Grade 7

The Nature of Science

Life Science

Physical Science

The Practice of Science

Design, Process, and Problem Solving (STREAM)

Science and Society (STREAM)

Organization and Development of Living Organisms

Diversity and Evolution of Living Organisms

Heredity and Reproduction

Interdependence

Matter and Energy Transformations

Define a problem from the seventh grade curriculum, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific investigation of various types, such as systematic observations or experiments, identify variables, collect and organize data, interpret data in charts, tables, and graphics, analyze information, make predictions, and defend conclusions.

Evaluate the methods used in the pursuit of a scientific explanation as seen in the fields of biology and life sciences.

Explain that scientific knowledge is the result of a great deal of debate both inside the scientific community and with moral traditions including our Catholic faith. community.

Recognize that Catholic intellectual traditions include many scientists and it is based upon the belief that science is a tool that can be used to understand God's creation.

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Define morality and understand the three sources of the morality of human acts: object, intention, and circumstances.

State the meaning of the maxim that the end does not justify the means.

Describe and use a moral decision-making process that reference both Scripture and the Church's moral teaching.

State how personal sins have social consequences.

Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.

Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.

Examine multiple perspectives on public and current scientific issues.

Understand how technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to remote locations, sample collection, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information.

Associate the Beatitudes with current events and people in society who are building and discovering God's Kingdom.  

Identify societal causes of hunger, disease, and poverty.

Identify the communal impact of sin and explain how sin can be both commission and omission.

Describe and use a moral decision-making process that references both Scripture and the Church's moral teaching.

State the importance of Christians taking an active part in pubic life building the Kingdom of God and promoting the common good.

Participate in service projects that involve giving of time and talent to others, articulate how service is essential to being a disciple of Christ.

Describe and identify patterns in the hierarchical organization of organisms from atoms to molecules and cells to tissues to organs to organ systems to organisms.

Investigate and explain the components of the scientific theory of cells (cell theory): all organisms are composed of cells (single-celled or multi-cellular), all cells come from pre-existing cells, and cells are the basic unit of life.

Recognize and explore how cells of all organisms undergo similar processes to maintain homeostasis, including extracting energy from food, getting rid of waste, and reproducing.

Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells, including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles.

Identify and investigate the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, reproductive, excretory, immune, nervous, and musculoskeletal) and describe ways these systems interact with each other to maintain homeostasis.

Compare and contrast types of infectious agents that may infect the human body, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.

Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linnaean system combined with the concept of Domains.

Understand and explain that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits, that this hereditary information (DNA) contains genes located in the chromosomes of each cell, and that heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.

Determine the probabilities for genotype and phenotype combinations using Punnett Squares and pedigrees.

Compare and contrast the general processes of sexual reproduction requiring meiosis and asexual reproduction requiring mitosis.

Recognize and explore the impact of biotechnology (cloning, genetic engineering, artificial selection) on the individual, society and the environment. (See STREAM Standard 3, Science and Society)

Explain and illustrate the roles of and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.

Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms such as mutualism, predation, parasitism, competition, and commensalism.

Describe and investigate various limiting factors in the local ecosystem and their impact on native populations, including food, shelter, water, space, disease, parasitism, predation, and nesting sites.

Describe and investigate the process of photosynthesis, such as the roles of light, carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyll; production of food; release of oxygen.

Describe and investigate how cellular respiration breaks down food to provide energy and releases carbon dioxide.

Construct a scientific model of the carbon cycle to show how matter and energy are continuously transferred within and between organisms and their physical environment.

Cite evidence that living systems follow the Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy.