Be Responsible 
Be Prepared Be Respectful
7th and 8th grade
Science Process Skills
Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking Skills
- Use appropriate tools to accurately collect and record both qualitative and quantitative data gathered through observations (e.g., temperature probes, electronic balances, spring scales, microscopes, stop watches).
- Determine the degree of accuracy that can be obtained using a given instrument.
- Investigate similarities and differences noted when making observations.
- Construct and use a dichotomous key to classify a given set of objects or organisms.
- Evaluate methods of classification for a specific purpose.
- Rephrase questions so that they can be tested or investigated using scientific methodologies.
- Ask questions about relationships between and among observable variables.
- Identify the manipulated, responding and controlled variables in an experiment.
- Design a controlled experiment, identifying and controlling the major variables.
- Identify flaws or omissions in the design of simple experiments.
- Use appropriate laboratory techniques to carry out student- or teacher-developed procedures or experiments.
- Use appropriate tools to gather data as part of an investigation (e.g., ruler, meter stick, thermometer, spring scale, graduated cylinder, calipers, balance, probes, microscopes).
- Follow the teacher’s instructions in performing experiments, following all appropriate safety rules and procedures.
- Use appropriate tools (including computer hardware and software) to collect, organize, represent, analyze and explain data.
- Identify sources of error in experiments.
- Draw appropriate conclusions regarding the scientific question under investigation, based on the data collected.
- Determine if the results of an experiment support or refute the scientific idea tested.
- Evaluate whether the information and data collected allows an evaluation of the scientific idea under investigation.
- Determine what additional information would be helpful in answering the scientific question.
Unifying Concepts of Science
- Describe how scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence.
- Realize that when similar investigations give different results, the scientific challenge is to judge whether the differences are trivial or significant, and this often requires more investigations.
- Realize that knowledge, based on science, is subject to modification as new information challenges prevailing theories and as a new theory leads to looking at old observations in a new way.
- Provide examples that show how some scientific knowledge is very old and yet is still applicable today.
- Recognize that some matters cannot be examined usefully in a scientific way, such as those matters that by their nature cannot be tested objectively and those that are essentially matters of morality.
- Give examples of how science can sometimes be used to inform ethical decisions by identifying the likely consequences of particular actions but cannot be used to establish that some action is either moral or immoral.
- Understand that any system is usually connected to other systems, both internally and externally; thus a system may be thought of as containing subsystems and as being a subsystem of a larger system.
- Analyze how the output of one part of a system, which can include materials, energy or information, can become the input to other parts.
- Realize that as the complexity of any system increases, gaining an understanding of it depends increasingly on summaries (such as averages and ranges) and on descriptions of typical examples of that system.
- Explain that when energy is transformed or converted from one type to another, there is no net loss of energy.
- Describe how objects and substances can store energy (e.g., a battery, food, gasoline).
- Demonstrate how mathematical models can be displayed on a computer and then modified to see what happens.
- Know that different models can be used to represent the same thing; what kind of model is used and how complex it should be depends on its purpose; and the usefulness of a model is one of the instances in which intuition and creativity come into play in science, mathematics and engineering.
- Discover how properties of systems that depend on volume, such as capacity and weight change, change out of proportion to properties that depend on area, such as strength or surface processes.
- Recognize that as the complexity of any system increases, gaining an understanding increasingly depends on summaries (such as averages and ranges) and on descriptions of typical examples of that system.
- Analyze how physical and biological systems tend to change until they become stable and then stay that way unless their surroundings change.
- Recognize how many systems contain feedback mechanisms that serve to keep changes within specified limits.
- Realize that symbolic equations can be used to summarize how the quantity of something changes over time or in response to other changes.
- Explain how symmetry (or the lack of it) may determine properties of many objects, from molecules and crystals to organisms and designed structures.
- Realize that cycles, such as the seasons or body temperature, can be described by their cycle length or frequency, what their highest and lowest values are, and when those values occur; different cycles range from many thousand years down to less than a billionth of a second.
- Describe the relationship between structure and function of organ systems in plants and animals.
- Describe the structure and function of various organ systems (i.e., digestion, respiration, circulation, nervous, protection and support) and how these systems contribute to homeostasis of the organism.
- Compare the structure and function of organ systems in one organism to the structure and function in another organism.
Personal, Social, and Technological Perspectives
- Work effectively within a cooperative group setting, accepting and executing assigned roles and responsibilities.
- Work collectively within a group toward a common goal.
- Demonstrate respect of one another’s abilities and contributions to the group.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the ethics involved in scientific inquiry.
- Locate and collect reliable information about the environment and environmental topics using a variety of methods and sources.
- Judge the weaknesses and strengths of the information they are using.
- Explore the uses and limitations of models.
- Synthesize observations and findings into coherent explanations about natural resources and the environment.
- Design a product or solution to a problem.
- Build a product that has been designed in class.
- Evaluate student-designed products according to established criteria and recommend improvements or modifications.
Science Skills for Information, Communication and Media Literacy
- Use a variety of information access tools to locate, gather, and organize potential sources of scientific information to answer questions.
- Collect real-time observations and data, synthesizing and building upon existing information (e.g., online databases, NOAA, EPA, USGS) to solve problems.
- Use appropriate tools to analyze and synthesize information (e.g., diagrams, flow charts, frequency tables, bar graphs, line graphs, stem-and-leaf plots) to draw conclusions and implications based on investigations of an issue or question.
- Use a wide range of tools and a variety of oral, written, and graphic formats to share information and results from observations and investigations.
- Execute steps of scientific inquiry to engage in the problem-solving and decision making processes.
- Apply new and unusual applications of existing knowledge to new and different situations.
- Make sketches, graphs, and diagrams to explain ideas and to demonstrate the interconnections between systems.
- Formulate a scientific question about phenomena, a problem, or an issue and using a broad range of tools and techniques; and plan and conduct an inquiry to address the question.
- Use evidence collected from observations or other sources and use them to create models and explanations.
- Use a variety of media tools to make oral and written presentations, which include written notes and descriptions, drawings, photos, and charts to communicate the procedures and results of an investigation.
- Work in diverse pairs/teams to answer questions, solve problems and make decisions.
- Plan and develop team science projects.
- Articulate understanding of content through personal interaction and sharing with peers.
- Keep a journal of observations and investigations, and periodically evaluate entries to assess progress toward achieving the understanding of key ideas.
- Develop and execute a plan to collect and record accurate and complete data from various sources to solve a problem or answer a question; and gather and critically analyze data from a variety of sources.
- Participate in science competitions, where students are responsible for creating a product or participating in an event.
- Collaborate with a network of learners by phone, video, virtual classroom platform.
- Participate in simulation or role-playing activities in which students grapple with the ethics of complex issues.