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6th Grade CoursesElevate Middle School Course Catalog
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7th Grade Courses
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8th Grade Courses
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Course NameCourse Description
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Leadership in Action (LIA) 6This course serves as the student’s homeroom and continues their development of the Leader in Me 7 Habits program that is a hallmark of Elevate’s school program. Students design and engage in real-world leadership opportunities to further strengthen their understanding and internalization of leadership skills.
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Humanities 66th grade students will develop an understanding of early civilizations through the study of beliefs, thoughts and traditions of those regions and time periods. A focus on literature and the English Language Arts standards will support students' understanding of these cultures. (This course covers two periods of the school day.)
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Math 6Students develop a deeper understanding of 6th grade aritmethic CCSS standards, which cover rational numbers, numeration systems, simple data analysis, and place value. It serves as a foundation course towards basic algebra, basic geometry, basic statistics and concepts of ratio. Students use real world math problems and situations to strengthen and reinforce concepts of mathematics.
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Sci 6This course combines more than one science domain into a cohesive study where students explore general scientific concepts using the NGSS standards. Topics include selected concepts from life, earth and physical sciences and may involve environmental contexts as unifying phenomena. This science course presents students with the opportunity to develop scientific reasoning skills through Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts.
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PE 6This PE course covers topics that allow students to develop and expand their motor skills and movement, by applying strategies, biomechanic, motor learning, and fitness principles to their participation in a variety of physical activities. Physical education courses provide students with the opportunity to improve their personal fitness by goal setting and participation in specific activities that lead to improved health.
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DW/STEAM 6Note: Students take all Discovery Wheel classes on a rotating basis throughout the school year.
Discovery Wheel courses provide opportunities to explore and discover topics of interest and to experience enrichment activities designed to provide introductory knowledge of these topics, which will provide basic background information for future in depth studies specific to those topics. This STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) course provides students with hands-on and experimental inquiry concerning flight and space and the science behind aeronautics.
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DW/Art Foundations 6Note: Students take all Discovery Wheel classes on a rotating basis throughout the school year.
Discovery Wheel courses provide opportunities to explore and discover topics of interest and to experience enrichment activities designed to provide introductory knowledge of these topics, which will provide basic background information for future in depth studies specific to those topics. This course provides basic drawing techniques with various materials. Students will explore concepts of line, shape, perspective and value as it pertains to drawing and painting. Students will also explore color and technique through watercolor, ink, and acrylic media, as well as historical painting movements such as Abstraction & Impressionism.
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DW/Success 6Note: Students take all Discovery Wheel classes on a rotating basis throughout the school year.
Discovery Wheel courses provide opportunities to explore and discover topics of interest and to experience enrichment activities designed to provide introductory knowledge of these topics, which will provide basic background information for future in depth studies specific to those topics. This course covers organization, note-taking, study skills, and time-management, and presentation skills.
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DW/Web Design 6Note: Students take all Discovery Wheel classes on a rotating basis throughout the school year.
Discovery Wheel courses provide opportunities to explore and discover topics of interest and to experience enrichment activities designed to provide introductory knowledge of these topics, which will provide basic background information for future in depth studies specific to those topics. This course explores creative and conceptual aspects of designing and producing interactive, multimedia web sites and experiences.
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Leadership in Action (LIA) 7This course serves as the student’s homeroom and continues their development of the Leader in Me 7 Habits program that is a hallmark of Elevate’s school program. Students design and engage in real-world leadership opportunities to further strengthen their understanding and internalization of leadership skills.
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Humanities 77th grade students will develop an understanding of medieval and early modern world and time periods. Students will focus on study the rise and fall of empires, the diffusion of religions and languages, and significant movements of people, ideas, and products. A focus on literature and the English Language Arts standards will support students' understanding of these cultures. (This course covers two periods of the school day.)
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Math 7Students will expand their understanding of ratios from Math 6 by utilizing it in problems of proportions and percent. Real-world topics such as discounts, interest rates, taxes, and tips will help to solidify student learning of this topic. As they bridge the connections amongst fractions, decimals, and percent, they will extend this knowledge to the both sides of the number-line as well as solve simple to complex problems in one variable. Students will also use their knowledge of ratios in Geometry by creating scale drawings of geometric figures. In addition, students will be introduced to properties of basic 2- and 3-dimensional shapes, solving problems of areas and volumes. Lastly, students will be introduced to basic statistics and probability concepts, understanding how each are interrelated.
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Science 77th grade students will cover topics that draw from the NGSS standards from several scientific disciplines - earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics - and organizes the material around thematic units anchored in scientific phenomena. Integrated Science I courses present students with the opportunity to study scientific concepts such as systems, models, energy, patterns, stability and change. This course also investigates principles of engineering design and California's Environmental Principles and Concepts.
