8th Grade Science Syllabus

Kordon 8th Science 15.16 Syllabus

8th Grade Science 2015-2016

Kyle Kordon

kordon_k@4j.lane.edu

Welcome to a new school year! Those of you who are returning, it is nice to see you again, and those of you who are new to our school, welcome! This year we will be piloting new science curriculum for the district adoption. We are lucky to have been chosen as a “pilot school” which means we get new curriculum to try out the entire year that aligns with the newly adopted Next Generation Science Standards.

8th Grade Curriculum (Including, but not limited to)

  • Fall Engineering Investigation Design Introductory Project
  • STC: Electricity, Waves, and Information Transfer
  • Earth Science: How is the Earth Changing?
  • Life Science: Why Do Organisms Look the Way They Do?
  • Physical Science: How Will it Move?
  • Chemistry: How Does Food Provide My Body With Energy?
  • Spring Engineering Investigation Design Final Project

We will continue to focus on using claim, evidence, and reasoning to explain scientific phenomena, and rebut other arguments through scientific argumentation. This will be accomplished through various labs, investigations, and culminate with the spring engineering design project in collaboration with the other 8th grade teachers, and the University of Oregon C2SL STEMCORE program.

Interactive Science Notebook

All of your work will be kept in your Interactive Science Notebook (INB) and you will use a different one each trimester. We will set these up on Monday, September 14 so it is essential that you have your notebook here that day. You must keep your INB in class and only take it home if you need to finish an assignment. If you need to take your INB home, it must be checked out, and checked back in upon return.

Supplies

You must have all your supplies every day at the beginning of class. If you come to class unprepared you will be considered tardy. I expect everyone to have all supplies by Monday, September 14.

  • Your school binder with:
    • Pencil pouch
    • Scientific calculator
    • Eraser
    • Several pencils & pens
  • Science Notebook (composition notebook) – one for each trimester
  • Your student planner – we will write in this every day

Grades

Interactive Science Notebook (INB) grades will be based on effort and completion. School is a learning process and this is the time to learn from our mistakes. You are expected to make corrections on classwork and homework when it we go over it in class. Most of your work will be completed in class, but homework assignments will be given periodically. Notebooks will be graded 6-8 times per trimester (every ten pages completed). Notebook grades can be improved to up to 8/10 by submitting missing/incomplete work up to two weeks after they have been graded.

 

Assessments (Tests, Quizzes, Labs, Investigations, etc.) will be scored on accuracy. However, the learning is not finished there; students need to correct their mistakes. Students can earn up to half of points missed by doing test corrections within two weeks of grading.

 

Letter grades will be awarded based on the standard grading scale. You should check your grades on synergy at least every other week.

 

90-100%                     A

80-89%                       B

70-79%                       C

60-69%                       D

Less than 60%           F

 

Make-up Work

If you are absent or miss an assignment for any other reason, it is your responsibility to complete all missed work. You will find what we did while you were gone in my science notebook, the class website, or in the assignment organizer in our room. I will also post assignment resources on the class website in a timely manner (a couple times per week). An assignment missed for any reason will be accepted for credit for up to two weeks after the initial assigned date (unless the end of the trimester occurs prior to the end of this two-week time period). Because this is a hands-on based class, making up labs and other activities will often require that you come in on your own time in order to complete it, or you may request an alternate on-topic assignment to be given at my discretion. The best times to come in will be before school, at lunch, or after school. Any plans to come in need to be confirmed with me no less than 1 day in advance as I often have meetings with other staff and administration throughout the week during these times – this is especially true during track season.

Class Website

I have designed a class website as a science resource for this upcoming year. A couple of times a week, I will post assignment resources, readings, etc. to the site. This is a great resource to use if you are gone for an extended period, or if you have misplaced an assignment, and want to get caught up. Here is the URL for the website: http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/kordon_k/

Contact

The best way to contact me is via email. I will generally take no longer than 24 hours to respond to an email, and never any longer than 48 hours. If you need to schedule a one-on-one meeting for any reason, please contact me well in advance to set up a time. I am looking forward to this year! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.