International School Manila

7th Grade Science

WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN THIS HANDOUT
Welcome! Classroom Expectations Course Outline Grading Assignment Format Absences Late Assignments Communication Academic Honesty Contact Information

School Year 2013-2014

Scientists discover SCIENCE ROCKS!!

Welcome to 7th grade science!
I hope that you are all ready to engage in an insightful and exciting year. Grade 7 Science explores the following themes this year: Identity, Innovation, Interaction, and Truth. These themes are designed to help you gain scientific skills and knowledge that will allow you to understand how science affects your world, as well as preparing you for future study in Science.

What will I be studying this year?

Identity
How can we select and compare characteristics to determine identity? How can context affect identity? Why does identity change?

Innovation
How have innovations created shifts in thinking? How can an innovation be perceived in different ways? How can innovations have unforeseen results?

Interaction

Truth

What determines the nature of an How do we know what we interaction? know? How does truth evolve? Why do some interactions lead to How can there be multiple predictable outcomes while other versions of the truth? outcomes cannot be predicted? How does prior knowledge or bias affect interpretations of truths?

Classroom Expectaions Be POSITIVE! Respect yourself and others Be Prepared to Learn Listen to and follow Instructions Do Your Best

Everything you need to know about your grades!

Tasks you perform will be assessed based on our Middle School Science Standards and Indicators and the school-wide Transdisciplinary Skills. Points can be earned in the areas of Scientific Inquiry, Scientific Content, Personal Management & Reflection, Communication, Critical Thinking / Problem Solving, Connection & Collaboration and Research. Your final grade will be calculated on the total number of points you have earned out of the total possible points.

THE FORMULA
Points you earned _______________________ Total points possible x 100

What do I do If I am absent or forget to do an assignment?

ABSENCES
You are responsible for any assignments and material covered in class if you are absent. That means you will be expected to communicate with me as soon as you return to school so that we can set up time to go over anything you missed while you were in bed with the flu! You may visit with me before or after class, or during tutorials you can even send me an email! If you know ahead of time, please come see me beforehand. Be responsible for yourself!

What should my assignments look like? Because we will be teaching close to 100 students, it will make our job much easier if everyones work is in the same format. The following is an example of the heading that should be placed in the upper right hand corner of all written work. Betsy Han Block A 8/15/2013

Page

LATE WORK
Any late work in science will be subject to a deduction from the Personal Management & Reflection category for that assignment. Late is defined as work not handed in on the due date. Please see your teacher in advance if you cannot meet the deadline. Basically this means: PLEASE GET EVERYTHING IN ON TIME!!

What resources can I use?

The ISM blog site and Student Resources Folder and contain a collection of classroom resources such as class schedules, PowerPoint presentations, Lab templates, and Activity Sheets. These can be accessed at http://www.ismanila.org (portal) and http://www.ismonline.org (blog site). You are strongly encouraged to use these resources either for information, advanced learning and/or revision work.

Academic Honesty? What does that mean?

The staff and students at International School Manila place great emphasis on academic excellence and doing their personal best. It is our goal to work together in an environment that supports academic honesty and trust.

Cheating, or academic dishonesty, includes any school work that a student plans to take credit for as their own when, in fact, it was done by others. This is not tolerated at ISM and will result in school disciplinary consequences as well as students receiving no credit for the assignment in question.

What do I need to be a successful science student?

Throughout the year, we will be doing many different types of activities and you will need to have all of your supplies with you in class (not in your locker!): EVERY LESSON:

What do I need to know about my science instructors?

If you need to speak with your teacher, you are welcome to stop by our rooms anytime.

You may also contact us through email: cookk@ismanila.org lacsonj@ismanila.org pasambag@ismanila.org pattersonc@ismanila.org fischers@ismanila.org (LS) guiryk@ismanila.org (EAL) matthewf@ismanila.org (EAL)

Calculator
AS NEEDED:

Mathematics spiral notebook (A4 size)

Green colored clear book Planner Writing Utensils Close-toed Shoes

Textbook 30 cm ruler Scissors Glue stick

Agreement
Students signature __________________________________________

I understand the information and expectations explained in this handout and agree to follow them to the best of my ability Date ___________________ I am aware of the information and expectations for my daughter/sons science class.

Page 2 Parents signature ___________________________________________ Date ___________________

7 T H G R A D E SC I E N C E