Grade: 8th

28 Feb 2021

Hydrologic Cycle

August-June

Water is ever-moving, with no beginning or end.  Streams, oceans, clouds, plants and humans are all a part of this cycle. Students will describe the movement of water within the water cycle and look for evidence in and around Greenacres.

Ohio Science Standards:

  • ESS Grade 7: The hydrologic cycle illustrates the changing states of water as it moves through the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

NGSS Standards:

  • MS.LS2.1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  • MS.ESS2.4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

Vocabulary:

precipitation, condensation, evaporation, watershed, point and non-point pollution

Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for a video with a Greenacres educator

28 Feb 2021

Rocks and Minerals

August-June

While exploring rocks and minerals, students will uncover millions of years of history using simple geologic tests.  Students will view the landscape at Greenacres and, using a dichotomous key, determine what types of rocks and minerals are found in Ohio. 

Ohio Science Standards:

  • ESS Grade 6: Minerals have specific, quantifiable properties.
  • ESS Grade 6: Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks have unique characteristics that can be used for identification and/or classification.
  • ESS Grade 6: Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks form in different ways.
  • ESS Grade 6: Rocks, minerals and soils have common and practical uses.

NGSS Standards:

  • MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
  • MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales
  • MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Vocabulary:

Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, minerals, dichotomous key, hardness

Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for a video with a Greenacres educator

28 Feb 2021

Soils in Nature

August-June

Soil is a natural resource that  provides the foundation for producing our food, shelter, fuel. It also provides the surface on which to build our buildings and cities.  Students will get a bit dirty as they compare soils in different habitats at Greenacres and examine the past environment in which they formed.

Ohio Science Standards:

  • ESS Grade 6: Soil is unconsolidated material that contains nutrient matter and weathered rock.
  • ESS Grade 6: Rocks, minerals and soils have common and practical uses.

NGSS Standards:

  • MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
  • MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
  • MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Vocabulary:

erosion, deposition, soil, humus, inorganic, organic

Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for a video with a Greenacres educator

26 Feb 2021

Stream Health

August-June

The health of a stream can be assessed in several different ways.  Students will perform chemical, physical, and biological studies of a local Greenacres stream, and make conclusions about stream health and impacts of human activity on surface waters.

Ohio Science Standards:

  • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.
  • SWK Grade 6-8: Science is a continual process and the body of scientific knowledge continues to grow and change.

NGSS Standards:

  • MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
  • MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
  • MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Vocabulary:

biological, physical, chemical, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, macroinvertebrate

Video Introduction: CLICK HERE for a video with a Greenacres educator

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