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Welcome to 7th Grade Science

Mr. Peter Kelly

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Peter Kelly

7th Grade Science Teacher-Brandywine Springs School
7th Grade Science Teacher at BSS since 2007
Teaching since 2002
Cross Country Coach
Track & Field Coach
Science Olympiad Coach
Student Green Team advisor

My OpenSciEd Story

7th Grade Pilot Teacher (‘21-’22)
Facilitator for 7.2 November ‘22
OpenSciEd Facilitator Training Summer ‘22 with activate, and Summer ‘23 with OpenSciEd

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Parents Need to Know

•The classroom Website Address- http://tinyurl.com/zjwunzv

•Bookmark HAC Site and keep your username and password. Set a weekly time to have your student show and tell. This is like looking into my gradebook.

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Parent’s Need to know (2)

How to contact me

E-mail- peter.kelly@redclay.k12.de.us
Telephone- (302) 636 5681 ext 8223
Note- Written and submitted by student.

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Communication

Communication is key in enlisting family support in curtailing disruptive negative behaviors, poor academic achievement, incomplete homework, absences, etc. Establishing a positive relationship based on mutual respect, trust, and confidences is essential for safety and academic Success.

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Student Data Cards

Student data cards need to be filled out, signed and returned as soon as possible. Students will not be able to attend field trips, games, and such without them

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This Year’s Schedule

	A Day	B Day
8:05 - 8:15	Homeroom
8:15 - 9:20	Period 1/2
9:20 - 10:25	Period 3/4
10:25 - 10:55	Lunch
11:00-12:05	Period 5 (A Day)	Period 6 (B Day)
12:05 - 1:10	Period 7/8
1:10 - 2:15	Period 9/10
2:15 - 2:50	Leadership
2:50	Prepare for Dismissal

7th Grade Daily Schedule

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The Grading

Students will be graded in the following manner.

Formative assignments are 30% of the grade

Typically but not limited to- classwork, homework, any work where you are just “Form”ing ideas and concepts in your mind.

Summative assignments are 70% of the Grade

Typically, but not limited to – Tests, quizzes, Project, anything that “summ”arizes what concepts you have

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Grading

Grade Scale

90-100 A

80-89 B

70-79 C

60-69 D

Below 60 F

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Class Behavior

•Classroom behavior is essential to the safety of students in the science classroom.

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The Agenda

•The agenda is where students can go to keep track of homework assignments.

•I make homework assignments available to see online. Please use this as a “safety net” not as a replacement to the agenda. (Great for when students are absent, or to keep track of what they are doing in class.)

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Homework

Typically given on a weekly basis in science class.
Long Term projects are broken down into more manageable smaller tasks, but on a schedule.

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Attendance

If a student is absent. They are responsible for making up the work that they missed and as lab supplies and resources are still available.
Students can also check online for what information they missed

If a student re-submits an assignment, or completes an assignment after it is grades please use the LATE WORK FORM

http://seventhsci.blogspot.com/

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Daily Planner Website

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The Curriculum

Science Safety and Inquiry

OpenSciEd Units

7.1 Chemical Reactions and Matter
7.2 Chemical Reactions and Energy
7.3 Metabolic Reactions
7.4 Matter Cycling & Photosynthesis

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OpenSciEd is a nonprofit organization that brings together

to develop FREE, HIGH-QUALITY science instructional materials that are three-dimensional and centered on supporting equitable science sensemaking.

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OpenSciEd Instructional Model

OpenSciEd units are based on a science storyline.

Each step is driven by students’ questions that arise from phenomena

Explain that all OpenSciEd units are based on a science storyline

This means each step is driven by students’ questions that arise from phenomena, which can be very different from the structure of traditional science curriculum.
Furthermore, in the units themselves the designers have used specific routines to support the shift in figuring out through phenomena-driven instruction.
Specifically, there are 5 storyline routines that are integrated across all the OpenSciEd units: 1) anchoring phenomenon routine, 2) navigation routine, 3) investigation routine, 4) putting pieces together routine and 5) problematizing routine. Over the course of the 4 days of the PD, we will explore these routines by taking a closer look at them in the units and reflect on how we can use these routines to support students in rich, 3-dimensional learning.

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Integrating the Goals in Classrooms

LESS OF	MORE OF
Rote memorization of facts and terminology	Facts and terminology learned as needed while developing explanations and designing solutions supported by evidence-based arguments and reasoning
Learning of ideas disconnected from questions about phenomena	Systems thinking and modeling to explain phenomena and to give a context for the ideas to be learned
Teachers providing information to the whole class	Students conducting investigations, solving problems, and engaging in discussions with teachers’ guidance

(Adapted from NRC, 2015 Table 1-1)

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OpenSciEd is Phenomena Based -Centered around figuring out phenomena or solving problems

Students’ work is anchored in meaningful phenomena or problems that motivate building ideas over time.
Anchoring phenomena and problems are complex, relevant, and returned to as we figure out more.
Students investigate related phenomena to figure out pieces of the explanation.
Assessments ask students to make sense of specific and compelling phenomena using their understandings built during the unit.

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OpenSciEd is Coherent for Students-Driven by students’ questions and ideas

Students’ prior ideas and understandings are elicited, valued and built upon.
Students and teachers work together to figure out where to go next and what evidence is needed to answer their questions.
Students understand what they are doing and how it will help them answer questions about a larger phenomenon or solve a problem.
Students engage in science and engineering

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OpenSciEd is Driven by Evidence- Incremental building and revision of ideas based on evidence

Students’ ideas and questions determine what evidence to collect.
Students seek and use evidence to figure something out as they build and revise their explanations, models and arguments.
Investigations provide evidence to build new science ideas instead of confirming pre-taught ideas.
Evidence can be used to problematize our current thinking and help us think about where to go next.

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OpenSciEd is Collaborative- WE figure out ideas together

Students have opportunities to use, build upon, and critique other’s ideas.
Students use evidence to support ideas, ask for evidence from others, and suggest ways to get additional evidence.
Students have several opportunities to give and get feedback
The culture of the classroom supports risk taking and changing our minds