This year I will be teaching 4 sections of 7th grade science and 1 section of Aerospace.

In science each class will have an agenda that will be passed out to students approximately every 2 weeks.  The student's agenda is to be placed on the proper page in the back of the ISN, it will also be posted in the blog on this site.  

I will be sending home an overview of the grading policy as well as what students will have access to for success. Each quarter in Science students will be working in a new ISN (50-70 page spiral notebook) Students will have input and output pages to complete these will be checked on average 3 times a quarter. Students are expected to either write in color or use color on the output pages to enhance their retention of the information.  The output pages are the more important of the pages graded.  The output page shows how much has been  learned as well as showing application of learning a student has done.  This is important to complete and complete well. Students should be responding in complete sentences, with correct spelling.  A response written in depth will receive a better score than a short sentence with only partial information.  Students are allowed to correct any errors within a week of the grading of each section of the ISN.  Students are NOT allowed to correct the final ISN grade as that grade is done at the end of the quarter and time does not allow for this. 

Aerospace- Students will be given a folder with all 4 agendas in the folder, along with lots of helpful information.   Students will be working in groups to complete projects. After the historical reading and project are completed, they will be asked to write an essay putting it all together.  Students will be given the opportunity to investigate hot air balloons, parachutes, and gliders during the quarter.  Students will get a 2 pocket folder for the class that will have items needed for the entire quarter.  There will be 3 essays students will be required to write in this class. The first one the students will get a lot of assistance and less on the second and even less on the third. This is done to show growth in their understanding of the concepts being taught. 

The Blog Page: Here you will find biweekly copies of the agenda that is passed out to students.  Every student is handed one at the start of a new agenda.  **Extras are limited** so hang on to them! If adjustments are made due to unforeseen delays, those will be on the students agenda only.   Look here if you are absent for what we were suppose to do in class!!!

The Resources Page:  This space contains links that students will use over the course of the school year as well as links to labs that we have done in class.  Reminder- not all things we see or do in class are able to be uploaded.  If you miss a video, you can always stay after on Wed. to view it. 

What is a Scientific Explanation?

It is a paper (1 pg usually in length) that uses the information gathered in an experiment or from gathering information to explain the hypothesis or concept a student starts with.

        * restatement of hypothesis (or question if provided by teacher): Was it proven or disproved? You should explain this in detail using the following.

        * Data/evidence:  from Data table should be stated and "discussed" in paper. Why did the experiment happen the way it did?  If using evidence you should state where it was acquired and what it means or how it backs the format of the paper (agreed or disagree) .

        * Scientific Reasoning Should be blended in with the data/evidence portion as this is where the student is to explain why things happened in the lab the way they did or explain in detail using reasoning as to why a concept is what it is.