9 Science Locally Developed

Teachers have asked me about resources for locally developed grade 9 science. I have not taught this course and we don't offer it at our school, so I don't have any direct experience or resources. But, I have asked around and have a few things to share. If you come up with something to add to this collection, I encourage you to share it!

A Problem-Based 1L Course

Derek Brez is a science teacher from Ottawa. He has kindly offered to share his resources with me in the past. Here are his comments about the course:

" I have been teaching L level science for 15 years and my philosophy has and always will be that L level learners learn best by experience. I say I don't teach science but rather problem solving. "

" I started doing the mini-unit (switching every 10 days or so) approach last year and it kept them engaged pretty well. "

Derek has quite a collection of resources for 1L. I'm sure he would be happy to hear from you. Please send him a kind note: derek.brez@ocdsb.ca

9 Academic Modified

To support students in our York Mills academic pathways grade 9 science courses, one of our teachers modified two units of our course: chemistry and astronomy. The lessons follow those of the regular class, so please find the Course Guide PowerPoints for those units to help explore the lessons.

Science Essentials Books

Many teachers have vouched for the grade 9 or 10 Science Essentials books:

"it's great because it includes a little lesson note, as well as fun and engaging activities that the teacher can easily implement. https://www.mheducation.ca/sciencecanada/portfolio/science-essentials-9-10/

"I've used Science Essentials 9 by McGraw-Hill Ryerson workbook as well as ExploreLearning Gizmos in the past. "

A Rough Outline

This teacher has shared a rough outline for each unit:

"I use circuit kits (wires, batteries, light bulbs) to introduce current electricity & drawing circuit diagrams; also introducing symbols. Then, turn to U of Colorado's Phet simulations to introduce series & parallel circuits, problem solving & graphing skills involving these concepts. Finally, I use circuit boards to teach the electron paths and reintroduce Ohm's law as brightness of the bulbs can be investigated.

For the chem. unit, I place great amount of emphasis on density as a potential qual. & quant. property. I conduct density experiments involving solids & liquids to cover a number of concepts and skills while also work on problem solving. Archimedes principle is certainly a favorite story for this unit.

For the astronomy unit, after a brainstorm, introducing the basic terminology, we turn to the Solar system, getting students do group mini projects to research their favorite solar planet. I also get them draw scaled diagrams of the solar system (letting them find out it is merely impossible to do so) to introduce the idea of a relative scale & A.U. Then, we turn to the stars, exploring their life cycle, with emphasis placed on the technologies (+ Canadian contributions) used to study celestial objects.

The ecology unit is covered by introducing the levels of organization; from individuals to the populations, on to the biosphere. After a brief introduction to terminology on each, we look at human ecology and explore the way humans interact with the other components at each level, This is primarily done via group projects. Cane toads a favorite here.

Static electricity also gets introduced using experiments involving "charging object by friction" to set up an electrostatic series. Next, we deal with experiments involving electroscopes to cover charging by contact & induction. Grounding & discharge allow us look at more applications of electrostatics The historical aspects of this discipline is also explored. Shock & Awe is a favorite movie for this section."

Inclass Exam

Louis Maillin from Birchmount has offered their two-part exams. They also use the Science Essentials books: