My name is Jeremy Morgan, I am one of the two 8th grade science teachers for Sanford Middle School.  This is my tenth year teaching at Sanford.  I am very excited and look forward to a great year!

Density is an abstract concept that takes 8th graders a few labs to wrap their heads around.  I spend three weeks on the concept to ensure students understand it on a deep level.  The reason for this focus is because we will be reffering back to density in every other unit. 

The other topics we will learn about are the following:

-The Earth's Interior and what causes tectonic plates to move

-Mississippi River and water pollution

-Relative Age of Rocks

-Glacier formation

-The Rock cycle

-Weather and why we have wind and storms

-Factors that affect weather on our planet

-The Water Cycle

-The Sun, Earth and Moon system

-The Solar System and beyond

-Orbital and Surface gravity

-Moon Phases

Dark matter and energy

We have three units in 8th grade science.  Each unit culminates with a benchmark assessment and a project.  Below is a list of the projects for each unit.

Unit 1- Weather and Water

Project- Mississippi River Project- Research one of 12 pollutants found in our river and create a poster about your research which will be presented in a gallery walk.

Unit 2- Changing Earth

Project- Writing a children's story taking a pebble through the entire rock cycle.

Unit 3- Earth in Space

Project- Planetary Research Project, research the habitability of a planet or moon in our solar system and present a powerpoint presentation to the class.