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6th Grade Opening Earth Science Syllabus..

July 28, 2009 — Mr. Limpert

Here is the opening syllabus of the year for 6th Grade Earth Science…

Thematic Science Unit Syllabus: Language of the Lab-2009-2010 Mr. Limpert-Team 6-B

In this unit, we will learn about the tools and methods used by Earth scientists. We will be introduced to various measurement tools that will be used throughout the school year. Scientists use the International System of Units (SI…or metric), so we will in this class, as well. Correct lab safety procedures will also be discussed.

Georgia Performance Standards:

1) S6CS1

a. Students will keep honest, clear, and accurate records in science.

b. Students will understand that hypotheses are valuable if they lead to fruitful investigations, even if the hypotheses turn out not to be completely accurate descriptions.

2) S6CS10

a. Students will read in ALL curriculum areas

b. Students will discuss books and:

. 1. discuss messages and themes from books in all subject areas.

. 2. respond to a variety of texts in multiple modes of discourse.

. 3. relate messages and themes from one subject area to that of another.

. 4. evaluate the merit of texts in every subject discipline.

. 5. examine author’s purpose in writing.

. 6. recognize the features of disciplinary texts.

c. Students will build vocabulary knowledge and:

. 1. demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.

. 2. use content vocabulary in writing and speaking.

. 3. explore understanding of new words found in subject area texts.

d. Students will establish context by:

. 1. exploring life experiences related to subject area content.

. 2. discussing in both writing and speaking how certain words are subject area related.

. 3. determining strategies for finding content and contextual meaning for unknown words.

3) S6CS2

.a. Students will use standard safety practices for all classroom laboratory and field investigations.

4) S6CS3

.a. Students will analyze scientific data by using, interpreting, and comparing numbers in several equivalent forms, such as integers and decimals.

.b. Students will use metric input units (such as seconds, meters, or grams per milliliter) of scientific calculations to determine the proper unit for expressing the answer

.c. Students will address the relationship between accuracy and precision and the importance of each.

.d. Students will draw conclusions based on analyzed data.

5) S6CS4

a. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating equipment and materials in scientific activities.

Online Textbook Resources:

.1) Visual Concepts: Earth Science, Scientific Method, Measurement & Safety

.2) Textbook Audio (Students: Your textbook will read aloud with you!)

.3) Concept Mapping Tool: Sciences of the Earth (Great practice!)

.4) Virtual Investigations: The World of Earth Science

.5) Lab Video: Using Scientific Methods

Online Textbook: my.hrw.com

Username: mlimpert

Password: n4s8a

(SKILLSTUTOR: Information to come)

Required Reading:

Textbook reading may be counted toward your overall number of pages read for the 1,000,000 word count but not as a genre. Remember to log your pages!

1) (Pages xxvi-xxvii) How to Use Your Textbook

2) (Pages 2-11) Branches of Earth Science

3) (Pages xxviii-xxxi) Safety First!

Key Vocabulary Terms: (not all inclusive)

Hypothesis, analysis, observation, metric, classification, graphing, prediction, measurement, inferring, communicating, conclusion.

Sample Activities to learn concepts: Frayer vocabulary card, hands-on metric measurement, gummy bear lab

Grading Scale: 100-90 = A

89-80 = B

79-74 = C

73-70 = D

Grading Breakdown: Practice = 10% (homework, warmups)

Progress = 20% (class work and quizzes)

Application = 35% (labs)

Mastery = 35% (tests and projects)

*Study guides will be distributed in advance of a major test.

Late Work Policy: Some late work will be accepted after the due date and can earn a maximum of 80%. Examples: one-day late = 20 points off. After 1^st day late = 50 points off.

No work will be accepted after one week unless it was due to an excused absence. No homework will be accepted late. No projects will be accepted more than one week late with a maximum score of 80% unless it was due to an excused absence.

Test:

After each test, students will be prescribed a test task. Test tasks are differentiated activities based on the grade earned on a test. This will enrich and reinforce science concepts covered in the Language of the Lab unit. Completion of the activities will be required and counted as a test grade. Students will be given one class period to work on the test task as well as two nights before it is due.

STUDENTS: You MUST bring a ‘pleasure’ reading book on all test days!

