Goals for the course
I have four overall goals for science in the seventh and eighth grade:

1. Students feel excited about and confident in science.
Students are able to design, execute, and deductively analyze experiments.
3. Students view science as a process rather than a body of knowledge.
4. Students graduate with the skills and knowledge that can serve as a basis for high school science.

Structure of the course
Unit science meets three times a week with two single periods on Monday and Friday, and one lab period (90 minutes) on Tuesday (Jenn’s class) or Wednesday (Grace’s class). Students keep a binder in the science room with their class notes, lab notes, past homework assignments and reading packets in chronological order. Parents are welcome and encouraged to examine their child's binder in the science room. Roughly 30 minutes of homework is assigned for most science periods. Students are always welcome and encouraged to challenge themselves further with outside science projects, and I have sheets available that suggest ideas and general guidelines for doing so.

Skills and habits of mind
During science this year, it is my goal that students acquire knowledge of science content listed on the reverse side. Integrated with previous knowledge, students will extend and refine this knowledge by engaging in activities such as comparing, classifying, deductive thinking, critical thinking, analyzing errors, and effectively communicating ideas. I believe successful learning occurs when students can use these skills to perform meaningful tasks such as decision making, investigation, experimental inquiry, problem solving, and invention (Marzano, 1993).

As a middle school teacher, it is also my responsibility to prepare students for the challenges of high school. To meet this goal, students will learn to use basic lab equipment, read and extrapolate from science textbooks, measure using the metric system, record accurate data, take class and lab notes, work cooperatively, and share their findings with classmates and the FSS community via presentations, posters, papers, and other small projects.

Properties of Matter

• Mass: What is it? How do we measure it? What tools and units are used?
• Volume: What is it? How do we measure it? What tools and units are used?
• Density: What is it? How do we measure it? What tools and units are used?
• Independent Project: Investigation of density
• Inertia (Newton’s first law, see below)
• Motion: How do things move in the world around us?
• Speed, velocity, and acceleration: Measuring it, calculating it, graphing it, constant vs. average speed
• Friction: useful versus not useful friction, rolling, sliding, and fluid friction
• Universal of gravitation: Mass versus weight, free fall, air resistance (friction)
• Newton’s Laws of Motion: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and use of the hovercraft!

Nutrition

• Human Body: What happens to the food we eat after they are eaten?
• Nutrition: Properties of food (fat, protein, sodium, vitamins, etc.), what you do/don’t need
• Calories: What are they? Intake and output.
• Caffeine: What is it in? What does it do to you? How does it affect teenagers?
• Sugar: Corn syrup craze, empty calories, its effects on your body
• Super Size Me: Fast food, portion sizes, lifestyle, and obesity in America. How do we compare to other countries?
• Independent Project: Investigation of nutrition