The middle school Life Science course is designed to give students the necessary skills for a smooth transition from elementary life science standards to high school biology standards. The purpose is to give all students an overview of common strands in life science including, but not limited to, diversity of living organisms, structure and function of cells, heredity, ecosystems, and biological evolution. Seventh grade students keep records of their observations and use those records to analyze the data they collect. They observe and use observations to explain diversity of living organisms and how the organisms are classified. They use different models to represent systems such as cells, tissues, and organs. They use what they know about ecosystems to explain the cycling of matter and energy. They use the concepts of natural selection and fossil evidence in explanations. Seventh graders write instructions, describe observations, and show information in graphical form. When analyzing the data they collect, seventh graders can recognize relationships in simple charts and graphs and find more than one way to interpret their findings. The students replicate investigations and compare results to find similarities and differences. Major Concepts/Skills Diversity of Living Organisms Dichotomous key/classify (6 Kingdoms) Structure and function of cells Tissues, organs, and organ systems Purpose of major human body organ systems Heredity, genes, and successive generations Ecosystems Cycling of matter and energy Biological evolution Natural selection and the fossil record Concepts/Skills to Maintain Characteristics of Science Records investigations clearly and accurately Uses hypotheses Uses technology Uses safety techniques Uses scientific tools Writes clearly Organizes data into graphs/tables/charts Interprets graphs/tables/charts 1
Co-Requisite Characteristics of Science Habits of Mind S7CS1. Students will explore of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works. a. Understand the importance of and keep honest, clear, and accurate records in science. b. Understand that hypotheses can be valuable, even if they turn out not to be completely accurate. S7CS2. Students will use standard safety practices for all classroom laboratory and field investigations. a. Follow correct procedures for use of scientific apparatus. b. Demonstrate appropriate techniques in all laboratory situations. c. Follow correct protocol for identifying and reporting safety problems and violations. S7CS3. Students will have the computation and estimation skills necessary for analyzing data and following scientific explanations. a. Analyze scientific data by using, interpreting, and comparing numbers in several equivalent forms, such as integers, fractions, decimals, and percents. b. Use the mean, median, and mode to analyze a set of scientific data. c. Apply the metric system to a scientific investigation that includes metric to metric conversion. (i.e. centimeters to meters) d. Draw conclusions based on analyzed data. e. Decide what degree of precision is adequate, and round off appropriately. f. Address the relationship between accuracy and precision and the importance of each. S7CS4. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating equipment and materials in scientific activities. a. Use appropriate technology to store and retrieve scientific information in topical, alphabetical, numerical, and keyword files, and create simple files. b. Use appropriate tools for measuring objects and/or substances. c. Learn and use on a regular basis standard safety practices for scientific investigations. 2
S7CS5. Students will use the ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters. a. Observe and explain how parts can be related to other parts in a system such as predator/prey relationships in a community/ecosystem. b. Understand that different models (such as physical replicas, pictures, and analogies) can be used to represent the same thing. S7CS6. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly. a. Write clear, step-by-step instructions for conducting particular scientific investigations, operating a piece of equipment, or following a procedure. b. Write for scientific purposes incorporating data from circle, bar and line graphs, two-way data tables, diagrams, and symbols. c. Organize scientific information using appropriate simple tables, charts, and graphs, and identify relationships they reveal. S7CS7. Students will question scientific claims and arguments effectively. a. Question claims based on vague attributions (such as Leading doctors say... ) or on statements made by people outside the area of their particular expertise. b. Identify the flaws of reasoning that are based on poorly designed research (i.e., facts intermingled with opinion, conclusions based on insufficient evidence). c. Question the value of arguments based on small samples of data, biased samples, or samples for which there was no control. d. Recognize that there may be more than one way to interpret a given set of findings. 3
Co-Requisite Characteristics of Science The Nature of Science S7CS8. Students will investigate the characteristics of scientific knowledge and how that knowledge is achieved. Students will apply the following to scientific concepts: a. When similar investigations give different results, the scientific challenge is to judge whether the differences are trivial or significant, which often requires further study. Even with similar results, scientists may wait until an investigation has been repeated many times before accepting the results as meaningful. b. When new experimental results are inconsistent with an existing, well-established theory, scientists may pursue further experimentation to determine whether the results are flawed or the theory requires modification. c. As prevailing theories are challenged by new information, scientific knowledge may change. S7CS9. Students will investigate the features of the process of scientific inquiry. Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices: a. Investigations are conducted for different reasons, which include exploring new phenomena, confirming previous results, testing how well a theory predicts, and comparing competing theories. b. Scientific investigations usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and formulating explanations to make sense of collected evidence. c. Scientific experiments investigate the effect of one variable on another. All other variables are kept constant. d. Scientists often collaborate to design research. To prevent this bias, scientists conduct independent studies of the same questions. e. Accurate record keeping, data sharing, and replication of results are essential for maintaining an investigator s credibility with other scientists and society. f. Scientists use technology and mathematics to enhance the process of scientific inquiry. g. The ethics of science require that special care must be taken and used for human subjects and animals in scientific research. h. Scientists must adhere to the appropriate rules and guidelines when conducting research. 4
