7th Grade Science

Goals:

Our goal for 7th Grade Science class is to provide experiences that will develop our students’ skills in observation, investigation, problem-solving, communication, and the use of technology.

Activities/structures:

In Science, we use the 5 E’s everyday to guide classroom procedures. The first E is Engage. This means capturing the interest of students by letting the them become personally involved in the lesson while simultaneously pre-assessing their prior knowledge. The second E is Explore. At this stage, students are encouraged to participate in hands-on activities and experiments which provides them with an opportunity to build their own understanding of science topics. The third E is Explain which represents teacher explicit instruction. Teachers communicate and provide explanatory information to students about the given topics. The fourth E is Extend. Students are challenged to use their newly acquired knowledge in practical applications beyond the classroom. The fifth E is evaluate. This final stage requires students and teachers to analyze and determine how much learning and understanding has taken place.

Mastery of Skills:

The mastery of skills will prepare the students to be productive morally responsible and scientifically inclined citizens ready to face the real world challenges.

Future effects:

As science teachers, our role is to be catalysts for change. Our work will affect EMAPS in the future by empowering the students to change the way they think and learn; to transcribe learning into inquiry and meaningful application of science in their daily lives. These skills can also be utilized by students to achieve success in 8th grade and grades beyond EMAPs.

Most Important Skills to Learn:

Our science teachers use the following acronym to describe what students will learn:

S – Problem Solving

C – Curiosity

I – Inference

E – Engagement in Conservation

N – Notation of Observations 

C – Creativity

E – Exploration of Solutions