Cold Springs High School

Home of the Eagles

Mrs. Haynes
8th Grade Science

Classroom Rules:
1. Be prepared for class. (Book, Notebook with paper, and Pencil)

2. Absolutely NO food, drinks, or GUM during class!!!

3. Do not be late to class.

4. Do not touch other people or their things.

Should YOU choose to break any of these rules, one of the following will definitely occur:   

            1. Break detention

            2. Detention

NO EXCEPTIONS FOR ANYONE!

Syllabus:
1. Students will complete one project per semester.

2. The students will take notes on a daily basis. Notes should be kept in science binder.

3. Depending on the amount of information in the chapter, the students may have one to three quizzes. One or more may be pop quizzes.

4. Every chapter will end with a chapter test. The questions will be a variety of multiple choice, labeling, matching, true/false, short answer, and discussion.

5. The students will participate in several labs per semester. However, failure to follow lab rules will result in no lab time and a 0 lab grade.

6. Students will receive a class participation grade; therefore, knowledge of material and good behavior is essential.

The following is a list of the content that will be discussed in Life Science:

Unit 1: Life's structure and Function (Chapters 1-6)

Unit 2: From Bacteria to Plants (Chapters 7-11)

Unit 3: Human Body systems (Chapters 17-23)

Unit 4: Ecology (Chapters 24-27)

Students Will:
1.  Describe characteristics common to living things, including growth and development, reproduction, cellular organization, use of energy, exchange of gases, and response to the environment.

·  Identifying homeostasis as the process by which an organism responds to its internal or external environment

·  Predicting how an organism’s behavior impacts the environment

·  Identifying unicellular organisms, including bacteria and protists, by their methods of locomotion, reproduction, ingestion, excretion, and effects on other organisms

·  Identifying the structure of a virus

2.  Identify functions of organelles found in eukaryotic cells, including the nucleus, cell membrane, cell wall, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and vacuoles.

Example:     mitochondria releasing energy for use in cellular respiration

·  Identifying components of the cell theory

·  Identifying cells as prokaryotic or eukaryotic

·   Listing the sequence of the mitotic cell cycle

3.  Relate major tissues and organs of the skeletal, circulatory, reproductive, muscular, respiratory, nervous, and digestive systems to their functions.

·  Arranging in order the organizational levels of the human body from the cell through organ systems

4.  Describe organisms in the six-kingdom classification system by their characteristics.

·   Recognizing genus and species as components of a scientific name

·   Identifying contributions of Aristotle and Linnaeus to the early history of taxonomy

5.  Identify major differences between plants and animals, including internal structures, external structures, methods of locomotion, methods of reproduction, and stages of development.

·   Describing the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration

6.  Describe evidence of species variation due to climate, changing landforms, interspecies interaction, and genetic mutation.

Examples:   fossil records over geologic time, rapid bacterial mutations due to environmental pressures

7.  Describe biotic and abiotic factors in the environment.

Examples:   biotic—plants, animals;
abiotic—climate, water, soil

·   Classifying organisms as autotrophs or heterotrophs

·   Arranging the sequence of energy flow in an ecosystem through food webs, food chains, and energy pyramids

8.  Describe the function of chromosomes.

·   Identifying genes as parts of chromosomes that carry genetic traits

 9.  Identify the process of chromosome reduction in the production of sperm and egg cells during meiosis.

10.  Identify differences between deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Examples:   DNA—double helix, contains thymine;
RNA—single stranded, contains uracil

·   Identifying Watson and Crick as scientists who discovered the shape of the DNA molecule

11.  Identify Mendel’s laws of genetics.

·   Recognizing Down’s syndrome and sickle cell anemia as inherited genetic disorders

·   Using a monohybrid Punnett square to predict the probability of traits passed from parents to offspring

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Last modified: 10/16/07