Middle School 6-8

Enduring Understanding

• Scientists use a model of the Earth - Sun system to explain many of Earth’s phenomena, such as day, night and the seasons. 
• The rotation of the Earth on its axis causes day and night and influences how the position of objects appear in the sky.
• The relationship between the Earth’s  axial tilt and orbital position as it revolves around the Sun cause the seasons. 
• Earth’s counterclockwise rotation on its axis explains the east to west movement of objects in the sky.
• The appearance of the moon in the Earth’s sky is determined by the relative position of the moon with respect to the Earth and Sun. 
• The motion of the moon around the Earth follows an observable, cyclical pattern.
• The pattern of solar and lunar eclipses can be explained by the Earth-Sun-Moon System. 
• Gravity is the force that holds together the solar system and causes the pattern of orbital motions of objects.
• Weight is a measure of the gravitational force of the moon or planet on an object.
• Earth’s gravitational pull keeps natural or man-made satellites in orbit around Earth.
• The gravitational force between objects is affected by the mass and distance between them.
• Scientists use technology to gather data to determine properties of objects in the solar system such as orbital radius, surface characteristics, or an object’s layers. 
• Celestial bodies in the solar system can be classified based on physical properties.
• The relative proximity of celestial objects can cause larger objects to appear smaller in Earth’s sky.
• Earth’s  placement in  the Solar System is favorable to sustain life due to its distance from the Sun, atmosphere, and other characteristics. 
• The characteristics of a planet can make it favorable or unfavorable to support life.
• Scientists carry out missions to planets to develop an understanding of our solar system and Earth’s place within the universe.
• In order to carry out a mission scientists research possible locations, design mission goals, choose and develop appropriate technologies, and determine the trajectory of spacecraft.
• Scientists must consider budgets in designing their space mission, and present missions in the form of proposals.

Resources

• Science equipment used for experimental experiences and data collection.
• Nonfiction/informational text

Performance Assessment 

1. Space 1 Unit Test 
2. Space 2 Unit Test
3. Plan a Space Mission Project

Enduring Understanding

• The Earth has a 4.6-billion-year history. This time scale is so difficult to understand that we have to use a variety of analogies and models to begin to grasp the age of Earth and the extremely slow time scale of many Earth processes.  
• Scientists use a variety of methods and lines of evidence to determine the age of the Earth and the time frame of various important events. Studying rock layers, including the minerals and fossils found in rocks, is one important line of evidence. Scientists also examine physical geography to try and understand how the Earth has changed over time.
• The Earth itself is a large, complex system that is in a constant state of change. The layers of the Earth include solid and liquid layers of rock that interact in ways that we can see at the surface. Heat from deep within the Earth creates a liquid magma layer with a lighter, solid layer of crust on top. 
• The movement of Earth’s crust and the cycling of rocks have important implications for humans. Earthquakes and volcanoes are deadly results of Earth processes that can also trigger tsunamis and landslides. The distribution of important resources (including minerals and fossil fuels) are also controlled or influenced by these Earth processes.

Resources

• Science equipment used for experimental experiences and data collection.
• Nonfiction/informational text

Performance Assessment

1. Geologic Time Unit Test 
2. Earthquake/Volcano Research Project

Enduring Understanding

• Earth materials refer to minerals, rocks, soil and water. These are the naturally occurring materials found on Earth that constitute the raw materials upon which our global society exists.
• Earth materials are vital resources that provide the basic components for life, agriculture, and industry. 
• These materials are continuously cycled through Earth systems driven by the flow of energy. 
• Weathering, erosion, and sedimentation are processes that shape the surface of the Earth. 
• These processes are driven by thermal energy from the Sun, and result in the cycling of matter. 
• Weathering describes the breakdown of matter through physical, chemical, and biological processes. 
• Erosion is the transport of matter by wind, water, and ice. Eroded matter is deposited through the process of sedimentation. 
• These processes can cause slow changes in Earth’s surface over time, or can occur very rapidly. 
• Internal processes within the Earth cause a dynamic system that creates mountain chains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and drives the cycling of matter. 
• These processes are driven by thermal energy from Earth’s core. The structure of the Earth’s interior, convection currents within the mantle, and plate tectonics drive the processes of melting, crystallization, and deformation. 
• As a result the atomic arrangement of elements in rocks and minerals are changed. These Earth materials are uplifted and exposed at the Earth’s surface where they are subjected to surface processes.
• Mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are needed for a wide variety of uses. However, these resources are unevenly distributed across the globe as a result of past geologic processes. 
• These resources are non-renewable. They form under specific conditions, in specific locations over timescales much longer than human lifetimes. 
• As resources are used, they are depleted from the sources until they can be replenished through geologic processes.
• All human activity depends on natural resources that are allocated on Earth through geoscience processes. These natural resources sustain our physical bodies, our identities, and society. 
• Specific mineral resources are used to construct products that are important to our identity. However, these resources can become depleted over time because they are replenished over long timescales. 
• As a result, humans must make conscious choices about how we consume products, in order to sustain them for the future.

