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Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter
moves through an organism. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing that molecules are broken apart and put back together and that in this process,
energy is released.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the chemical reactions for photosynthesis or respiration.] (MS-LS1-7)
Quick Links
Unit Sequence p. 2 Research on Learning p. 5 Connections to Other Units p. 7
What it Looks Like in the Classroom p. 3 Prior Learning p. 5 Sample Open Education Resources p. 7
Connecting with ELA/Literacy and Math p. 4 Future Learning p. 6 Appendix A: NGSS and Foundations p. 8
Modifications p. 4
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Unit Sequence
Part A: What is the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of an organism?
Concepts Formative Assessment
• Photosynthesis has a role in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and Students who understand the concepts are able to:
out of organisms.
• Construct a scientific explanation for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling
• The flow of energy and cycling of matter can be traced. of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms based on valid and
reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own
• The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules
experiments).
(sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this
reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon based organic • Construct a scientific explanation for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling
molecules and release oxygen. of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms based on the
assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate
• Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the
today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also
releases oxygen.
• Sugars produced by plants can be used immediately or stored for growth or
later use.
• Within a natural system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or
cycling of matter.
Unit Sequence
Part B: How is food rearranged through chemical reactions to form new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an
organism?
Concepts Formative Assessment
Food is rearranged through chemical reactions, forming new molecules that Students who understand the concepts are able to:
support growth.
Develop and use a model to describe how food is rearranged through
Food is rearranged through chemical reactions, forming new molecules that chemical reactions.
release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
Molecules are broken apart and put back together to form new substances,
and in this process, energy is released.
Cellular respiration in plants and animals involves chemical reactions with
oxygen that release stored energy.
In cellular respiration, complex molecules containing carbon react with
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Modifications
(Note: Teachers identify the modifications that they will use in the unit. See NGSS Appendix D: All Standards, All Students/Case Studies for vignettes and explanations
of the modifications.)
Structure lessons around questions that are authentic, relate to students’ interests, social/family background and knowledge of their community.
Provide students with multiple choices for how they can represent their understandings (e.g. multisensory techniques-auditory/visual aids; pictures, illustrations,
graphs, charts, data tables, multimedia, modeling).
Provide opportunities for students to connect with people of similar backgrounds (e.g. conversations via digital tool such as SKYPE, experts from the community
helping with a project, journal articles, and biographies).
Provide multiple grouping opportunities for students to share their ideas and to encourage work among various backgrounds and cultures (e.g. multiple
representation and multimodal experiences).
Engage students with a variety of Science and Engineering practices to provide students with multiple entry points and multiple ways to demonstrate their
understandings.
Use project-based science learning to connect science with observable phenomena.
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Prior Learning
By the end of Grade 5, students understand that:
The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion.
The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants.
Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants.
Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.”
Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil.
Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.
A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.
Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die.
Organisms obtain gases and water from the environment and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment.
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Future Learning
Physical science
Chemical processes, their rates, and whether or not energy is stored or released can be understood in terms of the collisions of molecules and the
rearrangements of atoms into new molecules, with consequent changes in the sum of all bond energies in the set of molecules that are matched by changes in
kinetic energy.
In many situations, a dynamic and condition-dependent balance between a reaction and the reverse reaction determines the numbers of all types of molecules
present.
The fact that atoms are conserved, together with knowledge of the chemical properties of the elements involved, can be used to describe and predict chemical
reactions.
Life science
The process of photosynthesis converts light energy into stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen.
The sugar molecules thus formed contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; their hydrocarbon backbones are used to make amino acids and other carbon-based
molecules that can be assembled into larger molecules (such as proteins or DNA), used, for example, to form new cells.
As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different
products.
As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another.
Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds that can transport energy
to muscles are formed.
Cellular respiration releases the energy needed to maintain body temperature despite ongoing energy transfer to the surrounding environment.
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration (including anaerobic processes) provide most of the energy for life processes.
Plants or algae form the lowest level of the food web.
At each link upward in a food web, only a small fraction of the matter consumed at the lower level is transferred upward to produce growth and release energy in
cellular respiration at the higher level. Given this inefficiency, there are generally fewer organisms at higher levels of a food web.
Some matter reacts to release energy for life functions, some matter is stored in newly made structures, and much is discarded.
The chemical elements that make up the molecules of organisms pass through food webs and into and out of the atmosphere and soil, and they are combined
and recombined in different ways.
At each link in an ecosystem, matter and energy are conserved.
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important components of the carbon cycle, in which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans,
and geosphere through chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes.
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules,
and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants.
The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change.
Within cells, special structures are responsible for particular functions, and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell.
Grade 7 Unit 8: Earth Systems
All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and Earth’s hot
interior. The energy that flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms.
The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These
interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future.
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15
Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter
moves through an organism. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing that molecules are broken apart and put back together and that in this process,
energy is released.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the chemical reactions for photosynthesis or respiration.] (MS-LS1-7)
The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Energy and Matter
Organisms
Construct a scientific explanation based on valid Within a natural system, the transfer of energy
and reliable evidence obtained from sources Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. (MS-
(including the students’ own experiments) and many microorganisms use the energy from light LS1-6)
the assumption that theories and laws that to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from
describe the natural world operate today as they the atmosphere and water through the process Matter is conserved because atoms are
did in the past and will continue to do so in the of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. conserved in physical and chemical processes.
future. (MS-LS1-6) These sugars can be used immediately or stored (MS-LS1-7)
for growth or later use. (MS-LS1-6) ------------------------------------
Developing and Using Models
Within individual organisms, food moves Connections to Nature of Science
Use a model based on evidence to illustrate the
through a series of chemical reactions in which it Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
relationships between systems or between
is broken down and rearranged to form new
components of a system. (HS-LS1-7) Science knowledge is based upon logical connections
molecules, to support growth, or to release
energy. (MS-LS1-7) between evidence and explanations. (MS-LS1-6)
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Grade 7 Model Science Unit 7: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (draft 1.25.16) Instructional Days: 15