Grade 9 Science
11 units matched to the Ontario Curriculum.
Overall expectations
- A1 STEM Investigation Skills: Apply scientific processes and an engineering design process in their investigations to develop a conceptual understanding of the science they are learning, and apply coding skills to model scientific concepts and relationships
- A2 Applications, Careers, and Connections: Analyse how scientific concepts and processes can be applied in practical ways to address real-world issues and in various careers, and describe contributions to science from people with diverse lived experiences
- B1 Relating Science to Our Changing World: Assess impacts of climate change on ecosystem sustainability and on various communities, and describe ways to mitigate these impacts
- B2 Investigating and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic and interconnected nature of ecosystems, including how matter cycles and energy flows through ecosystems
- C1 Relating Science to Our Changing World: Assess social, environmental, and economic impacts of the use of elements, compounds, and associated technologies
- C2 Investigating and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of matter, including the structure of the atom, physical and chemical properties of common elements and compounds, and the organization of elements in the periodic table
- D1 Relating Science to Our Changing World: Assess social, environmental, and economic impacts of electrical energy production and consumption, and describe ways to achieve sustainable practices
- D2 Investigating and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of electric charges, including properties of static and current electricity
- E1 Relating Science to Our Changing World: Evaluate social, environmental, and economic impacts of space exploration and of technological innovations derived from space exploration
- E2 Investigating and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the components, characteristics, and associated phenomena of the solar system and the universe, and the importance of the Sun to processes on Earth
Units
Unit 1
Think Like a Scientist
Variables and fair tests, graphs and averages, the engineering design process, simple code that models a change, WHMIS and lab safety, how to check AI-generated answers, and skilled-trade and STEM careers.
Expectation: A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A2.5 · scientific experiments and research, the engineering design process, coding models, WHMIS and lab safety, careers and contributions to science
Unit 2
Ecosystems in Balance
How the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere interact, food webs and the 10% energy rule, the carbon, nitrogen, water and phosphorus cycles, succession and biodiversity, how people change ecosystems, and farming practices that protect soil and water.
Expectation: B2.1, B2.2, B2.4, B2.5, B2.7 · Earth's spheres, matter cycles and energy flow, biodiversity and succession, human effects on ecosystems, sustainable agriculture
Unit 3
Photosynthesis & Respiration
The reactants, products and location of photosynthesis and cellular respiration, why they are complementary, and how they link plants, animals and the carbon cycle.
Expectation: B2.3, B2.2 · comparing photosynthesis and cellular respiration and how they balance each other in ecosystems
Unit 4
Climate Change
The greenhouse effect, how fossil fuels and other human activities add greenhouse gases, indicators of climate change, effects on Canadian ecosystems and communities, and the difference between mitigation and adaptation. Effects on First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are not covered yet and need community review.
Expectation: B1.1, B2.6 · causes and indicators of climate change, effects on ecosystems, and mitigation and adaptation
Unit 5
Inside the Atom
Protons, neutrons and electrons, how Dalton, Thomson, Rutherford and Bohr's models changed with evidence, atomic and mass numbers, and drawing the electron shells of the first 20 elements.
Expectation: C2.2, C2.3 · evidence for atomic models, and the location, mass and charge of subatomic particles in the Bohr–Rutherford model
Unit 6
The Periodic Table
Groups and periods, metals, non-metals and metalloids, alkali metals, halogens and noble gases, and how valence electrons and shells explain the patterns.
Expectation: C2.4, C2.5 · how an element's position in the periodic table relates to its atoms and properties
Unit 7
Elements & Compounds
Elements, compounds and mixtures, reading chemical formulas, physical and chemical properties and changes, density, and common household chemicals, including why some should never be mixed.
Expectation: C2.1, C2.6, C2.7 · physical and chemical properties of elements and compounds, density, chemical formulas and household products
Unit 8
Static Electricity
Positive and negative charges and the particles behind them, charging by friction, contact and induction, conductors and insulators, and electrical safety in a thunderstorm.
Expectation: D2.1, D2.2 · how electric charges behave and how materials hold or transfer charge
Unit 9
Circuits & Ohm's Law
Circuit components and their jobs, current, potential difference and resistance with their symbols and SI units, calculating with V = I × R, and how current, voltage and resistance behave in series and parallel circuits.
Expectation: D2.3, D2.4, D2.5, D2.6 · DC circuit parts, electrical quantities and units, Ohm's law, and series and parallel circuits
Unit 10
Electrical Energy
The difference between electricity and electrical energy, energy in joules and kilowatt-hours, cost of electricity, efficiency of devices, and the benefits and challenges of sources such as hydro, wind, solar, nuclear and gas.
Expectation: D1.1, D1.2, D1.3, D1.4, D2.7, D2.8 · electrical energy production and use, efficiency, energy transformations, conservation and emerging technologies
Unit 11
Sun, Solar System & Universe
The Sun's role on Earth, the planets and other bodies, distances in AU and light-years, seasons, eclipses, tides and the aurora, evidence for the Big Bang, and the benefits and costs of space exploration. Indigenous ways of knowing about the sky are not covered yet and need community review.
Expectation: E1.1, E1.2, E1.3, E2.1, E2.2, E2.3, E2.4, E2.5, E2.6 · the Sun and its energy, the solar system and universe, distances and scale, astronomical phenomena, and the impacts of space exploration
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