Reading Standards S7CS10. Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by: a. Reading in All Curriculum Areas Read a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books per year from a variety of subject disciplines and participate in discussions related to curricular learning in all areas. Read both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse. Read technical texts related to various subject areas. b. Discussing books Discuss messages and themes from books in all subject areas. Respond to a variety of texts in multiple modes of discourse. Relate messages and themes from one subject area to messages and themes in another area. Evaluate the merit of texts in every subject discipline. Examine author s purpose in writing. Recognize the features of disciplinary texts. c. Building vocabulary knowledge Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects. Use content vocabulary in writing and speaking. Explore understanding of new words found in subject area texts. d. Establishing context Explore life experiences related to subject area content. Discuss in both writing and speaking how certain words are subject area related. Determine strategies for finding content and contextual meaning for unknown words.. 5
First Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Labs/Assessment Concepts/Vocabulary Unit 0: Getting Ready for Science (1 Week) In this unit students will explore the skills and processes needed to conduct scientific inquiry. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. 1. What skills do scientists use to learn about the world? 2. What is scientific inquiry? 3. What makes a question scientific? 4. What makes a hypothesis testable? 5. What attitudes are important in science? 6. What is the goal of technology in scientific inquiry? 7. Why is preparation important when carrying out scientific investigations in the lab and in the field? 8. What should you do if an accident occurs? Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 1. Introduction to Life Science, pp. 4-31 Use multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Essential Labs: Preventing Fruit from Discoloring p. 17) Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Tools Model Observe System Measure Change Manipulate Compare Explore Scale Construct Pictographs Communicate Data Bar graphs Safety procedures Inquiry Materials Conclusions Equipment Team 6
First Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Labs/Culminating Tasks Life Science Unit 1a: Structure and Function of Cells (4 weeks) In this unit students will investigate organisms organization from basic to complex. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry Use multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding Concepts/Vocabulary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Content Standards: S7L2: Students will describe the structure and functions of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Elements: a. Explain that cells take in nutrients in order to grow and divide and make needed materials. b. Relate cell structures (cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, and mitochondria) to basic cell function. Topical: How do cells absorb the energy and nutrients they need? What happens when cells cease to function properly? How do you explain the relationship between the structures and functions of cell organelles? Why is each part of the cell essential to survival? How do cells get the energy and nutrients they need? How do they get rid of waste? Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 3. Cell Processes and Energy pp. 72-107 Essential Labs: 1. Multiplying by Dividing Lab Manual p. 16) 2. Cell Membranes and Permeability Lab Manual p. 18) Culminating Task: Plan, design, and create a model for to help understand the structure and function of the organelles of a plant or animal cell. Passive Transport Osmosis Endocytosis Active Passport Exocytosis Cell membrane Nucleus Cytoplasm Chloroplasts Mitochondria Organelles 7
First/Second Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Labs/Culminating Tasks Life Science Unit 1b: Tissues, Organs, and Organ Systems (4 weeks) In this unit students will investigate organisms organization from basic to complex. Students will investigate processes associated with systems that function in the acquisition and utilization of energy e.g. digestion and respiration, and excretion. Content Standards: S7L2: Students will describe the structure and functions of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Elements: c. Explain that cells are organized into tissues, tissues into organs, organs into systems, and systems into organisms. d. Explain that tissues, organs, and organ systems serve the needs cells have for oxygen, food, and waste removal. e. Explain the purpose of the major organ systems in the human body (i.e., digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, control, and coordination, and for protection from disease). organisms? Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. Topical: 1. How do cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems relate to one another? 2. How do the functions of organ systems interact? 3. How do tissues, organs, and organ systems serve cells needs for oxygen, food, and waste removal? 4. How do the higher levels of organization serve the needs of the cell? 5. How do the systems compare in different organisms? 6. How does the hierarchy of organization result in the complexity and diversity of Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Essential Labs: 1. As the Stomach Churns Lab Manual p. 139) 2. Heart Beat, Health Beat Lab Manual p. 148) 3. Do You know Your A-B- O s (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 150) Culminating Task: Design experimental research on how to gain information about the human body using other specimens. Concepts/Vocabulary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Cell Tissue Organ Organ system Organism Digestion Respiration Reproduction Circulation Excretion Movement Control Coordination Disease Immunity 8
