SEVENTH GRADE SCIENCE CURRICULUM
The primary focus of science in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is to develop
the ability in each student to conduct scientific inquiry while acknowledging that God is present
in all we think, do, and say. He is the creator of all things.
STANDARD 1: SCIENCE AS INQUIRY
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will develop the abilities to do
scientific inquiry, be able to demonstrate how scientific inquiry is applied, and develop
understandings about scientific inquiry with Catholic infusion.
The student will:
▲ Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
▲ Design and conduct scientific investigations safely using appropriate tools, mathematics,
technology, and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
▲ Identify the relationship between evidence and logical conclusions.
▲ Communicate scientific procedures, results and explanations.
▲ Evaluate the work of others to determine evidence which scientifically supports or contradicts
the results, identifying faulty reasoning or conclusions that go beyond evidence and/or are not
supported by data.
STANDARD 2: PHYSICAL SCIENCE
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will apply process skills to develop an
understanding of physical science including: properties, changes of properties of matter, motion
and forces, and transfer of energy.
Seventh Grade Physical Science
Force and Motion
The student will:
1. Recognize that each person has the potential to bring about the Kingdom of God.
2. Explore Newton’s Law of Motion—review. (inquiry)
a. Review Newton’s First, Second, and Third law of motion.
b. Observe friction and the effect of friction.
c. ▲ Recognize and describe examples of Newton’s Laws of motion.
3. Identify the causes of force and motion. (knowledge)
a. ▲Describe and measure the motion, position, direction, and speed of an object.
Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas
Seventh Grade Science Curriculum
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b. Define potential energy, kinetic energy, Joule, and momentum.
c. Calculate force and motion using the formula: W=F x D.
d. Describe how energy is stored and how it is released.
e. Explain the relationship between work and energy.
f. Demonstrate the conversion from potential energy to kinetic energy and vice versa.
g. Describe factors that influence the effect of frictional force.
4. Apply understandings of force and motion. (application)
a. ▲Demonstrate and mathematically communicate that unbalanced forces will cause
changes in the speed and/or direction of an object’s motion.
b. Devise an activity that demonstrates the size of a Joule.
c. Relate the amount of Kinetic Energy in a body to it’s total mass and speed.
d. ▲Understand that heat energy can be transformed from hot to cold by radiation,
convection, and conduction.
Key content vocabulary: power, work, Joules, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, inertia,
speed, Newton’s First, Second, and Third Law of motion, acceleration, deceleration, velocity,
momentum
STANDARD 3: LIFE SCIENCE
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will apply process skills to explore and
understand structure and function in living systems, reproduction and heredity, regulation and
behavior, populations and ecosystems, and diversity and adaptations of organisms.
Seventh Grade Life Science
Evolution
Evolutionary theories are an integral part of the Science curriculum in the K-12 Catholic schools
in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. There is no conflict between theistic evolution and
the teachings of the Catholic Church. Our primary focus in every facet of our Catholic school
curriculum is our faith in Jesus Christ and our trust in God the Father who created all things. We
also hold as part of our Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created. It did not evolve,
and it is not inherited from our parents as our bodies are.
Catholic School Office
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
Kathleen A. O’Hara, Ph. D., Superintendent
Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas
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The student will:
Demonstrate an understanding of biological evolutionary change theory within the context of
the Catholic Church teachings.
o Recognize that populations change over time.
o Explore biological diversity among God’s creation.
o ▲Understand that internal and/or environmental conditions affect an organism’s behavior
and/or response in order to maintain and regulate stable internal conditions to survive in a
continually changing environment.
o ▲Explain that natural selection leads to organisms that are well suited for survival.
o Compare and contrast evolutionary trees to show that advantageous heritable traits increase
in the population through time.
o ▲Recognize that all populations living together (biotic resources) and the physical factors
(abiotic resources) with which they interact compose an ecosystem.
o ▲Trace the energy flow from the sun to producers to consumers and decomposers in food
webs.
o ▲Understand that adaptations of organisms contribute to biological diversity.
o ▲Associate extinction of a species with environmental changes and insufficient adaptive
characteristics.
