8thGradeMath/ScienceSyllabus

Ms.Llanos20142015
MathOverview
Studentswilllearnandutilizeavarietyofmathematicalandalgebraicskillstocompletetheirprojects.Lessons,
labs,andhomeworkwillaidindevelopingandreinforcingthemasteryofmath.Bytheendoftheyear,studentswill
beproficientinthefollowing:

FundamentalMathOperationsintegers,realnumbers,fractionsanddecimals,percents,exponentsand
squareroots,andscientificandexponentialnotation.
AlgebraicandQuantitativeRelationshipssolvingsimpletocomplexequationsincludingformula
manipulation,application,andbasicphysicsformulas.
AlgebraicThinking,Skills,andApplicationoneandtwovariableequations,graphinglinearand
quadraticequations,factoring,functions,polynomials,andsystemsofequations.
StatisticalAnalysismeasuresofcentraltendency,modeling,proportions,probability,andpatterns.

ScienceOverview:
Studentswillinvestigateandlearnthescienceofthephysicalworld.Wewillhavefunexploringandlearningabout
thephysicalworldthroughbuilding,construction,andexperimentation.Bytheendoftheyear,studentswillbe
proficientinthefollowing:

ScientificModelingandExperimentationtheScientificmethod,experimentaldesignandresearch,and
modelsofinvestigation.
MechanicsNewtonianLaws,velocity/acceleration,forceandgravity,projectiles,momentum&impulse,
andtheforceoffriction.
StructureandInteractionofMatterbasicpropertiesofmatterincludingatomic&molecularstructure,
elements,phasesandchemicalreactions.
EnergyandFormspotentialvs.kinetic,momentum&impulse,electricity/currentsandthestudyofhow
energytakesdifferentphasestoaffectchange.
Realworldsituationsexploreandusescientificconceptstodescribeandmodelrealworldsituations.
ESSENTIALQUESTIONS:
Howdoweusemathandscienceinoureverydaylives?
Howcanweusetheconceptswelearntobetterourselvesandtheenvironmentaroundus?

CLASSROOMEXPECTATIONS:
Ourclassroomwillrarelybesilentexceptduringindependentreading,lecturing,andtesting.Students
needtoutilizetheirpeersknowledge,opinionsandabilitiesthisdemandscommunication.Thisisnot
onlyencouraged,butexpected.Inourclassroomweaimfordiscoursefreefromridicule,withthe
underlyingprincipleofmutualrespect.
Allstudentsaswellasteacherwillbeexpectedtocometoclassreadytolearn!Thisincludeshavingclass
materialsreadyandrequiredworkreadytoreview.Everyoneinvolvedshouldbesupportiveofasafe,
interactiveandfunlearningenvironment.

BelowaresomebasicexpectationsfortheLlanosclassroom:

R.A.L.L.Y

Respecteachother

AskQuestions

Listentoeachother

Learnfromeachother

Yearnformoreknowledge

HABITSOFHEART

Beanadvocate

Acthonorably

Haveempathy

Choosethepositive

GradingPolicy:Studentgradeswillbecomprisedofthefollowingcategories:Projects/Tests,Smallerprojects/quiz,
Classwork/Homework/Participation

*GradesareupdatedandpostedthroughPowerschool(Powerschool.hightechhigh.org/public).Youwillreceiveone
gradeforMath/Science.

A+97100%B+8789%C+7779%

A9396%B8386%C7376%

A9092%B8082%C7072%

NotPassing069%

AbsencePolicy:HTMNCdoesnothavebells,somakesureyouareawareofwhattimeitisandwhenclassstarts.
Classtimeisvaluable,sopleasedonotwasteitbycomingtoclasslateorunprepared.

*Ifabsent:PleasecallHTMNCandnotifyMs.Wallaceofyourabsence760.759.2750.
PleaseemailmeforanyworkthatyouhavemissedorcheckmyDPforanyassignmentsthataredue.
Youwillhavethenumberofdaysthatyouwereabsenttomakeupthework.

Ifyouareabsent,itisyourresponsibilitytocheckmyDPandcheckwithafriendtomakeuptheworkgiveninclass
andhomework.YouhaveONEdaytomakeuptheworkforeverydayyouwereabsent.

Homework:

HomeworkwillbeassignedasneededandcanalwaysbefoundonmyDigitalPortfolio(DP).Projectswillalsobe
postedonmyDP.Homeworkmustbeturnedincompleteandontime.TherearetwocalendarsonmyDP:Homework
andProjectBenchmarks.

