Syllabus

PISCATAWAY TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS

Course Syllabus

 

Course Title:  7th Grade Life Science

Textbook:  “Life Science”  Prentice Hall

Teacher:

Course Description:

The Seventh-Grade Life Science course is a combination laboratory and lecture course.  This is the first science course that the students will take that is offered in a room that will properly accommodate labs.    This course also serves as a foundational course for high school science.  This five-period-a week course was also designed to continue thinking skills that will serve students in becoming better problem solvers.   Discoveries, inventions, and advances in science and technology have produced a world that is rapidly changing.  Students of today and beyond must be well prepared in science, and even more importantly, in the application of science to decisions they will appreciate the contributions of science to daily living.  Through the inquiry manner of science, students will continue to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills.  Students will be involved in discussion, inquiry, demonstrations, laboratory investigations, cooperative learning and computer based learning.  In addition, students will use the scientific method to collect data, form hypotheses, analyze data, and propose conclusions.

 

 

Course Schedule: Scope & sequence

Approximate time frame

Topic

First Marking Period

1 –2 weeks

 Intro to Science and What is Science?    
  • Laboratory safety and class procedures.
  • The Scientific Method.
  • Proper use of laboratory equipment.
  • The metric system. is used to measure scientific data.
  • Metric units can be converted into smaller and larger units based on a decimal system.
  • Forces and motion.

First & Second marking periods

6-7 weeks

 Cells, Life Processes, and Chemistry of Life

·        Life arises from life.

  • All cells carry out life processes in order to survive.

·        Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things.

·        The major parts of the cell and the function each one performs.

  • Photosynthesis and respiration generally have opposite equations.
  • Atoms are the basic units of matter.
  • An element is made up of only one kind of matter; a compound is made up of two or more elements that are chemically combined and can be represented by a chemical formula.
  • Law of Conservation of Matter.
  • Acids and bases are two classes of compounds that can be identified by their effect on chemical dyes called indicators.

·        Cells multiply by mitosis and meiosis.

  • The structure of DNA.

 

 

 

Second Marking

6 – 8 weeks

Genetics

  • Sexual reproduction results in offspring that are not identical to their parents.
  • Probability and laws of probability determine the chance of inheritable traits to be passed on.
  • All traits are inherited. 
  • Some traits are more likely to be passed on to offspring than others in nature.
  • The effect of genetic mutations.
  • Genetic disorders of varying degrees affect human life.
Third marking

period

1-2 weeks

Evolution

        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  • Species change over time due to genetic variation.
  • Environmental pressures affect species survival.
  • Fossils, the remains or traces of organisms that lived long ago, tell us about life in the past and provide evidence to support the idea that species evolve.
  • Structural similarities among living things support the theory of evolution.
  • Species evolve through natural selection, variation, and mutation along with competition and isolation.
  • Evolution occurs by chance.

Third marking period

2-3 weeks

            
  • The need for scientists to classify organisms.
  • The definitions of classification and taxonomy.
  • Binomial nomenclature.
  • Modern classification based on evolutionary relationships that suggest similarities even among the diversity of living organisms.
  • Groups of organisms share characteristics that came from a common ancestor.
  • Species with similar evolutionary histories are classified more closely together.
  • Levels of classification.
  • How to use a taxonomic key to identify an organism.
  • Major characteristics of each of the six kingdoms.

Third & fourth marking period

10 – 14 weeks

 Classification and Taxonomy
  • Specific characteristics that place organisms into different kingdoms.
  • Microbes and their role in the living world.
  • The reproduction of organisms.
  • Symmetry of organisms.

·        Metamorphosis and life cycles of different species.

·        Kingdoms characterize organisms by shape, structure, and function.

Fourth marking period

2 –3 weeks

 

Introduction to Ecology and Ecosystems

  • Organisms interact with their environment and with each other.
  • Different relationships exist between living things.

·        Factors affect biodiversity.

·        Energy is transferred between organisms.