7th Grade
California/OUSD’s Guiding Concept for Grade 7: Natural processes and human activities cause energy to flow and matter to cycle through Earth’s systems.
Students will focus on 4 of the 7 crosscutting concepts (CCCs) of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to bridge disciplinary boundaries, uniting core ideas throughout the field of science and engineering. The purpose of the CCCs is to help students deepen their understanding of the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), and develop a coherent and scientifically based view of the world.
Patterns
Cause and Effect
System and System Models.
Energy and Matter: flows, cycles, and conservation
The 3 units students will engage with in the adopted curriculum, FOSS, are:
FOSS Units Anchor phenomenon & Diving question for phenomenon
Chemical Interactions Interactions of matter; How does matter interact?
Earth History The Grand Canyon; How do we tell the geologic story of a place?
Populations and Ecosystems Population dynamics within ecosystems; How do organisms, matter, and energy interact in an ecosystem?
Chemical Interactions
Chemistry is the systematic unveiling of the nature of matter—its properties, composition, and structure—and the energy dynamics that accompany matter transformations. Chemistry is also the intellectual process of uncovering the nature of matter and energy, which contributes to an ever-expanding body of chemical knowledge.
Earth History
Human beings have used Earth’s resources since prehistoric times. We made tools from stones. We mined raw materials to refine and manufacture into tools, utensils, shelters, ovens, and other useful items. We figured out how to extract precious metals from ores. We captured the energy of flowing streams behind dams and found numerous ways to put this power to use. We diverted water into channels for irrigation. And because it is human nature to try to explain everyday phenomena, we made up stories to explain how Earth was created.
Populations and Ecosystems
Look around . . . you’re in an ecosystem. How do you know? Because there are organisms everywhere. An ecosystem is an organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by a physical environment and the organisms that live there. This course explores the anchor phenomenon of population dynamics within ecosystems. The driving question for the course is how do organisms, matter, and energy interact in an ecosystem?
190314_C_CI_Overview.pdf190314_C_EH_Overview.pdfPop&Eco Course Overview.pdfFOSS has many resources that are online (FOSS on ThinkLink). Here are some resources that we want to highlight to support unit/lesson planning.
For Student Talk, look at the FOSS Language Development Chapter. In addition, ask yourself the following questions:
What opportunities are there in the lesson plan for students to talk, and in service of what? What is the purpose of the talk? How does the curriculum suggest this talk be structured?
What are the language demands of this lesson? Which talk routine will enhance access to the language and content goals of the lesson?
Have my students used this talk routine before? How might I need to prepare them for the routines?
How will you give students feedback on how the talk went? What did we want students to say?
For Check for Understanding, look at the following resources:
FOSS Crosscutting Concepts Chapter for each grade
Portfolio Checklists for each unit
All of the embedded assessments have “What to Look For[s]” named in the teacher guides.
In addition, ask yourself the following questions:
What opportunities are there in the lesson plan for checking for understanding? What specifically will I be looking for in these checks?
How might I capture what I notice in the checks for understanding? How will I use the information to inform next moves?
What might be some common misconceptions students will have? How will I address them as they come up?
What partial responses might I get? What questions can I ask to take students from an “almost there” answer to a grade-level answer?
What will feedback to students look like? Will it be individual, to small groups, or to the whole class?
