9SCI - SCIENCE
PŪTAIAO - SCIENCE
Mā te whakaaro nui e hanga te whare; mā te mātauranga e whakaū.
Science is a way of investigating, understanding, and explaining our natural, physical world and the wider universe. It involves generating and testing ideas, gathering evidence – including by making observations, carrying out investigations and modelling, and communicating and debating with others – in order to develop scientific knowledge, understanding, and explanations. - New Zealand Curriculum
CLICK ON THE QUESTIONS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COURSE
WHY STUDY SCIENCE AT YEAR 9?
Welcome to Year 9 Science at Wellington College. We hope you find the course stimulating and inspiring! Science is a way of investigating, understanding and explaining our world and the wider universe. The following outline provides a summary of what you will be learning about this year.
What will I learn?
(The content of some of these topics may change slightly; your teacher will keep you informed of this)
INTRODUCTORY UNIT (Term 1)
At the end of this unit you should:
develop some understanding of what Science is and the importance of Science
be able to work safely in a laboratory
know the names and use of some basic laboratory equipment
be able to use a Bunsen burner safely
be able to make some simple scientific measurements
make and test a prediction
OCEAN SCIENCE (Term 1 )
At the end of this unit you should be able to:
Understand the terms herbivore, omnivore, carnivore
Recognise and name some common species that inhabit the Island Bay Marine Reserve
Describe a food chain and interpret a food web
Understand the importance of oceans in te ao Māori
Explain why we have tides and what causes spring and neap tides
Understand how the rocky shore species distribution varies between low and high tide
Understand what we mean by adaptations and apply this concept to marine organisms
Develop understanding of the terms elements, compounds, atoms, molecules in the context of water
Describe the properties of water in the gas, liquid and solid state
Relate changes in kinetic energy to changes of state
Investigate the processes of dissolving and evaporation, and how to separate salt from sea water
Investigate floating and sinking and understand the difference between mass, density and volume
Investigate the effect of polar ice-caps melting, on sea level rise
Understand how early Polynesian explorers navigated across the Pacific ocean
COMMUNICATION SCIENCE (Term 2 )
At the end of this unit you should be able to:
Understand the role oceans have for sustaining life on Earth in terms of the following ideas:
Understand the concept of communication, animal communication methods and the role of waves.
Describe sound, including its production, characteristics and the process of hearing.
Investigate the properties of light, including reflection, refraction, and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Identify and describe the parts of the human ear and eye and their functions.
Explore the structure of the eye through dissection and understand the role of the lens in focusing light.
Investigate common sight problems and how they can be corrected using concave and convex lenses.
Practically examine the behaviour of light using mirrors and lenses.
Explore the use of ultrasound in animal echolocation and human applications.
Investigate the behaviour of light passing through a rectangular prism and its effect on refraction.
Understand the use of optical fibres in internet communication.
ALTERED CARBON (Term 3)
At the end of this unit you should be able to:
understand that life on earth is carbon based and to understand why carbon is essential to life.
realise that carbon is continuously altered and recycled through biological and physical systems
understand the basic layout of the periodic table and carbon’s position on the table.
describe the structure of a carbon atom and to understand how carbon atoms bond to other atoms.
describe/explain the role of carbon in building plant cell walls
recognise the 3 features that make define a plant cell and know their functions
To be able to define and give either a word or chemical equation for photosynthesis.
describe/explain the role of parts of a leaf in photosynthesis.
describe four classes of carbon based bio-molecules
describe cellular respiration and explain its importance to living organisms
understand the greenhouse effect and to investigate evidence of global warming.
Describe the properties of acids and bases and where acids, bases and neutral solutions fall on the pH scale.
investigate why ocean temperatures and pH are rising and to explain the effect this has on shellfish and coral reefs
understand the concept of a carbon footprint and to consider why it is important to have a small carbon footprint and how I can reduce mine.
LIFE ON MARS (Term 4)
At the end of this unit you should be able to:
Recognize and describe the space/distance between planets in our solar system.
Compare and contrast the characteristics of Mars and Earth.
Explain the speed of light and calculate the time it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth.
Understand the concept of forces and their effects on objects.
Demonstrate the ability to show the direction and size of a force using diagrams.
Identify when a balanced or unbalanced net force is produced.
Apply knowledge of force diagrams to design and launch a bottle rocket.
Analyze and compare the launches of bottle rockets based on design changes.
Define and convert basic SI units, including velocity, distance, and time.
Interpret graphs to determine velocity and use appropriate scientific terminology.
Understand the importance of prototyping and create a Mars Rover prototype.
Describe the features used to differentiate living and non-living things and identify challenges organisms may face in space or on Mars.
What WILL I DO?
Classwork
Classwork will comprise a combination of theory and practical activities to help you understand important ideas in Science. Often you'll be working in a group, at other times by yourself. There will be lots of opportunities for experiments, to investigate all sorts of concepts. Examples of what you might investigate could include how light travels, how different chemical substances react and what sort of creatures live in the marine environment of the Island Bay marine reserve.
Homework
Short but regular homework tasks will be set using a variety of sources, which may include online tasks (Year 9 Science site) or Education perfect, or from the SciPAD Book 1 which you have purchased as part of your stationary pack. For additional reading, students are welcome to borrow from the library on long term loan, a copy of ‘Year 9 Pathfinder Science’. The library has multiple copies of this textbook available.
Extra-Curricular Science opportunities
Your son will be given the opportunity to complete a Science Fair project (this may be completed in groups of up to 3 students); other opportunities will include an inter-college ePro8 competition.
https://sites.google.com/a/wellington-college.school.nz/year-9-science/
wHAT will I NEED?
You'll need a positive attitude, a 2B8 exercise book, a Scipad (book 1), a chromebook or equivalent electronic device and some standard writing equipment. A glue stick and scissors are useful.
How is this course assessed?
This course is assessed using our WC Learning Progression Framework.
We hope you have a successful and interesting year!
Phil Kendon is in charge of Junior Science – please feel free to contact him: