Welcome to Thomas Starr King Middle School!
My name is Ms. Sullivan and I teach 7th grade Health and Science in the Film and Media Magnet. I have a B.A. in Anthropology and a Masters in Education, both from UCLA. Go Bruins! I have been teaching with LAUSD for 13 years.
Your 7th grade Health and Science classes will be broken up into two semesters. During the fall semester, you will learn how the decisions you make on a daily basis affect your overall health (physical, mental/emotional, and social). Some of the topics that will be covered during the fall semester are:
- Introduction to Health (Mental/Emotional, Physical, and Social Health),
- Personal and Community Health,
- Injury Prevention and Safety, and
- Growth, Development, and Sexual Health.
The remainder of the school year, the focus will be on science. The transition to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) continues this year. The district has adopted an integrated approach to the teaching and learning of science. Essentially, this means that students in middle school will be exposed to Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, and Life Science every year. The NGSS emphasizes learning of these scientific disciplines in three dimensions: the Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. The goal of these shifts is to show the interconnected nature of science in the real world, the integration of science and engineering, and developing a deeper understanding of the scientific concepts.
The new set of science standards stresses process over product. The focus will not be on rote memorization of scientific facts but instead will stress scientific thinking. Under the NGSS, students will instead concentrate on asking questions, developing hypotheses, testing models, making evidence-based arguments, and learning other skills that real scientists use all the time. Each standard is made up of several Performance Expectations. These expectations require students to utilize critical thinking and problem solving to demonstrate their understanding of key science concepts.
Some of the topics that will be covered this year are:
- Nonliving Things are Made of Atoms
- Matter Cycles and Energy Flows Through Organisms and Rocks
- Cells and Organisms
Whether a student will enter a STEM career or not, these skills that are being fostered in the NGSS are useful across disciplines.