First/Second Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Labs/Culminating Tasks Concepts/Vocabulary 7. How does reproduction vary among organisms? 8. How are cells, tissues, organs and organ systems affected by exercise? Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 13: Bones, Muscles, and Skin pp. 436-469 Chapter 14: Food and Digestion pp. 470-501 Chapter 15: Circulation Chapter 16: Respiration and Excretion pp. 532-559 Chapter 17: Fighting Disease pp. 560-593 Chapter 18: The Nervous System p594-633p. Chapter 19: The Endocrine System and Reproduction pp. 634-665 9
First Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Labs/Culminating Tasks Life Science Unit 2: Genetics and Heredity (5 Weeks) In this unit students will examine biological traits and heredity. Students will explore the roles that genes and chromosomes have in how traits are passed through generations by sexual or asexual reproduction in organisms, how selective breeding can be used to produce desired traits in plants and animals. Content Standards: S7L3 Students will recognize how biological traits are passed on to successive generations. Elements: a. Explain the role of genes and chromosomes in the process of inheriting a specific trait. b. Compare and contrast sexual and asexual reproduction in organisms (bacteria, protists, fungi, plants & animals). c. Recognize that selective breeding can produce plants or animals with desired traits. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. Topical: 1. How do genes contribute to an organism s survival? 2. Why are genes important in determining hereditary traits? 3. How can a mutation be helpful? 4. Why do I look the way I do? 5. How can I predict what traits will be passed from one generation to another? 6. Why is selective breeding important to me? 7. How is genetic material passed from parents to their offspring? 8. How can our knowledge of genetics be useful? Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Essential Labs: 1. Make the Right Call! Lab Manual p. 27) 2. Chromosomes and Inheritance Lab Manual p. 30) 3. How are genes on sex chromosomes Inherited Lab Manual p. 38) 4. Fish Sticks (GPS Biotechnology Framework) Concepts/Vocabul ary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. 10
Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 4: Genetics: The Science of Heredity pp. 108-141 Chapter 5: Modern Genetics pp. 142-169 Culminating Task: All n the Family p. 109) 11
Second Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Life Science Unit 3a: Organization of Life (4 weeks) In this unit students will investigate organisms organization from basic to complex. Students will examine system processes through a comparative study of the six kingdoms of life. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. Labs/Culminating Tasks Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Concepts/Vocabulary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Content Standards: S7L1. Students will investigate the diversity of living organisms and how they can be compared scientifically. Elements: a. Demonstrate the process for the development of a dichotomous key. b. Classify organisms based on physical characteristics using a dichotomous key of the six kingdom system (archaebacteria, eubacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals). S7L2: Students will describe the structure and functions of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. 1. How does the construction of a dichotomous key help you to see the similarities and differences among organisms in the 6 kingdoms? 2. What is the function of a flower, and what roles do its different parts play. Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 7: Viruses, Bacteria, Protists, and Fungi pp. 208-247 Chapter 8: Plants pp. 248-291 Chapter 9: Sponges, Cnidarians, and Worms pp. 292-325 Chapter 10: Mollusks, Arthropods, and Echinoderms pp.326-365 Essential Labs: 1. What s that Organism? Lab Manual p. 9) 2. Comparing Protists Lab Manual p. 59) 3. A Close Look at Flowers Lab Manual p. 65) 4. A Snail s Pace Lab Manual p.83) 5. Earthworm Responses 12
Second Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Elements: c. Explain that cells are organized into tissues, tissues into organs, organs into systems, and systems into organisms. d. Explain that tissues, organs, and organ systems serve the needs cells have for oxygen, food, and waste removal. S7L3. Students will recognize how biological traits are passed on to successive generations. Chapter 11: Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles pp. 366-403 Chapter 12: Birds and Mammals pp. 433 Labs/Culminating Tasks Lab Manual p. 74) 6. Looking at an Owl s Leftovers (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 74) Culminating Task: Design and Build an Animal Habitat p. 293) Concepts/Vocabulary Elements: b. Compare and contrast that organisms reproduce asexually and sexually (bacteria, protists, fungi, plants & animals). 13
