Grade 8 Science Course Outline
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Outline” and understand the expectations of my child, as well as some of things that I can expect from the teacher.
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Course Outline - Grade 8 Science
Evaluation &Assessment
Students will be given a grade based on three primary means of assessment which are:
Labs and Projects - This might consist of
1)full lab reports based on activities done in class
2)observational reports based on field examples and in-class demonstrations
3)group / individual construction of poster projects
4)group / individual in class skills (i.e. dissections)
Quizzes - This will consist of periodic quizzes after each major concept. Students will know in advance when a quiz is coming. The questions on the quiz will mimic the types of questions students have practiced with during homework assignments.
Unit-End-Exams - There will be a significant exam at the end of each of the 5 main units we cover throughout the year. The questions that students will find on Unit-End-Exams will also mimic the types of questions that have previously been presented to them in assignments and quizzes. Unit-End-Exams are each student’s chance to prove their mastery of the learning outcomes. Because Unit-End-Exams are the summative assessment (not to mention that students will have already had several attempts at the outcomes by that point), they are weighted so that each one is worth about 5%. That weighting is fairly significant and students should respond accordingly.
Final Exam – There will be a cumulative final exam that will test the student’s recollection of the material we have covered through the course of the year. The final exam will consist of 100 questions covering the 5 main units in the Science curriculum. The final exam will be worth 20% of the student’s final grade for the year. The weighting of this is exam is meant to introduce students to the larger exams they can expect in high school (and beyond) where diploma exams make up 50% of the students entire grade.
Homework Policy
All assignments are designed for students to practice and build on their knowledge. No grades will be collected for homework assignments. Instead, students will correct their own assignments when we go over the assignment in class. Student’s will then be allowed to see the teacher to get further help and feedback on particular concepts that they feel they have not mastered. Students may sit down with the teacher as many times as they feel necessary to master the concept in question. All of that is classified as formative assessment that is not meant to penalize them during the “practice” phase of their learning. The hope is that by the time the summative assessment (Quiz and Unit-End-Exam) roll around, the students will have had ample opportunity to master the concepts to the best of their ability.
Marks Breakdown & Grading
Final marks at the end of the year are cumulative and will be determined as follows:
Final Grade
Assignments/Homework 0%
Labs and Projects 20%
Quizzes 40%
Unit End Exams 20%
Final Exam20%
Total 100%
Class Averages
Throughout the year, students will hear about the “Zone of Proximal Development”. This term is one used in educational research and refers to the efficiency at which students learn. In short, educational research tells us that if students find the material they are learning to easy, they are not learning at an optimal level. In conjunction with that, if students find the material to hard, they are also not learning at an optimal level. The “Zone of Proximal Development” is considered to be a happy medium between the two ends of the spectrum. Thearea in the middle illustrated below demonstrates the fine balance between a curriculum that is too simple, and one that is too hard.
Generally, most experts agree that a two-thirds success rate is where the Zone of Proximal Development is located for moststudents. Keeping that that in mind, most provincial achievement tests (including grade 12 diploma exams) are written with a goal of attaining a 68% provincial average. It is while considering this, that I closely monitor the class averages of tests and assignments. In grade 8 Science, I aim for class averages of 70% for anything that is taken in for marks. Although not everything works out perfectly, the assessment tools I have developed have been designed and tested to come up with a class average of 70%, plus or minus 3% (most of the time).
I would strongly encourage any parent, when inquiring about their child’s marks, to ask about the class average. Keep in mind that a high grade is not always indicative of high achievement or understanding. If your son or daughter has a very high grade, there are as many critical questions that can be asked in regard to their achievement, than if they were to have a very low grade.
Parent Communication
As a means to keep both parents and students informed about what is happening in the classroom, I have employed the use of three on-line resources:
Upon registration, a parent e-mail address was requested. That address was linked to an e-mail list that teachers can access through Home Logic. Periodically, I will send out an e-mail describing what we are covering in science, what the goal of our recent lessons were, and what assignments/tests your son or daughter should be prepping for. Please use that information to take an active role in your child’s education. Even asking a few simple question over diner or on the car ride to the big the game can go a long way in reinforcing the learning outcomes for this course.
