Tiffany Wendland, Secondary Coordinator
443-809-4251
Science curricula are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. 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.
Vision for K-12 Science Education
Middle School Science
Each unit in the middle school science program begins with a problem or scenario which establishes a purpose for student involvement. Each lesson allows students to gather and build upon information related to the problem or scenario they are attempting to solve or complete. The spiraled nature of the curricula allow students to integrate concepts that deepen their knowledge and curiosity and use critical thinking skills to develop their understanding of the nature of science.
The Middle School Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) will be given to students in the spring of their 8th grade year. The results will count toward the school data on the Maryland Public Schools Report Card. Individual student reports will be available to students in the fall following the assessment.
Middle School Curriculum Design
Course Overviews
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
High School Science
Each course in high school science allows the student to build upon their scientific foundational knowledge and understanding. Each unit in the course begins with a question that students engage in throughout the unit in order create a product.
In order to graduate, a student needs three science credits. The content of these credits is dependent on a student’s graduation year:
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For students graduating in 2020, one of the three science credits must be Biology or Living Systems.
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For students graduating in 2021 and beyond, science coursework must be aligned to the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) and the Next Generation Science Standards. Students can meet their science credit graduation requirement by taking Earth Systems, Living Systems, and Integrated Physics & Chemistry (IPC). Students may elect to take Chemistry and/or Physics instead of IPC in order to satisfy the NGSS-aligned coursework requirement.
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 comprehensive high school. Check with your specific school to see which science courses are offered.
In addition to a science credit graduation requirement, students must also satisfy a science assessment graduation requirement. Currently, any student that has taken the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) meets the science assessment requirement.
Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, students must pass the MISA in order to graduate.
The NGSS High School Sequence below represents the most common, but not the only, pathways to meet science requirements for graduation.
High School Curriculum Design
Course Overviews:
Earth Systems
Living Systems
Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC)
