English: Study of sentence types, sentence problems, sentence interruptions, sentence divisions, and sentence ends. Students study the newspaper, internet, and persuasion pieces. Imagery, symbolism, irony, ambiguity, conflict and subtlety are also taught. Learners study using rhetoric, the structure of an argument, writing descriptions, writing about people, places and events, creating a timeline, gathering facts and making it personal. Continued mastery of the proper use of nouns is emphasized, along with verb tenses, forms of adjectives, problems with pronouns, functions of adverbs and prepositional rules.
Math: GEOMETRY: Covers geometry basics: points and lines, line segments, rays, planes, and lines and points in planes. Students study definitions of angles, degrees, and how best to measure the size of angles. They are taught to classify angles by size and relation and how to bisect an angle. Students study parallelograms, properties of a trapezoid, ration and proportions, and the Pythagorean Theorem. Ninth grade students know, derive, and solve problems involving perimeter, circumference, area, volume, lateral area and surface area of common geometric features. Students know the definitions of basic trigonometric functions defined by the angles of a right triangle. They also know and are able to use elementary relationships between functions.
Science: Earth Science: Beginning with a history of how the Ancients, Greeks, Europeans and Modern Astronomers viewed the earth, students will study the varying beliefs on origins, space distance, dating techniques and discovering small planetary bodies. They learn the concept of a galaxy, galaxy classification, and about protogalaxies. Students will study the earth's layers, the Continental Drift Theory, seafloor spreading, types of tectonic plates, volcanoes and earthquakes. The Greenhouse effect, climates, the biosphere, thermal layers, and the ozone layer are also studied. Students will learn mountain regions, the desert, the great central valley region and the coastal ranges. No lab activities noted.
Social Studies: World geography is the focus of this year. Students will study the landforms, geography, and people of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, and North America. A country report is expected at the completion of unit ten. ~Sara