Jasper County Middle School

Course Description:

In 8th Grade Physical Science, there are 5 main standards that will be studied during the course of the entire year:

• Matter - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about the structure and properties of matter
• Energy - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about the Law of Conservation of Energy, to develop arguments that energy can transform from one form to another within a system.
• Force, Mass & Motion: obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about cause and effect relationships between force, mass, and the motion of objects.
• Waves- Light & Sound: obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to support the claim that electromagnetic (light) waves behave differently than mechanical (sound) waves.
• Fields - Gravity, Electricity & Magnetism: obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about gravity, electricity and magnetism as major forces acting in nature.

Instructional Goals: Students will be able to

1. Obtain information from a variety of sources: Lecture, texts and (as much as possible) laboratory experiences
2. Evaluate information to determine relationships, cause and effect, and credibility of information obtained.
3. Communicate information by creating tables and graphs, as well as by written and verbal communication. 
4. To use the processes (such as the scientific method) to observe, question, research, hypothesize, experiment, collect data, analyze data, draw conclusions and communicate results.

Curriculum: The first semester will focus on the Periodic Table, Matter, Chemistry, and the vital interactions that occur between them in the natural world. The second semester will be focused on Physics, Waves, Forces, Motion, Electricity and Magnetic forces.

Class assignments:

Notes (located on Google classroom and presentations), assignments and assessments will be posted in Google classroom. I will use materials from my face to face classroom along with  other online resources (for example, USATestPrep). Students with a score of less than 80% on any assignment are encouraged to re-attempt the assignment within 3 school days, making corrections in order to master concepts. It is the student’s responsibility to notify me of  re-submitted work. Formative assignments will receive feedback, but not all formative, practice assignments will be posted in Infinite Campus.

Curriculum and Instructional Resources:

We will follow the curriculum as set forth by the state of Georgia Department of Education. The standards and outline of the units are available at: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/Science-Eighth-Grade-Georgia-Standards.pdf

Supplemental instructional resources (in addition to class assignments) will be available on Google classroom for students to access.  These resources may  include websites, videos or interactive sites intended to assist and support the learning process.  

Expectations

Students are expected to note the learning target, take notes, engage in the bellringer, opening, work session and closing, and complete all corresponding assignments. 

Students who are absent are expected to log in to access Google Classroom, and interact with the material to catch up as soon as is possible (one day extension per each day missed).

Students are expected to complete and submit assignments on their due date.

Work submitted more than 24 hours after the posted due date will be subject to losing a portion of the credit for tardiness. After two weeks, late work may receive no more than a 70%.

Work will NOT be accepted after the end of a marking period, as grades will have already been posted.

Students should contact the instructor immediately by email with questions or if help is needed. I will usually respond within a few hours, but will definitely respond within 24 business hours. 

Google Meets (virtual meeting) Expectations for or in the event of Distance Learning

Students are expected to participate in every scheduled virtual meeting.

Students are to mute their microphones until or unless they need to pose a question.

Students are to use their live camera (preferred) OR a school appropriate photo to display during the virtual meetings.

Students who are expected to log in to access Google Classroom, and interact with the material every day. 

Grading:

The grading policy is located in the student handbook for face to face instruction.  30% of the grade will be from summative grade (like tests or projects) while 70% of the grade will be from formative assignments (like classwork, practice and quizzes).   It is my personal policy to return work with feedback prior to giving a grade for work that displays less than mastery of the material. Students will then make the corrections and re-submit the assignment for grading. (This excludes assignments graded automatically, like USATestPrep or Google forms). A minimum of two formative grades will be posted in Infinite Campus each week. A minimum of two summative grades will be posted each 9 weeks.

Class Dojo will be the primary form of communication.

