1st Quarter Coursework Guide For Physical Science General Course Description Supplies, Handouts, Answer Keys & Expectations California Academic Content Standards for 8th Grade Focus on Physical Science Course Outline & Suggested Sequence for Chapter Coverage First Quarter Meeting Schedule Lab Safety: Everyone is Responsible [Best viewed using MS Internet Explorer for Mac or for PC ]

2000-2001 Parent LetterHave any questions?Send an E-Mail! @ mhuffine@avstc.org

CLASS LOCATION & TIME. Forthe 2000-2001 school year Physical Science class meetings will beheld at the Mojave River Campus (MRC) in room C101 on Tuesdaysand Thursdays. The first section begins at 8:00 am followed bythe second section at 10:10 am.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. Students shall be awarded 5 credits for successful completion of this year long course. This course is recommended for students in 8th Grade.

INTRODUCTION.The term physical refers to anything composed of matterand/or energy and phenomenon related to the interplay betweenmatter and energy and the space that they exist in. Sciencerefers to a process of learning and understanding oursurrounding, based on investigation; close observation,hypothesis, collecting data, research and analysis ofinformation.  Physical science is aimed at helping usunderstand the material world in which we live. Physical Scienceis the study of the classification of matter, its composition,its physical properties, forces that effect its state of being,its motion, and its distribution throughout the known universe.

PHILOSOPHYOF THE COURSE. Scienceis often misunderstood and misused in our society. In societytoday there are many theories that have largely been accepted bythe general public as scientific fact, when in actuality, theyare attempts to explain nature, the past, present naturalphenomenon, possible future events; models that help scientistsexplain laws, facts, and observations in order to usefulpredictions about the natural world. Theories can never beproven. Scientific laws, on the other hand, describenatural phenomenon and are based on empirical support(experimentally derived evidence). Laws help us predict facts. Neithertheories nor facts become laws. Facts are detaileddescriptions of patterns or trends. Laws do not becomefacts. Theories, laws, and facts do not evolve one into theother, they are created using the scientific method throughinvestigation, trial and error. The true scientists accepttheories with the idea that there could be another explanation ormodel that can explain some aspect of the natural world.

The philosophy of this courseis help future adult members of society become prepared tounderstand, use and/or challenge existing theories by providingstudents an opportunity to develop a firm understanding offoundational laws and accepted facts, the methods of makingvalid, repeatable scientifically appropriate observations usingthe theoretical and quantitative tools of science.

Therefore, the Middle SchoolScience Program at AAE builds upon the awareness of science as away of exploring the world around us, the heart of scientificinvestigation, and upon the ability to manipulate the tools ofscience which were mastered in the Elementary Science Program.Reading and report writing skills receive emphasis while themajor focus remains firmly with direct experience (laboratoryinvestigations).

The Annual AAE ScienceFestival, held in February, is an integral part of thecurriculum. Each student designs and carries out an experiment ora project over a period of six weeks starting during the 2ndquarter. At each step of the process, the students discuss theirprogress with their science teacher. When the project iscomplete, students are expected to submit a paper, construct adisplay, and present their investigations and findings to parentsand other students at the school Science Festival.

Finally, each student shouldbe able to identify and demonstrate competence in the use of thefollowing: unequal arm balance, graduated cylinder, metric rule,graduated thermometer, and standard metric units of measure, theinternet as a resource for conducting research.

COURSE PREVIEW. The course begins with an overview of thenature of scientific investigation as a basis for constructing aworking understanding about the world in which theylive. Attention was given to the California 8th gradeScience Content Standards when the course content was selected.Students study a variety of topics that include: safety,scientific method, measurement, data collection, graphing &organizing data,density,classification of matter, forces, gravity, Newton's 3 Laws ofMotion, speed, velocity, acceleration, friction, momentum,inertia, fluid pressure, buoyancy, Archimedes Principle,"Bernoulli Effect", atomic model, atomic structure,periodic table, compounds, mixtures, formulas, electronicstructure, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, chemical vs.physical change, balancing equations, Laws of Conservation &Thermodynamics, heat, temperature, temperature Scales, phasechange, types of Solutions, Solubility, measuring pH, acids andbases, using Indicators, basic Carbon chemistry, drawing &modeling carbon compound, inorganic vs. organic molecules, starstypes, astronomical measurement, the organization of the knownuniverse, appearance, Composition, position, size and motion ofobjects in our Solar System. They will be introduced to these topics throughinquiry/constructivistic/project based teaching methodologiesthat stress students "doing science" before or"alongside" of learning science

Throughout thePhysical Science course, students will conduct field andlaboratory investigations, use scientific methods duringinvestigations, and make informed decisions using criticalthinking and scientific problem solving.

