Junior High Science Dept.

Program Overview

There is no doubt that science and science education are central to the lives of all Americans. Never before has our world been so complex and science knowledge so critical to making sense of it all. When comprehending current events, choosing and using technology, understanding science is key. A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills—communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility—that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives. All students, no matter what their future education and career path, must have a solid K–12 science education in order to be prepared for college, careers, and citizenship.

JHS Course Descriptions

Sixth Grade Science

Welcome to the wonderful world of science where the curriculum is designed to create life long learners. Students will use hands-on investigations multi-media, and inquiry based instruction to explore the world around them. This instructional approach will help students foster conceptual thinking and promote problem solving skills. The instruction focuses on understanding important relationships, processes, mechanisms, and applications of concepts.

The sixth grade curriculum presents the fundamentals of physics and chemistry. Students explore the amazing universe we live in, including motion, energy, the nature of matter and atoms, how chemicals mix and react, and the forces that hold the universe together.

Seventh Grade Science

The 7th grade curriculum is designed to create lifelong learners. Students use instructional approaches such as collaboration and inquiry based lab exercises to explore science concepts and explain the world around them. The instruction focuses on science and engineering practices such as asking questions and defining problems, planning and carrying out investigations, constructing explanations and designing solutions and engaging in argument from evidence. Students also understand important relationships, processes, mechanisms and applications of concepts. These approaches encourage students to develop critical thinking skills and a logical approach to creative solutions and explain the most important ideas about our living environment.

7^th Grade Topics include:

Cells

Organization of Systems ( Plant and Animal)

Reproduction, Heredity and Growth

Genetics

Evolution

Ecology

Eighth Grade Science

Science 8R focuses on providing students with a hands-on inquiry-based curriculum. Students make real-world connections aimed at meeting the needs of individual learners. These activities are designed to generate higher-level thinking and application skills. This course emphasizes astronomy, meteorology, geology and human impact. The curriculum’s design creates opportunities for individual and group discovery through co-operative learning, internet research, laboratory investigation, and collaborative projects. The students explore topics in meteorology such as weather, climate, and circulation in Earth's atmosphere. They investigate topics in astronomy such as planets, stars, and galaxies. They experiment with geological processes like plate tectonics, properties of minerals and the formation of rocks. During the course of the year, students explore how humans impact the earth and discuss how our impacts could be decreased.

Earth Science

Earth Science is a one-year course designed to introduce students to the dynamic Earth upon which they live. We will study Earth’s place in the universe and its geologic systems. Throughout this course students will become familiar with the physical world around them and learn how to think and correlate scientific concepts into their everyday lives.

Earth Science is divided into three major topics:

Astronomy: The study of celestial objects and Earth’s position in the universe.
Meteorology/Weather & Climate: The study of the changing conditions of the atmosphere over time.
Geology: The study of the solid Earth

Students will need to meet the state mandated lab requirement of 1200 minutes of satisfactory laboratory work and complete the course when they pass the Earth Science Regents Exam at the end of the year.