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Science Curriculum: Middle School

Science Elementary Curriculum

In Montgomery County Public Schools, the goal of the science program is for all students to achieve full scientific literacy through Next Generation Science Standards aligned and phenomenon-based instruction that will prepare them for success in college and career. The MCPS science curriculum was developed as a coherent learning progression from kindergarten through grade 12 where all students experience a rigorous, interdisciplinary approach to science content, exploring science through hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. Students apply content knowledge through the scientific and engineering practices to solve real world problems and develop the tools that will make them successful lifelong learners.


Grade Course Information

Investigations in Earth Science Course Syllabus

Course Storyline:

Students in the Investigations in Earth Science course will develop understanding of 5 major concepts of Earth science that include the Earth’s surface systems, weather and climate, the Earth's Interior systems, the history of Earth, and natural resources and human impacts. While each of these concepts will be taught in isolated units, Investigations in Earth Science will also revisit related concepts throughout the school year to show the interconnected nature of all of the Earth Systems: the hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The theme of climate change, both natural and manmade, will also be woven throughout the units to develop student understanding of this important issue and to create a consistent year long storyline.


Teaching & Instruction:

The course is taught through hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. The curriculum is problem/project-based where students apply their understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to propose solutions to real world phenomena/problems. Students are awarded 10 SSL hours at the completion of Grade 6 Science for their full participation in SSL activities related to their Outdoor Education experience.


Unit Descriptions:

Unit 1 - Our Watershed, Our World explains the environmental impacts that increasing populations have on the Earth and the techniques used to assess a community's effect on its local environment.

Unit 2 - Atmospheric Phenomenon demonstrates how changes in atmospheric variables such as density, unequal heating, air pressure, and moisture leads to the weather events that humans' experience daily. The unit also investigates the relationship between ocean currents, land masses, and other Earth features that affect global weather patterns and climate.

Unit 3 - Dynamic Earth explores the conditions within the Earth responsible for the geologic processes that shape the landscape around us and processes on the Earth's surface that alter that landscape over time.

Unit 4 - Earth's Geologic Past examines the 4.5 billion year history of the Earth, the major events that have occurred through time both geologically and biologically, and how scientists use relative and absolute aging techniques to organize these events into a Geologic Time Scale.

Unit 5 - Earth's Resources & Human Impacts identifies the impact the human population increases and per capita resource consumption has on the natural world and how usage of these resources carelessly is leading to the depletion of resources, climate change, pollution of our natural environment, and other major impacts felt worldwide.


Unit Details:

Unit Title Content Focus
1

Our Watershed, Our World

Our Watershed, Our World

Story Line:

Human habitation and settlement has caused significant impacts on the natural environment. With increased population and continual development, ecosystems around the world have been changing at an alarming rate. Many of these impacts can be seen throughout Maryland and Montgomery County including our local watersheds. In this unit, students will learn that by studying their school communities, we can assess the environmental impact our development patterns have had on our local ecosystem and aquatic habitats. Students learn techniques to assess the areas around their school to see what specific impacts their communities have on Montgomery County, the state of Maryland, and the Chesapeake Bay.


Unit Driving Question(s):

What is a watershed? How do our actions and choices impact the watershed? How do we monitor the health of the local watershed? How is biodiversity an indicator or watershed health? What are the different spheres of Earth? What is a limiting factor and how can it impact an ecosystem? What do organisms depend on and compete for in an ecosystem? How do organisms interact with the living and nonliving environments to obtain matter and energy?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-3, MS-LS2-1


Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Many environmental changes can be observed in and around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Students will explore how humans impact the water quality and environment around them and determine what actions they can take in order to lessen this impact.

2

Atmospheric Phenomenon

Atmospheric Phenomenon

Story Line:

The atmosphere is a complex system of variables that are ever changing both daily (weather) and long-term (climate).  Students will learn about the different variables responsible for the weather and climate of our planet and the factors that lead to changes both short term and long term. 


Unit Driving Question(s):

How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems? Within a natural or designed system, how does the transfer of energy drive the motion and/or cycling of the air and water?  What regulates weather and climate?  How do humans change the planet?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ESS2-4, MS-ESS2-5, MS-ESS2-6, MS-ESS3-5


Unit Anchoring Phenomena

The atmosphere is a complex system of variables that are ever changing both daily (weather) and long-term (climate).  Students will learn about the different variables responsible for the weather and climate of our planet and the factors that lead to changes both short term and long term. 