LABORATORYAND INVESTIGATION FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE. The goal of thelaboratory and field investigation component of the PhysicalScience course during "class meetings" is to complementwhat student learn during their "home sessions "byallowing students to learn about the physicalstructure/composition and inner workings of their surroundingthrough first hand observation physical phenomenon. Experiencesboth in the laboratory and in the field will provide studentswith important opportunities to test concepts and principles thatare introduced during their "home session" studies,giving them an opportunity to explore specific problems with adepth not easily achieved otherwise, and gain an awareness of theimportance of confounding variables that exist in the "realworld". In these experiences students can employ alternativelearning styles to reinforce fundamental concepts and principles.Because all students have a stake in the future of theirenvironment, it is the Centers desire that such activities willmotivate students to study the physical sciences (chemistry,physics, astronomy etc.) in greater depth.

Laboratory andfield investigation activities in the course will be diverse. Asexamples, students can acquire skills in specific techniques andprocedures (such as collecting data about planets using the .
(GoldstoneApple Valley Radio Astronomy Telescope (GAVRT) ), conduct student-ledresearch and developments project, analyze a real data set (suchas astrometric data sets, or measurement data sets studentscollect model rocket lunches), and visit a local public facility(like the campuses of the University of California @ Riverside,Cal Tech, or California State University at San Bernardino, afield trip to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, or the California Science Center in Los Angeles).

CRITICALELEMENTS OF LAB /FIELD INVESTIGATION ACTIVITIES. Althoughthere will be a great diversity in the laboratory and fieldactivities that will be employed in the Physical Science course,each lab/field investigation will include the following elements:

• Activities that reinforce one or more major scientific concepts found in the course outline.
• Activities that allow students to have direct experience with the structure and interactions of the material /physical world.
• Activities that involve observation of phenomena or systems, the collection and analysis of data and/or other information, and the communication of observations and/or results.

The relativemagnitudes of these elements may vary from activity to activity.As a whole, however, each of the course's laboratory and fieldinvestigation components will attempt to encompass all of theseelements.

CHALLENGINGSTUDENT ABILITIES. Each laboratory and field investigationused in the Physical Science course will attempt to challengeevery student's ability to:

• critically observe physical phenomenon
• develop and conduct well-designed experiments
• utilize appropriate techniques and instrumentation
• analyze and interpret data, including appropriate statistical and graphical presentations
• think analytically and apply concepts to describe physical and mathematical phenomenon
• make conclusions and evaluate their quality and validity
• propose further questions for study
• communicate accurately and meaningfully about observations and conclusions
  

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Interactive Student Student Notebooks & Cornell Notes: During the second class meeting of the year(Week 2), students will receive instructions for developing anInteractive Student Notebook using an 73/4 x 9 1/2 inch,200 page Mead Composition bound notebook. Once this notebookhas been setup, student will be expected to write all of theirclass notes (Cornell fashion), attach all class handouts (withglue stick, tape, or rubber cement) and record all of their datacollected during class meeting investigation. Each class meeting,students will be required to take Cornell Notes, The process forthis type of note-taking will be discussed at the start of thefirst semester. These notes will prove especially helpful instudying for the final exam.

SUPPLIES, HANDOUTS, & ANSWER KEYS.

Pleaseendeavor to obtain the following supplies for your student:

All sciencesupplies for any "home session investigations"that you choose to perform will be supplied by the home teacheror student. If students are directed to perform a particularscience investigation at home a supply list will be providedalong with any "hard-to-get" items. If any items provehard to find or obtain, the classroom instructor will help directstudents/parents on how they can be obtained.

Handouts will be made available before they areneeded or earlier if requested by parent. The reason for this isbecause a “constructivistic” approach to scienceteaching requires students to do the science before they readabout it. Answer keys to problems you choose to assign at homeout of the course text book are available and will provided atparent teacher request.

Answer keysto problems you choose to assign at home out of the coursetext book are available and will provided at parent teacherrequest.

STUDENTEXPECTATIONS.

Attendance: It is important that students maintain good attendance. Two or more unexcused absences will be cause for student to be recommended for academic review. Attendance is also important to academic success as many of the class meetings will be lab investigation, discussions, or demonstrations. which cannot be easily duplicated in the home and they will also count toward the academic grade. Missed lab investigations due to excused absences may be made up at the scheduled lab make-up times

The tardy policy for this class is reflected in the AAE student handbook. A student is considered tardy to a Physical Science class meeting if they are not in their seats with their daily materials (such as books, Interactive Student Notebook, pencil, 3 ring binder with paper etc.) out and ready to use.

