+ Physical Science 2015 - 2016 Mrs. Hansen Room 315 Be Kind.
Work Hard. Stay Curious.
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+ And now a word from your teacher
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Welcome to 8 th grade science! We have an exciting year planned
and I am happy to help prepare you for life after both middle
school and high school whether it be college or starting a career.
This school year, I want to instill you with the knowledge that you
will need in order to be problem solvers, scientific thinkers, and
how to communicate effectively with your peers and co-workers.
Because this course is titled Physical Science, we will be
discussing chemistry, physics, astronomy, and energy! In order to
ensure that you fully understand the material, I will be using
different techniques to assess your knowledge. I prefer using
hands-on activities, labs, and demonstrations because I believe you
learn best if you are actually working with and engaged in the
material, rather than listening to a lecture. Ultimately, by the
end of the school year, my goal is for you to feel that your time
was put to good use and that you feel more prepared for the real
world than when you started here. In order for this to be put into
action, we will need to work together. I will provide you with a
set of classroom rules, procedures, and expectations that need to
be followedno exceptions. Learning can be fun if the classroom
environment is set up in a way that is respectful for ALL of us. I
am looking forward to a fun school year and getting to know you as
students. You can easily succeed in my class if you simply put in
effort, follow directions, and participate. Good luck and lets have
a wonderful school year!
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+ Heres your homework Grab the Welcome Letter you received in
class and use the following slides to fill in the missing
information. Misplace your Welcome Letter? Print out an extra copy
from the Class Documents page on our class website. Once you have
filled in each blank, share the letter with your parents or better
yet, have them work with you! Make sure you get a parent signature
ensuring that you completed and reviewed the information. This
assignment is due: Thursday, September 3rd
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+ A little intro for your parents My name is Mrs. Hansen and I
will be your childs Physical Science teacher this school year.
First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to review this
letter as I find it extremely important for you and I to work
together to create the best learning environment for your child.
This year, we will be learning about chemistry, physics, energy and
astronomy. In order for all students to fully understand the
material, I have created innovative and hands-on lessons that will
work to reach the needs of each students learning style. My goal as
an educator is to help prepare your child for the real world by
instilling them with the proper skills they will need to read,
write, and communicate effectively and to most importantly, become
problem solvers, the essence of a scientific thinker. I have listed
few of the basic expectations I have for my students below. There
is more detailed information available on our class website.
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+ Basic Expectations Science Books: You will be issued a
Science book for your use at home for the duration of the year.
Please keep the book safe and cover it. Please, do not bring it to
school everyday. We have a set of books to use in the classroom.
Homework: My goal is to work efficiently in class so you will have
a minimum amount of homework. Much of your homework will be to
prepare you for lessons and discussions held during class, so we
can make the most of our 50 minutes in class each day. It will be
checked, graded, and will contribute to your trimester grade. Lab
Safety: We do many exciting hands-on activities (labs). In this
class you will be working with fire, electricity, chemicals, and
sharp objects so safety in the classroom is extremely important! I
do not tolerate horseplay. Failure to follow safety procedures will
result in a lowered grade and the loss of lab privileges.
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You will be completing a unit on safety in the laboratory,
including an assessment, to prepare for our class activities. In
addition, you, and your parents will sign a Safety Contract.
Without this contract and a satisfactory assessment grade, you will
not be allowed to participate in lab experiments.
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+ Basic Expectations Continued Lab Donations: We do 1 to 2 labs
or demos every week and therefore we use many supplies! A donation
of $10 is requested to help cover the cost of the many consumable
items we use in our experiments. Any amount is gladly accepted! We
will take cash or check. Please make checks payable to RSM and
write the students name and period on the check. Binder: We will be
using a binder to organize all notes, worksheets, lab work, study
guides, and homework. I request that you have a 1 inch binder.
Absence/Make-Up Work: It is the students responsibility to obtain
and complete all work that you missed due to absence. Please DO NOT
EMAIL me for homework requests but check with a trusted classmate
or the class website. I adhere to the schools absence and make up
work policies, available in your student planner
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+ Wrap it up I am absolutely thrilled to teach your child and
cannot wait to see the improvement of their science skills
throughout the school year. To learn more about our class policies,
procedures, and to stay up to date with what is happening in room
315, please visit my class website at: www.svusd.org/hansene, and I
look forward to seeing you at our Back to School Night.
www.svusd.org/hansene Remember this assignment is due: Thursday,
September 3rd
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+ Interested in a little extra credit? (Yes, extra credit
already its rare so take advantage of the opportunity!) Follow the
instructions below: On the Welcome Page of our class website, I
have posted our class motto you may have noticed it posted in our
room as well. To earn your extra credit: write a descriptive
paragraph giving your opinion of what the motto means to you and
how this motto could help you as a student and/or citizen of your
community. Please turn in your paragraph(s) with your Welcome
Letter assignment on Thursday, Sept. 3 rd.