Test Tasks:

Level 3 (0-74): Must complete 3 tasks

1) Is science always done in a laboratory? If yes, explain why. If no, explain why.

Your answer must include five sentences.
Sentences must include correct capitalization and punctuation.
All vocabulary must be spelled correctly.

2) Define the following concepts:

length
mass
weight
temperature
volume

3) List the base metric units used with the concepts from Test Task 2.

4) Define each of the following science words:

observation
classification
inferencing
graphing
communicating
metric system

5) Play the Metric Matching Game for 15 minutes (must get supervising teacher’s/parent’s signature):

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/match/matchgeneric.asp?filename=metriclength

Level 2 (75-89): Must complete 2 tasks

1) Skills Practice; page 36

2) Describe two situations in which a scientist may not be working in a science lab but he/she is still ‘doing’ science. You must include the following:

Description of location
Name the type of Earth scientist
Name 2 specific scientific actions the scientist is doing (are he/she dusting fossils or measuring temperature?)
Using pages 785-786 in your textbook, list which step of the scientific method each of the 2 specific scientific actions would fall under.

3) Choose 3 tools that are used for metric measurement.

Explain what each of the tools measure.
Explain the most common base unit used.

4) Give an example of each of the following science words being put to work in a science lab:

observation
classification
inferencing
graphing
communicating
metric system

Level 1 (90-100): Must complete 1 task

1) Project 29: How Big is the Earth? (#2)

2) Science Puzzlers, Twisters, & Teasers; pages 1-2

3) Answer question 11 (page 11) by doing the following:

Include a minimum of three aspects of Earth science.
Create an illustration that explains why these three aspects are important.
Share with the class.

Contact information: http://www.cobbk12.org/schools/mcclure/

6th grade science teachers…

Email: ryan.limpert@cobbk12.org Team 6-B*****

beth.parsons@cobbk12.org Team 6-C

teresa.utz@cobbk12.org Team 6-A

kym.perkins@cobbk12.org

darcy.mcfarlane@cobbk12.org

Blogs: http://cobblearning.net/rlimpert Team 6-B***

http://cobblearning.net/bparsons Team 6-C

http://cobblearning.net/tutz Team 6-A

Phone: 678-331-8131

Extensions: Limpert 407 *****

Parsons 473

Utz 403

McFarlane 448

Perkins 450

Coming Soon……In the near future…

Thematic Science Unit Syllabus: Restless Earth

In this unit, we will learn about the layers of Earth, tectonic plates, and the theories about the formation of Earth’s surface. Two key themes will be introduced in this unit. These themes will be stressed throughout the year because they pertain to all units included in 6^th grade Earth Science. These themes are:

1: Parts of one system, such as weather systems, solar systems, and ocean systems, can affect other systems (i.e.: El Nino’s effect on weather).

Unequal heating of Earth’s interior, exterior, and its atmosphere has an effect on how the molecules in those areas behave.

Georgia Performance Standards:

Characteristics of Science

S6CS1

Students will explore the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works.

S6CS3d

Students will draw conclusions based on analyzed data.

S6CS6c

Students will organize scientific information using appropriate tables, charts, and graphs, and identify relationships they reveal.

S6CS 8c

As prevailing theories are challenged by new information, scientific knowledge may change and grow.

S6CS 9a

Scientific investigations are conducted for different reasons. They usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and formulating explanations.

S6CS10c

Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.

Content

S6E3c

Describe the composition, location, and subsurface topography of the world’s oceans.

S6E5a

Compare and contrast Earth’s crust, mantle, and core, including temperature, density, and composition.

S6E5d

Recognize that lithospheric plates constantly move and cause major geological events on Earth’s surface.

S6E5e

Explain the effects of physical processes (plate tectonics, erosion, deposition, volcanic eruption, gravity) on geological features including oceans (composition, currents, and tides). (Partially covered. More will be covered during the last part of 1^st semester and the first part of 2^nd semester.)

S6E5f

Describe how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of Earth.

