Curriculum Resources

St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School
Curriculum Resources 

English Language Arts and Mathematics
St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School follows the New York State Learning Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8.  Qualified students in grade 8 take the Algebra I Regents Course and Regents Exam.   We are pleased to report that all the 8^th graders who took the Algebra I Regents Exam in June passed the exam, many with distinction.

The curriculum that we follow can be found at these links on the New York State Education Department New York State Next Generation ELA Learning Standards
New York State Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards

A Parent's Guide to the New York State Next Generation ELA & Math Learning Standards

Mathematics Grades 6 through 8 and Algebra 1
6th Grade Mathematics
Students will use ratio language to describe the relationship between two quantities. They will create unit rates and explain its relationship to ratios. They will use ratios and unit rates to solve real-world problems. Students will create ratio tables relating whole-number measurements. They will find a rule for the table and calculate missing values. Students will solve unit rate problems. They will find percent of a quantity as a ratio out of 100. They will find a part of a whole given a percent. They will convert measurement units within a measurement system. They will employ dimensional analysis to change units.  

Students will fluently divide multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. They will fluently add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals using the standard algorithm for each operation. Students will find the quotient of fractions and solve word problems by utilizing this skill. Students will fluently add, subtract multiply and divide rational numbers. They will solve word problems using all four operations with whole number, decimals and fractions. Students will graph rational numbers on a number line. Students will employ the order of operations when solving.

Students will find the greatest common factor of two whole numbers. They will use the distributive property to express the sum of two whole numbers and use the greatest common factor to factor an expression. They will find the least common multiple of two whole numbers less than or equal to 12.

Students will explore integers and use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts. They will extend a number line to include negative numbers; they will graph integers on a number line. Students will understand opposite values and will be able to graph them on a number line.  They will recognize that the opposite of an opposite is the number itself.

Students will be able to graph ordered pairs on a coordinate plane. They will be able to draw a coordinate plane, label the axes and quadrants. Students will understand that the signs of the numbers in the ordered pair determine their location in the quadrants on a coordinate plane. Students will solve real-world problems by graphing on a coordinate plane and find the distance between two points on the graph.

Students will interpret statements of inequality as a description of the numbers’ position on a number line, they will write, interpret and explain statements of order for rational numbers in real-world contexts. Students will understand that absolute value is the distance that a rational number is from zero on a number line.  They will calculate absolute value and explain the meaning of the solution. They will compare values using absolute value.

Students will write and evaluate numerical expressions with while number exponents. They will evaluate expressions with variables. Students will evaluate expressions given specific values for the variables. They will solve given formulas for volume and surface area. Students will identify an unknown in a verbal expression and define a variable and write an algebraic expression. Students will use math terms including variable, coefficient, constant, sum, difference, product, quotient, and factor in an equation. Students will recognize parts of an expression or equation in parentheses as a single entity.  

Students will use the distributive property to simplify expressions. They will use the properties of operations to simplify expressions. They will identify equivalent expressions. Students will use a given set of solutions to substitute and solve equations. They will use variables to represent the unknown in an equation.

Students will write and solve one-step equations. They will write inequalities and recognize that unlike equations, inequalities will have an infinite number of solutions. Students will read and interpret word problems containing two quantities to determine the independent and dependent variable in each case.

Students will find the are of triangles, trapezoids and other polygons by decomposing the shapes into triangles and quadrilaterals. Students will find the volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole, decimal and fractional edge lengths. Using a coordinate plane, students will graph coordinates for the vertices of polygons; they will apply the techniques learned here to real-world problems. Students will represent three-dimensional figures using nets of triangles and quadrilateral to find the surface area of these figures.  Students will use area and volume models to explain perfect squares and cubes.

Students will recognize statistical questions and understand that statistics is used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population. They will determine if the sample is representative of the population given. Students will explore sample sizes and determine if it is large enough to show valid inferences about a population. Students will understand that a set of quantitative data can be explored to determine the shape, center and spread of the data. They will create dot plots and histograms and report about the results shown in the graph. They will calculate the range and measures of center. They will discuss outliers, and their effect on the graph. They will use the range and the measures of center to describe the data. They will choose the measure that accurately depicts the model.

Students will explore the probability of events; they will understand that the chance of an event occurring is a number between 0 and 1. They will recognize that the larger the number, the more likely the event is to happen. They will explore simple events and determine the approximate relative frequency given the probability of the event. The students will determine a probability model and use it to explore simple events like rolling a die or flipping a coin.   

