One of the goals of science is the construction of theories to explain why and how things happen.  A theory becomes accepted when it has enough evidence and greater power to explain phenomena than previous theories.  Scientists use writing as well as modeling to share their explanations of why phenomena happen, and then use these explanations to make predictions as to when that event will occur in the future.

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 The rubric shows what the expectations are for 8th graders in this class.  The first three rows (E-1, E-2, and E-3) are what is expected during the first semester, and student grades will reflect this.  During second semester, students will be held accountable for all six items on the rubric.