Mr Kremer's syllabus for the new grade 8 MYP science class at the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

1. GRADE
8
MYP
SCIENCE
2014-­‐2015
!
WELCOME
to
Mr
Kremer’s
8th
Grade
MYP
Science
class!
I’m
excited
to
be
teaching
this
par=cular
course
for
several
reasons:
First,
because
of
the
fascina=ng
content
we’ll
cover
this
year:
the
world
of
plants
and
their
growth,
the
solar
system,
and
deep
outer
space
beyond
the
limits
of
our
planetary
neighbors.
Second,
because
of
the
“new
MYP”
model
we’ll
use,
which
should
make
it
easier
to
understand
how
grades
are
determined,
as
well
as
simplifying
the
number
and
types
of
different
assignments
we
have.
The
third
reason
for
my
excitement
about
class
this
year
is
our
explora=on
of
the
brand-­‐new
Google
Classroom
digital
plaNorm.
The
details
of
how
class
is
run
can
be
found
in
the
outline
below.
!
I.
Key
Informa?on
A.Email:
bkremer@istafrica.com
1.***Be
sure
to
include
“IST”
in
the
subject
so
that
your
email
gets
through
my
spam
filter!
2.Use
only
your
IST
Gmail
account
for
school
work.
Keep
your
professional
and
social
lives
separate.
B.Moodle:
ist-­‐moodle.istafrica.com
>>
Grade
8
>>
Science
-­‐
Kremer
1.This
is
where
I
will
post
all
suppor=ng
documents
and
resources
for
the
class.
2.Moodle
will
be
updated
regularly
to
keep
up
with
the
developments
in
Google
Drive
and
gClassroom,
which
brings
us
to…
C.Google
Classroom
and
Drive:
The
newest
thing!
So
new
that
we’re
running
a
beta
version
un=l
the
full
release
comes
out.
1.Use
your
IST
Gmail
to
access
the
Drive
and
gClassroom
plaNorms.
2.I
will
share
class
almost
all
science
assignments
through
these.
3.I
can
monitor
your
work
to
make
sure
you’re
on
the
right
track,
and
you
can
ask
ques=ons
while
working
when
you’re
confused.
!
II.
How
Grade
8
Science
Works
A.
Units
of
Study
1.
Science
Skills
2.
Plant
Physiology
3.
The
Solar
System
4.
Deep
Space
8
B.
Key
Concepts
in
Science
1.
Systems
2.
Rela=onships
3.
Change
C.
Achievement
Grades
1.4
criteria,
max
8
marks
each
[A,
B,
C,
and
D,
outlined
on
the
next
page]
2.You
will
get
a
scoring
rubric
for
each
criterion
3.The
rubric
is
abached
to
instruc=ons
for
all
graded
work
4.Use
the
rubric
as
a
checklist!
D.
Effort
Grades
1.Have
all
materials
required
for
class
(pen,
notebook,
homework,
etc)
2.Performance
in
class
ac=vi=es
and
garden
=me
3.Homework
comple=on
(much
of
this
will
be
on
the
Drive
and
gClassroom
plaNorms)
4.Notebook
organiza=on
and
upkeep
E.
Assessments
per
term
-­‐
this
is
an
approximate
list
1.One
independent
lab
report
2.One
summa=ve
test
3.One
“impacts
of
science”
project
4.At
least
two
quizzes
covering
vocabulary
and
science
content
5.At
least
one
class
presenta=on
6.Roughly
one
due
every
10-­‐day
cycle
Interna=onal
School
of
Tanganyika
MYP
Science
1

2. GRADE
8
MYP
SCIENCE
2014-­‐2015
!
!
III.
Science
Assessment
Criteria
A.
Knowing
and
Understanding
(“Knowledge”
for
short):
describing
scien=fic
concepts,
solving
problems,
and
analyzing
informa=on
B.
Inquiring
and
Designing
(“Designing”):
describe
a
ques=on
or
problem,
outline
and
explain
a
hypothesis,
describe
how
to
manipulate
variables
and
collect
data,
and
design
a
method
to
inves=gate
the
ques=on
C.
Processing
and
Evalua=ng
(“Processing”):
collect,
organize,
transform,
present,
and
interpret
data,
discuss
the
validity
of
a
hypothesis
and
the
method
used
to
inves=gate
it,
and
describe
improvements
or
extensions
to
the
inves=ga=on
D.
Reflec=ng
on
the
Impacts
of
Science
(“Impacts”):
describe
how
science
is
used
to
solve
a
problem,
discuss
how
science
impacts
at
least
one
factor
of
society,
correctly
use
scien=fic
language,
and
document
all
sources
completely.
!
IV.
Unit
Notes
A.
Shared
via
gClassroom
at
the
start
of
the
unit
B.
Will
be
updated
throughout
the
unit
by
Mr
Kremer
and
by
students
C.
Student
presenta=ons
of
a
daily
topic:
1.
One
or
two
students
present
each
day
2.
Between
8-­‐10
minutes
at
the
start
of
the
lesson
3.
Three
slides:
a)Key
concepts
b)Examples
and/or
demonstra=ons
c)Check
for
understanding
(command
prompt
ques=ons
AND
answers)
d)Sources
cited
correctly!
4.Videos/anima=ons/other
media
are
a
maximum
4
minutes
of
the
total
=me
!
V.
Student
Notebooks
A.Topic
and
date
both
above
the
top
margin
B.Date
on
outside
corner
C.Repeat
both
on
every
page
D.Use
the
same
format
consistently
Achievement Grades
If you earn this many marks… …then your science achievement grade is a:
28
-­‐
32 7
24
-­‐
27
6
19
-­‐
23 5
15
-­‐
18 4
10
-­‐
14 3
6
-­‐
9 2
1
-­‐
5 1
Interna=onal
School
of
Tanganyika
MYP
Science
2