Science

In a continuation of our vertically aligned science curriculum, students take what they have learned and apply it through hands-on experiments and STREAM activities, while focusing on scientific inquiry, methodology, and engineering principles. Students gain a deeper understanding of previously established concepts while exploring the laws behind natural phenomena, such as Newton’s Laws. In middle school, students use the scientific procedures and writing scientific research by working in small groups to conduct experiments. Afterwards, students record their results and analyze their findings in order to solidify their understanding and apply this to new concepts. Some of the topics investigated include the universe, gravity, kinetic and potential energy, atoms and molecules as building blocks of substances, and changing states of matter. 

Textbooks used:

• Sixth grade:
  • Science Explorer:  Earth Science
• Seventh grade:
  • Science Explorer: Human Biology and Health
  • Science Explorer:  Cells and Heredity
• Eighth grade:
  • Science Explorer:  Motion, Forces, and Energy
  • Science Explorer:  Chemical Interactions

• Examine and analyze our solar system and the Milky Way Galaxy
• Analyze and interpret data from earth-based and space-based instruments and telescopes to understand our solar system and the Milky Way Galaxy
• Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata to demonstrate how geologic time scale is used to organize earth’s history
• Understand rock formations and fossils to establish relative ages of major events in the earth’s history
• Create a model of the structure of an atom, using the periodic table to determine the properties and the interactions of atoms
• Develop a 2- or 3-dimensional model to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures
• Using the physical and chemical properties of different substances, analyze and interpret data before and after combining the substances
• Examine and analyze the effects when natural resources undergo a chemical process to create a synthetic substance
• Form an understanding of thermal energy in order to develop a model which describes and predicts changes in particle motion, temperature and the state of a pure substance when thermal energy is applied or removed
• Form an understanding of a chemical reaction and develop models to demonstrate changes which occur during a chemical reaction
• Use mathematical symbols to represent a model of a simple wave