A New Approach to Grade 10 Science

Over the last while I have started designing new units for a grade 10 science course that builds on the course design and principles of our grade 9 destreamed science class.  

Optics Unit

Updates: I have now taught and revised the optics unit! My main changes are to streamline the unit to focus better on the core ideas and leave out some of the other details. The homework provides a better review and practice of basic skills so students can develop better fluency. I also revised the vocabulary of the unit so it is more clear and consistent. 

Focus: How do we see? We want to understand how our visual system works. This unit ties in to the biology unit with a look at optical systems (microscopes) and an important organ system, the eye! There is even an evolutionary biology lesson in between!

Core Concepts:

• light from sources

• conditions for seeing things

• plane mirror reflection and diffuse reflection

• how materials affect light (refraction)

• images and lenses

• the visual system 

Chemistry Unit

What if we used science to learn chemistry? How did people figure out this chemistry stuff? We do a lot of experiments to find evidence for the concepts we learn: energy in bond breaking, behaviour of solutions, figuring out what the products of a reaction are,  deducing "types" of reactions, evidence for polyatomic ions, behaviour of acids, and more! 

Core Concepts:

• particle pictures of matter

• energy in chemical processes

• evidence for the chemical ideas we learn

Oceans Unit

This is an interdisciplinary unit that combines chemistry (acids and bases) with climate change (ocean acidification). The lessons are adapted from the excellent inquiryHub Chemistry curriculum. 

Core Concepts:

• behaviour of acids and bases

• ocean acidification

• asking questions!

Climate Change Unit

This is a work in progress! The lessons I have were thrown together very hastily last year. 

Core Concepts:

• energy transfers

• light interacting with matter

Biology Unit

This is still a glimmer in my eye. The unit will be based on the idea "how do things grow"

Core Concepts:

• cell division, differentiation

Course Resources

All the digital resources I use for grade 10 science can be found in the folders below. The optics and chemistry units are very well developed. I will be working on the Biology and Climate Change  units throughout this semester!