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.

In 7th grade, FOSS students explore how energy and matter flow through Earth’s systems. After establishing the particle model of matter, conservation of matter, and conservation of energy, students develop models to understand complex system interactions such as the rock cycle and biomass production in ecosystems. They study both natural processes and human impact upon systems, using cause-and-effect relationships to understand human impact and attempt to mitigate it through engineering solutions.

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.

1. Patterns
2. Cause and Effect
3. System and System Models.
4. 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?Organisms depend on their ecosystem for survival. Energy and matter, in the form of food, flow through an ecosystem. The critical role of photosynthetic organisms in creating food is what allows the rest of the organisms in the ecosystem to exist. Disruption to one element of the ecosystem produces waves and ripples that touch every member of the system. Changes may produce pressures in the ecosystem. When change is precipitous, a population may be exterminated.One powerful change agent in just about every ecosystem on Earth is humans. Human mobility, technology, and institutions place pressures on many ecosystems. The first step toward alleviating disruptive pressure on natural systems is understanding how they work and what they need to remain healthy.This course provides students with the first steps along the path of ecological understanding, with the hope that their future steps will be considered and measured, serving the interests of all life.

190314_C_CI_Overview.pdf

190314_C_EH_Overview.pdf

Pop&Eco Course Overview.pdf

FOSS has many resources that are online (FOSS on ThinkLink). Here are some resources that we want to highlight to support unit/lesson planning.

Grade Level Planning Guides help provide a comprehensive, broad view of integrated science instruction at a specific grade level. This guide will help

identify the guiding concepts that tie together the integrated
content of the FOSS courses at a grade level,
prepare to support interdisciplinary content connections by explicitly interweaving the crosscutting concepts,
think about how to begin your first year of FOSS
instruction and develop your instructional expertise during later years, and
direct you to specific Teacher Resources to support your grade-level instruction.

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?

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