Curriculum Night 2013

Ryan Christopoulos8th Grade Science

Discovery

The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover

new ways of thinking about them - William Bragg Sr.

Mr. Ryan Christopoulos• ryanchristopoulos@sd54.org• 847-357-6780• All class information will be posted at frost.sd54.org/mrcscience• Twitter: @frostSCImrc

• Bachelors Degree in Education – Augustana College (2009)– Concentration in Earth Sciences (geology)– Highly Qualified in Algebra, Art, Biological Sciences, Geography, History, Physical

Science, General Science Reading, Theatre, and Music– Captain of the Augustana Men’s Lacrosse Team

• Northwestern University Center for Talent Development– Summer Instructor for Apogee Program (grades 5 – 7)– Up, Up, And Away : The Science of Flight and History of

Aeronautics.

District 54 Goals•• Students who have attended District 54 schools for at least one year will be at grade level in reading and math upon entering third grade as measured by Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).

•• Each school will close the achievement gap for all students in reading and math as measured by both district and state assessments.

•• Each school will perform at or above the 90th percentile (top 10% nationally) in meeting individual student growth targets in reading and math as measured by Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).

3 GOALSFO

R 2013

`95 Culture

95 Math

95 Reading

Common Core at Frost

Literacy: 3 Shifts1. Building knowledge through content-rich

nonfiction

2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

Common Core in Science

Exclusive to Discovery

• “Homemade Science”– Independent Scientific Inquiry.– Students use the scientific method to conduct

their own scientific experiments.– Students must complete 2 per trimester.

• Common Assessments– Consistent higher level questioning.– Open ended short answer and essay questions.– 3 – 4 per trimester.

Curriculum• Scientific Method• Physics

– Forces & Motion– Simple Machines – Gravity

• Astronomy– Planets– Earth, Moon, Sun, Stars

• Environmental Science– Natural Resources– Energy Forms & Generation

Additional Science Opportunities• Rocket Club

– Partnership with NASA– Students work collaboratively to engineer rockets and understand rocket flight– State and National contests

• GEMS/BASE– Women’s/Men’s exclusive science inquiry club.– Engineering and 21st century learning based activities.

• CAN Club– Students work collaboratively to plant and maintain a vegetable garden– All produce is donated to Schaumburg Food Pantry

• First Lego League– Students work collaboratively to engineer Lego robots.– Local, State, and National competitions.

Instruction

Support

Homework• Homework is given on a consistent basis.

• Most homework assignments will require 30 – 40 minutes to complete

• All homework is posted on the Frost homework page, our class website, and our twitter (@frostSCImrc)

• Textbooks– A hard copy was given to each student on Sept. 4– An on-line version and additional resources are available at this

website:• www.my.hrw.com• User Name: christopoulo1• Password: d6j3x

Grading SystemTask Points Percentage

Tests (3 per trimester) 100 25%

Quizzes (6 – 9 per trimester)

25 - 50 20%

Homework/Labs Homework – 10 pts. Labs – 50pts.

50%

Participation 50 points per trimester 5%

Grading System (cont.)• Common Assessments (Tests)

– Cut-off score is 75% – If a student needs to be retaught and retested, a score of 75% will be

received after meeting or exceeding the cut-off score on the test. Re-teaching and re-testing will occur before or after school.

• Labs– If a student is absent on a lab day, he/she will be exempt from the

assignment but they will still be responsible for learning the information

• Assignments – All are due on the due date given!Amount of Days Late Maximum Percentage

1-3 days late 90%

4-6 days late 80%

7-9 days late 70%

10 or more days late 60%

Frost Strong