For the Love of All Things Science

In intermediate school, students take seven courses. Science Magnet students join their respective campus, either Brookside or Seabrook, and partake in the core intermediate school curriculum offered aside from science and electives.

Science Magnet courses are taught at the Honors level however, students in the program can also take Honors and AP classes for all core subjects to potentially gain high school credit during the eighth-grade year. Science Magnet students have the option to take fine arts electives (band, orchestra, choir, theatre arts, studio art, etc.) and are eligible to participate in extracurricular sports at their Science Magnet campus. Before and after school, students can participate in Science Magnet exclusive clubs specific to their campus.

The homework load is dependent on how a student utilizes their time in class. Science Magnet students should anticipate homework on a near-daily basis.

Field trips and enrichment opportunities foster greater involvement of the scientific community in the classroom and bring the students into the real world of science. Family science nights and family field trips allow the entire family to become involved with the activities and experiences of the science magnet student.

For students in the Science Magnet program, the traditional intermediate school science curriculum is replaced with a variety of one-semester science courses. At each grade level, Science Magnet students take the respective, required science course (Science 6, Science 7, Science 8) which provides a multi-disciplinary science curriculum.

These courses, along with the selection of science electives offered at each grade level, ensure a well-balanced science curriculum for every student and comply with requirements and recommendations of the Texas Education Agency.

Science 6

All sixth-grade Science Magnet students must select one of the following courses as their year-long Science 6 course:

• Grade 6 Honors/GT – Wild and Free: Integrated within this course, students will investigate plant and animal interactions and adaptations. Teams will investigate how wildlife management affects the environment. Student field trips enhance and extend the classroom experience. 

• Grade 6 Honors/GT – Oceans Alive: Integrated within this course is a chance to explore ocean environments from Galveston Bay and its wetland to the deepest ocean trenches. Students examine the ocean to learn how plants and animals interact to thrive in this setting. Student field trips enhance and extend the classroom experience.

Science 7

All seventh-grade Science Magnet students must select one of the following courses as their year-long Science 7 course:

• Grade 7 Honors/GT – Coastal Conservation: This environmental science course allows students to investigate solutions to the real-world environmental problems experienced by the Coastal Prairie Ecoregion. Biological interactions of plants and animals in the wetlands are used to study species survival and genetics. Man’s impact on the wetlands and how it harms the overall health of the planet is discussed. Students will design and build models to investigate determine causes of erosion and study flood control.

• Grade 7 Honors/GT – Grow Lab: Study plant growth, gardening, and landscape design. Students will work in teams to cultivate and care for native plants, wildflowers, and vegetables. Plants will be identified and their importance to the ecosystem will be studied.

Science 8

All eighth-grade Science Magnet students must select one of the following courses as their year-long Science 8 course:

• Grade 8 Honors/GT – Extreme Science: Students will go to the extremes of Earth through the study of deep space, frozen wonderlands, and tropical paradises. Students will go through the changing history of Earth and its inhabitants and describe interactions within geology, genetics, extinction, and humankind’s importance on an ever-changing Earth. Students will also study information and evidence collected during scientific investigations to define the changes in the extreme areas of Earth.

• Grade 8 Honors/GT – Science Investigations: Students will have the opportunity to investigate science in the news. Phenomena such as El Nino, global warming, cloning, and predictions of geological events are examples of topics examined. Sort out the scientific facts and myths for a better understanding of today’s world. Analyze the work of modern scientists to find the truth—it is out there!

The Science Research Course is the backbone of the Science Magnet Program and is required as a first-semester course at each grade level. The course curriculum focuses on experimental research techniques and skills. This is by far the most rigorous elements of the program that results in the ideation, research, investigation, and presentation of a science project for each student. At the end of the course, students are encouraged to participate in the campus Science Fairs that could lead to participation in the District-level Science & Engineering Fair, as well as the city, regional and national competitions. 

Students in the Science Magnet Program have access to exclusive Science Electives by grade level. Every Science Magnet student is required to take a minimum of one science magnet elective a year. Depending on what classes a student chooses to take during seventh grade and the summer will depend on the number of electives they get to choose in eighth grade.

Grade 6 Magnet Electives

All sixth-grade Science Magnet students must select one of the following courses as their second semester elective:

• Scientific Literacy: Grade 6 Scientific Literacy will connect the love of the written word to the exploration of science on a current stage. Students will collaborate using literacy skills to understand and examine a wide variety of scientific perspectives. This course will provide students the opportunity to increase global awareness and forward-thinking.
• Project CATS I: Cooperatively Attaining Team-building Skills (CATS) is a unique course designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore in greater detail, common interests in science and study its application in the real world, while at the same time building cooperative learning skills in a team setting. Student teams will form simulated (mock) companies to explore science topics that exist in society today producing newsletters, brochures, and various multi-media presentations. It builds upon the skills attained in their scientific research class.