7th Grade Mathematics
The students analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real world problems. They begin with unit ratios including areas, lengths and other quantities measured in different units. Proportional relationships are recognized and are also written as equations used to solve real world problems. Proportional relationships are graphed and interpreted. The topic is extended to include simple interest, tax, markups and markdowns, commissions, percent interest and decrease and percent error. The students will use their calculators to complete some of the math. They will use an online proportion calculator (BasicMath.com or Wyzant.com/resources) to practice creating proportions and 
desmos.com to graph and see changes depending on the slope and y-intercepts entered.

All four operations with integer numbers are explored. Use of number lines, counters and the algorithm are employed. Online tools including didax.com and Glencoe virtual manipulatives will be used. The topic is extended to include rational numbers. All four operations are used when solving real world problems.

Properties are applied to simplify or expand algebraic expressions through addition, subtraction, and factoring. The students solve multi-step real-life and mathematical equations posed with rational numbers in any form. They compute, convert to make the units the same, and assess the reasonableness of the answers found. The students will utilize algebra tiles from mathsbot.com to practice simplifying equations to solve. The equation methods are applied to inequalities; solutions are found and graphed on number lines.  

Utilizing proportions, the students explore scale models and create scale drawings at a different scale, find missing lengths and areas of scale figures. Students draw geometric figures using a ruler and given conditions; special attention is given to constraints for triangles so that the students see if they can draw a unique triangle, more than one triangle or no triangle. Students will take given figures and slice them to describe the plane sections formed. The students will use desmos.com to explore the plane figures formed through cuts.

Students will use formulas to find the circumference and area of circles. They will apply to find the surface area and volume of three-dimensional figures. They will use facts about supplementary, complementary, vertical and adjacent angles to write and solve equations and solve for an unknown variable.

In statistics and probability, the students will create box plots and find the interquartile range and determine if there are any outliers. They will examine populations and make generalizations based on samples. They will discover why random samples are the best for valid inferences. They will use measures of central tendency, mean absolute deviation and standard deviation to assess the overlap between numerical sets of data and make comparing inferences. Students will conduct trials to find the probability that an outcome will occur. They will create sample spaces and examine compound events. 

8th Grade Mathematics
The students determine if numbers are rational or irrational. They convert fractions to decimals and vice versa, including repeating decimals. Using number lines, students approximate irrational numbers so that they can compare them. They use desmos.com to graph the irrational numbers to see the approximations and find better approximations.

Students will study the Laws of Exponents and use the properties to simplify expressions. They will simplify square and cube roots and solve equations involving square and cube roots. The students will express very large and very small numbers in scientific notation. They will use desmos.com to see the changes when moving the decimals for scientific notation. They will use the Laws of Exponents to compute with numbers in scientific notation. Calculators will be utilized as well.

Students will graph proportional relationships and interpret the unit rate as the slope of the graph. They will compare and contrast the steepness of the lines. They will use similar triangles to prove that slope is the same for the entire length of the line. Using desmos.com they will examine different lines and see the changes in steepness. They will utilize the slope formula and the slope-intercept formula to graph lines on the coordinate plane.

Students will solve linear equations in one variable. Equations will be one, two and multi-step; students will need to apply the distributive property and collecting like terms before they can solve. They will find one, none or infinitely many solutions to the given problems. The students will use algebra tiles and virtual algebra tiles on mathsbot.com to gain understanding of the process required to solve.

Students will analyze and solve systems of linear equations using graphing, substitution and elimination. They will use desmos.com to see the solutions as they are graphed. They will find one, none and many solutions to the systems.

Students will understand that functions are rules that assign each input to exactly one output; they will graph functions and look at graphs to determine if they are functions. Functions will be expressed as graphs, tables, and linear equations; they will be represented in different ways and compare the functions. Using points on a graph or a table of values, students will find the rate of change and the initial value. They will interpret graphs, and determine extrema, increasing and decreasing, linear or nonlinear and maximums and minimums. They will sketch graphs based on verbal information given.

Students will rotate, reflect and translate figures. They will determine if two figures are congruent by using a series of transformations to obtain the second from the first. They will recognize that corresponding sides and angles of congruent figures are congruent.  They will determine if two figures are similar if the second can be obtained from the first by a series of translations, relations, reflections and dilations. The students will understand that corresponding sides and angles of similar figures are in proportion.

Students will find the measures of angles and explain the relationships of angles formed when two parallel lines are cut by a transversal. They will determine the rules and find the relationships using mathwarehouse.com. They will find the sum of angles in a polygon and exterior angles. They will solve problems using the Pythagorean Theorem and apply it to find missing sides. The students will use the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem to prove that a given triangle is a right triangle. They will use the theorem to derive the distance formula to find the distance between two points in a coordinate system. 

