Course Name: 7th Grade Science

Description of Course:

7th grade science is an integrated course covering topics in environmental science, biology, and chemistry.

 

Grading Scale:

Homework, Classswork and Participation= 30%

Performance Assessmsents= 30%

Quizzes and Tests= 40%

 

Resources:

Environmental Science (Pearson Prentice Hall)

Cells and Heredity (Pearson Prentice Hall)

Chemical Building Blocks (Pearson Prentice Hall)

 

Major Required Assignments or Projects:

Food Webs and Carbon Cylce Activity

Population Dynamics Lab

Exploring How Communities Change Activity​

Cell Structure Project

Plant and Animal Cell Labs

Punnett Square Activity

Dominant Recessive Coin Toss Lab

Baby Genes Lab

Toothpick Fish Lab

Peppered Moth or Nature at Work Lab

Homologous Structures Activities

Using Chemical Change to Identify an Unknown Lab

Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions Activity

Chemical Reactions and Engineering Design Project

 

 

Listing of Units:

Ecology:

The first unit in the 7th grade science curriculum covers matter and energy in organisms and ecosystems. Students will be able to describe the flow of energy between the living and nonliving part of the environment and how it is constantly being recycled throughout the ecosystem. They will also explore how both behavior and the environment effect the changes a population goes through.

 

Cells:

The second unit in the 7th grade science curriculum introduces cells as the building blocks of living organisms. Cell structure and functions are identified and compared amongst different organisms. As organisms become more complex, different levels of organization exist. We will also explore how organisms respond to stimuli.

 

Heredity:

The third unit in the 7th grade science curriculum is heredity. This unit describes the location and function of genes and how their expression creates the traits organisms possess. Further we will compare the variety associated with sexual reproduction versus asexual reproduction. The unit will be explored through the lens of how organisms have changed over time through natural and artificial selection.

Chemistry:

The fourth and final unit in the 7th grade science curriculum is Chemistry. The focus of this unit is on physical and chemical properties and changes of matter. Students will explore and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after they interact and construct tests to measure and identify the changes that took place.