ALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS/APs AND SCIENCE TEACHERS: High School Science Updates and Reminders
Category: For Your Information
Audience: / Principals/APs (Senior High)
Due Date: / n/a
Meeting Date: / n/a
To provide principals, assistant principals and science teachers with Science Department updates and reminders regarding Pacing Guides and curricula resources.
- The Department of Mathematics and Science is providing principals, assistant principals and teachers with updates and reminders regarding Science Pacing Guides and curricula resources for grades 9-12.
- Pacing Guides Updates and Reminders:
oThe Biology 1 and the Biology 1 Honors pacing guide topic timelines have been adjusted, to facilitate depth of instruction for the standard expectations (ex. Plants moved to quarter 2, etc.). The streamlined Essential Content and Objectives continue to focus on expected content addressed in the Biology 1 course and the Biology 1 EOC exam.
oLearning Goals with Progression Scales for students’ use in monitoring their learning are included with each topic in the Biology pacing guides.
oDue to the interactive nature of the Pacing Guides, teachers should always access the documents online to open hyperlinks (i.e., NBC Learn, Discovery, instructional resources, etc.).
oLanguage Arts Florida Standards (LAFS) for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects, along with the Mathematics Florida Standards (MAFS) and Practices, are aligned with all grade levels courses, as required by the Florida Department of Education course descriptions for science. These LAFS and MAFS are seamlessly aligned to the Nature of Science and provide the practices and processes for students to become scientifically literate. Schools are expected to implement reading and writing strategies within the content area (i.e. CER, CIS, conclusion writing, etc.).
oDream in Green activities are hyperlinked in high school Pacing Guides, in alignment with related topics in Physical Science.
oPacing Guides are available for Physical Science, Chemistry 1, Physics 1 and Earth/Space at the general and honors levels.
oREMINDER: Year-at-a-Glance documents have been developed for the following courses: Anatomy and Physiology, Marine Science, and Environmental Science.
- Instructional Resources:
- REVISED: Essential Labs, inclusive of EOC reading passages, STEM activities, and Engineering practices, have been revised and are accessible from Learning Village under the Biology 1 Pacing Guides.
- Differentiated Instruction for Intervention and Enrichment:
oFLDOE has developed student tutorials located at
oProgress Monitoring Tool is an interactive resource that includes student tutorials and should continue to be used as a guide for embedding fair game standards, as well as monitoring student progress on specific standards (under Planning).
oBring Your Own Device (BYOD) science resources for students, by topic, can be accessed from the Related Programs section in the Instructional Tools column or at the student webpage at the M-DCPS Science Department website:
- STEAM/STEM Instruction:
oIn May 2016, the FLDOE adopted Computer Science Standards. These standards have been incorporated into the Pacing Guides to assist teachers in planning for the incorporation of skills for the 21st century learner.
oDream in Green activities are hyperlinked in Elementary School Pacing Guides, in alignment with related topics.
Assessments through Gateway to Data (G2D) - browser)
oMid-Year Assessment (MYA) for Biology 1 is managed by the Assessment, Research, and Data Analysis department.
oQuarterly Science Benchmark Assessments, Pretests, and Post-tests for Physical Science, Biology 1, Chemistry 1, and Physics 1.
oNEW: Unit aligned assessments for Biology 1 (General and Advanced) will be available to all schools.
oDates for the administration of all these assessments are listed in the pacing guides.
oPlan to administer these assessments within the dates provided and make sure to keep these assessments secure. Do not copy and use any of the individual questions listed in these assessments for the creation of individual assessments.
- Textbook Access Codes
- K – 12 Science Plan and Science Handbooks
- The Safety Handbook and the Animal Use Guidelines with current laboratory state laws and regulations, and District contact information for chemical disposal can be found at:
- Student Progression in Science
- The expected student progression for science is Physical Science, Biology 1, Chemistry 1 and/or Physics 1 (AP Science courses are highly recommended). All these courses are considered equally rigorous (EQ) and are expected to have laboratory/hands-on activities, therefore meeting the graduation requirement for Science.
- Scholar Designation in Science
- Pass the Biology 1 EOC; Earn 1 credit in Chemistry or Physics; Earn 1 credit in a course equally rigorous to chemistry or physics. To meet the requirement, the credit must be attained by successfully completing a science course with an “EQ” (equally rigorous) subject code. These courses also include accelerated courses (AP, IB, AICE and dual enrollment).
- Students that follow the expected progression and earn credits in Physical Science, Biology 1, Chemistry or Physics, and pass the Biology 1 EOC with a score of 3 or more will meet the graduation requirement and the scholar designation for science.
- Additional information may be obtained in the FLDOE website:
Contact: / Richard Morera, District Supervisor ( 305-995-1701 )
Department: / Department of Mathematics and Science