Course
description and Content;
Welcome
to eight-grade science, a lab/activity centered program
of studies. The curriculum, aligned with the
Massachusetts
State
Frameworks, provides students with an overview of the
common concepts and strands of the physical sciences
necessary for their transition from Middle School Science
to High School Science.
The
major goals for the PS course include but not limited
to the correct usage of scientific equipment, an
understanding for the basic properties and parts
of matter, energy, forces and principles of motion,
the universe and space, the chemical building blocks
of matter, the interactions of these building blocks
and the processes and materials that make up and
shape the earth. The basic skills that will be incorporated
in the course are: making measurements with scientific
equipment, data gathering, construction of graphs,
writing lab reports, interpreting graphs and data,
using cooperative learning, using mathematical skills
to solve scientific problems, orally discussing results
and observing.
TEXT (S)/MATERIALS:
Resource
Text: Prentice-Hall,
Chemical
Building
Blocks
Chemical
Interactions
Motion,
Forces and Energy
CORE
INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS:
TOPIC/CONCEPTS:
1.
Measuring
and characteristic properties
2.
Mixtures
and pure substances
3. Atoms, elements
and molecules
4.
Forces and motion
5.
Energy
Unit
#1 Measuring and Characteristic Properties
Topic/ Concept
1. Measuring
a. Mass and volume
b. Significant digits
SKILLS:
1. Use
a balance to find the mass of an object.
2. Find
the volume of a regular and irregularly shaped object.
UNIT
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will be able to:
1. Find
the mass of an object with 90% accuracy.
2. Find
the volume of an object using L x W x H with 75% accuracy.
3. Find
the volume of an object using displacement of water
with 75% accuracy.
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Characteristic
Properties
a. Boiling/freezing point
b. Density
c. Solubility
SKILLS:
1. Make
a graph of temperature versus time for the boiling
or freezing point of a substance.
2. Using
mass and volume, calculate the density of an object.
3. Calculate
the concentration of a saturated solution.
4. Using
a solubility graph, determine if a substance is soluble.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Make
a graph of temperature versus time for the boiling
or freezing point of a substance, will identify the
boiling/freezing point on the graph and will use the
graph to determine if two substances are the same or
different.
2. Given
an object, calculate its density using significant
digits with 75% accuracy.
3. Use
characteristic properties to determine if two substances
are the same or different.
4. Given various
lab procedures, demonstrate their expertise in using
different types of lab equipment.
Unit
#2: Mixtures
and Pure Substances
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Mixtures
and their separation
a. What is a mixture?
2 Formation
and decomposition of pure substances
a. How to separate different
types of mixtures.
SKILLS:
1. Separate
a mixture of:
a. Two liquids
b. Two solids – one
soluble/one insoluble
c. A solid in a liquid
d. Two soluble solid
2. Determine
if a substance is a mixture
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Given
a mixture of between 5-7 substances, use separation
techniques to collect all the materials in the mixture.
2. Given
the same mixture, use characteristics properties to
identify the materials that made up the mixture.
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Formation
and decomposition of pure substances
a. Decomposition reactions
b. Synthesis reactions
c. Law of constant proportions
d. Replacement reactions
SKILLS:
1.
Decompose and synthesize a compound.
2.
Balancing Chemical Equations
3.
Determine the difference between a covalent and an ionic bond.
4.
Interpret
Valence
numbers and element energy levels by using the Periodic
Table
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Calculate
the ratio of elements in a compound using mass or volume
ratios.
2. Given
10 equations for chemical reactions, classify 7/10
formulas to be synthesis, decomposition, and replacement
on a worksheet.
3. Use
chemical equations to describe chemical and physical
changes.
Unit
#3: Atoms,
Elements and Molecules
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Periodic
Table of Elements
a. Ions and charged particles
b. Writing chemical formulas
SKILLS:
1. Writing
chemical formulas
2. Using
spectral analysis to identify elements.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Using
the periodic table of elements, determine the charge
on atoms in a compound and then use the charges to
write the chemical formula of the compound.
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. The
Atomic Model of Matter
a. Atomic structure of an
atom
b. Models
c. Constant and multiple
proportions
OBJECTIVES:
1. Use
models to predict atomic behavior.
2. Explain
the difference between constant and multiple proportions
of elements in a compound.
3. Identify
the structures and properties of matter including atoms,
bonding, elements, and compounds.
Unit
#4: Forces
and Motion
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Forces
and Motion
a. Speed, velocity and acceleration
b. Energy of motion
2. Applications
of Force and Motion
a. Laws of motion
b. Work and machines
SKILLS:
1. Measure
and/or calculate the speed of an object.
2. Using
Apply the laws of motion to a given situation.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Make
a model to illustrate how forces interact in everyday
situations.
2. Describe
the interactions between force, motion, and energy
in the universe.
3. Compare
and contrast the three classes of levers.
4. Analyze
the changes in matter caused by forces acting upon
it.
5. Labs:
a. Mass and Gravitational
Force
b. Characteristics of Elliptical
Orbits
c. Relating Gravitational
Force and Orbits
d. Measuring Work
e. Your Stair Climbing Power
f. Mechanical Advantage
of Levers
g. Mass and Gravitational
Force
h. Characteristics of Elliptical
Orbits
i. Relating Gravitational Force and Orbits
Unit
#5: Energy
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Electricity
and magnetism
a. Electric charges
b. Electric current and
circuits
c. Magnetism and its relationship
to electricity
SKILLS:
1. Draw
a series and parallel circuit and explain how they
are different and the same.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Describe
how electricity flows through matter.
2. Describe
a home and account for all electrical requirements
of that home
3. Explain
how matter can become magnetized.
4. Labs:
a Charging
Objects
b.
Series and Parallel Circuits
c. Attraction by a Magnet
d. Magnetic
Fields Labs
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Waves
and light
a. Nature of waves
b. Light
SKILLS:
1. Model
a longitudinal and transverse wave.
2. Use
a mirror to explain the difference between virtual
and real images and the angles of incidence and reflection.
3. Trace
the path of light from a star through a telescope into
the eye and show how the brain would interpret the
image.
4. Compare
a camera to a cow’s eye.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Use
the basic ideas about waves to explain interactions
between waves and matter.
2. Relate
frequency, wavelength and energy, and use this information
to explain the electromagnetic spectrum.
3. Trace
the path of light from a star through a telescope into
the eye and show how the brain would interpret the
image.
4. Labs:
a. Wave Behavior
b. Building a refracting
telescope
c. Light box lab
d. How is a camera like
an eye?
TOPICS/CONCEPTS:
1. Energy
Applications:
a. Weather and climate
b. Geology
SKILLS:
1. Record
and interpret weather data.
2. Construct
and interpret a weather map.
3. Locate
an epicenter of an earthquake.
OBJECTIVES:
Students
will:
1. Describe
how heat energy affects matter within a system.
2. Explain
how heat energy, weather and climate are related and
how they affect the changing earth.
3. Construct
and interpret a weather map.
4. Explain
what lightning is, explain how it occurs and the relationship
it has to electricity.
5. Labs:
a Observing Convection
Currents
b. Effect of the Atmosphere
on Cooling Rates of the Earth’s Surface
c. Investigating Weather
Maps
d. Investigating
Differences in Climate
e. Locating the Epicenter
of an Earthquake
f. Physical and Chemical
Weathering
IV. MAJOR COURSE
EVALUATION METHODS:
1.
Laboratory practical, which utilizes all skills and concepts from the
first semester.
2.
Semester Exams
3.
Notebook checks
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