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PE 7This PE course covers topics that allow students to develop and expand their motor skills and movement, by applying strategies, biomechanic, motor learning, and fitness principles to their participation in a variety of physical activities. Physical education courses provide students with the opportunity to improve their personal fitness by goal setting and participation in specific activities that lead to improved health.
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(Fall) Engineering 7Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
This course will introduce students to the field of engineering and engineering technology. Students will explore various technology systems and manufacturing processes to help students learn how engineers and technicians use math, science and technology in an engineering problem-solving process. This course will introduce important 21st century skills such as problem identification, problem solving, collaboration, and effective communication.
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(Fall) Art - 2-D Design 7Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
Students will work with a range of two-dimensional materials to explore collage, drawing, painting, and printmaking. This course will introduce concepts of composition and design.
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(Spr) Robotics 7Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
This course will introduce students to the basics of robotics, including mechanical systems, energy transfer, machine automation and computer control systems. Students will have the opportunity to explore these topics in relation to generate mechanical and robotic systems.
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(Spr) Art - 3-D Design 7Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
Students will use a variety of three-dimensional materials, such as clay, wire, paper, and found objects to create artwork. They will also learn anatomy through modeling clay and collaborate to create a group installation art piece.
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Leadership in Action (LIA) 8This course serves as the student’s homeroom and continues their development of the Leader in Me 7 Habits program that is a hallmark of Elevate’s school program. Students design and engage in real-world leadership opportunities to further strengthen their understanding and internalization of leadership skills.
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Humanities 88th grade students will develop an understanding of American history through the lens of continually attempting to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Throughout the course, students will explore the themes of freedom, equality, and liberty and their changing definitions over time. This course will explore the geography of place, movement, and region, starting with the Atlantic seaboard and then American westward expansion through the industrialization. A focus on literature, primary sources, and the English Language Arts standards will support students' understanding of United States History and the Constitution. (This course covers two periods of the school day.)
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Math 8Building on equations in one variable from Math 7, students will extend the skills and knowledge gained to solve problems with equations in two variables. Linear equations help to model everything from basic economic trends to trends in the stock market. In addition, when multiple trends are observed simultaneously, their intersection gives us valuable information. Understanding concepts of how variables depend on one another will help to extend students’ knowledge of functions—where the value of the input affects the value of the output. The topics of statistics in this course will utilize these concepts to help students understand how to recognize patterns and trends in bivariate data. Lastly, students will explore the transformation of shapes as they rotate, translate, reflect and dilate them on a coordinate plane. Students will also build on their knowledge of triangles and geometric solids from Math 7 by exploring real-world problems with surface area and volume.
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Science 8Integrated science grade 8 builds on the ideas of stability and change introduced at the end of grade seven with the guiding concept that the processes that change Earth’s systems at different spatial scales today also caused changes in the past. Students will explain a conceptual flow in which different episodes of mass extinction and species diversification and then move to present-day changes. The course begins with students analyzing data about the diversity of species
8th grade integrated science covers topics that draw from the principles of several scientific disciplines - earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics - and organizes the material around thematic units anchored in scientific phenomena. Integrated Science II courses present students with the opportunity to study scientific themes including: systems, models, energy, patterns, stability and change. Students investigate applications of the theme using appropriate aspects from each discipline. This course builds on the content learned in Integrated Science I, addressing additional concepts or previous concepts at a more advanced academic level.
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PE 8This PE course covers topics that allow students to develop and expand their motor skills and movement, by applying strategies, biomechanic, motor learning, and fitness principles to their participation in a variety of physical activities. Physical education courses provide students with the opportunity to improve their personal fitness by goal setting and participation in specific activities that lead to improved health.
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(Fall) Engineering 8Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
This course will explore the field of engineering and engineering technology. Students will use the engineering design process and explore various technology systems and manufacturing processes to learn how engineers and technicians use math, science and technology in an engineering problem-solving process. Through this course students will develop and practice important 21st century skills such as problem identification, problem solving, collaboration, and effective communication while designing relevant projects.
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(Fall) Art - Mixed Media 8Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
This course provides opportunities to experiment with different media, techniques, and materials as an introduction to various types of art-making. Students will create collaborative and individual works of art as a visual tool to integrate cross-curricular themes.
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(Spr) Robotics 8Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
This course will introduce students to the basics of robotics, including mechanical systems, energy transfer, machine automation and computer control systems. Students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of these topics to generate of their own mechanical and robotic systems.
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(Spr) Art - Digital Art 8Note: Students choose 1 Fall elective and 1 Spring elective.
In this course, students will explore techniques and applications of digital imaging to create original work using editing software and technology devices.
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