Grade 7 Year Plan (week by week)

Unit A: Interactions & Ecosystems

Big Ideas: Students have a social and environmental responsibility to care for ecosystems.
Unit duration: Sept.1 - Oct. 21(~7weeks).
Wk 1- Bootcamp: Establish rules and expectations.
Wk 2- What is an ecosystem? Begin to explore interactions among living things.
Wk 3- Flow of energy within ecosystems.
Wk 4- Scientific Method and inferencing skills.
Wk 5- Monitoring changes in ecosystems.
Wk 6- Outcomes of human activities within ecosystems.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit B: Plants for Food & Fibre

Big Ideas: Sustainability of plants as a source of food and fibre for humans.
Unit duration: Oct. 22 - Dec. 18 (~7 weeks).
Wk 1/2- Seed plant structure. Plant processes: Moving H2O; Making food; Using food, Moving substances in
and out of plant cells; Gas exchange.
Wk 3- Seed plant reproduction and Seed plant adaptations and growing needs for the environment.
Wk 4- Ways humans use plants. And human management of living resources then and now.
Wk 5- Types of soil and characteristics. Human decisions affect soil.
Wk 6- Human modification of environments to increase yield of plants and selective breeding.
Consequences of controlling weeds and pests.
Wk 7- Study skills and unit exam.

Unit C: Heat & Temperature

Big Ideas: Heat plays an important role in meeting human needs, but this technology also has long-term
impacts on natural resources and the environment.
Unit duration: Jan.6 - Feb. 26 (~7weeks).
Wk 1- Human need for heat. Everyday heat technologies and consumption.
Wk 2- States of matter and the particle model of matter.
Wk 3- The difference between thermal energy, heat, and temperature. Heat effects volume.
Wk 4- Conductors and insulators. Convection and radiation.
Wk 5- Natural sources of thermal energy. Energy in our homes (insulation, thermostat).
Wk 6- Thermal energy and the impact on the economy, environment, and society. Alternatives to thermal
energy.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit D: Structures & Forces

Big Ideas: Structures serve a purpose and need to be constructed thoughtfully for safe human use.
Unit duration: Mar.1- Apr 30 (~7weeks).
Wk 1- Incredible structures: classifying them (solid, frame, shell) and identifying their function.
Wk 2- Measuring forces (N). External forces acting on structures (study bridges).
Wk 3- Internal forces within structures. Effective structural designs and their components: arches, beams,
columns).
Wk 4- Useful materials and how they are joined together.
Wk 5- Architecture considerations for safety, cost, and environmental impact.
Wk 6/7- Architecture and Design Project for assessment.
Unit E: Planet Earth
Big Ideas: Conducting research and gathering evidence about the physical earth can contribute to new
knowledge and further investigation.
Unit duration: May 3 - June 10 (~5weeks).
Wk 1- Creating a model of earth's interior. Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Weathering (chemical, biological,
and mechanical).
Wk 2- Identifying minerals (Mohs scale of hardness). The three classes of rocks.
Wk 3- The rock cycle. Evidence of change (plate tectonics and continental drift).
Wk 4- Fossil evidence and geologic time scale.
Wk 5- Review, study period, assessment.
Wk 6- Final Exam Review.
Wk 7- Grade 7 Science Final Exam.

Grade 8 Year Plan (week by week)

Unit A: Mix and Flow of Matter

Big Ideas: Fluids have different properties that make them useful for various everyday technologies.
Unit duration: Sept.1 - Oct. 21(~7weeks).
Wk 1- Bootcamp: establish rules and expectations. WHMIS.
Wk 2- Scientific Method. Review the states of matter.
Wk 3- The properties and behaviours of mixtures.
Wk 4- The particle model of matter to explain the behaviours of gases and liquids.
Wk 5- Viscosity and Temperature. Density and buoyancy. *Both have mini at home labs.
Wk 6- Fluids and pressure. Technologies and fluids.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit B: Cells and Systems

Big Ideas: The lifestyle choices we make have an effect on our bodies.
Unit duration: Oct. 22 - Dec. 18 (~7 weeks).
Wk 1- The 6 characteristics of living things. Structures and the functions they perform.
Wk 2- Intro to organ systems. Unicellular vs. multicellular organisms.
Wk 3- Cell membrane: diffusion and osmosis. Digestive System.
Wk 4- *Students research and prepare a presentation. Respiratory system. Circulatory system.
Wk 5- *Students research and prepare a presentation. Excretory system. Nervous system.
Wk 6- Theory for disease: coronavirus connection. Healthy habits.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit C: Light and Optical Systems

Big Ideas: Light is a key element in our everyday lives.
Unit duration: Jan.6 - Feb. 26 (~7weeks).
Wk 1- Early theories. Properties of light. Optical devices then and now.
Wk 2- Light interacts with materials. Reflection lab.
Wk 3- Concave vs. Convex. Refraction lab.
Wk 4- Lenses affect light (mixed media). Properties of waves.
Wk 5- The electromagnetic spectrum. Natural vs. artificial light. Colours of light.
Wk 6- Anatomy of the human eye vs. of animal eyes. Image storage and transmission processes.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit D: Mechanical Systems

Big Ideas: Machines perform tasks to improve efficiency for humans. The impact machines have on society
and the environment must be evaluated.
Unit duration: Mar.1- Apr 30 (~7weeks).
Wk 1- Simple machines.
Wk 2- Complex machines.
Wk 3/4- Calculations.
Wk 5- Hydraulic systems lab. Evaluating past and present devices using criteria.
Wk 6- *Review and introduce the design project.
Wk 7- Review and assessment.