Resources 

• Science equipment used for experimental experiences and data collection.
• Nonfiction/informational text

Performance Assessment 

1. Earth’s Materials Unit Test 
2. Performance Event Project (if time allows)

Enduring Understanding

• The unequal heating of Earth’s surface, and the Earth’s rotation on its axis drive the formation of large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation cells. These circulation patterns play a crucial role in redistributing heat on Earth. The relationship between energy from the sun, the force of gravity, atmospheric motion, and oceanic motion also affect moisture distribution on Earth, by cycling water through Earth systems. 
• The complex motion and interaction of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses drives the  formation of weather and climate on Earth. Specifically, air masses of different temperature and moisture content form over source regions. The movement of these air masses create sudden changes in weather at locations on Earth. The interactions of air masses creates frontal systems, which result in sudden changes in weather for a given location.
• Short-term weather predictions are based on observations of current weather, observations from nearby locations, patterns in those observations over the recent past, and high-tech observations from satellites and weather balloons. Because so many complex factors interact to create weather, exact conditions are very difficult to predict, so scientists give weather predictions in terms of probabilities. 
• Tracking and predicting the weather is especially important for extreme weather events. This includes predicting and tracking slow-forming weather hazards (hurricanes, blizzards) and fast-forming ones (flash floods, tornadoes, etc).
• Climate  describes the expected or average weather conditions for a given location at a given time of year.  
• The climate of a location depends upon several factors, including latitude, altitude, ocean currents, prevailing winds, and surrounding topography. 
• Climate is important because it dictates the types of ecosystems that will develop  and survive in that area, including what kinds of crops can be grown and how humans in that area live.
• Many sources of renewable energy are dependent upon the weather to function properly (solar, wind, hydroelectric). These energy sources can also serve to reduce the human impact on global climate because they do not disrupt the carbon cycle in the same way that fossil fuels do.  
• Students will examine climate data for several regions to determine what kind of renewable energy would be best in each location. Then, they will use short-term weather data from that area to predict when their power source may not produce enough energy.  
• Finally, they will write a persuasive statement about why the renewable energy form will be better for the environment due to climate change.

Resources 

• Science equipment used for experimental experiences and data collection.
• Nonfiction/informational text

Performance Assessment 

1. Weather and Climate Unit Test 
2. Performance Event Project (if time allows)

Enduring Understanding

What steps do scientists take to solve problems and discover new things?

Resources

Discovery Education

Performance Assessment

Measurement Lab Stations 

Enduring Understanding

How do things inside our body work together to make us feel the way we do?

Resources

• MySci
• Mosa Mack
• Discovery Education

Performance Assessment

• Cell Analogy Project
• Cell Organelle/Systems Summative Test
• Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration Tree Mystery Model
• Human Body Systems Movie Project

Enduring Understanding

How can scientists’ knowledge of genetics help improve our lives?

Resources

MySci
Discovery Education

Performance Assessment

• Create an Organism Genetics Project
• Reproduction Summative Assessment

This course extends into second semester.

Enduring Understanding

How can we explain the diversity and changes in life over time?

Resources

• MySci
• Mosa Mack
• The Great Fossil Find (Randak & Kimmel)
• PBS Learning Media

Performance Assessment

• Evidence for Evolution CER 
• Natural Selection/Evolution Video Project

Enduring Understanding

How and why do organisms interact with their environment and what are the effects of those interactions?

Resources 

• MySci
• Mosa Mack
• PBS Learning Media

Performance Assessment

• Ecology Summative Assessment

Enduring Understanding

• Students will be able to accurately measure dimensions of matter using the metric system.
• Students will be able to design valid and reliable experiments.
• Students will be able to display and interpret data using graphing skills.

Essential Questions

1. How can I describe properties of matter by measuring its dimensions?
2. How can I set up a valid and reliable experiment to answer questions?
3. How can I display my data in a proper visual form?
4. How do I use standard measurement tools using the metric system?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Scientific Processes Test
• Experimental Design lab
• Measurement Lab

Enduring Understanding

1. Students will be able to describe motion as an object's changing position through a frame of reference, understand that motion is a result of an unbalanced force acting on an object, including gravity, and measure speed, velocity and acceleration of a moving object.
2. Students will accurately be able to describe the type of motion in reference to a moving object (ie: circular, vibrational, linear, projectile).
3. Students will be able to identify that friction is a force that opposes motion.
4. Students will be able to accurately identify and describe the motion of a moving object in terms of Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion.
5. Students will describe how Archimedes' principle relates to the buoyant force, and how this force can be used to float objects on water. (***to be assessed at end of the year with cardboard boat challenge)
6. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the essential nature of simple machines in that they reduce or change the direction of force while increasing distance or decreasing the distance needed to perform the work. (***Will actually take place second semester and assessed with Rube Goldberg Project)

