1. 8 th Grade Science 2010-11 Mr. Kiser Room 805

2. What We Will Study  1 st Trimester- Atoms and Molecules  2 nd Trimester- Cycles in Earth Systems  3 rd Trimester- Inheritance, Variation and Adaptation

3. Class Expectations  Be on time and prepared  Work completed and turned in on time  Pencil and Notebook required for every class  Be respectful to all  No Horseplay-ever!  Always do your best

4. Grading Policy  Based on Total Points  Exams and major projects are weighted  Practice assignments like labs and homework are not weighted  Work must be completed on time or no credit will be given  69 and below F  70-72 C-  73-76 C  77-79 C+  80-82 B-  83-86 B  87-89 B+  90-92 A-  93-100 A

5. Homework and Labs  There will be homework but it won’t be every night.  The majority of the work we do will be in labs and most of the work done in class  Notebooks will be used in class during Labs and during formal note taking  Make-up Labs need to be scheduled with me  Students are required to pick up their missed work. It is their responsibility to come to me to get missed work. I will not go to them.

6. Exams  Exams will occur after every 1-2 investigations  A Final Unit Exam will be at the end of each trimester  Students should study notes for exams

7. Extra Credit Extra credit will only be given as a bonus. It will not be given in place of work that a student failed to complete. A student may request extra credit if all previous work has been completed on time.

8. Supplies  Each student will need 1 science notebook per trimester  They can be purchased for $0.50 at Student Services  Used for notes, charts, vocabulary, graphs and data collection

9. Atoms and Molecules  substances – mystery mixture  Elements/periodic table  Particles – compressing air in closed cell/open cell, capture gas in a balloon/syringe  Kinetic Energy – expanding metal/air/liquid (make a thermometer) – energy of motion, observe expansion of matter  Energy transfer – mix hot water with cold water, observe change in temp  Phase change – water/salt freezes water in cup  Solutions – mixtures/saturation – saturate solution with substances, filter it out and weigh it.  Reaction – use element tiles to guess reaction products, balance equations  More reactions – experiments to infer how much reactant was consumed

10. Cycles in Earth Systems  Weather and Water  Catastrophic Events which includes Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes  How clouds form and why  Heating of the Earth’s Atmosphere by the Sun

11. Supplemental Materials  Metric Mania-students learn how to use the metric system  Daily Science Facts- general science review  Simple Science-Content Articles  Bill Nye Videos  Science in the News  Mythbusters- real world investigative science