RetakingQuizzes/Tests:

Studentsareallowedtoretakeanyquizortestinmyclass,iftheyredotestcorrections.Theyneedtogivean
explanationofwhytheygotitwrongandhowtheywillredothequestionnexttime.Iwillnotallowanystudentsto
retakeatestifthereareanyerrorsontheirtestcorrections.Testcorrectionsandretakescanbedoneinofficehours
only.

DIGITALPORTFOLIO:

Teachersmaintaindigitalportfoliostocommunicateclassassignments,homework,events,andimportant
announcements.Projectdescriptions,rubrics,andsomehandoutswillbepostedonDPsandareavailablefor
download.

Ms.LlanosDP:
http://msllanos8thgradeclassdp.weebly.com

LateWork:Lateworkwillnotbeaccepted.However,studentsmayadvocateforthemselvestoreceiveextrasupport.
Inthecasethatastudentfeelshe/sheneedsextrahelp,Iencouragethemtomeetwithmeassoonaspossibleto
discusstheirneedssothatwecandevelopasupportstrategytoaddressthediverseneedsoflearners.These
supportswillincludeextrahelpsessions,afterschooltutoring,peertutoring,orafamilyconferencetodevelopan
actionplanspecifictothestudent'sneeds.

CourseOutlineForMath/Science*

Alloftheconceptslearnedthisyearwillbeintroducedandrevisitedoften.Ibelieveinscaffoldingallmaterialto
ensurerelevanceandmastery.Withthisbeingsaid,althoughthelistbelowgivesyouaroughtimelineofwhatwillbe
covered,ourtimespentinclasswillbeusedlearningnewconceptsalongwithmasteringtopicscovered.Withineach
subtopic,challengeopportunitieswillbeavailableforstudentswhomastertheconceptquickly.

*Duetotheflexiblenatureofprojectbasedlearning,thisscheduleissubjecttochange.PleasecheckmyDPfor
updates.
MathSemesterOne

Week1

TeamBuildingActivities

Introductiontocourse

Week25

ScienceSemesterOne

Week1

TeamBuildingActivities

IntroductiontoCourse

Week236

WeirdScienceatHTMNCVideoProject:
NaturalPhenomena

BalloonRaceCar:
Graphing

Week69

RootsandExponents

Week1012

LinearRelationships

Week1315

Newton'sLaws

MissiontoMarsProject:
NewtonsLaw
SolarSystem

Simplemachines

Atomicstructureofelements

PeriodicTableofElements

LinearEquations

Week1618

Transformations

Week19

POLPREP

Week20

BasicChemicalReactions

*accordingtoprojects(timelinescanchange)
PresentationsofLearning

MathSemesterTwo

Week2123

Functions

Week2325

TrianglesandBeyond

Week2628

BivariateData

Week2931

PatternsandFormula

Week3235

POLPrep

TransitionalPOLs
Contracts

Ouracademicprogramdiffersfromotherschoolprograms.Studentsareoftenworkingonprojectsand
collaboratingingroups.Missedgroupworkoftentimescannotbemadeupatalatertime.Theteachersandstaffat
HTMNCsupportachallengingandpersonalizedcurriculum.Toreceiveacademiccreditforabsencesoffive(5)
daysormore,studentsarerequiredtohaveanindependentstudycontract.Tocoordinatethiscontractparentsmust
emailCindyWallace(cwallace@hightechhigh.org)andtheirstudent'steachersatleasttwo(2)weekspriortothe
absence.Duetothenatureofprojectbasedlearning,contractworkmaynotbetheexactassignmentsastudent
wouldreceivewhileattendingclass.Thismeansthatacontractwillincludecurrentprojectandhomework
assignmentswiththeadditionofworksheets,essays,andreading.Whilecompletingworkforacontract,students
shouldbepreparedtocompleteasignificantamountofworkwhileabsent.Allcontractworkisduethedaythe
studentreturnstoschool.

8thGradeMath/Science

HighTechMiddleNorthCounty

SyllabusContract20142015

Ms.Llanos

Wehavereadoverthesyllabusforthisyearandagreedupontherequirementsandexpectationsofthisclass.Ifwe
haveanyquestionsorconcerns,wewillemail,call,orsetupanappointment.

Student:____________________________________

Signature:___________________________________ Date:_____________

Parent(s)/Guardian(s):____________________________________________

Signature:___________________________Date:_____________

________________________________ _____________