3

Dynamic Earth

Dynamic Earth

Unit Storyline:

All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. From earthquakes and volcanoes to weathering and erosion, These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future. Students will learn concepts that enable them to evaluate the potential causes and effects of geologic hazards, mitigate their effects on the human population, and their potential effect on the Earth or on the natural cycle of climate change seen throughout Earth's history.


Unit Driving Question(s):

How and why is Earth constantly changing? How do Earth’s major systems interact? How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems? How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history? Why do the continents move, and what causes earthquakes and volcanoes? How do natural hazards affect individuals and societies? How do humans depend on Earth’s resources?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-3, MS-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-2


Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Students will view the effects of geological hazards, evaluate the potential causes, and generate a plan to mitigate their effects on the human population. Students will learn concepts throughout the quarter to help support their evaluation and assessment of such hazards.

4

Earth’s Geologic Past

Earth's Geologic Past

Unit Storyline:

The Earth's Geologic Past unit, students will examine how people figure out that the Earth and life on Earth have changed over time. Students will learn how geologists divide Earth’s long history and use geologic principles to interpret relative age in layered rocks. Students will also learn about the techniques used to determine the absolute ages of rocks and fossils.

Unit Driving Questions:

How do people figure out that the Earth and life on Earth have changed through time? How do geologists divide Earth’s long history? How can certain geologic principles be used to interpret relative age in layered rocks? How are different techniques used to determine the absolute ages of rocks?

Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS1-4, MS-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-3, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4, MS-LS4-1.

Unit Anchoring Phenomenon:

Earth’s surface changes over time and dramatic changes in flora and fauna as well as climate.

5

Human Impacts on the Environment

Human Impacts on the Environment

Unit Storyline:

Students will discover that natural resources are used by living things in a variety of ways, but how much and in what ways we use those resources affects the footprint of our planet. Students will learn that our use of fossil fuels has consequences on the environment. Students will investigate how human activity and use of resources impacts the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere and consider alternative solutions for the products we make and the resources we use. They will model a solution to a variety of environmental problems created from natural resource use.

Unit Driving Question(s):

What are natural resources and why are they important to mankind? What are renewable and nonrenewable resources and how do they differ? How do humans depend on Earth’s resources? How does the unequal distribution of resources affect society as a whole? How can we use our resources in a more responsible way? What sustainable practices can be employed to conserve our resources for the future? How do humans change the Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere?

Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-3MS-ESS3-4, MS-PS1-2

Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Earth is a system of systems: atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and hydrosphere. Human use of planet resources affects each of these spheres bringing changes at an accelerated speed.

 

Investigations in Life Science Course Syllabus

Course Storyline:

Students in the Investigations in Life Science course will develop understanding of biology concepts related to the following topic areas: Cellular Structure and Processes, Matter and Energy Flow in Organism, Inheritance and Variation of Traits, Evolution, and Ecosystems Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. While each of these concepts will be taught in isolated units, Investigations in Life Science will also revisit related concepts throughout the school year to show the interconnected nature of biological sciences.


Teaching & Instruction:

In Investigations in Science 7, students will experience an interdisciplinary approach to science content, exploring life science through hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing. The curriculum is problem/project-based where students apply their understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to propose solutions to real world phenomena/problems.


Unit Descriptions:

Unit 1: Cellular Structure and Processes
Students will examine the characteristics of living things including the structure of cells and the processes they carry out. Students will also learn what materials are required by living things, how the materials are delivered, and how these materials sustain life.

Unit 2: Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Students will study the body systems of organisms and explore how the interactions of those systems affect overall functions. Students will learn about the levels of organization within an organism and the contribution cells provide a system as the basic building blocks of life. Students will explore how matter and energy are processed by organisms to build, maintain, and repair themselves. Students will relate structure and function of body systems to nutritional requirements and disease prevention.

