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Lessons and Standards
9th Grade Summary
The theme of the Ocean Discovery High School program is: I can be the Science Leader the world needs! Through hands-on science programming, students learn that their unique and diverse backgrounds, attributes, experiences, ideas, etc. make them the people that science industry leaders want to hire in the future.
During the Community Building Day, students focus on the theme: Who is needed for science? I am! Students participate in a scavenger hunt to reveal a series of videos that highlight Hoover High School alumni who are science leaders. These science leaders tell the story of their journey from high school to science leader, share challenges they have faced along their pathway, and talk about traits that make them important to the scientific community. Students reflect on their similarities with the alumni, discuss the importance of diversity in science, and begin to consider what assets they possess that make them the science leaders of tomorrow.
During the Exploration Day at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, students focus on the theme: Who does science – I do! Through collecting and analyzing data about the Torrey Pine tree, the rarest native pine in the United States, students consider why protecting this endangered tree is important, ways the tree could be protected, and the relevance of science in their lives. Students utilize scientific tools such as GPS, clinometers, and transect tapes to map the trees, gather data on their growth (height and circumference), and collect evidence of bark beetles, a natural threat to the trees. Students enter this information into a GIS map, analyze the data, and consider, as science leaders, what can or should be done with this information.
During the Make a Difference Day back in the classroom, students focus on the theme: Who can be a science leader? I can! Through interviews with science leaders who are Hoover High alumni and creating a Science Leader Vision board, students highlight personal traits, ideas, experiences, and attributes that make them the people industry leaders need to hire and the science leaders of tomorrow.
NGSS Alignment:
Performance Expectations
HS-LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity
HS-LS2-8: Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.
HS-LS2-5: Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
DCI
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes: The main way that solar energy is captured and stored on Earth is through the complex chemical process known as photosynthesis.
LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
LS4.C: Adaptation
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
Crosscutting Concepts
Systems and System Models – students understand that a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot. They can also describe a system in terms of its components and their interactions.
Stability and Change – Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.
Cause and Effect – Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects
Lesson Media:
Schedules
Additional Resources
- Extension Lessons
- Classroom Data Links
- Black in Science: Organization that supports and amplifies Black voices in the field of Marine Sciences.
