| 7th Grade 2012-2013 Science Scope and Sequence (Note: TEKS marked as “Supportive Standard” will be tested on the 8th Grade STAAR Test) | |
| Incorporated Throughout All Six Week Clusters | |
| Methods of Science Scientific Investigating Scientific Reasoning    | 7.1A Demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field investigations as outlined in the Texas Safety Standards. |
| 7.1B Practice appropriate use and conservation of resources, including disposal, reuse, or recycling of materials. | |
| 7.2A Plan and implement comparative and descriptive investigations by making observations, asking well-defined questions, and using appropriate equipment and technology. | |
| 7.2 B Design and implement experimental investigations by making observations, asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and using appropriate equipment and technology. | |
| 7.2C Collect and record data using the International System of Units (SI) and qualitative means such as labeled drawings, writing, and graphic organizers. | |
| 7.2D Construct tables and graphs, using repeated trials and means, to organize data and identify patterns. | |
| 7.2E Analyze data to formulate reasonable explanations, communicate valid conclusions supported by the data, and predict trends | |
| 7.3A In all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student. | |
| 7.3B Use models to represent aspects of the natural world such as human body systems and plant and animal cells. | |
| 7.3C Identify advantages and limitations of models such as size, scale, properties, and materials. | |
| 7.3D Relate the impact of research on scientific thought and society, including history of science and contributions of scientists as related to the content. | |
| 7.4A Use appropriate tools to collect, record, and analyze information, including life science models, hand lens, stereoscopes, microscopes, beakers, Petri dishes, microscope slides, graduated cylinders, test tubes, meter sticks, metric rulers, metric tape measures, timing devices, hot plates, balances, thermometers, calculators, water test kits, computers, temperature and pH probes, collecting nets, insect traps, globes, digital cameras, journals/notebooks, and other equipment as needed to teach the curriculum. | |
| 7.4B Use preventative safety equipment, including chemical splash goggles, aprons, and gloves, and be prepared to use emergency safety equipment, including eye/face wash, a fire blanket, and a fire extinguisher. | |
| 1st Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Elements Organic Compounds  | 7.6A Identify that organic compounds contain carbon and other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, nitrogen, or sulfur. (Supporting Standard) |
| 6.5C Differentiate between elements and compounds on the most basic level. (Supporting Standard) | |
| Cell Theory Cells 
| 7.12F Recognize that according to cell theory all organisms are composed of cells and cells carry on similar functions such as extracting energy from food to sustain life. (Supporting Standard) |
| 7.12D Differentiate between structure and function in plant and animal cell organelles, including cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondrion, chloroplast and vacuole. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.12E Compare the functions of a cell to the functions of organisms such as waste removal. | |
| Plants Photosynthesis Tropisms  | 7.5A Recognize that radiant energy from the Sun is transformed into chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis. |
| 6.9C Demonstrate energy transformations such as the energy in a flashlight battery changes from chemical energy to electrical energy to light energy. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.7C Demonstrate and illustrate forces that affect motion in everyday life such as emergence of seedlings, turgor pressure, and geotropism. | |
| 7.13A Investigate how organisms respond to external stimuli found in the environment such as phototropism and fight or flight. | |
| Body Systems 
| 7.12C Recognize levels of organization in plants and animals, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms. |
| 7.12B Identify the main functions of the systems of the human organism, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, excretory, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, and endocrine systems. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.13A Investigate how organisms respond to external stimuli found in the environment such as phototropism and fight or flight. | |
| 2nd Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Body Systems  
| 7.12B Identify the main functions of the systems of the human organism, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, excretory, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, and endocrine systems. (Supporting Standard) |
| 7.13B Describe and relate responses in organisms that may result from internal stimuli such as wilting in plants and fever or vomiting in animals that allow them to maintain balance. | |
| 7.6B Distinguish between physical and chemical changes in matter in the digestive system. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.6C Recognize how large molecules are broken down into smaller molecules such as carbohydrates can be broken down into sugars. | |
| 7.7B Illustrate the transformation of energy within an organism such as the transfer from chemical energy to heat and thermal energy in digestion. | |
| 6.8A Compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 3rd Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Genetics 
| 7.14B Compare the results of uniform or diverse offspring from sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction. (Supporting Standard) |
| 7.14C Recognize that inherited traits of individuals are governed in the genetic material found in the genes within chromosomes in the nucleus. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.14A Define heredity as the passage of genetic instructions from one generation to the next generation. | |
| Natural Selection Selective Breading 
| 7.11C Identify some changes in genetic traits that have occurred over several generations through natural selection and selective breeding such as the Galapagos Medium Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis) or domestic animals. (Supporting Standard) |
| 4th Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Dichotomous Keys  | .11A Examine organisms or their structures such as insects or leaves and use dichotomous keys for identification. (Supporting Standard) |
| 6.12 D Identify the basic characteristics of organisms, including prokaryotic or eukaryotic, unicellular or multicellular, autotrophic or heterotrophic, and mode of reproduction, that further classify them in the currently recognized Kingdoms. (Supporting Standard) | |
| Food Chains/Webs Energy pyramids  | 7.5C Diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids. (Supporting Standard) |
| 7.5B Demonstrate and explain the cycling of matter within living systems such as in the decay of biomass in a compost bin. | |
| 5th Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Ecosystems   | 7.10B Describe how biodiversity contributes to the sustainability of an ecosystem. (Supporting Standard) |
| 7.12A Investigate and explain how internal structures of organisms have adaptations that allow specific functions, such as gills in fish, hollow bones in birds, or xylem in plants. | |
| 6.6B Calculate density to identify an unknown substance. (EX: Bone Density) (Supporting Standard) | |
| 7.11B Explain variation within a population or species by comparing external features, behaviors, or physiology of organisms that enhance their survival such as migration, hibernation, or storage of food in a bulb. | |
| 7.10A Observe and describe how different environments, including microhabitats in schoolyards and biomes, support different varieties of organisms. | |
| Succession  | 7.10C Observe, record, and describe the role of ecological succession such as in a microhabitat of a garden with weeds. (Supporting Standard) |
| Catastrophic Events Weathering Erosion  | 7.8A Predict and describe how the different types of catastrophic events impact ecosystems such as floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes. |
| 7.8B Analyze the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition on the environment in ecoregions of Texas. | |
| 6h Six Weeks Scope and Sequence | |
| Watershed  | 7.8C Model the effects of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed. (Supporting Standard) |
| Work Incline plane (ramp)  | 7.7A Contrast situations where work is done with different amounts of force to situations where no work is done such as moving a box with a ramp and without a ramp, or standing still. (Supporting Standard) |
| 6.8D Measure and graph changes in motion. (Supporting Standard) | |
| 6.8C Calculate average speed using distance and time measurements. (Supporting Standard) | |
| Characteristic of Solar Systems  | 7.9A Analyze the characteristics of objects in our solar system that allow life to exist such as the proximity of the Sun, presence of water, and composition of the atmosphere. |
| 7.9B Identify the accommodations, considering the characteristics of our solar system, that enabled manned space exploration. | |
