Grade 7 Science
9 units matched to the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum.
Learning focus
- Science, technology, society and the environment. Students will develop an understanding of the nature of science and technology, of the relationships between science and technology, and of the social and environmental contexts of science and technology.
- Skills of inquiry. Students will develop the skills required for scientific and technological inquiry, for solving problems, for communicating scientific ideas and results, for working collaboratively, and for making informed decisions.
- Knowledge. Students will construct knowledge and understandings of concepts in life science, physical science, and Earth and space science, and apply these understandings to interpret, integrate, and extend their knowledge.
- Attitudes. Students will be encouraged to develop attitudes that support the responsible acquisition and application of scientific and technological knowledge to the mutual benefit of self, society, and the environment.
Units
Unit 1
Natural Selection
Variation, inherited versus acquired traits, adaptations, and how natural selection changes populations over generations, with fossils and other evidence. Includes reading data from a predator–prey model.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · how living things change over time
Unit 2
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.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · Earth's changing crust, fossils and geological time
Unit 3
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.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · ecosystems and the living things in them
Unit 4
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.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · food chains and energy in an ecosystem
Unit 5
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.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · how people affect ecosystems
Unit 6
Particles & Mixtures
The particle theory of matter, the states of matter, pure substances versus mixtures, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous mixtures.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · particles and mixtures
Unit 7
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.
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · forces acting on structures
Unit 8
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.
Curriculum outcome: Skills of inquiry (by Grade 9) · designing structures that are safe and strong
Unit 9
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).
Curriculum outcome: Knowledge (by Grade 9) · heat and particles
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