Essential Questions

1. How can one explain and predict interactions between moving objects and within systems of objects?
2. How can one predict an object’s continued motion, changes in motion, or stability?
3. What underlying forces explain the variety of interactions observed? 
4. How can Newton’s Laws of Motion be used to explain the movement of objects?
5. How are forces related to energy?
6. How can machines change and influence the work done by humans?
7. How does Archimedes Principle relate to floating and buoyancy?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Force and Motion Test
• Pendulum Lab
• Average Speed Lab
• Parachute Design challenge
• Rube Goldberg challenge (2nd semester)
• Cardboard Boat Challenge (Engineering Final)

Enduring Understanding

1. Students will be able to recognize that all matter can be classified as having unique physical and chemical properties and that it can be described as being either a pure substance or a mixture.
2. Students will be able to identify and describe the structure of an atom, that all matter is made from atoms, the basic forces that govern matter at the atomic level and the important historical discoveries that led science to have its current understanding of this structure.
3. Students will be able to explain that the Periodic Table is a basic index representing all matter in the universe and that the table itself is organized in such a manner that repeating and predictable patterns about matter can be found.
4. Students will understand that elements combine in one of 3 basic means of bonding to form more complex molecules and compounds, and during these transitions, no amount of matter is gained or lost during this bonding (Law of conservation of matter).

Essential Questions

1. How can one explain the structure, properties, and interactions of matter?    
2. How do particles combine to form a variety of matter one observes?
3. How do substances combine or change (react) to make new substances?
4. How does one characterize and explain these reactions and make predictions about them?
5. What forces hold nuclei together and mediate nuclear processes?
6. How does the Periodic Table give us information about the atomic structure of the elements?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Chemistry mid-unit quiz
• Chemistry Test
• Big Bang Lab
• Acids and Bases Lab
• Isotopes Lab
• White Before Your Eyes Lab

Enduring Understanding

1. Students will describe that thermal energy is simply a result of the kinetic energy of molecules and that this energy always moves from objects with a higher concentration of energy to a lower concentration of energy.
2. Students will identify different types of thermal energy transfer from examples given (conduction, convection, radiation).
3. Students will be able to tell the difference between a thermal conductor and a thermal insulator.
4. Students will be able to describe the difference between the concepts of heat, thermal energy and temperature.
5. Students will be able to accurately explain the phases of matter and what happens to matter when it goes through a phase change and the causes of these changes.

Essential Questions

1. How is energy transferred and conserved?
2. What is Energy?
3. What is thermal energy (heat)?
4. What is meant by conservation of energy?
5. How is energy transferred between objects or systems?
6. How are forces related to energy?
7. How do food and fuel provide energy?
8. What is the role of particles in thermal energy and heat transfer?
9. What materials are best for insulating or conducting energy?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Heat Test
• Thermal Insulator Challenge
• Phase Changes Lab
• Heat Transfer Lab

Enduring Understanding

1. Students will be able to describe electricity as a form of energy created by the mass movement of electrons.
2. Students will be able to describe and identify the difference between static versus current electricity.
3. Students will be able to explain that current electricity requires a circuit with essential parts and identify the two main types of circuits.
4. Students will understand the basic concepts behind magnetism and how it is an alignment of electrons within a substance at the atomic level.
5. Students will explain various ways in which electricity can be generated.

Essential Questions

1. What is the relationship between electricity and magnetism?
2. What is the role of the electron in electric current, static electricity, and magnetism?
3. What is the difference between static and electric current?
4. How is electrical energy created in our civilization?
5. What are the two main types of circuits and how are they used?
6. What materials are best for insulating or conducting energy?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Electricity and Magnetism Test
• Circuits Lab
• Electromagnet and Magnetic Induction Labs
• Simple Circuits

Enduring Understanding

1. Students will identify that a wave is a means by which energy travels and the differences between a longitudinal and electromagnetic wave.
2. Students will understand that sound is a result of a vibrating object and it travels through a medium as a longitudinal wave.
3. Students will understand that light is a result of an electromagnetic wave and what we see as images are only part of a larger spectrum of energy of the electromagnetic spectrum.
4. Students will discover the parts of the ear and the eye that are responsible for a persons’ sensing of sound and light respectively.

Essential Questions

1. How are waves used to transfer energy and information?
2. What are the characteristics, properties, and behaviors of waves?
3. What is light?
4. What is sound?
5. How can one explain the varied effects that involve light or sound?
6. What other forms of electromagnetic radiation are there?
7. How do humans use technology to manipulate light and sound?
8. How do humans interpret sound and light waves as vision and hearing?

Primary Resource(s)

• Holt Science and Technology Physical Science Textbook
  • Edpuzzle
  • assorted videos
  • various lab equipment and demonstrations

Assessment

• Sound and Light Test
• lenses lab
• Eye Dissection
• Convex Lens Lab
• Decibel Lab
• Waves Lab