Unit E: Fresh Water and Salt Water Systems

Big Ideas: Water is an essential resource for the survival of all living things.
Unit duration: May 3 - June 10 (~5weeks).
Wk 1- PBL unit: Save Talum created by Jared. Distribution of water. Water sample lab.
Wk 2- Water quality cont´d. Waves and tides. Erosion and deposition.
Wk 3- Physical characteristics: Ocean basins, continental drainage systems, glaciers. Climate change.
Wk 4- Diversity of species in salt vs. fresh water. Short term and long term effects of human water use.
Wk 5- Water quality impacts our bodies. Time to work on the unit project.
Wk 6- *Unit projects will be assessed, then tested on the final exam.

Wk 7- Final Exam Review. Grade 8 Science Final Exam.

Grade 9 Year Plan (week by week)

Unit A: Biological Diversity

Big Ideas: Humans have a social and environmental responsibility to protect individual species.
Unit duration: Sept.1 - Oct. 21(~7weeks).
Wk 1- Bootcamp: establish rules and expectations. Variation among and within species.
Wk 2- Dependencies among species (symbiosis). Niches and adaptations for the changing environment.
Begin sexual and asexual preproduction.
Wk 3- Sexual and asexual reproduction continued. DNA, genes, chromosomes.
Wk 4- *Skills: Scientific method, data, inferencing.
Wk 5- Cell division.
Wk 6- Patterns of inheritance. Reduction of diversity.
Wk 7- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit E: Space Exploration

Big Ideas: Advances in technology are resulting in more efficient ways of gathering information and
exploring the possibilities of space.
Unit duration: Oct 26- Dec 11 (~6weeks).
Wk 1- Early ideas about space. Evolving tools for astronomy. Stars.
Wk 2- The planets and surroundings.
Wk 3- Measuring objects in space. Past, current and future space transport. Living in space. Dangers. Is
space travel ethical? *Could develop the whole unit around this week.
Wk 4- ISS study. Telescopes.
Wk 5- Measuring distance in space. The doppler effect.
Wk 6- Review, study skills, assessment.

Unit D: Electrical Principles and Technologies

Big Ideas: Energy is transformed and used through various technologies to perform different functions.
Unit duration: Jan 6 - Feb 19 (~7weeks).
Wk 1- Static electricity - introduce electrons and protons from unit B. Generators. Electrical current,
amperes, circuits. Measuring voltage.
Wk 2- Electrical safety. Batteries.
Wk 3- Conductors, resistors, and insulators. Switches. Ohm's Law (Voltage, current, resistance).
Wk 4- Using test meters. Drawing circuits (series vs parallel).
Wk 5- Forms of energy (chemical, electrical, mechanical, thermal). Generating direct and alternating
currents.
Wk 6- Calculations. Law of conservation of energy.
Wk 7- Review, study period, assessment.

Unit B: Matter and Chemical Change

Big Ideas: Students develop a foundation of knowledge in chemistry through laboratory investigations and
introductory studies of chemical theory.
Unit duration: Feb 1 - April 23 (~7 weeks).
Wk 1- Review states of matter. Physical vs. Chemical properties of matter. Types of mixtures review.
Wk 2- Timeline of theories of matter. Begin periodic table.
Wk 3- Periodic table con´d w/ calculations.
Wk 4- Naming compounds. Ionic compounds.
Wk 5- Molecular compounds. Endothermic vs. Exothermic rxns.
Wk 6- Conservation of mass. Factors that affect the rate of chemical rxn.
Wk 7- Review, study period, assessment.

Unit C: Environmental Chemistry

Big Ideas: Different substances, both natural and man-made, impact the environment.
Unit duration: April 26 - June 4 (~6 weeks).
Wk 1- Cellular respiration/The nitrogen cycle review. Human activities.
Wk 2- pH scale. Macro vs. micronutrients. Organic molecules (Carbs, lipids, proteins, AA, Nucleic acids). **
Connect to Unit A.
Wk 3- Uptake of substances by plants and ingestion by humans. Measuring chemical in the environment:
PPM (i.e., phosphorus and nitrogen in the water) and toxicity LD50.
Wk 4- Air quality (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbons).
Wk 5- Pollution is transported in air, water and soil. Biodegradation, bacteria and photolysis.
Wk 6- Biomagnification. Review, Study period, assessment.