Moodle is another on-line resource where all of the class notes, assignment worksheets, and additional resources have been posted. The Moodle website can be found at it is also linked to from the bottom of the schools website (just click on the Moodle icon at the bottom of the home page). Your child will be able to logon and show you exactly what we are studying and what they are working on at that website. I will be encouraging all students to print off the PowerPoint notes before class so that they can spend more time engaged in discussion rather than trying to keep up with note taking.
Occasionally I will send out a Tweet reminding students about tests, giving them hints on assignments, or even just letting them know when something cool related to science is happening. Both parents and students are invited to follow me on twitter @ “MrMacScience”. Students seem pretty attached to their phones these days, so it’s a safe bet that if they are following their teacher, they’ll get the message!
School Supplies
The supplies needed for science are very straight forward and don’t include any irregular items. With that said, the following recommendations can be made:
- Use a binderover a coil back… You will be given several handouts over the year so using a binder that allows students to insert material as they get it is highly recommended
- 6 Units = 6 dividers… we cover 6 different units in Science so I suggest that students have 6 dividers to keep those units separated.
- Calculator… students will need one good calculator (that they know how to use)
Textbook
We will be using a combination of the Science Focus 8 and the Science in Action 8 textbooks. To alleviate issues around lost or abused textbooks, and due to the fact that we do not regularly call upon the text book in all classes, students will not be assigned a textbook for the year. Instead, textbooks will be made available in class as we need them. In addition to that, students who feel they need a textbook to help them study or complete an assignment can check out a copy from the library, or digital copies are also available on Moodle.
Labs & Field Exercises
Lab equipment is costly and can be dangerous to students if misused. By the same token, some of the field exercises and equipment we will be seeing can be very dangerous and very costly to replace. A Zero Tolerance policy regarding misbehavior in science labs and demonstrations will be strictly enforced at all times. Misbehavior may result in being excluded form lab activities for the remainder of the school year.
HomeLogic Use / Zeros Policy
G.S. Lakie has moved toward paperless reporting of student achievement. This means that “Report Cards” have become a thing of the past. The mandate of the school is that all parents can access their son or daughters marks on-line via HomeLogic 24/7.
Because of this new on-line tool, Your teacher is committed to posting marks on HomeLogic within one week of collecting an assignment or test. In return, we are asking parents to commit to checking HomeLogic once per week as a means of staying informed. Parents will then be able to see what assessments have been collected and how their child has performed. We encourage parents to contact teachers if anything seems out of the ordinary, or if they have any concerns regarding their child’s performance.
Zeros Policy - With the use of HomeLogic, Teachers and Parents have a new set of tools to aid in the communication process. The HomeLogic program allows Teachers to flag assignments as “NHI” standing for “Not Handed In”. If a student fails to submit an assignment on the due date, a NHI will be posted on HomeLogic for that assignment. It is important to note that a NHI will be reflected in the students overall average as a ZERO! We are hoping that parents who can see the NHI will then be able to aid in the persistent persuasion to get the assignment in to the teacher so their grade can be amended to reflect what that student is truly capable of!
E-Mail Alerts!!!
Parents, you have the option within HomeLogic to have it automatically generate an email alert to be sent to an email address of your choosing each and every time your son or daughter receives an NHI. Please take advantage of this new tool as a means to stay informed and keep your child on track with their education!
Classroom Expectations
In science class, the expectations are very simple and predictable. At this age, students know what can be expected of them, and the students will help in the creation of a list on the first day of class that all students can buy into and take ownership in. To help “encourage” students to stay true to those expectations, I will utilize two methods that work well in conjunction with eachother. The first approach focuses on “Positive Reinforcement” meaning that I will try to reward those students who have met our expectations. The second approach utilizes “Negative Reinforcement” meaning that I have consequences for those students who do not meet the classroom expectations.
