JSMS 6th Grade Science Syllabus

Instructor:       Team 6-1 Megan Leonard ([email protected])

                         Team 6-2 Jessica Mullins ([email protected])

                         Team 6-3 Carole Long ([email protected])

6th Grade Schedule

Phone:  423-378-2450  

Planning Time:  10:54-12:25  (please call 378-2435 to schedule conferences)

Course Description:  During this school year, students will be exploring and investigating many different areas of science including energy, Earth’s systems and human impact on our Earth, ecosystems, biological change, and engineering and design. 

To supplement these units, students will be participating in science labs as well as projects/presentations throughout the course.  You can expect at least one lab/project to be assigned each nine-week grading period.  Students will participate in a lab safety course within the first few days of school and will need a lab safety contract signed by a parent/guardian before they are allowed to conduct any labs.   

Textbook:  The textbook we will be using this year is titled: Pearson Tennessee Middle Grades Interactive Science Grade 6.  Students will have online access to this textbook through Classlink.

Chromebooks:  It is each students’ responsibility to bring a charged computer to class daily.  Failure to bring a charged chromebooks hinders the learning environment and will result in disciplinary action.  

Supplies: Students are responsible for bringing their supplies to class daily. These include chromebooks, science notebooks, scissors, glue, colored pencils,  pencils, and earbuds or headphones. 

Online Platforms:  Kingsport City School system uses Canvas and Mastery Connect as their online learning platform.

• Canvas equips schools to host online courses to make them more interactive. You may find the link to Canvas on the KCS bookmarks under Classlink.   Absent students are responsible for making up assignments and are able to access missed assignments through Canvas.
• Mastery Connect is used for weekly formative assessments and will allow both teachers and students to monitor student progress.

Course Outline: We will cover each of these units as we progress through the school year. The Science and Engineering Practices and Cross-cutting Concepts will be embedded in each of these units.

Calendar

Approved 2022-2023 School Calendar

Standards:   6th grade TN Ready Science Standards-  6th grade standards can be found on pages 45-48.

Science Journals:  Students are required to bring in one 100 sheet composition book (please no binders or spiral notebooks) to use as their journal.  These will be used extensively throughout the year.  Students may store these at school, but are encouraged to keep them at all times to study and in case of absences. 

Grading/Assignments/Assessments:  Students will engage in a variety of activities including tests, projects, quizzes, in-class assignments, homework, and labs.  Some assessments will consist of rigorous reading and writing activities that require students to use higher order thinking skills.  Most of the tests are “cumulative” in nature meaning that they include previously learned skills as well as the information we have just finished studying. Performance-based evaluations will also be given at various times throughout the course. 

Student grades will be reflected in Aspen and classroom grades are weighted as follows: 

50% Tests

30% Quizzes and Projects

20% Classwork, Journals, and Labs

Grading Scale: The State of Tennessee changed the grading scale that we use. Here is the new grading scale:

Field Trips- Throughout the year we take field trips that pertain to our Science curriculum.  Individual students’ participation in field trip activities is at the principal’s/teacher’s discretion.  Academic, behavior/discipline, and school attendance issues may affect eligibility to participate in field trips.  

It is an honor and pleasure to be your science teacher this year.  We are excited about what the coming school year has in store.  It is our hope that you will find this course and our instruction both intriguing and captivating, and begin to look at the world around you “through the eyes of a scientist.” 

We have a lot of information to cover and it will be challenging, but by working together, we can be successful and have fun learning along the way!  If you need anything or have questions regarding any of the information found on this syllabus, please feel free to contact us.   We are looking forward to getting to know you and to a great school year!

Sincerely,

6th Grade Science Teachers