Key content vocabulary: adaptation, natural selection, heredity, mutation, biological diversity,
artificial selection, evolutionary trees, Darwin’s Theory, extinction
Cell Structure
The student will:
1. Investigate the structure and function of the plant and animal cell. (inquiry)
a. Identify the variety of specialized structures and functions within a cell.
2. Recognize how the parts of a cell relate to the whole. (inquiry)
a. Observe live cultures of cells found in pond water.
3. Categorize each structure of a cell to a distant function. (knowledge)
a. Classify cells, organ tissues, organ systems, and whole organisms.
4. Explain the process of cell division. (knowledge)
Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas
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a. Understand the phases of meiosis and mitosis.
5. Compare and contrast the levels of organization in both plant and animal cells. (application)
a. Create a model of a cell.
6. ▲ Differentiate between single-cell and multi-cellular organisms. (application)
a. Verbally describe that a breakdown in structure or function of cells leads to disease,
damage, and aging.
b. Compare and contrast the process of transcription and translation of a DNA molecule.
Key content vocabulary: nucleus, nucleolus, nuclear membrane, chromosome, chromatin,
cytoplasm, mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulation, rough endoplasm reticulation, gogli
body, ribosome, DNA, RNA, organ, system, tissue, cell wall, chloroplast, cetriole, mitosis,
meiosis
Genetics
The student will:
1. ▲Investigate observable hereditary traits of God’s children. (inquiry)
a. Explore family patterns in observable heredity traits.
b. Explore male and female chromosome patterns.
c. Recognize how to complete a Punnett square.
2. ▲Understand that hereditary info is passed from one generation to the next. (knowledge)
a. Categorize between parental and offspring genetic information.
3. Understand that genetic material contains coded information. (knowledge)
a. Explain the DNA molecule and replication. Describe the uniqueness of human beings in
God’s creation.
b. Understand that one-trait, two-trait, and sex-linked trait and blood type genetic crosses.
4. Apply an understanding of genetic crosses. (application)
a. Draw a family pedigree differentiating between genotypes and phenotypes.
b. Predict the probability of traits being passed on.
Key content vocabulary: dominant, recessive, pedigree, Punnett square, genotype, phenotype,
allele, heterozygous, homozygous, blood type, sex-linked, probability, DNA, chromosome, gene
Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas
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Ecology
The student will:
1. Describe how each of us is called to be good stewards of God’s earth and resources.
2. Identify populations of organisms in an ecosystem. (inquiry)
a. ▲Classify organisms in a system by the functions they serve.
b. Identify the behaviors of an organism’s response to internal or external stimuli.
3. Identify major classification groups. (knowledge)
a. Identify classification groups in order of least to most.
4. Relate the interactions of populations of organisms within an ecosystem.
(knowledge)
a. Relate the limiting factors of biotic and abiotic resources with a species population growth
decline and survival.
b. ▲Relate extinction of a species with environmental changes and insufficient adaptive
characteristics.
c. Understand that adaptations of organisms change in structure function or behavior
contributes to diversity.
5. Apply understanding of organisms to explain how they adapt to their
environment. (application)
a. ▲Infer that the characteristics of an organism results from heredity and interactions with
the environment.
Key content vocabulary: organism, single-cell, multi-cell, plants, animals, ecosystem, biotic,
abiotic, producer, composer, decomposer, order, family, kingdom, genus, phylum, species,
class, extinction, adaptation, biodiversity, commensalisms, habitat, parasitism, energy pyramid,
natural resources, population density, succession, symbiosis, limiting factor
STANDARD 4: EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will apply process skills to explore and
develop an understanding of the structure of the earth system, earth’s history, and earth in the
solar system.
STANDARD 5: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas
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As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will demonstrate abilities of
technological design and understandings about science and technology.
STANDARD 6: SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
PERSPECTIVES
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will apply process skills to explore and
develop an understanding of issues of personal health, population, resources and environment,
and natural hazards.
The student will:
▲ Identify individual nutrition, exercise, and rest needs based on science and use a scientific
approach to thinking critically about personal health, lifestyle choices, risks and benefits.
▲ Investigate the effects of human activities on the environment and base decisions on
knowledge of benefits and risks.
STANDARD 7: HISTORY AND NATURE OF SCIENCE
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students will examine and develop an
understanding of science as a historical human endeavor.
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