Third Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Life Science Unit 3b: Evidence of Evolution (4 Weeks) In this unit students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited characteristics and natural selection. Students will investigate the survival of organisms and their successive generations as related to their inherited characteristics and adaptation and use of the fossil records. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. Labs/Culminating Tasks Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Concepts/Vocabulary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Content Standards: S7L5. Students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited characteristics that promote survival of organisms and the survival of successive generations of their offspring. Elements: a. Explain that physical characteristics of organisms have changed over successive generations (e.g. Darwin s finches and peppered moths of Manchester). b. Describe ways in which species on earth have evolved due to natural selection. c. Trace evidence that the fossil record found in sedimentary rock provides evidence for the long history of changing life forms. Topical: 1. How do physical characteristics of organisms demonstrate/support the theory of evolution? 2. How does natural selection affect the evolution of species on earth? 3. How does the fossil record provide evidence of evolution? Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 6: Changes Over Time pp. 170-201 Essential Labs: 1. Nature at Work (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 45) 2. Variation in a Population (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 50) Culminating Task: Life s Long Calendar (Prentice Hall Life Science p. 171) 14
Second/Third Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Essential Life Science Unit 4a: Ecology 1 Interdependence of Life (5 Weeks) In this unit students will explore the sun as the primary source of energy, and will understand that organisms depend on one another as well as their environment for survival. Students will use and create a food web to demonstrate that matter and energy is transferred and recycled among organisms and their environment. Content Standards: S7L4 Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and their environments. Elements: a. Demonstrate in a food web that matter is transferred from one organism to another and can recycle between organisms and their environments. b. Explain in a food web that sunlight is the source of energy and that this energy moves from organism to Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. 1. Where does the energy in my food come from? 2. Why should the health and wellbeing of other organisms be important to me? 3. Why are there fewer animals than plants? 4. Why are there so many different kinds of organisms? 5. How are we related? 6. Where did all that energy come from? Labs/Culminating Tasks Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Essential Labs: 1. A World in a Bottle Lab Manual p. 192 2. Counting Turtles Lab Manual p. 194) 3. Weather and Whooping Cranes (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 197) Concepts/Vocabulary Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Food web Matter Recycle Energy Relationships Competitive Mutualism Energy pyramid Commensalism Producer Consumer Decomposer Predator Prey 15
organism. c. Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually beneficial. Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 20: Populations and Communities pp. 672 707 Culminating Task: What s a Crowd (Prentice Hall p. 637) Competition Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore Scavenger Symbiosis Decomposition Photosynthesis Respiration Biotic Abiotic Parasitism Parasite Host 16
Third Nine Weeks Performance Standards Essential Questions Assessment/Tasks/Labs Concepts/Vocabulary Life Science Unit 4b: Ecology 2 Interdependence of Life (4 Weeks) In this unit students will identify organisms in biomes and aquatic communities. Feeding and symbiotic relationships and human and environmental conditions are also part of this unit. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry. Multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding. Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. Content Standards: S7L4 Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and their environments. Elements a. Recognize that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of both individuals and entire species. b. Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually beneficial. c. Describe the characteristics of Earth s major terrestrial biomes (i.e., tropical rain forest, savanna, temperate, desert, taiga, tundra, and mountain) and aquatic communities (i.e., freshwater, 3. How are earth s biomes differentiated by ecologists? 4. How do changes in environmental conditions and changes in the transfer of energy affect an ecosystem? 5. What affect do changes in the environment have on organisms? 6. How do organisms fit together in an ecosystem? Text: Exploring Life Science, Prentice Hall, 2009 Chapter 21: Ecosystems and Biomes pp. 708-745 GPS Tasks/Lab Investigations: 1. Biomes in a Miniature (Prentice Hall Life Science lab Manual p. 202) 2. Change in a Tiny Community (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 205) 3. Ecosystem Food Chains (Prentice Hall Life Science Lab Manual p. 207) 4. Recycling Paper Population Community Biome Ecosystem Competitive Mutually beneficial Habitat Terrestrial Aquatic Tundra Taiga Tropical rain forest Temperate forest Desert Savanna Freshwater Estuary Marine Deciduous 17
estuaries, and marine). Content Standards: S6E6. Students will describe various sources of energy and with their uses and conservation. Elements a. Explain the role of the sun as the major source of energy and its relationship to wind and water energy. b. Identify renewable and nonrenewable resources. (Prentice Hall Lab Manual p. 211) 5. Managing Fisheries (Prentice Hall Lab Manual p. 216) Culminating Task: Breaking it Down p. 709) Marsh Swamp Mutualism Commensalisms Parasitism Predator 18
Fourth Nine Weeks Standards of Learning Essential Questions Assessment/Tasks/Labs Vocabulary & Symbols Culminating Tasks (9 Weeks) In the culminating tasks for seventh grade students will complete three problem-based activities using concepts learned in life science. Essential questions commit students to the process of critical thinking through inquiry Use multiple forms of formative and summative assessments to measure student achievement and understanding CRCT Testing Life Science TBA TBA TBA Critical science vocabulary for each unit focuses on the relationship among concepts. NOTE: There are several strategies that are common throughout the units such as the use of a laboratory notebook, written laboratory reports, and common teaching strategies. Keeping in mind that the standards are recursive in nature, it should be noted that many of the standards are revisited in different units throughout the year. 19