2019 ~ 2020

Welcome Students and Families,                                     

This is a very exciting time for Science in Dearborn Public Schools.  As students headed home for summer break, science teachers rolled up their sleeves and attended training for a new science program.  This will be a challenging year for students and teachers as we launch the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform, ”Mi-STAR”.  Some things will be the same. Your young scientist can still expect to be engaging in science work, exploring and discovering how the world works with hands on experiments and investigations.  Your child will still need to engage fully in the classroom activities and discussions to get the most out of their classroom learning experience. Some things will be different. There will be some changes in the units covered at each grade level and there will be lots of new activities.  

For any of you new to middle school science, the classroom experience probably looks and feels very different from what you thought or remembered.  High quality science instruction, designed to prepare students for high-school, college and the future, puts students at the center in the role of scientist and engineer.  Students work together in small groups to develop solutions to challenging problems drawn from real life experiences. In order to solve the problems students must first learn about the natural forces and dynamic changes happening in the world around them.  Instruction is carefully designed for students to develop those understandings in a way that will allow them to apply their learning to identify realistic and meaningful solutions to real world problems.  

Units of study will generally follow the list below, but the science department may make changes based on time, availability of materials and to be sure that every child is ready for success in high school.

6th Grade	7th Grade	8th Grade
Water Body Systems Metabolism Forces & Motion Plants Ecosystems Energy cycles	Energy Energy & Volcanoes Thermal Energy Materials’ Life Cycles Humans, Plants & Animals Genetics Water Chemistry Ecosystems	Natural Selection History of Life on Earth Sound & Light Solar System and Seasons Weather, Climate and Agriculture Natural Hazards Climate Change