Course Description: In High School Level Physical Science, there are 10 main standards that will be studied during the course of the entire year:

• Periodic Table - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information from the Periodic Table to explain the properties and patterns of atomic structure.
• Atoms - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about how atoms bond to form stable compounds
• Matter - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to support the Law of COnservation of Matter
• Nuclear Chemistry - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the changes in nuclear structure as a result of fission, fusion and radioactive decay.
• Phases - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to compare & contrast the phases of matter as they relate to atomic and molecular motion.
• Solutions - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the properties of solutions.
• Energy - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the transformations and flow of energy within a system
• Force, Mass & Motion - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the relationships among force, mass and motion.
• Waves - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the properties of waves.
• Fields: Electricity & Magnetism - obtaining, evaluating and communicating information to explain the properties of and relationships between electricity & magnetism

Instructional Goals: Students will be able to

1. Obtain information from a variety of sources: Lecture, texts and (as much as possible) laboratory experiences
2. Evaluate information to determine relationships, cause and effect, and credibility of information obtained.
3. Communicate information by creating tables and graphs, as well as by written and verbal communication. 
4. To use the processes (such as the scientific method) to observe, question, research, hypothesize, experiment, collect data, analyze data, draw conclusions and communicate results.

Curriculum: The first semester will focus on the Periodic Table, Matter, Chemistry, and the vital interactions that occur between them in the natural world. The second semester will be focused on Physics, Waves, Forces, Motion, Electricity and Magnetic forces.

Class assignments:

Notes (located on Google classroom and presentations), assignments and assessments will be posted in Google classroom. I will use materials from my face to face classroom along with  other online resources (for example, USATestPrep). Students with a score of less than 80% on any assignment are encouraged to re-attempt the assignment within 3 school days, making corrections in order to master concepts. It is the student’s responsibility to notify me of  re-submitted work. Formative assignments will receive feedback, but not all formative, practice assignments will be posted in Infinite Campus.

Curriculum and Instructional Resources:

We will follow the curriculum as set forth by the state of Georgia Department of Education. The standards and outline of the units are available at: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/Science-Physical-Science-Georgia-Standards.pdf

Supplemental instructional resources (in addition to class assignments) will be available on Google classroom for students to access.  These resources may  include websites, videos or interactive sites intended to assist and support the learning process.  

Expectations

Students are expected to note the learning target, take notes, engage in the bellringer, opening, work session and closing, and complete all corresponding assignments. 

Students who are absent are expected to log in to access Google Classroom, and interact with the material to catch up as soon as is possible (one day extension per each day missed).

Students are expected to complete and submit assignments on their due date.

Work submitted more than 24 hours after the posted due date will be subject to losing a portion of the credit for tardiness. After two weeks, late work may receive no more than a 70%.

Work will NOT be accepted after the end of a marking period, as grades will have already been posted.

Students should contact the instructor immediately by email with questions or if help is needed. I will usually respond within a few hours, but will definitely respond within 24 business hours. 

Google Meets (virtual meeting) Expectations for or in the event of Distance Learning

Students are expected to participate in every scheduled virtual meeting.

Students are to mute their microphones until or unless they need to pose a question.

Students are to use their live camera (preferred) OR a school appropriate photo to display during the virtual meetings.

Students who are expected to log in to access Google Classroom, and interact with the material every day. 

Grading:

The grading policy is located in the student handbook for face to face instruction.  70% of the grade will be from summative grade (like tests or projects) while 30% of the grade will be from formative assignments (like classwork, practice and quizzes).   It is my personal policy to return work with feedback prior to giving a grade for work that displays less than mastery of the material. Students will then make the corrections and re-submit the assignment for grading. (This excludes assignments graded automatically, like USATestPrep or Google forms). A minimum of two formative grades will be posted in Infinite Campus each week. A minimum of two summative grades will be posted each 9 weeks.

If Georgia Milestones are given this year (and at this point it seems likely that they will be given), then that End of Course test will be given a weight of 20% of the year-long grade (this is the State requirement).

Class Dojo will be the primary method of communication.