7th Grade Science
Curriculum
Unit 1 - Organisms & Nonliving Things are Made of AtomsStudents begin their exploration by categorizing the kinds of living and nonliving matter in a natural environment. Guided research and hands-on investigations lead to discussions and understandings about atoms and molecules. By comparing various solids, liquids and gases, students begin constructing an understanding that the interactions and movements of submicroscopic particles result in properties of matter that we observe at our macroscopic level of reality. Thoughtful applications of CCCs can help with the learning of the specific topic and simultaneously deepen the understanding of the CCC. Unit 2 expands the instructional focus by including a highly detailed vignette that describes instruction over a much longer time.
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Unit 3 - Natural Processes & Human Activities Shape Earth's Resources & EcosystemsIn Unit 3, students begin exploring cycles of matter and flows of energy at larger scales [CCC-3], such as different kinds of natural environments and their ecosystems. Ecosystems by their very nature embody the integration of Earth science and life science. This integration is especially evident in the flows of matter and energy that connect organisms with each other and with their physical environments. Students also investigate the geoscience processes that change Earth’s surfaces at varying time and spatial scales [CCC-3], and that result in the uneven distribution of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources. These physical environments play large roles in determining features of the organisms that live in the local ecosystems. Students explore biotic and abiotic interactions within these ecosystems, and the resulting macroscopic cycles of matter, flows of energy, and changes in organisms populations. These general patterns [CCC-1] apply across ecosystems that may otherwise appear to be very different from each other. As unit 3 progresses, students address challenges to sustainability by applying their understandings of the natural processes and human activities that shape Earth’s resources and ecosystems. These environmental challenges can cover a wide variety of contexts such as adverse consequences of synthetic materials, natural hazards, climate change, and habitat destruction.
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Unit 2 - Matter Cycles &Energy Flows through Organisms & Rocks |
Unit 4 - Sustaining Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services in a Changing World |
In Unit 2, students investigate physical changes and chemical reactions in the contexts of organisms and rocks. With chemical reactions, atoms rearrange their connections and form new substances. Chemical reactions also often involve the absorption or release of energy. The formation of food by plants and the breaking down of this food by all organisms set the state or one strand of understanding cycles of matter and flows of energy. The transformations of minerals and rocks provide a complementary strand of physical and chemical changes that also involve cycles of matter and flows of energy [CCC-5]. Through engaging with these changes in very different contexts, students can attain a deeper appreciation that the amount of matter always remains the same. In physical changes and in chemical reactions, the numbers of each type of participating atom remains the same (MS-PS1-5).
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In Unit 4, students research issues related to sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. They then have the responsibility to design engineering solutions that rely on the basic science skills that they developed in earlier instructional units. They apply their knowledge, such as a systems-based [CCC-4] understanding of how Earth’s organisms, including humans, are intimately connected with each other and with Earth’s cycles of matter and flows of energy [CCC-5]. In their design challenges, students define the problem, balance criteria and constraints, and evaluate their proposed solutions.
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