7th Grade Science

Topics Covered in 7th Grade Science

1 - Thinking Like A Scientist - A foundational toolkit of NGSS Science and Engineering Practices.

    • Study the structures and functions of the brain, and nervous system. Analyze the developmental changes taking place in the teenage brain.

    • Analyze safety hazards present in the science lab. Develop and demonstrate a comprehensive safety plan for collaborative group work in a lab environment.

    • Practice gathering information about phenomena through the use of scientific observation. Differentiate qualitative and quantitative observation. Introduce metric system and practice gathering quantitative observation through measurement.

    • Design an investigation and implement scientific practices of gathering information from research, controlling an experiment, and gathering and analyzing data. Students develop a hypothesis, write procedures, identify independent and dependent variables, and analyze and interpret data using graphs. Students construct a scientific argument supported by evidence and reasoning.

    • Implement the Engineering Design Process. Students conduct research, prototype, conduct a sensitivity analysis (documenting their Think, Do, Test process), and build a final model.

2 - Structure & Properties of Matter

    • MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

    • MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

3 - Molecules in Motion

    • MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

4 - Chemical Reactions

    • MS-PS1-2 Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

    • MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

    • MS-PS1-6. Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.*

5 - Ecosystems

    • MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

    • MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

    • MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

    • MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

    • MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.*

    • MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

6 - Photosynthesis

    • MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

    • MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

7 - Genetics

    • MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

    • MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

    • MS-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

8 - Health

    • Positive Prevention Plus Curriculum *Permission slips will be sent home prior to this unit.