain phase is the teacher-led portion of the unit.  A variety of books, lectures, videos, and other software usage increases the student's knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.

  • The Elaborate phase is when the students must show what they have learned.  They may do additional experiments, create posters, give presentations, work on group projects, or showcase their knowledge in some other manner.

  • Evaluate activities are the final assessments for the unit of study (tests, written assignments, presentations, etc.)

Throughout the year, we will seek knowledge in many different ways. You will conduct investigations, analyze evidence, build models, solve problems, collaborate with others, and communicate your scientific ideas. You will also have opportunities to connect science to real-world problems and the decisions that scientists, engineers, and society face.

I believe science should challenge you, make you curious, and help you understand the world in new ways. This year, we will ask questions, test ideas, figure things out, and occasionally discover that the universe is far stranger than we expected!