Below you will find the units we are going to study in this class this year in order.
1. Intro to Science
2. Structure & Properties of Matter
3. History of Earth & Earth's Systems (Rock Cycle & Water Cycle)
4. Weather & Climate
5. Ecology
6. Earth in Space
7. Motions and Forces Newton's Laws
Intro To Science
WEBSITES
Describe the processes used by scientists to conduct investigations.
Video: Does Bias Play a Role in Science
Check for Understanding:Describe the Processes Used By Scientists to Conduct Investigations
Explain the importance of following the steps of scientific inquiry.
How Do Scientists Obtain New Knowledge? Scientific Method
Video: The Scientific Method Song
What are Independent and Dependent Variables?
Scientific Method and Data Analysis
Video: Using Robots for Inquiry
Check for Understanding: Explain the Importance of Following the Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Engineering Introductory Material
Video: Scientists Profile - Solar Vehicle Engineer
Introduction Guiding Questions
Describe the engineering process.
Video: The Engineering Process
Video:Jesse Has a Problem: Think Like an Engineer Part 1
Video: Jesse & Squeaks Build a Better Back Scratcher Part 2
Video: NASA Now: Engineering Design Process: Hubble Space Telescope
Video: Crazy Engineering: The Camera That Fixed Hubble
Check For Understanding: Describe the Engineering Process
Explain how the engineering process is used to solve a problem.
Video: So You Want to Build a Satellite
Video: Crazy Engineering: Gecko Gripper
Check for Understanding Engineering 2
Describe the role of the engineering process in technology.
Video: Green Careers: Civil Engineer
Video: What Makes Bridges So Strong?
Video: Scientific Profile: Biomedical Engineer
Check for Understanding: Engineering 3
ACTIVITIES
Laying The Foundation Materials
"Exploring Experimental Design"
"Come Fly With Us"
Scientific Method Practice 1
"Penny Lab"
Scientific Method Practice 2
"Numbers in Science"
No Textbook
Students will learn what science is and how scientist study their environment. Students will be introduced to the scientific method.
Web Links
Virtual Triple Beam Balance Airliner
Measurement Airliner
Graduated Cylinder Lesson Airliner
Structure & Properties of Matter
Blue Book K "The Nature Of Matter" Chapter 2 States of Matter (sections 1 & 2), Chapter 3: Properties and Changes of Matter & Blue Book L "Chemistry" Chapter 3 (section 1): Substances Mixtures & Solubility
Students will; 1) Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
2) Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
3) Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
WEBSITES
Video: Particles of Your World
Describe the structure of atoms, and how atoms combine to form molecules.
Reading: Atoms, Elements, and Compounds
Video: Reading a Chemical Formula
Video: Just How Small is an Atom?
Check for Understanding: Atoms, Molecules, and Substances
Describe different physical and chemical properties of substances.
Reading: Physical Properties of Matter
Reading: Chemical Properties of Matter
Video: Physical and Chemical Changes
SlideShow: Density Experiment & Explanation
Check for Understanding: Properties of Matter
Describe the different states of matter.
Video: Solids, Liquids, and Gases Overview
Check for Understanding: States of Matter
Identify how changes to temperature or pressure can cause matter to change state.
Reading: Matter Changing States
Video: Changes States of Matter
Check for Understanding: Changes of State
ACTIVITIES
LTF Lesson
"Significant Digits"
"Graphing Skills"
"Green Beans the Wonderful Fruit"
"A Cool Chemical Reaction"
"What's That Liquid"
LAB 1: Density Labs
LAB 2: Solubility of Salt in Water at Different Temperatures
LAB 3: States of Matter Virtual Lab
LAB 5 pH of Soil - Hydrangea Virtual Lab
LAB 6: Why Things Float Virtual Lab
Web Links
Melting Points & Boiling Points SAS Activity
Chemical Properties Virtual Lab
Solids Liquids Airliner
Changes of State Airliner
Gases Airliner
Irreversible Changes Airliner
Bottling Honey NAEP Activity
History of Earth & Earth's Systems
(Rock Cycle, Water Cycle, Plate Tectonics, Geo-chemical Cycles, Fossils)
Red Book H "The Water Planet Chapter 1 The Nature of Water
Red Book F "Earth’s Materials and Processes" Chapter 2 Rocks, Chapter 4 Plate Tectonics (section 2 & 3)
Red Book G "The Changing Surface of Earth" Chapter 2 Weathering and Soil (section 1 only), Chapter 4 Water Erosion and Deposition (Section 1 & 2)
Students will; 1) Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
2) Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
3) Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
4) Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
Describe how Earth's geological changes occur on different scales of time and size.