Grade 7-8 Magnet Electives

All seventh and eighth-grade Science Magnet students must select at least one of the following courses as their second-semester elective(s): 

• A Field Study in Texas Fauna: This is a field study course that focuses on the observation and identification of local wildlife, specifically birds, amphibians, and reptiles. In order to better understand the fauna of Texas, students will look back at the evolutionary journey of dinosaurs through birds and will participate in weekly field observations to catalog, describe and analyze the local populations of species around our schools.
• Future Think: What will the world be like as we move into the new millennium? Predict future events as they affect the individual, society, and the environment. Students will use their imaginations to create a vision of the technology of the future. They will form teams to design robots, solar carts, and become problem solvers of the future.
• Body Works: Body Works is an exploration of the human body designed to extend the study of body systems studied in the regular curriculum. Learn how the body changes in space and what NASA is learning about the effects of long-term space travel. What recent advances are there in biotechnology and medicine and how will they affect our lives? Journey through the human body and explore, discover and examine DNA, body organs, and nutrition.
• Star Search: Students take a simulated ride to the outermost regions of the solar system and study the sky from different perspectives. Ancient models of the universe are used to study astronomy from the curiosity of the ancients to the latest NASA expeditions. Topics include a study of planets in our solar system and prospective travel to Mars.
• Design Technology: Working in teams, students create, design, test models of airplanes, bridges, boats, kites, and more. Through actual construction and testing, students gain a better understanding of the mechanics of physics concepts and simple machines. A strong math background is recommended.
• Future Food Scientists: Get ready to explore the culinary world in a whole new way! In this course, we will dive into the nature and improvement of foods for consumers. Students will study nutrition and wellness, food technology, world food supply, diet-related disorders, chemical and physical changes that affect food product quality, technologies used in food processing, food safety and investigate the properties of food and how it affects the human body. 
• Project CATS II: Project CATS II is a continuation course available to seventh- and eighth-grade magnet students as an elective for the spring semester. It will provide the opportunity for students to enhance the skills attained in the original course through more extensive marketing challenges which include basic web page design, multi-media projects including video editing and production, stock market simulations and investments, quarterly report writing, monthly fiscal presentations, local business CEO outreaches and more. Students must have completed Project CATS I in sixth grade to take this course.
• The Perfect Storm: Do you ever wonder what causes the weather around us? Delve into the how and why of weather! Take a look at catastrophic weather events such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Learn how to associate clouds with weather patterns and how to analyze and read a weather map! Top it off with a high-altitude balloon launch into the atmosphere and track the data coming back to Earth! Students will learn atmospheric parameters, how weather forms, extreme weather, and more.

Depending on the transportation method choice of a Science Magnet student, there are two school schedules for the program - the Zero-Hour (Magnet) Schedule and the Traditional Class Schedule. This is due to the transportation needs of non-zoned students.

Non-zoned Students Riding the Bus

If you are a non-zoned Science Magnet student leveraging District transportation to and from school, you will follow the Zero-Hour Class Schedule.

Zoned Students Riding the Bus

If you are a zoned Science Magnet student using District transportation, they must follow the Traditional Class Schedule. 

Students with Their Own Transportation

If you are a student leveraging your own transportation to and from school, you may select either the Zero-Hour (Magnet) Class Schedule or Traditional Class Schedule.

The following are sample class schedules including start and dismissal times for both schedules.

0-Hour (Magnet) Schedule 8:00-3:20
0 Period Scientific Research 
1st Period Science
2nd Period Math
3rd Period English/Language Arts
4th Period Scientific Literacy/Physical Education (classes are taken every other day)
5th Period Social Studies
6th Period Fine Arts Elective
7th Period 
Dismissed
 

Traditional Schedule Students 8:50-4:10 (don't attend a 0-hour)
0 Period No Class
1st Period Science 
2nd Period Scientific Research
3rd Period English/Language Arts
4th Period Scientific Literacy/Physical Education (classes are taken every other day)
5th Period Social Studies
6th Period Fine Arts Elective
7th Period Math

Transportation for Non-Zoned Students

Transportation is provided for all students outside of the Brookside and Seabrook intermediate schools attendance zones. Non-zoned Magnet students will follow the Zero-Hour (Magnet) Schedule.

Magnet busses will pick up students at their zoned/home campus between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Students will be dropped back off at the zoned/home campuses between 3:45 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The time variance is dependent on the specific bus routes.

Non-zoned families are responsible for getting their students to the zoned/home campus for bus transportation pick-up and drop-off.  If preferred, families can pick up and drop off students at Brookside and Seabrook intermediate schools instead of using bus transportation.

Transportation for Zoned Students

Standard bus transportation is provided for Science Magnet students zoned to Brookside and Seabrook intermediate schools. If a Science Magnet zoned student uses District transportation, they must follow the Traditional Class Schedule. 

If a zoned family provides their own transportation, the Science Magnet student may select either the Zero-Hour (Magnet) Schedule or the Traditional Class Schedule.