SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
The science program at LRTA aims to prepare students to be scientists in the real world. These rising, middle school scientists observe, try to solve real-world problems by collecting relevant data and knowledge, and share the scientifically-sound solutions with others. Using curricula developed under the direction of the Office of Science for both standard science classes and G/T science classes, teachers in all grade levels provide a hands on/minds on lessons for students.
The science curricula include real-world problems and challenges for all students to solve using the skills and processes of science. Each grade level investigates many types of sciences each year, including Earth/Space Science, Life Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science.
6th Grade - Students will learn about our world in a new way. In each unit, we give the students a nice foundation of each science. They will use real-life phenomena to make sense of what is going on around them. Our units are Ecology, Matter (Chemistry), Force and Motion (Physics) Space, and Earth.
6th Grade Advanced Academics learns a similar curriculum to standard 6th grade. However, they dive deeper and answer harder questions about each phenomenon. Students will take or a larger role as a learner in the classroom.
7th Grade - In our first unit, students learn how to cook a s'more in a self-made thermal oven. They will explore how this happened and why. Next in unit two students explore body systems and how they all work together with each system having a specific job. They will come to truly understand what form follows function really means. Unit three explores chemical reactions. Lastly, unit 4 is about Wave energy.
7th Grade Advanced Academics learns a similar curriculum to standard 6th grade. However, they dive deeper and answer harder questions about each phenomenon. Students will take or a larger role as a learner in the classroom.
8th Grade - Students will continue their educational journey by using the foundation from both 6th and 7th to go deeper into science. Our first unit is Climate detectives where the students look at global weather patterns as well as natural hazards. Unit two has the students studying Mastondons and Megalodons. They will answer some questions about these organisms and why they no longer exist. Unit three explores agriculture in action. Lastly, our 4th until pulls from the other units as we research our we are overstepping our resources.
8th Grade Advanced Academics learns a similar curriculum to standard 6th grade. However, they dive deeper and answer harder questions about each phenomenon. Students will take or a larger role as a learner in the classroom.
As stated, the goal of the science program at LRTA is to prepare students to use science in the real-world experiences they will have. To that end, the goals of the program have been established by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Baltimore County Public Schools. These goals include the following:
- Goal 1.0: SKILLS AND PROCESSES OF SCIENCE- Students will demonstrate ways of thinking inherent in the practice of science.
- GOAL 2: EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE- Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the chemical and physical interactions (i.e., natural forces and cycles, transfer of energy) of the environment, Earth, and the universe that occur over time.
- GOAL 3.0 LIFE SCIENCE- Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the dynamic nature of living things, their interactions, and the results from the interactions that occur over time.
- GOAL 4.0 CHEMISTRY- Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the composition, structure, and interactions of matter in order to support the predictability of structure and energy transformations.
- GOAL 5.0 PHYSICS- Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the interactions of matter and energy and the energy transformations that occur.
- GOAL 6.0 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE- Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the interactions of environmental factors (living and non-living) and analyze their impact from a local to a global perspective.
For more information regarding the different science programs at LRTA, please contact Ms. Kreutzer Peregoy at [email protected].