Students will review area and volume. They will extend their knowledge of volume to include finding the volume of cones, cylinders and spheres.  They will solve real world problems involving these shapes.

Students will construct scatter plots for bivariate data analysis to determine patterns of association between two quantities. They will describe patterns, outliers, clustering, linear or nonlinear association and positive, negative or no correlation. They will use desmos.com to graph the points and examine and interpret the scatter plots. They will find lines of best fit for the scatter plots formed. Once they find the line of best fit, they will solve problems in the context of bivariate data. They will interpret the slope and y-intercept of the equation. 

Algebra I
The students will use properties and operations to understand different forms of rational and irrational numbers. They will use all four operations to create equivalent forms of rational numbers. They will describe the solutions of rational and irrational operations as rational and irrational and explain. Students will use the properties to explain each step of a solution.

Students will use properties of exponents to transform expressions for exponential functions. Students will rewrite expressions involving rational exponents by using the properties of exponents. They will use technology to simplify rational exponents by raising the base to the indicated rational number and by changing the index.

Students will interpret expressions and name the parts including coefficient, terms, factors, constants and variables. The students will recognize one or more of the parts, including expressions in parentheses, as one entity. They will define variables and create expressions from given descriptions. They will simplify expressions by performing basic operations and combing like terms.

Students will understand that a function has two sets of values called the domain and range. They will define the domain and range for all functions given. They will use function notation, evaluate functions and create tables and graphs with the given information. They will recognize sequences as functions. They will recognize qualities of function graphs such as maximum, minimum, increasing, decreasing, outliers, clusters, positive and negative and be able to create graphs with a given description. They will calculate the average rate of change, slope, for a given function. They will find the slope from the graph, a table and given points by using the formula. Students will graph linear and quadratic functions and show intercepts, maxima and minima. They will graph absolute value, square root, piecewise and step-functions.  They will create tables of the domain and range and graph the given pairs. They will recognize graphs based on the shapes depicted on the coordinate plane. They will graph exponential functions.  

Students will write functions that describe the relationship between two quantities. They will combine functions using arithmetic operations. They will write and interpret arithmetic and geometric sequences with explicit and recursive formulas. They will solve real-world problems by creating sequences and solving for a given term.

Students will use transformations to examine the changes to graphs. They will graph functions and the transformations to explore the changes and the effects on solutions to the equations. They will describe the changes to the parent function of a graph by examining the given equation. Students will find inverse functions and write equations for them.

They will create equations and inequalities in one variable to solve for an unknown. They will use the properties to explain the steps of the solution. They will graph solutions of inequalities on a number line.

Students will rearrange formulas to solve for a given variable. They will use the given solution to solve real-world problems. 

Students will create equations arising from linear, quadratic, rational and exponential functions and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems.  Students will create equations in two variables to represent relationships between quantities; these will be graphed on coordinate planes with axes and scales labeled. Students will understand that the graph of an equation in two variables is the set of all solutions graphed in a curve, or line.

Students will distinguish between situations that can be modeled with linear, quadratic and exponential functions. Students will recognize when one quantity changes with a constant rate; they will use the intercept and slope to create a linear equation.  Students will recognize when a quantity grows or decays at a constant percent rate per unit; they will use the given information to write an exponential equation. They will observe, using graphs and tables, that a quantity increasing exponentially will eventually exceed a quantity increasing quadratically or linearly. Students will construct arithmetic and geometric sequences given a graph, a description of the relationship or two input-output pairs.  

Students will write and solve inequalities in two variables. They will define variables and create two equations using the descriptions given; they will solve the system and check the solutions. They will graph a system of equations to find the point of intersection on paper and using technology. Students will graph the two equations and understand that the point of intersection is the solution that satisfies both equations. They will graph the solutions of a system of inequalities by creating boundary lines and including shading to show the areas that contain the points that make the two inequalities true.  They will answer questions about possible solutions. Students will solve systems of equations graphically, through substitution and elimination.  

Students will compute with polynomials. They will employ all four operations to simplify quadratic expressions. They will factor quadratic expressions. They will create quadratic expressions and equations from a given description.

Students will employ different methods to solve quadratic equations. Students will solve by taking the square root of each side of the equation when appropriate. Students will be able to factor quadratic expressions. Students will solve graphically; they will use the graph to show the zeros, extreme values and symmetry. Students will solve by employing the quadratic formula. Students will be able to complete the square in a quadratic expression and use this to find the maximum or minimum value of the function.  Students will identify the zeroes of a polynomial. Students will use the method completing the square to rewrite equations in vertex form.