Meeting vs. Not Meeting Classroom Expectations
Detention Room / Study Hall
Should a student error on the side of NOT meeting classroom expectations, then that student could be signed up for a lunch hour detention. The detention room will be held in my classroom each lunch hour and will be supervised by myself. The idea is not only to detain the students as a consequence, but to also give that student and teacher time to work on missing assignments and get the help they need to succeed.
Course Breakdown
The Alberta Government has created a grade 8 science course that is broken down into five separate units. In conjunction with the standard five units, we will start the year off with a short two week supplementary unit that is explained below. I will try to incorporate as many authentic, real life examples as to how our topics of study affect the students in their day-to-day lives. I hope that this will convince the students that “science” is not an abstract subject taught out of a textbook, but rather an interesting issue that we interact with on a daily basis.
Unit A: Supplementary Skills Unit
This mini unit is used at the beginning of the year to allow students to develop the basic scientific skills required to successfully complete laboratory reports. This short unit will cover skills such as: developing a proper hypothesis, the proper format of a lab report,how to read and create proper graphs, and finally, the difference between controls, manipulated variables, and responding variables.
Unit B: Freshwater & Saltwater Systems
Earth is sometimes described as the water planet. Over two-thirds of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans and freshwater features. By exploring examples of aquatic systems, students come to appreciate the dynamic nature of these systems and learn about the interaction of landforms, sediments, water and climate. Students also investigate factors that affect the distribution and health of living things in aquatic environments and the supply and quality of water for human use. We will spend much of this unit focusing on the challenges that Southern Alberta faces with water usage.
Unit C: Mix & Flow of Matter
The materials that we use—including natural and manufactured ones—often take the form of fluids. Students learn that such diverse substances as air, natural gas, water and oil are fluids. In further investigations, they discover that many common household materials are aqueous solutions or suspensions in which the main component is water. Students learn that the properties of individual fluids are important to their use, including such properties as density, buoyancy, viscosity and the fluid’s response to changes in temperature and pressure. The particle model of matter is introduced to help students make a conceptual link between the nature of matter and the specific behavior of fluids.
Unit D: Cells & Systems
Living things take a variety of forms as reflected in their structures, internal processes and ways of responding to their environments. Finding pattern within this diversity has been a major challenge for the biological sciences and has led to the development of ideas, such as systems, cells, structures and functions—ideas developed from the study of all living things. Using these ideas, students learn to interpret life at a variety of levels, from individual cells to complex organisms. To develop their understanding, students investigate ways that components of a living system work together and through these studies, learn that healthy organisms—including healthy humans—function as balanced systems within a life-supporting environment.
Unit E: Light & Optical Systems
Our understanding of the world is based largely on what we see—both directly, and aided by optical devices that improve and extend our vision. Such tools as the microscope and telescope have helped extend knowledge in a variety of science fields, from the study of cells and stars to studies of the nature of light itself. In learning about light, students investigate its interactions with different materials and interpret its behavior using a geometric ray model. Students then use their understanding of light to interpret a variety of light-based technologies and envisage new technologies we may use in the future.
Unit F: Mechanical Systems
Machines are used for many purposes in our daily lives when we need to transfer energy into motion or move materials in a controlled way. In learning about mechanical devices, students investigate how components are linked so that energy is transferred efficiently and desired functions are performed. A comparison of past and present technologies helps students recognize that different approaches have been used over time to meet common needs. Evaluations of efficiency, effectiveness and impacts on daily life, the community and the environment are important considerations in this unit.
Conclusion
There is much more information regarding general policies and procedures within the school’s handbook. We encourage all parents and students to look over there course outlines and the handbook so that you are prepared for what lies ahead in grade 8. If you have any questions throughout the year, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school either by e-mail at or by phone at (403) 327-3465