Unit 3: Inheritance and Variation in Traits
Students will study the principles of heredity and genetics. They will learn how organisms reproduce and transfer their genetic information to their offspring. Students will study how characteristics get passed on from generation to generation and research several genetic disorders that affect human offspring. Students will use biotechnical processes to explore the genetic characteristics of organisms. Students will conduct a DNA extraction and a microarray will be performed as a way of checking the genotypes of the offspring.

Unit 4: Evolutionary Biology
Students will explore the concepts of natural selection and adaptation and will learn that traits of an organism can change as a result of environmental conditions or a need for survival. Students will explore the similarities between organisms and use biotechnical processes, such as DNA fingerprinting, as means of identification.

Unit 5: Ecosystems, Energy, and Dynamics
Students will explore the biodiversity and essential factors of different ecosystems and learn that a population consists of all species that occur together at a given place and time. Students will investigate populations within food webs and categorize those populations as producers, consumers, and decomposers. Students will learn that organisms compete for limited resources and that the number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available. Students will explore how competition may limit or generate the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystems. They will use models to demonstrate the flow of matter and energy in an ecosystem.


Unit Details

Unit Title Content Focus
1

Cellular Structure and Processes

Cellular Structure and Processes

Unit Driving Question(s):

How do the structures of organisms enable life’s functions? How do organisms grow and develop? How do organisms obtain and use the matter and energy they need to live and grow? How do food and fuel provide energy? If energy is conserved, why do people say it is produced or used?


Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-2, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS1-6, MS-LS1-7


Unit Project/RFP

Hydroponics and Food Deserts: Students will research a process for growing plants without the use of soil called hydroponics. Students will investigate a variety of different systems and growing mediums for raising plants and will analyze such variables as growth rate and food production to determine a solution for the increasing number of food deserts present in our communities and the world as a whole.

2

Matter and Energy Flow in Organism

Matter and Energy Flow in Organism

Unit Driving Question(s):

How do the structures of organisms enable life’s functions? How do organisms obtain and use the matter and energy they need to live and grow? How do the systems of the human body function and perform basic life processes? How do body systems work together as a cohesive unit to make life possible?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3, MS-LS1-3, MS-LS1-7, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS1-6, MS-LS1-8


Unit Project/RFP

Body Systems Investigation: The human body is made up of many interacting systems that work together to allow us to perform life’s functions. In this Investigation, you will design and conduct an experiment to explain how different systems of the body collaborate to perform a task. In Investigation Parts I and II, students will conduct planned investigations on the human body. In Investigation Part III students will design and conduct an investigation to illustrate how systems of the body interact.

3

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Unit Driving Question(s):

How do organisms grow and develop? How do organisms reproduce, (sexually or asexually) and transfer their genetic information to their offspring? What characteristic behaviors do animals perform that increase the odds of reproduction? How are the characteristics of one generation related to the previous generation? How does genetic variation among organisms affect survival and reproduction? Why do individuals of the same species vary in how they look, function, and behave?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-1, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS3-1, MS-LS3-2, MS-LS4-4, MS-LS4-5


Unit Project/RFP

Genetic Counseling: Students develop resources and informational materials to be used in doctor offices. These materials will be used by genetic counselors in their meetings with clients. The materials will need to meet specific criteria in order to be effectively used by doctors and genetic counselors.

4

Evolutionary Biology

Evolutionary Biology

Unit Driving Question(s):

How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history? What evidence shows that different species are related? How do Earth’s major systems interact? How does genetic variation among organisms affect survival and reproduction?


Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS1-4, MS-ESS2-2, MS-LS4-1, MS-LS4-2, MS-LS4-3, MS-LS4-4, MS-LS4-5, MS-LS4-6, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2


Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Evolutionary Change: The population of tuskless elephants is on the rise in heavily poached areas of Africa. In some parks, 10-20% of elephants born are with no or shortened tusks due to poaching of large tusked males before reaching sexual maturity. With fewer large tusked males present, evolutionary changes related to tusk growth are occurring at a more rapid rate. Students will explore how environmental stressors can be the driver of evolutionary change and debate how these genetic variations affect survival.

5

Ecosystems Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Ecosystems Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Unit Driving Question(s):

How do organisms interact with the living and nonliving environments to obtain matter and energy? What happens to ecosystems when the environment changes? How do matter and energy move through an ecosystem? What happens to ecosystems when the environment changes?


Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-6, MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-2, MS-LS2-3, MS-LS2-4, MS-LS2-5, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4


Unit Project/RFP

Students will model the flow of matter and energy in an ecosystem including: the boundaries of the ecosystem, energy roles of organisms, abiotic parts of the ecosystem, energy transfer in the ecosystem, cycling of matter, connections to atoms, and energy. The goal is to create a model of a healthy ecosystem that can be used as a reference to understand how humans can bring ecosystems out of balance.

 

Investigations in Science 8 Course Overview (SCI1004)

In Investigations in Science 8,  students will experience an interdisciplinary approach to science content, exploring all two of the three domains of science (Physical & Earth Science) through hands-on explorations, productive discourse, and purposeful reading and writing.  The curriculum is problem/project-based where students apply their understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to propose solutions to real world phenomenon/problems.  Students will take the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) during March to assess their knowledge of the concepts learned throughout the middle school science curricular program.

Unit Title Content Focus
1

Weather and Climate


Unit Driving Question(s):

How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems? Within a natural or designed system, how does the transfer of energy drive the motion and/or cycling of the air and water?  What regulates weather and climate?  How do humans change the planet?

Performance Expectations: 

MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ESS2-4, MS-ESS2-5, MS-ESS2-6, MS-ESS3-5

Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, local and regional geography, and affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.  The resulting complex patterns are major determinants of local weather patterns.  Students will explore the many interactions and patterns of around the globe to better understand their effect on weather and climate.  Students will use their knowledge to develop a detailed report that outlines the severe weather risks for a specified location and develop a proposal that details two innovative and sustainable solutions that address the severe weather risks and match the unique needs of the local community. 

3

Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe

Unit Driving Question(s):

What is the universe, and what is Earth’s place within it?  What is the universe and what goes on in stars?  What are the predictable patterns caused by Earth’s movement in the solar system?  What makes up our solar system and how can the motion of Earth explain seasons and eclipses?

Performance Expectations: 

MS-ESS1-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3, MS-ESS2-1, MS-PS1-4, MS-PS2-4, MS-PS2-5 MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3

Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Students will learn that the solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects of varying sizes and conditions including planets and their moons that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them.  Much of the unit will focus on how the Earth and the moon, sun, and planets have predictable patterns of movement. These patterns, which are explainable by gravitational forces and conservation laws, in turn explain many large-scale phenomena observed on the Earth, moon, and other planets.  Students will be able to explain that patterns of the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models.  The universe began with a period of extreme and rapid expansion known as the Big Bang. Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.  Students will use their learning to design a realistic movie set that would simulate a habitable human settlement on another planet.

3

Earth’s Materials and Processes


Unit Driving Question(s):

How and why is Earth constantly changing?  How do Earth’s major systems interact?  How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems?   How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history?  Why do the continents move, and what causes earthquakes and volcanoes?  How do natural hazards affect individuals and societies?  How do humans depend on Earth’s resources?  

Performance Expectations: 

MS-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-3, MS-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-2

Unit Anchoring Phenomena

All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms. The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. From earthquakes and volcanoes to weathering and erosion, These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future.  Students will learn concepts that enable them to evaluate the potential causes and effects of human-induced earthquakes and  develop a complete public service campaign plan that will help residents and lawmakers understand the best ways to reduce human-induced earthquakes in Maryland and its neighboring states.

4

Forces, Motion, and Interactions


Unit Driving Question(s):

How can one predict an object’s continued motion, changes in motion, or stability?  What are ways that we can describe an object's motion?  What is the law of inertia and how does that apply to the real world?  What is meant by for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?  How do mass and velocity affect the momentum and acceleration of an object?  What is energy and how is it transferred and conserved?

Performance Expectations: 

MS- ETS 1-1, MS-PS2-1, MS-PS2-2, MS-PS3-1, MS-PS3-2, HS-PS2-3

Unit Anchoring Phenomena

Forces, motion, and interactions encompasses the mechanical branch of physics, studying the nature of forces and its impact on the motion of objects.  Students will learn that the motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it and that the greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion. Forces on an object can also change its shape or orientation.  Using these learned concepts, students will create a design for an advanced rocket capable of launching large payloads and crew to Earth’s orbit.