Students will represent data with plots on a real number line by constructing dot plots, box plots and histograms. Students will use mean and median to examine the center and interquartile range and standard deviation to examine the spread of a set of data. They will examine the graph and data set for extrema which can alter the measures of center and spread.  

Students will create two-way frequency tables using categorical data and interpret the conditional, joint and marginal frequencies. They will interpret the results and look for associations and trends in the data.

Students will use bivariate data to create scatterplots and describe how the data are related. They will determine if linear, quadratic or exponential models can be used to describe the data. They will use technology to find residuals to determine if a function fits the data in the graph. The students will find a line of best fit for the data that can be represented by a linear function.  They will interpret the slope of the line of best fit for the data given and explain its meaning. They will compute the correlation coefficient using technology. Students will differentiate between correlation and causation. 

Science
St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School follows the Next Generation Science Standards in grades Kindergarten through 8.  Qualified students in grade 8 take the Living Environment Regents Course and Regents Exam.  We are pleased to report that all the 8^th graders who took the Living Environment Regents Exam in June passed the exam, many with distinction.  NGSS is focused on helping students prepare for career and college readiness.  NGSS requires an increase in inquiry-based learning, resulting in more hands-on activities.  

Science Grades K-5
The science program in grades K through 8 integrates life, earth, and physical science. 
Units in Kindergarten include: Living Things, Our Changing World, Weather and the Sun, and Make Things Move. 
First Grade Units include: All About Plants, Animals and How They Communicate, Light and Shadows, and Sky Patterns. 
Second Grade Units include: Land and Water, Properties of Materials, Earth's Changing Landscape, and Living Things and Habitats. 
Third Grade Units include: Forces Around Us, Life Cycles and Traits, Different Environments, and Observing Weather. 
Fourth Grade Units include: Forces and Energy, Using Energy, Our Dynamic Earth, and Information Processing and Living Things. 
Fifth Grade Units include: Investigate Matter, Ecosystems, Earth's Interactive Systems, and Earth and Space Patterns.

Middle School Science
6th Grade
Earth and It's Systems
Students will:

• Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
• Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.
• Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
• Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.
• Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Earth and It's Place in the Universe
Students will:

• Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
• Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
• Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.
• Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Earth and Human Activity Impact
Students will:

• 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.
• Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
• Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
• Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
• Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

7th Grade
Organisms structure and properties
Students will:

• Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
• Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
• Use arguments supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
• Use arguments based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
• Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
• Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
• Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
• Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

Heredity inheritance and trait variations
Students will:

• Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
• Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

 

Biological Evolution
Students will:

• Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
• Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
• Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.
• Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
• Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
• Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Interactions, Energy and Dynamics in an Ecosystem
Students will:

• Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
• Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
• Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
• Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
• Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

8th Grade
Matter and interactions
Students will:

• Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
• Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
• Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
• Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
• Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
• Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.

Forces and interactions
Students will:

• Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
• Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
• Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
• Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.
• Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Energy 
Students will:

• Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
• Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
• Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
• Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
• Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Waves
Students will:

• Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.
• Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
• Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.

6-8 Engineering design
Students will:

• Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.
• Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
• Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solution
• Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

The Living Environment is a high school level Regents course that requires additional class time before school, mandated labs, and sitting for the Regents Exam that is administered in June.  Students who successfully complete the course and pass the Regents Exam receive high school credit.  

Lab periods are built into the master schedule for Middle School Science.  

Topics covered in The Living environment Course

Ecosystems Biosphere and Conservation Biology

• Ecosystems, Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycles
• Ecological Pyramids
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Biosphere
• Terrestrial Biomes
• Aquatic Biomes
• Conservation Biology
• Climate Change

Populations and Community Ecology

• Ecology of Populations
• Population Growth Models
• Population Size Constraints
• Community Ecology
• Symbiosis
• Communities

Evolution and Natural Selection

• Foundations of Evolution
• Natural Selection
• Observable Characteristics
• Common Ancestry: Shared Conserved Features
• Speciation
• Environmental Factors of Speciation
• Population Growth Strategies
• Divergent, Parallel and Convergent Evolution
• Human Evolution

Cell - the Basic Unit of Life

• Cell Theory
• Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
• Tissues Formed from Eukaryotic Cells
• Membrane-Bound Organelles
• Plasma Membrane
• Cytoskeleton
• Cell Cycle and Mitosis
• Cell Cycle Control

