Long Range Plan

Grady Sondgeroth

Section 1: Student Information

In Ms. Kodak’s 8th grade Science classroom, there are three standard classes and one
honors class. All four classes use the 8th grade science standards. With the honors class,
expectations and assignments have higher expectations from the students. All data gathered
about students is from Ms. Kodek and the 8th grade Fulmer? team. Finally, the interest inventory
data was from a survey I conducted in class with students.

Test Scores:
South Carolina does not test in Science so there is no recent testing data for students in
sciences. Instead of using testing I will be using past quarter grades to see where my students are
at and what kind of assignments/ content they have been struggling with. The semester grade
below looked mainly at content about forces, motions, and waves. These content areas revolve a
lot around lab based learning and use had students using some equations to figure out different
forces of motion.

4th period (Last semester score’s)

● 8 students with a 90% or above

● 5 students between a 80% to 89%
● 4 students between a 70% to 79%
● 3 students between a 60% to 69%
● 2 students with a 59% or below

5th period (Last semester score’s)

● 9 students with a 90% or above

● 6 students between a 80% to 89%
● 2 students between a 70% to 79%
● 1 student between a 60% to 69%
 ● No students have a 59% or below

7th period (Last semester score’)

● 11 students with a 90% or above

● 3 students between a 80% to 89%
● No scores below an 79%

8th period

● 9 students with a 90% or above

● 8 students between a 80% to 89%
● 3 students between a 70% to 79%
● 1 student between a 60% to 60%
● 1 student below a 59%

Students:

For this section, I conducted a student inventory section to have a better understanding of
students' learning styles, favorite subject areas, and activities they participate in. This data will
allow me to tailor my lesson plans to the needs and interests of students. Also, there is no data
for the exact number of students that live in a low income household because all students at R.H.
Fulmer Middle School have access to free/ reduced lunch.

● 4th Period (Standard)

○ Class Size- 20
○ Gender- 11 Female, 9 Male
○ Race- 7 Hispanic, 7 African American, 6 Caucasian
○ 504- 1
○ IEP- 2
○ ESOL- 3
○ Medical Needs- 4 Asthma, 3 Allergies
○ Interest Inventory
■ Preferred Learning Style- Visual(7), Auditory (4), Reading/
Writing (5), Kinesthetic (4)
■ Favorite Subject- Science (9), Social Studies (4), English (3), Math
(4)
 ■ After School Activities- Athletics (10 ), Arts (4), Sports and
Arts (2),None (4)
Observation
Overall, this class is well behaved, but can be talkative at times. With that being said,
students enter the classroom they can be loud and need to be told to get to their seats. Also, most
students participate when called on and stay focused on their work throughout class.
Meeting Students Needs
● Providing students with accommodations
● Planning lessons that use a variety of resources and activities to engage students
during class.
● Reduce time to get students’ attention and to their seats to have more class time.

● 5th Period (Standard)

○ Class Size- 22
○ Gender- 8 Female, 14 Male
○ Race- 1 Hispanic, 8 African American, 9 Caucasian, 3 Mixed, 1 Asian
American
○ 504- 0
○ IEP- 5 (2 students are self contained and only go to science/ social studies
classes)
○ ESOL- 1
○ Medical Needs- 3 allergies
○ Interest Inventory
■ Preferred Learning Style- Visual(7), Auditory (4), Reading/
Writing (4), Kinesthetic (7)
■ Favorite Subject- Science (7), Social Studies (8), English (3), Math
(4)
■ After School Activities- Athletics (16), Arts (2), Sports and
Arts (),None (4)
Observation
Fifth period, overall, does well with getting assignments turned in on time, but there are a
couple of students who struggle to turn any work in. Also, students can get distracted easily and
tend to have side conversations when individual work is being done. This period has a couple of
students who struggled at the start of the year, but have made huge strides in the work they do
and how they act in class.

Meeting Student Needs

● Provide students with accommodations
● Keep students on task to limit distractions that can affect other students doing work
 ● Create lesson plans that use a variety of resources and activities to engage students in
class

● 7th Period (Honors)

○ Class Size- 16
○ Gender- 7 Female, 9 Male
○ Race- 3 African American, 13 Caucasian
○ 504- 0
○ IEP- 2 (2 students are self contained and only go to science/ social studies
classes)
○ ESOL- 0
○ Medical Needs- 5 allergies
○ Interest Inventory
■ Preferred Learning Style- Visual(3), Auditory (3), Reading/
Writing (3), Kinesthetic (7)
■ Favorite Subject- Science (5), Social Studies (5), English (2), Math
(2), PE (2)
■ After School Activities- Athletics (5), Arts (), Sports and Arts
(0),None (11)
Observation:
With 7th period being right after lunch, students are able to eat some food and get out
some energy. At times, some students may come into class a little wild, but overall they come in
ready for the class period. Any off task behaviors usually come from the boys in the class, while
the girls tend to be on task and focused. This class also turns in high quality work and turns in
assignments when they are due. Lastly, students participate when called on and contribute to any
class discussions.

