I am very excited to discover science again with the students of Oasis Academy College Prep. I revamped my curricula outline for this year as well as changed the focus of learning and delivery. This year, I am hoping to utilize primary and secondary print sources (our textbook, Newsela) as well as trade books to encourage science literacy! I think that well written trade books have a strong place in science teaching helping to make science more accessible and relevant.
The Freshmen in Biology will be reading a non-fiction text called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks which discusses the biology, history, and ethics of the immortal (actually true, the title is not a misnomer) HeLa cells.
The Sophomores will actually be enjoying a bit of fiction this semester in the form of the student edition of the book The Martian. These reading of course will be balanced with lots of student discussion and lab participation!
We will also be fully utilizing interactive notebooks for both Physics and Biology and grouping these notebooks based on topic, not theme of activity. Hopefully the finished product is something the students will want to access for years to come.
I also want to remind parents that I tailor my curriculum to the Next Generation Science Standards http://www.nextgenscience.org which I feel teach students to use critical thinking when accessing the content by making connections within different strands and real world applications. We will review this more in Back to School Night!
A few new changes include the new policy that projects will not be taken home and will only be worked on in class. Also, homework time for science can be anticipated at about 20 minutes per night and some homework will be given over the weekend, but NEVER holidays or school breaks.
We will definitely hit the ground running this year so expect your student to come home wide eyed this week, but that is ok! I am excited to see you all at Back to School Night on Thursday and remember you are always welcome in the classroom.
Do not forget, your son or daughter will need a scientific calculator!
Scientifically speaking,
Mrs. Mortensen
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