Science at Whitman MS

• Our Commission as a public school: Alignment to State Standards/NGSS.
• Our Science Standards focus on Eliminating the Opportunity Gap
• Growing scientifically literate citizens prepared for 21st century careers
  • Through a Common Scope and Sequence & Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

K-12 Science

• Common scope and sequence
• Aligned to standards
• For ALL Kids in ALL schools

SPS Focus: Science Teaching and Learning

• Phenomenon-based storyline
• Student Discourse for sense making
• Conceptual scientific models
• Explanation and Argumentation

6-8 Program structure

• One Launch Unit
• Six Core Units
• Two Engineering Internships

Every unit revolves around a real-world problem:

• Light Waves: Why is the rate of skin cancer in Australia so much higher than any other part of the world?
• Thermal Energy: Which system will most effectively heat Riverdale school?
• Natural Selection: How has the newt population in Oregon State Park become more poisonous over time?

Preparing students for success in HS Science

Phenomena-based approach

• Introduce a real-world problem
• Collect evidence from a variety of sources
• Construct increasingly complex explanations
• Apply knowledge to a different problem

Routine

• Threshold
• Do Now (warm-up)
• Objective
• Activity
  • Independent
  • Partner
  • Group
  • Class
• Exit ticket (tied to objective)

Scores

• Standards based
  • L1, L2, L3, L4
• Homework
  • About twice a week
• Classwork
  • Selected work scored to give students feedback
• Assessment
  • The big points
  • Retakes possible

Volunteer

If you might be able to volunteer as a chaperone or in-class assistance, we’d love to have you pre-registered in the system. Please call Janice Runner at 206-252-1200 in the office to complete the paperwork and the required background check.