Meeting Student Needs

● Providing students with accommodations for class
● Preparing lesson plans that engage students with a variety of resources
● Limit the distractions made in class by students to allow others to stay focused
● Challenge students with high level thinking questions

● 8th Period (Standards)

○ Class Size- 21
○ Gender- 11 Female, 10 Male
○ Race- 2 Hispanic, 4 African American, 12 Caucasian, 3 Mixed
○ 504- 1
 ○ IEP- 3
○ ESOL- 1
○ Medical Needs- 1 epilepsy, 2 diabetes, 1 asthma
○ Interest Inventory
■ Preferred Learning Style- Visual(5), Auditory (4), Reading/
Writing (3), Kinesthetic (9)
■ Favorite Subject- Science (6), Social Studies (5), English (3), Math
(4), Orchestra/ Band (2), PE (1)
■ After School Activities- Athletics (8), Arts (3), Sports and
Arts (0),None (10)

Observation
With this being the last class period of the day, students have lost most of their focus and tend
to drift off task. This shows as this class has the largest amount of missing work. Most students
still find a way to participate in discussions with it being the end of the day and contribute when
called on. The boys in this class tend to distract themselves which then takes other students off
task.

Meeting Students Needs

● Create lesson plans that keeps students active
● Provide students with accommodations for class
● Keeping student active to keep from off task behaviors and interruptions
Motivation to stay on task and not be distracted?

Section 2: Learning and Developmental Goals

Classroom expectations of Students:

● Come in quietly and begin your work and get out your science notebook
● Raise your hand and wait to be recognized before speaking
● Sharpen pencils and dispose of trash at appropriate times
● Leave all gum and candy at home
● Be respectful of your teacher, your classmates, al visitors, and school property at all times

Learning expectations:

Students will be able to….

● Construct and present arguments using evidence to support their claims
● Analyze and interpret data
● Identify the causes of seasons, tides, and moon phases
● Analyze organisms and how genes have an effect on organisms
● Connect how the environment and humans influence genetic traits
 ● Use evidence to make connections between Newton's laws with real world application

South Carolina College- and Career- Ready Standards and Indicators for 8th Grade

Forces and Motion

Changes in Force and Motion

● 8-PS2-2. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion
depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
● 8-PS2-1. Apply Newton’s third law to design a solution to a problem involving the
motion of two colliding objects.
Gravitational Forces
● 8-PS2-4. Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that
gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects
and the distance between them.
● 8-PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide
evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the
objects are not in contact.
Electric and Magnetic Forces
● 8-PS2-3. Analyze and interpret data to determine the factors that affect the strength of
electric and magnetic forces.
● 8-PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide
evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the
objects are not in contact.

Introduction to Properties of Waves

● 8-PS4-1. Using mathematical representations, describe a simple model for waves that
includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.
Digital vs. Analog Signals
● 8-PS4-3. Communicate information to support the claim that digital devices are used to
improve our understanding of how waves transmit information.

Space
The Solar System
● 8-ESS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within
galaxies and the solar system.
● 8-ESS1-3. Evaluate information to determine scale properties of objects in the solar
system.
Earth, Sun, and Moon System
● 8-ESS1-1. Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic
patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, tides, and seasons.

Formation and Motion of Galaxies

● 8-ESS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within
galaxies and the solar system.

Genetics

Genes and Proteins

● 8-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes
(mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful,
beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
Mutations
● 8-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes
(mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful,
beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.

Growth of Organisms
● 8-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and
genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
Inheritance and Genetic Variation
● 8-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in
offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring
with genetic variation.
● 8-LS1-4. Use arguments, based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning, to support
an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures
affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

Evolution

Evolutionary History and Relationships

● 8-LS4-2. Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities
and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to
infer their ancestral relationships.

Fossil Record
 ● 8-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the
existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on
Earth under the assumption that natural laws operated in the past as they do today.