Class Meetings: Generally each class session will begin with students in their seats, their books and assignments out ready to go. If it is a day to do a spot check of work completed at home or to take a quiz, that will be done the first few minutes of class. This is generally followed by a brief overview of topics covered in the proceeding days. This is time that students can ask question about work that was completed at home. Next, there may be an introduction to the topic to be discussed/investigated in class that day. On most days, there will be some sort of activity or lab experiment that will support the topics /concepts covered during the rest of the week. The work done during a class meeting will be included/written into/attached to the pages of each student's Interactive Student Notebook and will count towards the students academic grade. The class will end with reminders about what is in store for upcoming class meetings.

HOME SESSION ASSIGNMENTS/ACTIVITIES: All daily course work which is taught/assigned by the instructor and finished at home will be graded by the teacher unless the student an/or parent is requested to do so at home. The work completed at home will count towards the student's academic grade. This work will need to be kept in the STUDENT SUCCESS binder or INTERACTIVE STUDENT SCIENCE NOTEBOOK [ISSN] depending on the instructions given during Class Meetings. The way in which this work will be given academic credit is through a weekly "spot check" of that work.
Spot checks work as follows:

• On the designated day, at the very beginning of class, each student will have the work, from the previous weeks home activities, displayed on their desk so that each page/ assignment is clearly visible.
• The instructor will then quickly go around the room and check off students who have completed the work. Students who have completed the work will receive full credit. If no work has been completed, then the student will not earn any credit. Partial credit will not be given. (extenuating circumstances aside).
• It is very important that students keep up on their daily Home Session Assignments/Activities, not only for the effect it will have on their grade but also for the effect it will have on their understanding of work done in class.
• The point value of the weekly work completed during Home Sessions will approximately equal the value of the work done in class for the week.
  

If a student is absent fromclass : The student is still responsible for the work missedwhile absent. In the event of a missed lab investigation, thestudent should plan to make up the investigation during one ofthe scheduled open lab times. If this is an impossibility, thestudent should speak with the instructor. It is up to the studentto make up any class notes that were missed. For other types ofmissed assignments, the student needs to see the instructor or,when possible, consult the appropriate weekly Parent-Studentguide handed out in class or on-line @
<http://www.avstc.org/SciMat/ps_q_1.html > to complete assignments athome.If a student receives two unexcused absences, the studentsAA will be advised and the parent will receive a call home.

8th Grade CaliforniaScience Academic Content Standards: At thetop of each week's Parent-Student Guide, you will find a listedthe state science standard(s) that are being emphasized. Thephysical science course has been designed to compliment yourchild's home learning in an effort to support you and help yourstudent to meet and exceed California'sacademic standards foreight grade science. Each week, during class meetings, activitiesand assignments have been chosen which address the overarchingstandard that covers scientific investigation and experimentation(8th Grade Standard 9 below). A complete list of Californiaacademic standards for all subjects and all grades can be foundat http://www.csun.edu/~hcbio027/k12standards/science.htmlThe CaliforniaAcademic Content Standard for 8th grade science for PhysicalScience are as follows:

Motion

1. The velocity of an objectis the rate of change of its position. As a basis forunderstanding this concept, students know:

a. position is defined relative to some choice of standard reference point and a set of reference directions.
b. average speed is the total distance traveled divided by the total time elapsed. The speed of an object along the path traveled can vary.
c. how to solve problems involving distance, time, and average speed.
d. to describe the velocity of an object one must specify both direction and speed.
e. changes in velocity can be changes in speed, direction, or both.
f. how to interpret graphs of position versus time and speed versus time for motion in a single direction.

Forces

2. Unbalanced forces causechanges in velocity. As a basis for understanding this concept,students know:

a. a force has both direction and magnitude.
b. when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the effect is the cumulative effect of all the forces.
c. when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object does not change.
d. how to identify separately two or more forces acting on a single static object, including gravity, elastic forces due to tension or compression in matter, and friction.
e. when the forces on an object are unbalanced the object will change its motion (that is, it will speed up, slow down, or change direction).
f. the greater the mass of an object the more force is needed to achieve the same change in motion.
g. the role of gravity in forming and maintaining planets, stars and the solar system.

Structure of Matter

3. Elements have distinctproperties and atomic structure. All matter is comprised of oneor more of over 100 elements. As a basis for understanding thisconcept, students know:

a. the structure of the atom and how it is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons.
b. compounds are formed by combining two or more different elements. Compounds have properties that are different from the constituent elements.
c. atoms and molecules form solids by building up repeating patterns such as the crystal structure of NaCl or long chain polymers.
d. the states (solid, liquid, gas) of matter depend on molecular motion.
e. in solids the atoms are closely locked in position and can only vibrate, in liquids the atoms and molecules are more loosely connected and can collide with and move past one another, while in gases the atoms or molecules are free to move independently, colliding frequently.
f. how to use the Periodic Table to identify elements in simple co