Parent Summaries

Every Baltimore County Public School science curriculum is carefully written to align with Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Core Learning Goals (CLGs) and the Maryland State Curriculum (MSC).  Every curriculum has at its core the belief that all students will learn and achieve.  To that end, every curriculum is written to appeal to the various learning preferences of our diverse population.  AVID strategies are included as a means of providing students with engaging learning opportunities that include hands on laboratories, inquiry, writing, collaboration, and reading. Science curricula are also crafted to introduce concepts and skills that are further developed in subsequent science courses.

How Parents Can Help their Children to be Successful in Science Subjects

Elementary Science

Elementary Science Parent Tri-folds - Grade 1-5

Middle School Science

Each unit in the middle school science program begins with a unit problem or scenario which establishes a purpose for student involvement. Each lesson requires students to gather information directly related to the problem or unit activity they are attempting to solve or complete. Each student is required to keep a learning log or journal for each unit. The learning log is intended to help students organize and gather data needed to help solve the unit problem or complete the unit activity.

Grade 6 Science consists of four units: chemistry skills, earth space, energy, electricity and magnetism, and the environment. The investigations engage students in doing science as a way of solving a problem. This allows students to view science as a useful tool for interacting with the world around them.

• Chemistry Skills: Use scientific skills to explain the composition, structure, and interactions of matter.


• Earth Space: Explain how chemical and physical interactions of the environment, Earth, and the universe occur over time.


• Energy, Electricity & Magnetism: Use skills and processes to explain the interaction of matter and energy and energy transformations.


• Environmental: Explain the interactions of environmental factors and analyze their impact from a local to global perspective.

Grade 7 Science examines the diversity of science.  Students become participants in a journey that starts with the smallest living thing, the cell, and takes them all the way to the outskirts of the universe, studying constellations and space exploration.

• Human Systems: how systems of the human body work together, what factors threaten a person’s wellness


• Diversity of Life: how organisms are alike and different; how various organisms reproduce; how life on earth has changed


• Waves and Rays: interpret wave motion to explain how energy can be changed from one form to another; investigate wave length, frequency, amplitude; and velocity to explain the different behaviors of waves


• Astronomy: what patterns are seen in the motion of celestial bodies; investigate mass gravity and inertia and explain how they affect patterns in space

Grade 8 Science extends the units covered in grades 6 and 7 to involve students in scientific principles that impact the world in which we live.  Science instruction follows the principle of hands-on/minds-on.  Students are engaged in real-life science investigations requiring the use of problem solving and critical thinking skills.

• Ecology: how changes in an ecosystem affect organisms; how organisms interact; what impact humans have on the environment


• Thermodynamics: explain that atoms and molecules are in constant motion; use processes and skills to explain the different behaviors of waves


• Exploring Chemistry: what are some properties of matter; what are some properties of elements and compounds


• Earth Science: how the earth’s surface changes; what we know about the earth’s past

Middle School Gifted and Talented Science - The GT program at the Middle school level covers all the required MSDE standards plus it extends the students knowledge beyond that point. The curricula are differentiated, accelerated, and enriched to address the needs of the advanced learner. The program concludes with the GT students taking the High School Environmental Science course.

High School Science

High School Science is course specific. Each course has its own set of indicators and topics that the students will learn. In order to graduate a student needs three science courses, one of which must be Biology. If a student is planning on attending college after they graduate from high school, it is recommended that they also take Chemistry and Physics while in high school. There are many elective and magnet science courses that are offered at various high schools. A variety of AP and GT science courses are also offered in every high school. Check with your specific school to see which science courses are offered.

High School Science Flow Chart
High School Core Science Courses Summaries
High School Elective Courses Summaries