Natural Selection
● 8-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic
variations of traits in a population increase some individual’s probability of surviving and
reproducing in a specific environment.
● 8-LS4-6. Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural
selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Artificial Selection
● 8-LS4-5. Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the
way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

All 2021 South Carolina College - and Career - Ready Science Standards can be find in the
following link with crosscutting concepts, core ideas, and science practices:
https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/science/standards/south-carolina-college-and-
career-ready-science-standards-2021-approved/

Lexington School District Two Curriculum Guides:

The following document is the curriculum guide for the Lexington School District Two.
This curriculum guide is for the 2021-2022 school year. This document can be found on the
Lexington 2 School District Website and a link is posted below.
https://www.lex2.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1256639&type=d&pREC_ID=1320452

Section 3: Instructional Units

8th Grade Science Unit Plan

(Honors students will follow the same instructional units and standards as the standard classes. Honors students will have higher
expectations and an increase in difficulty for assignments.)

Unit 1- Forces and Motion

During this first unit, the curriculum will be focused on Newton's Laws of Motion, how
forces change, and waves. Students will use various articles, videos, and websites for inquiry
based learning. Students will take the information they have analyzed and connect it to the labs
being done in class. During this unit, students will learn how to ask a question, create an
experiment, gather information, and come to a conclusion. This unit will conclude with a
summative test to show students’ level of mastery for this unit.

Unit 2- Space
During the second unit, the curriculum will be focused on space. This unit takes a close
look at our solar system, moon phases, tides, and seasons, which will be broken down into four
sections with quizzes at the end of each section. This section also builds on each other as
students will use past information to make connections to newer information. Students will show
where they are at with mastering this content by explaining the relationship between the four
sections that we have gone over.

Unit 3- Genetics
During this unit, students will learn about what genes, proteins, mutations, organisms,
and what genetics are.T this unit will start with basic vocabulary and then transform into more
interactive lessons. Students will show their knowledge on the subjects through different
activities with Punnett squares and pedigree charts to allow students to apply the information
they are using.

Unit 4- Evolution

Our last unit will go over evolutionary history, fossil records, natural selection, and
artificial selection. This unit will be inquiry based as students will get the opportunity to look at
how organisms have changed by looking at fossil records and seeing how organisms have
adapted/ changed. This will set up students to analyze how the natural and artificial selection
processes work. Making connections between these sections will give students a chance to show
their level of mastery for this content.

Section 4: Assessment Plan

Grading Practices

Grading Scale 8th Grade Science (Standard and Honors)

A= 90-100
B= 80-89
C= 70-79
D= 60-69
F= 0-59

Notes 25%
Information Practice 25%
Labs 25%
Test/Quizzes 25%

PowerSchool:
All grades for paper and electronic assignments (TURNED IN ON TIME) will be available on
PowerSchool within 48 hours after it has been turned in. If you turn in an assignment(s) late, I
will add it into PowerSchool within 72 hours from when you turned it in. Keep in mind if you
turn in five missing assignments at the same time it will take longer before you see it in the grade
book.

8th Grade Science Assessment Policies

Homework Policy:

All homework assignments will be posted on Google Classroom and will be turned in on Google
Classroom. These assignments will be posted the morning that the assignment is explained in
class and due the next day before class has started (If it is not turned in it, will be marked as late).
Lastly, you are expected to take ten minutes every night to review your most recent Cornell
notes.

Late Work Policy:

Assignments that are turned in late will be given a ten percent deduction for every day that it is
late. Also, all late work will be sent to LLC to be completed.

Make-Up Work Policy:

If you are absent from school, you are still required to turn in your assignments on time unless it
is excused. If you have an excused absence, you will have an extension time that will be given to
you when you return to school. However, if you’re absent for a test/quiz, you should be ready to
take it when you return to school.

Section 5: Classroom Management Plan

Classroom Expectations for Students
● Come in quietly and open your chrome book to Google Classroom
● Chromebooks should be charged before class
● Be respectful to all students, staff, and visitors
● Do your work and turn it in on time
● Raise your hand before speaking
● Don’t wait to ask for help

Fulmer Middle School Expectations for Students

● Wear ID at all times and following the dress code
● Respect yourself, your peers, and your teachers
● Bring all necessary material to class daily (Chromebooks charged)
● Follow mask guidelines for students returning from quarantining
● Do not go in parts of the school that you’re not permitted in

Along with the above expectations, R.H. Fulmer Middle School uses a point system that
is used to assess students behavior during the school day. Gaining 4 points in a day results in a
lunch detention and 6 points in a day result in a green ID with lunch detention. If students go
beyond 6 points there are other actions that will be taken due to their behavior.