Reading: The Forces That Change the Face of the Earth
Interactive: Our Earth is Always Changing
Describe how the formation and change of rocks records the story of Earth's history.
Video: Chronology of Rock Layers
Video: Reading Rock Strata - Layers in the Grand Canyon
Check for Understanding: How Different Types of Rocks are Formed
Check for Understanding: Rock Cycle
Identify how the layers of rock and fossils can be used to determine relative dates of events in Earth's history.
Reading: How to Read Rock Layers
Video: Relative Dating of Rock Layers
Reading: What is the Difference Between Relative and Absolute Dating?
Check for Understanding: Using Rocks to Learn the History of Earth
Identify and interpret types of evidence that show how Earth's plates have moved over time.
Video: Evidence for Continental Drift
Check for Understanding: Continental Drift
Describe how movement within the interior of the Earth causes change on the surface of the Earth.
Interactive: Earth's Structure
Reading: Tectonic Plate Motions
Video: Why Does the Earth Have Layers?
Check for Understanding: Plate Tectonic Motions
Check for Understanding: Tectonic Plates
Describe how water continually cycles on Earth's surface.
Video: The Great Aqua Adventure
The Water Cycle Interactive Quiz
Check for Understanding: The Water Cycle
Describe how sunlight and gravity drive the water cycle.
The Sun and The Water Cycle Book
ACTIVITIES
LTF Lessons
"Tooth Pick Birds"
"Bean Bunny Evolution"
LAB: Students will study samples of the three different types of rocks.
Web Links
Rock Lab Airliner
Weather & Climate
Red Book I "The Air Around You"
Chapter 1 Atmosphere, Chapter 2 Weather, Chapter 3 Climate
1) Students will collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
2) Students will develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
WEBSITES
Weather & Climate: Study Guide
Identify factors that influence weather patterns, and describe why we use probability to predict the weather.
Factors Affecting Weather & Climate
Describe factors that influence climate patterns, and describe the stability of climate patterns over time.
Video: Climate: Poles vs Equator
Climate Altitude and Latitude: What's the Difference?
Identify how the ocean influences weather and climate.
Video: The Ocean: The Driving Force for Weather and Climate
Video: Ocean Currents and Climate
Video: Ocean Impact of the Global Weather
Describe similarities and differences between weather and climate.
ACTIVITIES
LAB 1: Thermal Energy Demonstration
LAB 2: Thermal Energy Lab
Suns Effect on Climate and Seasons
Ecosystems
Green Book E "Ecology" Chapter 1 Interactions of Life, Chapter 2 The Nonliving Environment, Chapter 4 Conserving Resources, Chapter 5 Conserving Life (Section 1 only)
Students will; 1) Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
2) Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
3) Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
WEBSITES
Describe how the availability of resources can limit the growth of organisms and limit population size.
Video: Biological Carrying Cycle
Limiting Factors to Population Growth
Video: How Many People Can Earth Hold?
Interactive: African Lions - Modeling Populations
Video: The Importance of the Predator
Interpret food webs to identify how matter and energy move between organisms in an ecosystem.
Video: Energy Pyramid and Trophic Levels
Reading: Food Webs and Food Chains
Interactive: Food Webs and Food Chains
Describe how the atoms that make up organisms in an ecosystem are constantly cycled between the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.
Check for Understanding: Cycles of Materials
Describe the kinds of relationships that exist between organisms in ecosystems.