Enzymes and Cellular Metabolism

• Cell Metabolism
• Cellular Respiration Reactions
• Mitochondria and Oxidative Stress
• Catalysts and Enzyme Catalysts
• Enzyme Structure and Function
• Principles of Metabolic Regulation

Photosynthesis

• Photosynthetic Organisms
• Photosynthetic Structures
• Photosynthetic Reactions
• Calvin Cycle
• Types of Photosynthesis

Microbiology

• Virus Structure
• Viral Infection and Replication
• Viral Life Cycles
• Prokaryotic Cell: Bacteria Classifications
• Prokaryotic Cell: Bacteria Structure
• Bacterial Cell Walls
• Prokaryotic Cell: Growth and Physiology
• Prokaryotic Cell: Genetics
• Gene Expression Control in Prokaryotes

Biological Molecules

• Water
• Macromolecules
• Proteins
• Lipids as Organic Molecules
• Metabolism of Fatty Acids
• Carbohydrates
• Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

Chromosomes, Genes and DNA

• Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Structure annd Function
• DNA Replication Mechanism and Required Biomolecules
• Genetic Code
• Transcription of DNA into mRNA
• Translation Synthesizes Proteins from mRNA
• Eukaryotic Chromosome Organization
• Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes

Heredity

• Mendelian Concepts of Inheritance
• Meiosis and Genetic Variability of Offspring
• Experimental Methods in Genetics

Biotechnology in Life Sciences

• Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology
• Targeted Nucleotide Amplification
• Molecular Biology Techniques Analyze DNA, RNA and Protein
• Analyzing Gene Expression from RNA Levels
• Application of Biotechnology

Body Systems

• Respiratory
• Circulatory
• Immune
• Nervous
• Skeletal
• Muscular
• Digestive
• Excretory
• Endocrine
• Reproductive

Development

• Reproduction Mechanism
• Mechanisms to Avoid Polyspermy
• Embryogenesis
• Primary Germ Layers
• Mechanisms of Development
• Tissue Formation
• Gene Expression

Required Labs
Students must have successfully completed 1,200 minutes of labarotory experience with satisfactory written reports for each laboratory investigation.  This amounts to about 35 labs.  There are 4 required labs.

• Laboratory Activity #1 - Relationships and Biodiversity
• Laboratory Activity #2 - Making Connections
• Laboratory Activity #3 - The Beaks of Finches
• Laboratory Activity #4 - Diffusion Through a Membrane

Next Generation Science curriculum can be found at this URL: https://www.nextgenscience.org/search-standards
Parent resources can be found at this URL: https://www.nextgenscience.org/parents
Information about the Living Environment course can be found at this URL: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/pub/livingen.pdf

Social Studies
St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional school follows the New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework.  The Social Studies program prepares students for college, careers, and civic life.   

Information about the Social Studies Framework can be found at this URL: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/documents/ss-framework-k-12-intro.pdf

Technology Education
St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School is implementing the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards.  Our students experience a wide range of topics, from keyboarding to coding.  Chromebook devices are assigned to students in grades 1 through 8, iPads to students in Nursery, Pre-K and Kindergarten.  They have the use of the Google Apps for Education.  With the guidance of Faculty Moderators, and using various technologies, the 7^th graders design and publish the school newspaper, and the 8^th graders design and publish the school yearbook.

Technology Scope and Sequence - Grades N through 8
The skills and competencies are intended to help students achieve success in a global community.

Rubric
The rubric itentifies at each grade level when the skills under each Key Idea are to be introduced and at which grade level they are to be mastered.

1. Understanding Devices and How They Work
2. Keyboarding and Word Processing
3. Digital Citizenship
4. Data Collection and Analysis
5. Digital Design and Presentations
6. Digital Learning Competencies
7. Universal Application Competencies

This document was developed by the following teachers, school leaders and district leaders.
Mary Brower, Asst. Principal, St. Agnes Cathedral School, Rockville Centre
Patricia Connors, Technology Teacher, St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope Regional School, Westbury
Laura Delaney, Technology Teacher, Our Lady of Victory School, Floral Park
Emily Guarnieri, Director of Educational Technology, Diocese of Rockville Centre
Erin Stadelman, Technology Teacher, Our Lady of the Hamptons Regional School
Annette Tisbo, Technology Teacher, St. Anne's School, Garden City
Shannon Whittier, Technology Teacher, St. Patrick School, Bay Shore

Information about the ISTE Standards can be found at this URL:  https://www.iste.org/standards
From the New York State Education Department Technology and the Next Generation Learning Standards