Course Syllabus

Live Document: L. Dallimore CP 6000 & 6029 7th Grade Science

7th Grade Science

Section 6000 & 6029

Location: Online

 

Instructor: Lisa Dallimore

Email: ldallimore@cwcharter.org 

Phone: (831) 200-3303

Office Hours: Monday- Thursday 8:00-8:30 

Please review the CWCS Master Class Syllabus that will be used in the Parent/Student Orientation course. 

 

Class Information:

#6000  Online Class Time: Wed, 11:15-12:15

#6029  Online Class Time: Thurs, 10:15-11:15

  • Semester 1 - First class Online Meeting Wed, Aug 17, 2022, at 11:15-12:15 or Thur, Aug 18, 2022, 10:15-11:15 Last Day to Add or Drop is 9/2/22 (Students will be charged the full price of the course if dropping the class after this deadline.)
  • Semester 2 - First Class Meeting  Wed, Jan. 11, 2023, 11:15-12:15  or Thur, Jan.  12, 2023, 10:15-11:15 Last Day to Add or Drop is 1/20/23 (Students will be charged the full price of the course if dropping the class after this deadline.)

 

Class Overview:

CWCS’s 7th Grade Science online course offers students the opportunity to study at home while employing technology as a learning tool, meeting with other students in a virtual classroom, and receiving live instruction from a teacher. 

Course Overview: 7th Grade Science is a two-semester course. 

    • Semester 1
        • Ecosystem Interactions
          • Living Things in the Biosphere
          • Ecosystems
          • Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems
        • Cell and Body Systems
          • The Cell System
          • Cell Processes
    • Semester 2
      • Cell and Body Systems (Continued)
        • Human Body Systems
      • Inheritance and Genetics
        • Reproduction and Growth
        • Genes and Heredity
      • Biological Evolution
        • Natural Selection and Change Over Time

All tests and assignments will be posted in the course calendar in Canvas.  This course requires that students study every day. For this reason, it is important that they attend class regularly, arrive at class on time, and come to class prepared to participate with working microphones.  

Please note: The pacing guide is subject to change.  Any change will be posted in the Canvas calendar.  Students enrolled in the course should check the Canvas homepage for up-to-date and detailed assignments.

 

Technology Requirements: Students must have reliable internet access and a headset with a microphone. 

 

Curriculum:  Required curriculum may be available at the Learning Center on a first-come basis.  If needed, ESs can order curriculum using the OPS catalog which will have the most up-to-date pricing. Students will need:

California Life Elevate Science Teacher’s Edition

California Life Elevate Science Work Text (1-4) with online access

 

Required Materials: 

  • Working external headset with mic (computer speakers do not work successfully with the Canvas setup). Plug-in headsets (rather than Bluetooth) work best with Jigsaw. After the third week of class and no headset, students may begin to lose participation points for the class. Class is much more engaging if all students can talk in class using their mic. Suggested:  Office Depot Logitech Clear-Chat 
  • Pencils & Erasers
  • Colored pencils
  • Composition Notebook or Drawing Pad

 

Requirements: 

 

Grading:  Students will be graded on attendance, daily homework assignments, and module progress quizzes and summative tests.

Overall course grade:

25% Attendance/Participation

25% Daily Homework 

25% Tests & Quizzes

25% Final Exam/Project

 

Grading Scale for TK-7:

E

S

N

Excellent = Mastery

Satisfactory = Progressing Towards Mastery

Needs Improvement

Consistently meets or exceeds expectations of grade-level standards.

Meeting expectations of grade-level standards.

Unable to, or with prompting and support, progressing towards meeting expectations of grade-level standards.



Attendance: 

Attendance is required.  The Truancy Policy applies to Canvas courses. An unexcused absence may be counted as a truancy.

  • Excused Absence is defined as:
    The parent shall notify the teacher by phone of the absence at least 24 hours* prior to the time the class meets.
  • Unexcused Absence is defined as:
    An absence that does not accompany a parent's phone call or email to the instructor at least 24 hours* prior to the time the class meets.

*If there are extenuating circumstances that do not allow for at least 24 hours, then the teacher must still be notified prior to the start of class; allowances may be made depending on the circumstances. Examples of extenuating circumstances: car accident, sudden illness, etc. Students should arrange a "backup plan" in case of unexpected computer problems the day of the class (i.e. make pre-arrangements to go to a neighbor, friend, relative, library, etc.)  


Absent/Late Work: Late work will not be accepted after the assignment due date, unless I am notified of an exceptional circumstance.

Daily Homework:  

Weekly assignments will include:

  • Weekly Reading & Notes
  • Class attendance & participation
  • Weekly Assignment - Parent Educator, Please read Notes on the weekly assignment in Canvas. 
  • Weekly Progress Quiz
  • Weekly Learning Journal Submission

Weekly modules will guide students through their class requirements and these will be submitted through Canvas. You can submit a Word document, PDF or Google Doc (download as a PDF and upload to Canvas).  Emailed assignments will not be accepted.  All communication will be made through Canvas’ email feature.

Overall course grade:

25% Attendance/Participation

25% Homework 

25% Tests & Quizzes

25% Projects/Final

 

Attendance & Participation

You are expected to attend class and participate in group discussions and activities weekly.  This will be 12.5% of your final grade. The other 12.5% of your participation grade will be based on your weekly Learning Journal.  Every week you will submit a journal entry about something you learned, found interesting, surprised you, enjoyed, or disliked.  Then you will comment on at least one other classmate’s journal entry.  

