Grade 7 Science
14 units matched to the Alberta Curriculum.
Organizing ideas
- Unit A, Interactions and Ecosystems: living things depend on each other and on their environment, and people affect ecosystems
- Unit B, Plants for Food and Fibre: how plants grow, how people use them, and how to grow them sustainably
- Unit C, Heat and Temperature: heat is the movement of particles, and it can be transferred and controlled
- Unit D, Structures and Forces: structures are designed to carry loads safely, and forces act on them
- Unit E, Planet Earth: evidence from rocks, fossils and landforms shows how Earth has changed over time
Units
Unit 1
Ecosystems
Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem, how they interact, and the limiting factors and carrying capacity that decide how many organisms an ecosystem can support.
Learning outcome: Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems · ecosystems, living and non-living parts and limiting factors
Unit 2
Food Chains & Energy
Producers, consumers and decomposers, food chains and webs, how energy shrinks as it passes up a chain (about 10% each step), and what happens when part of a chain changes.
Learning outcome: Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems · producers, consumers, decomposers and energy transfer
Unit 3
Cycles & Succession
How water, carbon and nitrogen are cycled through ecosystems, why cycling supports sustainability, and the difference between primary and secondary succession.
Learning outcome: Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems · cycles of matter and how ecosystems change over time
Unit 4
People & Ecosystems
How agriculture, harvesting and technologies affect ecosystems, such as monoculture, overfishing, invasive species and runoff, and ways to protect and restore balance. Includes reading simple data about an environmental measure.
Learning outcome: Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems · how people and their technologies affect ecosystems
Unit 5
How Plants Work
The parts of seed plants and what they do, photosynthesis, gas exchange, transpiration and pollination, and how plant structures suit where a plant grows.
Learning outcome: Unit B: Plants for Food and Fibre · the structure and life processes of seed plants and how they suit their environment
Unit 6
Plants We Use
How people use plants for food, fibre and medicine, crops grown in Alberta such as wheat and canola, changing land use and the effects of growing only one crop.
Learning outcome: Unit B: Plants for Food and Fibre · human uses of plants, crops and changing land use
Unit 7
Growing Crops Well
Fertilizers and soil nutrients, selective breeding, crop rotation, chemical and biological pest control and farming practices that protect soil and water.
Learning outcome: Unit B: Plants for Food and Fibre · soil nutrients, plant breeding, pest control and sustainable growing methods
Unit 8
Heat & Particles
Heat as energy linked to particle motion, temperature, expansion and contraction, changes of state, and the ways heat is generated (friction, electricity, burning, chemical reactions and the Sun).
Learning outcome: Unit C: Heat and Temperature · heat, temperature and the particle model
Unit 9
Moving Heat
How heat is transmitted by conduction, convection and radiation, how the Sun's radiation heats different surfaces, and technologies such as insulation and double-pane windows that reduce heat loss.
Learning outcome: Unit C: Heat and Temperature · conduction, convection, radiation and controlling heat transfer
Unit 10
Structures & Forces
Solid, frame and shell structures, centre of gravity and stability, symmetry, and the size, direction and point of application of forces, including tension, compression, torsion and shear.
Learning outcome: Unit D: Structures and Forces · kinds of structures, forces and how structures stay stable
Unit 11
Safe Structures
Why structures fail (overloading, fatigue, corrosion, freeze-thaw), choosing materials, how engineers assess and maintain safety, the engineering design process, and social, economic and environmental factors in design, including ergonomics.
Learning outcome: Unit D: Structures and Forces · designing safe structures and why structures fail
Unit 12
Rocks & Minerals
Rocks and minerals, describing minerals (lustre, hardness), the three main kinds of rock, the rock cycle, weathering and erosion and how mountains form.
Learning outcome: Unit E: Planet Earth · rocks and minerals, the rock cycle, weathering and erosion and mountain building
Unit 13
Restless Earth
Earth's layers, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes, fossils in rock layers, and the order of major events in Earth's 4.6-billion-year history. Includes how First Nations oral histories and scientific evidence together date the great 1700 earthquake.
Learning outcome: Unit E: Planet Earth · Earth's layers, plate movement, earthquakes, volcanoes and fossils
Unit 14
Fossils & Earth's History
How fossils form, what they tell scientists, the order of rock layers, the geological time scale and the difference between sudden and gradual change.
Learning outcome: Unit E: Planet Earth · fossil formation, the geological time scale and evidence for sudden and gradual change
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