SNC1P - Grade 9 Science

Teachers will bring enthusiasm and varied teaching and assessment approaches to the classroom, addressing individual students’ needs and ensuring sound learning opportunities for every student. The activities offered should enable students to relate and apply these concepts to the social, environmental, and economical conditions and concerns of the world in which they live. Opportunities to relate knowledge and skills to these wider contexts will motivate students to learn in a meaningful way and to become life-long learners. Teachers will help students understand that problem solving of any kind often requires a considerable expenditure of time and energy and a good deal of perseverance. Teachers also will encourage students to investigate, to reason, to explore alternative solutions and to take the risks necessary to become successful problem solvers. Effective instructional approaches and learning activities draw on students’ prior knowledge, capture their interest, and encourage meaningful practise both inside and outside the classroom. Students will be engaged when they are able to see the connection between the scientific concepts they are learning and their application in the world around them and in real-life situations. Due to its importance, students will have opportunities to learn in a variety of ways- individually, cooperatively, independently, with teacher direction, through hands-on experiences, and through examples followed by practice. The approaches and strategies teachers use will vary according to both the object of the learning and the needs of the students. Teachers will accomplish this in online environment with the use of: virtual labs, online simulations, animations, videos, discussion forums, live chat and other interactive objects.

All students can succeed. Some students are able, with certain accommodations, to participate in the regular course curriculum and to demonstrate learning independently. Accommodations allow access to the course without any changes to the knowledge and skills the student is expected to demonstrate. The accommodations required to facilitate the student’s learning can be identified by the teacher, but recommendations from a School Board generated Individual Education Plan (IEP) if available can also be consulted. Instruction based on principles of universal design and differentiated instruction focuses on the provision of accommodations to meet the diverse needs of learners.

Examples of accommodations (but not limited to) include:

• Adjustment and or extension of time required to complete assignments or summative tasks
• Providing alternative assignments or summative tasks
• Use of scribes and/or other assistive technologies
• Simplifying the language of instruction

Teachers will bring additional resources and teaching materials that provide a rich and diverse learning environment. Units in this course profile make specific reference to the intended textbook for this course but can be substituted for any relevant and approved text.

• Barker,Charmain. Nelson Science Perspectives 9. Toronto: Nelson-Thompson Publishing, 2010.
• “Freeware-chemsketch.” ACD/Labs.com. Web. 22 January 2011.
• Welcome to Virtlab! Web. 22 June 2010.
• “Animationsindex.” Welcome : Department of Chemistry. Web. 22 January 2011.
• “Virtual Chemistry Experiments.” Davidson College Chemistry Resources. Web. 22 January 2011.

Reference: Science, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10, 2008 (Revised) Ministry of Education of Ontario

1P refers to the Grade level of the courses and the pathway. 1 means it is a grade 9 course and P means it is an applied level course.

Prerequisite: None

At Ontario Virtual School (OVS) you can complete an online highschool credit courses as quickly as 4 weeks, or take as long as 12 months.