Video: 10 Incredible Organisms Working Together in Nature
Reading: Predator and Prey Relationships
Video: Seeds - Hooks and Spikes
Check for Understanding: Ecosystem Relationships
Check for Understanding: Symbiosis - Mutalism, Commensalism, Parasitism
ACTIVITIES
LTF Lesson
"Baby Dice Island"
LABS & Web Links
Food Chains and Biological Magnification
Photosynthesis Airliner
Herman the WormWriting: Students may write a paper or create a PowerPoint Presentation summarizing the major concepts learned involving one specific biome.
Space
Red Book J "Astronomy" Chapter 2 The Sun-Earth-Moon System, Chapter 3 The Solar System
Students will; 1) Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
2) Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
3) Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.
WEBSITES
Describe the patterns of the Moon's apparent motion.
Interactive: Phases of the Moon
Check for Understanding: Moon Phases
Check for Understanding: Lunar Phases
Explain how the model of the solar system can explain eclipses.
Video: The Differences Between Solar and Lunar Eclipses
Video: What Causes Solar Eclipses?
Check for Understanding: The Shadow of the Moon
Explain how Earth's tilt relative to the Sun leads to seasons.
Video: Earth's Orbit Around the Sun
Interactive: Seasons Simulator
Check for Understanding: Seasons
Describe the components of the solar system and how they are held in orbit around the Sun.
Video: Earth's Rotation and Revolution
Check for Understanding: Revolutions of Earth
Describe the different objects found in the solar system (planets, asteroids, comets, and meteors).
Interactive: Tour of the Solar System
Reading: Planets of the Solar System
Interactive: Tour of the Solar System
Image: Comet, Asteroid, and Metoriod
Video: How Are Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors Different?
Video: Comet, Asteroid, or Meteor?
Check for Understanding: Planets, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors
Check for Understanding: Planets, etc.
ACTIVITIES
LTF LESSON - "Moon Watch"
Web Links
Seasons Virtual Lab (SAS)
Planetary Motion Virtual Lab (SAS)
Eclipses Virtual Lab (SAS) user name
Characteristics of Our Solar System SAS Activity
Solar System Objects Revolutions (Solar Simulator)
Earth, Sun, Moon Airliner
Lunar Phases Airliner
The Nine Planets Just for Kids
Writing: Students will write a paper summarizing the major concepts learned about one celestial body.
Forces Unit
Blue Book M "Motion Forces and Energy" Chapter 1 Motion and Momentum, Chapter 2 Force and Newton’s Laws
Students will 1) Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
2) Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
WEBSITES
Characterize a force as having both magnitude and direction, and give examples of specific types of forces that may act on objects.
Video: Newton's Third Law - Action and Reaction Forces
Check for Understanding: Force
Determine when forces are balanced or unbalanced on an object, and explain how this will affect the motion of the object.
Video: Balanced and Unbalance Forces
Video: Using the Net Force Interactive
Interactive: Net Force (watch video above first)
Practice: Calculating Net Force
Check for Understanding: Calculating Net Force
Characterize velocity as having both speed and direction, and describe the position and motion of an object using a frame of reference.
Video: Example Frame of Reference
Check for Understanding: Frame of Reference and Velocity
Describe the relationship between the mass of an object, the force applied to the object, and the object's acceleration.
Reading: Newton's Second Law of Motion
Reading: Calculating Newton's Second Law
Video: Newton's Second Law of Motion
Check for Understanding: Acceleration
Check for Understanding: Practice Calculating Acceleration
Activities;
Students will complete
LTF Lesson
"Speed Lab"
Calculator Lab
Excel Lab
"Pendulum Swing"
P vs T Graphs
"Mechanical Advantage"
V vs T Graphs
LAB 1: Speed lab
LAB 2: Freefall acceleration lab
LAB 3: Newton's Laws of Motion Math Lab
LAB 4: Static & Sliding Friction Lab.
LAB 4: Motion Virtual Lab
Friction Airliner
Forces Airliner