 

Homework is overseen by the Parent Educator 

The weekly reading and weekly assignments will be overseen and graded by the parent educator. This will make up 25% of the student’s course grade.  Students will complete their assignments right in their Elevate Science Textbook which is designed for your student to write in, take notes in, and complete weekly lesson check questions located at the end of each section. The parent educator will review and grade these assignments and your student will additionally upload/complete three assignments per semester for review by me.  It is the Parent Educator’s job to make sure your student does not fall behind on his/her reading and assignments as the results will show up in weekly quizzes and tests. 

Weekly Progress Quizzes

Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that we learn more from our wrong answers than our correct answers?  With this in mind, the weekly progress quizzes are a tool to help you test your understanding, and help you get an easy 100.  You may take weekly quizzes as many times as you need until you get a 100!  Quizzes will be open for 1 week.  Wrong answers will give you feedback and extra videos or articles to help deepen your understanding.  When the assignments close, I will post your last grade. 

 

Summative Tests  (open notes)

Tests must be completed within a 48-hour time frame.  This is NOT a group project. Summative tests are testing your own learning development.  You may not work with anyone else.  You may not search the internet.  BUT a good scientist keeps a good, organized notebook.  So you may use your notes.  Be sure to take excellent notes with a few examples.  As you take your progress quizzes and find areas where you need to deepen your learning, use your notebook.  Organize your notes according to the topic.  Be sure to include all vocabulary. 

 

Projects/Final 

The final exam is held on the last day of class.  I have not decided on what this should be, but projects are my favorite way of demonstrating learning.  I will involve the students in this decision-making process as well as watch what opportunities are available both for the fall and spring semesters. 

 

Additional Resources:

Important Dates 2022-2023: 

Aug. 10: First day of school for fall semester (Wed.)

Sept. 5: NO CLASS: Labor Day (Mon.)

Nov. 11: NO CLASS: Veteran’s Day (Fri.)

Nov. 18 - 25: NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break 

Dec.  5 - 9: a-g Finals

Nov 28 - Dec 2: Last Class session this week (a-g)

Dec. 5 - Dec 9: Last Class session this week (all other classes)

Jan. 3: First day of school for spring semester (Tues.) 

Jan. 16: NO CLASS: MLK Holiday

Feb. 17 - 20: NO CLASS: President’s Day Observance

March 17 - 24: NO CLASSES THIS WEEK: SPRING BREAK

May 1 - 5: Last class session this week (a-g)

May 8 - 12:   Last Class session this week (all other classes)

May 8 - 12: a-g Finals

May 19: Last day of school

 

Pacing Guide

*PLEASE NOTE: Assignments are subject to change. The pacing and assignments of this course will greatly depend on student needs and will be updated weekly on the Canvas Modules.

Week

Section

Attendance Participation

25%

Homework


25%

Quizzes & 

Tests

25%

Project/Final 

25 %

Topic 1 Living Things in the Biosphere

Week 1

Aug 15-19

Module 1

-Explore it

-California Floristic Province

-Asking Questions

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry- What questions did you ask? Why are Questions Important in Science? 
  • Read Pg 1-9
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 2

August 22-26

5 days

Module 2

-Lesson 1 Living Things 

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • Pages 10-20
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 3

August 29-Sept 2

5 days

Module 3

-Viruses, Bacteria, Protists, and Fungi

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • Pages 22-31
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Summative Test

Week 4

Sept 6-9

4 days

Module 4

-Plants and Animals

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • Pg 34-44
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

9/6 Last day to turn in any missing work for Topic 1

Topic 2 Ecosystems

Week 5

Sep 12-16

5 days

Module 5 

-The Living Things and the Environment

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 57-63
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 6

Sep 19-23

5 days

Module 6

-Energy Flow in Ecosystems

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 64-73
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 7

Sep 26-30

5 days

Module 7

-Cycles of Matter

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 74-81
  • Homework posted in Canvas




 

Summative Test

9/30 

Last day to

turn in any

missing work

for Topic 2

Topic 3 Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems

Week 8

Oct 3-7

5 days

Module 8

-Interactions in Ecosystems

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 94-102
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 9

Oct 10-14

5 days

Module 9

-Dynamic and Resilient Ecosystems

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 104-109
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 10

Oct 17-21

5 days

Module 10

-Biodiversity

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 112-122
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Summative

Test

Week 11

Oct 24-28

5 days

Module 11

-Ecosystem Services

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 124-131
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

10/28

Last day to

turn in any

missing work

for Topic 3

Topic 4 The Cell System

Week 12

Oct 31-Nov 4

5 days

Module 12

-Structure and Function of Cells

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 12-17
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Summative Test

Week 13

Nov 7-10 (Veterans’ Day)

4 days

Module 13

-Cell Structures

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 20-28
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

Week 14

Nov14-17

4 days

Module 14

-Obtaining and Removing Materials

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 30-37
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Progress Quiz

11/17 

 Last day to

turn in any

missing work

for Topic 4

Topic 5 Cell Processes

Week 15

Nov 28-Dec 2

5 days

Module 15

-Photosynthesis

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 50-57
  • Homework posted in Canvas

Summative Test

Semester 1

Final/Project

Week 16

Dec 5-9

5 days

Module 16

-Cellular Respiration

Last week of class for fall semester

*Meeting Attendance

*Weekly Learning Journal Entry & Discussion
  • 60-65
  • Homework posted in Canvas

12/9 

Last day to

turn in any

missing work

for Topic 5

Week 17

Dec 12-16

Module 17

No Class-

Semester 2 begins Jan 9th



Week 18

Dec 12-16

5 days

No class this week, we meet online week of 1/9