Middle School Science

Science courses provide an opportunity for students to manipulate apparatus, perform experiments, interpret and report the results of experiments, acquire problem solving skills and develop a scientific vocabulary.

Course Name: Grade 7/8 Flexible Learning Science

Course Description and/or Content:

The fundamental approach to the Flexible Learning classroom is to encourage students' natural interest by investigating broad themes. Students explore topics and investigate them through discussion, hands-on activities, research, prose, group projects and a wide variety of related explorations. Flex classes utilize multi-age groupings (Grade 7 & 8) and are activity-based, student-centered and thematically organized.

Various thematic units are used to introduce the Grade 7 and 8 strands of the science curriculum. Grade 7 strands include Particle Theory of Matter, Earth's Crust, Forces and Structures, and Interactions within Ecosystems. Grade 8 strands include Fluids, Cells & Systems, Water Systems, and Optics. After fulfilling a two-year commitment in the Flexible Learning Program, students will have completed all necessary curricular outcomes for Grade 7 & 8 science. Students will learn about the nature of science through a variety of activities including hands-on experiments, collaborative assignments and cross-curricular projects.

Course Name: Grade 7 General Science

Course Description and/or Content:

The General Science program at Grant Park is the science program for middle years students proscribed by Manitoba Education, Training and Youth. This course introduces the student to a variety of scientific disciplines. The topics for this course include: microbes and ecosystems, light, physical properties and physical changes in matter, rocks, minerals and soil, and the observable universe.

Course Name: Grade 7 Advanced Science

Course Description and/or Content:

The middle school advanced science program covers the majority of the Grade 7, 8 and Grade 9 science program. This allows students to earn their Grade 9 and 10 science credits in their first year of high school. The goal of the Advanced Science program is to balance this curriculuar acceleration with enrichment topics at a deeper level and wider scope than found in the general science courses.

Grade 7 Advanced Science topics include: microbes and ecosystems, plants and their environment, cells, tissues and organs, plant and animal interactions, reproduction and heredity, changes in matter, and rocks, minerals and soils. Science project work is also an integral part of the program

Course Name: Grade 8 General Science

Course Description and/or Content:

This course continues the General Science program from Grade 7. The topics in this course include: heat, flight, alternative energy forms, cells and organ systems, and plants and their environment. The ten topics in the middle years are then further extended in the high school program.

Course Name: Grade 8 Advanced Science

Course Description and/or Content:

This course continues the Advanced Science program from Grade 7. The students continue with another seven units of science. The topics include: the changing Earth’s crust, the observable universe, force, work and motion, flight, light, heat, and alternative energy forms. The course will involve the use of multimedia interactive computer programs and research through the Internet.

Grade 7/8 Science Assessment:

Assessment in science courses is continuous and focuses on both formative and summative assessments. It includes laboratory work, daily assignments, projects, quizzes, tests and class participation. The final summative examination contributes 20% of the final mark.