Middle School (7-8)
7th Grade
Science
Unit 1 Title: Geology on Mars
Unit 2 Title: Plate Motion
Unit 3 Title: Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Unit 4 Title: Rock Transformations
Unit 5 Title: Phase Change
Unit 6 Title: Phase Change Engineering Internship
Unit 7 Title: Chemical Reactions
Unit 8 Title: Populations and Resources
Unit 9 Title: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
FULL CURRiCULUM OVERVIEW AVAILABLE HERE
Social Studies
Unit 1 Title: How to be a Historian
- Unit 1 Essential Question: By the end of the unit, Students will analyze text and other media to recognize, understand, and appreciate multiple perspectives and cultures.
Unit 2 Title: The Middle Ages
-
Unit 2 Essential Question: Why was religion so influential in the lives of those living during the Middle Ages?
Unit 3 Title: Renaissance and the Age of Exploration
Unit 4 Title: Colonization in North America
-
Unit 4 Essential Question: Students will be able to compare & contrast regional characteristics of the 13 colonies and connect them to cause and effect relationships in US history
Unit 5 Title: The American Revolution
-
Unit 5 Essential Question: Students will be able to identify how increased tension over time between two groups can create conflict between the need for security and the need for freedom.
Unit 6 Title: A New Nation
Math
Unit 1 Title: Proportional Relationships: Ratios, Rates, and Circles
Unit 2 Title: Numbers and Operations: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers
Unit 3 Title: Numbers and Operations: Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers
Unit 4 Title: Algebraic Thinking: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Unit 5 Title: Proportional Reasoning: Percents and Statistical Samples
Unit 6 Title: Solids, Triangles, and Angles
Unit 7 Title: Probability:Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability, and Compound Events
FULL CURRiCULUM OVERVIEW AVAILABLE HERE
ELA
Unit 1 Title: Historical Fiction Book Clubs
- Unit 1 Essential Question: How do we best read historical fiction?
Unit 2 Title: Writing About Reading
- Unit 2 Essential Question: How do we write about what we read well?
Unit 3 Title: Writing Realistic Fiction
- Unit 3 Essential Question: How do we create compelling realistic fiction narratives?
Unit 4 Title: Investigating Characterization
Unit 5 Title: Essential Research
Unit 6 Title: Art of Argument
Unit 7 Title: How to Eat a Poem
-
Unit 7 Essential Question: How can I read and reread a poem until I know how it works—why it looks the way it does on the page, how each part makes sense with the whole poem, and how specific words and phrases in the poem mean more than they would in another context?
8th Grade
Science
Unit 1 Title: Harnessing Human Energy
Unit 2 Title: Force and Motion
Unit 3 Title: Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Unit 4 Title: Magnetic Fields
Unit 5 Title: Light Waves
Unit 6 Title: Earth, Moon, and Sun
Unit 7 Title: Natural Selection
Unit 8 Title: Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Unit 9 Title: Evolutionary History
FULL CURRiCULUM OVERVIEW AVAILABLE HERE
Social Studies
Unit 1 Title: The American Confederation
- Unit 1 Essential Question: What challenges did the new American states face, and how did the U.S. Constitution reflect those challenges?
Unit 2 Title: The U.S. Constitution
- Unit 2 Essential Question: How is the Constitution a living document?
Unit 3 Title: The Founding Fathers
- Unit 3 Essential Question: How did the first presidents of the US shape the office and the country with their administrations?
Unit 4 Title: Sectionalism
-
Unit 4 Essential Question: How did regional differences contribute to the growing conflict over states’ rights versus federal power?
Unit 5 Title: The Second Great Awakening
-
Unit 5 Essential Question: How did religious reform during the 1800s impact different American progress movements?
Unit 6 Title: Westward Expansion
-
Unit 6 Essential Question: What was the impact of America’s westward expansion during the 1800’s?
Unit 7 Title: The Road to War
-
Unit 7 Essential Question: How did conflict over slavery and other regional tensions lead to the Civil War?
Unit 8 Title: The Civil War
-
Unit 8 Essential Question: How was the United States affected by the Civil War?
Unit 9 Title: The Reconstruction Era
-
Unit 9 Essential Question: What were the political struggles, accomplishments, and failures of Reconstruction in the years following the Civil War?
Unit 10 Title: The American West
-
Unit 10 Essential Question: How did westward migration after the Civil War affect the United States?
Unit 11 Title: The Gilded Age
-
Unit 11 Essential Question: What impact did scientific discoveries and manufacturing processes have on the nature of work, the American labor movement, and the American businesses?
Unit 12 Title: Immigration
-
Unit 12 Essential Question: What were the economic, social, and political effects of immigration?
Math
Unit 1 Title: Geometric Figures: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
Unit 2 Title: Geometric Figures:Transformations, Similarity, and Angle Relationships
Unit 3 Title: Linear Relationships: Slope, Linear Equations, and Systems
Unit 4 Title: Functions: Linear and Nonlinear Relationships
Unit 5 Title: Integer Exponents: Properties and Scientific Notation
Unit 6 Title: Real Numbers: Rational Numbers, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem
Unit 7 Title: Statistics: Two-Variable Data and Fitting a Linear Model
FULL CURRiCULUM OVERVIEW AVAILABLE HERE
ELA
Unit 1 Title: Restarting a Reading/Writing Life
- Unit 1 Essential Question: Why do we read? How can we establish reading and writing routines in the classroom this year?
Unit 2 Title: Non-Fiction/Informational Writing
- Unit 2 Essential Question: How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary texts?
Unit 3 Title: Memoir/Narrative Writing
- Unit 3 Essential Question: How do we tell our stories? Why are they important? What determines an event in my life is significant? What makes sharing my personal stories to others valuable?
Unit 4 Title: Contemporary Fiction and the Literary Essay
-
Unit 4 Essential Question: How do we deepen our understanding of contemporary fiction to develop more sophisticated reading practices and unlock the tools for more complex literary analysis?
Unit 5 Title: Drama: The Christmas Carol and Victorian Era
-
Unit 5 Essential Question: How did the author’s life help to shape his perspective, purpose and content for his works?
Unit 6 Title: Dystopian Fiction
-
Unit 6 Essential Question: How much should the government be able to control your individual rights for the good of the world? Could something intended for the good of society really be bad? What makes a perfect society? Can one person make a difference?