Earth Science

PEIMS Course Title/Number:
Science 8/03060800

Prerequisite Requirements:
Course completion or grade placement.

Course of Instruction/Lesson Description:
In the Earth Science program, students gain further insight into how scientists understand our natural world. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and the environment. Students learn how the vast body of scientific knowledge changes and increases with new information. Students build models of objects and events to help them understand processes, systems, and cycles in the natural world. They come to understand the importance of questioning and begin to differentiate between answers that make sense and those that have little foundation.

Major course expectations include the following. Students will:

• Use scientific inquiry methods through hands-on laboratory and field investigations
• Use a variety of tools, such as safety goggles, computers, thermometers, test tubes, graduated cylinders, and spring scales.
• Demonstrate safety and conservation practices during investigations
• Implement investigations by asking relevant and well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting and using the proper equipment
• Make careful observations and collect pertinent information
• Construct graphs, tables, maps, and charts to identify patterns and to organize and evaluate data
• Analyze and interpret information, draw conclusions, and communicate findings
• Learn about the contributions of famous scientists

Major topics of study include:

• Earth's Atmosphere—layers; water cycle; weather patterns; maps and forecasts; fronts; humidity; clouds, precipitation, and severe weather; climate and climate change
• Chemistry—structure of atoms; elements and compounds; the periodic table; chemical reactions; acids and bases
• Cells and Cell Processes—cell structure; membrane function; respiration and photosynthesis; growth cycles
• Animal Physiology—circulatory, respiratory, digestive, excretory, and immune systems of humans and other organisms
• Forces of Motion—types of pushes and pulls; position and speed; inertia; potential and kinetic energy; simple machines
• Geology—Earth's interior; earthquakes and seismic waves; plate tectonics
• Astronomy—the solar system; asteroids and comets; the Sun and fusion; space travel
• Ecology—organisms and their environment; behavior and symbiotic relationships; food webs and energy flow; populations and biomes
• Matter and Energy—different types of energy production and use; interactions between matter and energy; energy production; renewable and nonrenewable resources
• Equipment and Measurement—types of scientific equipment; safety; metric measurements
• Project: Scientific Investigation—scientific process; experimental design; experimentation; data collection, types, and analysis; lab reports; scientific bibliography; poster display and oral presentation

Lesson Numbers/Duration:
108 lessons.

Online Importance:
Most lesson content is delivered online. Specialized online instructional components support the scientific content. Photo galleries and animations help students understand difficult or abstract ideas. Interactive online activities give students opportunities to review important concepts and receive immediate feedback. These activities may feature pop-up maps, interactive pictures, biography cards, and interesting science facts.

The online content delivery and instructional activities prepare students for hands-on field or laboratory investigations.

Monitoring Student Progress:
Each science lesson concludes with either an online or offline assessment. The assessment generally includes four to eight questions or problems based on the lesson objectives. Questions include short answers, multiple choice, demonstrations, interpretation of results, as well as observational questions answered by an adult.

Each unit includes a unit review and assessment delivered either online or offline. Each semester concludes with a comprehensive semester review and assessment.

Students and parents can access student-specific screens to determine (1) progress in the number of lessons completed, (2) the lesson assessment (percentage mastered), (3) the semester assessment (percentage mastered), and (4) the number of times the student has taken the assessment instruments. Families who enroll their children in the eCP program have the benefit of help and guidance from an experienced teacher. The teacher will contact students daily through email and phone conferences. Consistent progress monitoring by the teacher will be utilized throughout the project period.

Schedule for Monitoring Student Progress:
Each teacher will establish a daily contact schedule for their assigned students at a time of day that is reasonably convenient for both parties. Contacts may be asynchronous/synchronous or one-on-one/groups. The avenues of teacher initiated contact will be adjusted as determined by the progress a student makes through their learning plan. Parent- and student-initiated contact with teachers can happen at any time. The Acting Director, or their designee, will monitor the communication logs to ensure that parents are being routinely supported and informed regarding the student's ongoing progress and participation.

In addition, teachers will monitor progress in mastery of objectives and lesson completion on a weekly basis. Continuous progress monitoring by the assigned teacher ensures that parents are informed on a regular basis regarding progress and participation.

Required Instructional Materials:

Materials K12 provides:

• Online lessons and assessments
• Printed student and teacher guides
• Most experiments use commonly available materials. Specialized scientific materials (such as litmus paper, Petri dishes, and spring scales) are provided by K12.

Standardized Assessment Instruments:
End-of-Course Exams developed by Texas Tech, University of Texas, or K12 Inc.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Compliancy:
Side-by-side comparisons of TEKS and the content of each course have been developed and reviewed to ensure that the online curriculum meets or exceeds the TEKS.

Grading/Credit Award Criteria:
The Texas Virtual Academy at Southwest Schools issues formal report cards every nine weeks. Students who complete a significant amount of coursework after the conclusion of the final term will receive a supplemental report card in July. The final grade in each content subject, English/Language Arts, mathematics, Social Studies, and Science, is determined by a combination of the grades from each reporting period and the proctored course completion (CCE) exam. The average of the grades for each reporting period is comprised of 90% of the final grade. The scores of the CCE comprise 10% of the final grade.

The final grade for electives is based on cumulative progress recorded in the Online School (OLS). A grade of Completed, or C, is reported for 80% or more of the lessons marked as completed. A grade of Incomplete/Unacceptable, or I, is reported when less that 80% of the lessons are marked as completed. No Grade, or NG, is assigned if the student has administrative approval to waive the course requirements in a particular elective course.

To be promoted to the next grade, the student must meet the Student Success Initiative requirements for that grade. Additionally, the student must have a final score of 70 or above on at least three content courses and the average of the four content courses must be at least 70. For each reporting period, the grade in a content area subject is the average of at least six distinct grades. Those grades include, but are not limited to, the progress in the OLS converted to a numerical grade.

Contact Information:
Students will be assigned a teacher upon acceptance into TXVA@SW. The teacher will provide the student and family telephone and email contact information. The student and/or family may contact a help desk at 1-886-YOUR K12 for additional technical, material, or logistical support. Students will be provided with online assistance 24/7 through the TXVA web site.