Gr8PS Home Page

Carl Sandburg Middle School, Fairfax County Public Schools
Grade 8 Physical Science - Investigating Matter and Energy
Instructor: Mr. Sanford, Science- & Planetarium Teacher
Telephone: 703-799-6210 (Room 116); 703-799-6169 (Planetarium)
E-mail: Walter.Sanford@fcps.edu
Website: http://www.wsanford.com/~wsanford/gr8ps/home.html

Course Information

Syllabus: Microsoft Word; PDF
Guiding Principles and Goals for the Course: Microsoft Word; PDF
FCPS Student Lab Safety Contract
Calendar of Instruction: See where we are; where we've been; and where we're going.

Basal Instructional Materials

Textbook: Holt Science & Technology - Physical Science, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, ©2005. An electronic version of the textbook is available online, featuring many useful resources available only in the online edition. Watch this space for details regarding how to access the e-book, coming soon....
Student Lab Guides (SLGs), in order of coverage:
1. Investigating Matter and Its Changes, FCPS, ©2006 (1st Quarter)
2. Investigating Energy and Its Transformations, FCPS, ©2006 (2nd Quarter)
3. Investigating Matter and Temperature, FCPS, ©2006 (3rd Quarter)
4. Investigating Forces and Motion, FCPS, ©2006 (4th Quarter)

Recommended Resources for Home Study

Holt Physical Science textbook [Note: Every SLG activity features a "text reference" to related reading in the textbook.]
SLG activities plus associated graphs, hand-outs (provided by teacher), etc.
FCPS Science 8 Promotion Benchmarks lesson review packets
FCPS Science 8 Preparation Booklet for the Virginia Standards of Learning Assessment (booklet)
Hand-outs (provided by teacher) and class notes (recorded by student)
Learning assessment, sample items: Problem(s) of the Day (PODs); old quizzes and tests; Virginia SOL Practice Tests (see below)

Related Resources

FCPS Middle School Teacher's Guide: Grading and Reporting to Parents
FCPS Middle School Science [including a link to the FCPS Program of Studies (POS) for Science, among other resources for educators, students, and parents]
FCPS Science 8 Promotion Benchmarks lesson review packets
Virginia State Standards of Learning Science, Math, and Technology Practice Tests. See also Virginia Electronic Practice Assessment Tool (ePAT). ePATs are currently available for the Grade 8 Science Spring 2003- and Spring 2004 released items.

Tools

Search the www.wsanford.com Web server
Use Google Language Tools to "Translate a web page"