Online Textbook Resources:

Visual Concepts: (Structure of Earth, Tectonic Plates and Plate Tectonics, Seismic Waves: Surface Waves, Seismographs and mapping Earth’s surface, Continental Drift, Sea-Floor Spreading, Magnetic Reversals and Sea-Floor Spreading, Convergent Boundaries, Subduction Zone, Divergent and Transform Boundaries, Causes of Tectonic Plate Motion, Global Positioning System (GPS), Stress, Tension, Types of Rock-Layer Folding, Types of Faults, Hanging Walls and Footwalls, and Types of Mountains)
Page Interactive Items: (pp. 192-193—Math Practice, p. 195– Quick Lab, p. 197—Scilinks: Composition of Earth, Structure of Earth, p. 201—Scilinks: Tectonic Plates, p. 205—Scilinks: Plate Tectonics, p. 209—Quick Lab, p. 211—Connection to Social Studies, p. 212—Internet Activity, p, 213—Scilinks: Faults and Mountain Building
Concept Mapping Tool: Plate Tectonics
Virtual Investigations: Plate Tectonics
Lab Video: Convection Connection
Student Resources:
1. Practice Worksheets
2. Assessment Resources
3. Scilinks

Online Textbook: my.hrm.com

Username:

Password:

(SKILLSTUTOR)

Key Vocabulary Terms: (Not all inclusive)

Crust, mantle, core, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, inner core, plate tectonics, continental drift, sea-floor spreading, subduction, convergent boundary, divergent boundary, transform boundary, shearing, compression, tension, normal fault, reverse fault, strike-slip fault

Required Reading:

Textbook reading may be counted toward your overall number of reading pages, but not as a genre. Remember to log your pages!

(pp. 186-193) Inside Earth
(pp. 198-201) Restless Earth
(pp.202-205) The Theory of Plate Tectonics
(pp.206-213) Deforming of Earth’s Crust
(pp. 228-229) What are Earthquakes?
(pp. 250-253) Volcanic Eruptions
(pp. 254-259) Effects of Volcanic Eruptions
(pp. 260-265) Causes of Volcanic Eruptions

Sample Activities to teach concepts:

Foldable vocabulary book, Far-Flung Fossils, Investigating Plate Tectonics by Creative Dimensions, Foldables for heat transfer, Earth’s Layers, plate boundaries, types of stresses, and types of faults, several hands-on labs, including “What Makes a Vent Event?” “Rising Mountains,” “Cracks in Hard-Boiled Earth,” “When Buildings Boogie,” “Modeling an Explosive Eruption,” and “Reactions to Stress.”

Test:

After each test, students will be prescribed a test task. Test Tasks are differentiated activities based on the grade earned on the test. This will enrich and reinforce science concepts covered in the Restless Earth unit. Completion of the activities will be required and counted as a test grade. Students will be given one class period to work on the test tasks as well as two nights before it is due.

STUDENTS: You MUST bring a “pleasure” reading book on all test days!

Test Tasks:

Level 3 (0-74 on test): Must complete 3 tasks

Level 2 (75-89 on test): Must complete 2 tasks

Level 1 (90-100 on test): Must complete 1 task

Grading:

100-90=A

89-80=B

79-74=C

70-73=D

Grading Breakdown:

Practice=10%(homework, exit tickets, start-up’s, summaries)

Progress=20%(classwork, quizzes)

Application=35%(lab activities, writing assignments)

Mastery=35%(tests, projects)

Late Work Policy:

***Some late work will be accepted after the due date and can earn a maximum of 80%

(Examples- 1 day late=20 points off(-20) After 1st day late=50 points off(-50)

***No work will be accepted after 1 week unless it was due to an excused absence

***No homework will be accepted late

***No projects will be accepted more than one week late with a maximum score of 80% unless it was due to an excused absence

TEST TASKS (Level 1)

Choose ONLY 1 of the following to complete:

_____ a. (Sheet) Geology puzzler packet

_____ b. (Sheet) Critical Thinking Web Research: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

_____ c. (Sheet) Geology Sci-links Web Activity

_____ d. (3 Partner Activity) Create a seismograph and share with the class. Requirements on paper:

MATERIALS: You must create a materials list to show teacher before you begin (try to find materials available in school)
- SOURCE OF DISTURBANCE: You must explain what will be making the disturbance
- MODEL: Draw and label your model
- INSTRUCTIONS: Explain how it will work

Use page 196 and chapter 8 (earthquakes) to help you.

_____ e. (Notebook Paper) Answer the following questions with great thought and detail: