6th Grade Honors Science
Northwest Middle School
2017-2018
Teacher: Dr.Tracy Marston
Room #108
Team: 6C
Course Outcome:
Course Description: This class is designed to examine 5 major components of science: Inquiry, Ecology, Astronomy, Energy, and the Atmosphere. Students will engage in the curriculum in a variety of ways, including classroom instruction, activities, hands on learning, reading and writing.
- State Standards - http://www.tennessee.gov/education/ci/sci/index.shtml
Instruction
Topics covered:
Inquiry & Technology 1st Nine Weeks and throughout year
Interdependence 1st Nine Weeks
Atmosphere 2nd Nine Weeks
Universe 2nd Nine Weeks
Energy 3rd Nine Weeks
We will be covering reading and writing standards that coincide with common core.
Materials Needed:
· One Spiral Notebook, any color (70, 100, or 150 sheet count are fine)
· One 3prong, 2 pocket folder
· Pencil
· Glue Stick
· Colored Pencils or crayons
· Colored Paper
Resources:
· Holt Science & Technology textbook
Textbooks will not be assigned to students. Students needing a textbook will be allowed to check out a book from the library on an as needed basis. Textbooks are $75 to replace if lost.
· BrainPop, Bill Nye, UnitedStreamin, Discovery Education, Teacher Tube, Study Jams, NASA, Space.com, National Geographic, NEOk12, Vimeo, YouTube (prescreened and content appropriate), Elegant Universe, Cosmic Collisions, The Universe, The Earth – a Biography, The Planets, Planet Earth, How the Universe Works, Known Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, Wonders of the Universe, Wonders of the Solar System, Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design, Nova Now, and Eyewitness Educational Videos are used frequently in class. These programs are available online and are approved by Knox County Schools. Please let me know (in writing) if you have an issue with your child using these programs.
· 2 Essays: from the website superteacherworksheets.com
Safety Procedures: Students will follow teacher directions while in lab and only use equipment for its intended purpose.
Classroom Pet: I have a non-venomous corn snake that I will occasionally allow students to hold if they so desire. Please send a not if you have any concerns or wish your child not to hold the snake.
Assessment:
Expectations: Students will be given common assessments throughout the year to measure performance and achievement.
Grading Policy: Grades will be updated on Aspen at least once per week.
* Students will take a mid-term exam in December which will be calculated as 10% of the student’s fall semester grade. Additionally, students will take the TCAP in April.
* Students will take the TCAP in April which will be calculated as 15% of the student’s spring semester grade.
First Semester
40% Formatives / Examines what students are learning(e.g. participation, quizzes used to gather data, class work, and homework)
50% Summatives / Examines what students have learned, documents level of mastery
(e.g. major tests, quizzes used to show mastery, projects, presentations, and written papers)
10% Mid-term / Provided by the county
Second Semester
34% Formatives / Examines what students are learning(e.g. participation, quizzes used to gather data, class work, and homework)
51% Summatives / Examines what students have learned, documents level of mastery
(e.g. major tests, quizzes used to show mastery, projects, presentations, and written papers)
15%
TCAP / Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement Test
Make-Up work policy: If a student must be absent from school for any reason, excused or unexcused, up to ten (10) days upon returning to school, he/she shall be given the opportunity to make up any and all assignments that were missed during the student’s absence. The student must request make-up assignments within three (3) days after returning from the absence. Failure of a student to initiate a request for make-up work within three (3) days will result in lost opportunity for credit for that assignment.”
It is the student’s responsibility to obtain their missed assignments from an absence. At parent’s request, the office will gather missed work for students who are absent 5 or more days. However, due to meetings taking place during teachers’ plan times, it is reasonable to allow at least 24 hours before picking up the assignments.
Late work policy: All work is expected to be turned in on time. Any late work will receive points taken off as shown below:
Days Late / Percent of Grade Received by Student / Example(s)1 day / 95% / 100 records as 95 (100 x .5= 5 points off)
80 records as 72 (80 x .10= 8 points off)
60 records as 54 (60 x .10= 6 points off)
2 days / 90% / 100 records as 90 (100 x .10= 10 points off)
80 records as 72 (80 x .10= 8 points off)
60 records as 54 (60 x .10= 6 points off)
3 days / 85% / 100 records as 85 (100 x .15= 15 points off)
80 records as 56 (80 x .30= 24 points off)
60 records as 42 (60 x .30= 18 points off)
4 days / 80% / 100 records as 80 (100 x .20= 20 points off)
80 records as 64 (80 x .20= 16 points off)
60 records as 48 (60 x .20= 12 points off)
5 days / 75% / 100 records as 75 (100 x .25= 25 points off)
80 records as 40 (80 x .50= 40 points off)
60 records as 30 (60 x .50= 30 points off)
6 or more days late / 0% / No credit will be given; a grade of zero will be recorded. Chronic abuse during any grading period may result in additional consequences.
**End of the Semester Exception**
All students, absent or not, will be given ten (10) days to complete a missing assignment unless the missing assignments are near the end of the semester. At that point, all assignments not completed by the end of the semester grading cut-off date will be recorded as zeros.
General Expectations:
Students:
· Attendance Policy: Students are expected to be at school unless they are sick or have an emergency. Being at school is vital to successful learning.
· Classroom policy/procedures: Be respectful to yourself, others, and school property.
Teacher:
· Contact: If you have any questions or concerns, a great time to call me is during my plan time from 11:30-1:00.
o School Number: (865) 594-1345
o My Email:
Plagiarism
· According to Harbrace Handbook, 15th edition: Plagiarism is defined as “presenting someone else’s ideas, research, or opinion as your own without proper documentation, even if it has been rephrased.”
· It includes, but is not limited to the following:
1. Copying verbatim all or part of another’s written work;
2. Using phrases, figures, or illustrations without citing the source;
3. Paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source;
4. Using all or part of a literary plot, poem, or film without attributing the work to its creator.”
· Consequences of Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a form of stealing and academic fraud. Students who are found guilty of plagiarism will have the option of either redoing the assignment within a specified time period and accepting a grade letter drop or taking a zero on the assignment. Parents should be involved in making the decision.
Board Policy I-431
Issued: 7/95 Revised 6/08
The Board affirms that it is essential that the teaching about religion—and not of a religion be conducted in a factual, objective, and respectful manner in accordance with the following:
· Music, art, literature, or drama with a religious theme or basis are permitted as part of the curriculum for school-sponsored activities and programs, provided it is essential to the learning experience in the various fields of study and is presented objectively;
· The emphasis on religious themes in the arts, literature, and history shall be only as extensive as necessary for a balanced and comprehensive study of these areas. Such studies shall never foster any particular religious tenets or demean any religious beliefs; and
Student-initiated expressions to questions or assignments which reflect their beliefs or non-beliefs about a religious theme shall be accommodated. For example, students are free to express religious belief or non-belief in compositions, art forms, music, speech, and debate.
Northwest Middle School
6th Grade Science
First Nine Weeks
· Scientific Method
o Methods of Inquiry
· Interdependence
o Consumers, Decomposers, Producers
o Transfer of Energy in an Ecosystem
o Biotic and Abiotic Elements of an Ecosystem
o World Biomes
Second Nine Weeks
· Atmosphere
o Investigate Atmospheric Convection
o Wind Production
o Currents and Temperature
o Weather Prediction
· Universe
o Components of the Universe
o Relative Distance Between Objects
o Day, Month, Year
o Seasons
o Moon Phases
o Eclipses
o Tides
Third Nine Weeks
· Energy
o Potential Energy
o Energy Transformations
o Law of Conservation of Energy
· Forces in Nature
o Simple Circuits
o Conduction