Grade 7 Science Iowa standards Standards

Earth and Space

Life

Physical

Initial Level: Recognize models of the Earth, Moon, and Sun system.

Precursor Level: Use a model to show that Earth's Moon moves around Earth, and Earth and its Moon move around the Sun.

Target Level: Use an Earth-Sun-Moon model to show that Earth's orbit around the Sun corresponds to a calendar year and the orbit of the Moon around Earth corresponds to a month.

Initial Level: Identify the process that forms igneous rock (e.g., volcanoes).

Precursor Level: Use a model to describe the change from igneous to sedimentary rock.

Target Level: Use a model to describe the change within the rock cycle between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock.

Identify differences in weather conditions from day to day.

Precursor Level: Identify geoscience processes (e.g., wind, rain, runoff) that have an impact on landforms (e.g., landslides, erosion such as gullies).

Target Level: Explain how geoscience processes that occur daily (e.g.,wind, rain, runoff) slowly change the surface of Earth, while catastrophic events (e.g., earthquakes, tornadoes, floods) can quickly change the surface of Earth.

Initial Level: Interpret basic weather information (e.g., radar, map) to identify weather conditions.

Precursor Level: Interpret basic weather information (e.g., radar, map) to compare weather conditions.

Target Level: Interpret basic weather information (e.g., radar, map) to make predictions about future conditions.

Initial Level: Identify a natural resource.

Precursor Level: Identify the geoscience process that produces a natural resource.

Target Level: Interpret, based on evidence, how geoscience processes create resources.

Initial Level: Recognize resources in the local environment that are important for human life.

Precursor Level: Recognize ways in which humans impact the environment.

Target Level: Develop a plan to monitor and minimize a human impact on the local environment.

Initial Level: Recognize major organs of animals.

Precursor Level: Use a model to demonstrate how organs are connected in major organ systems.

Target Level: Make a claim about how a structure (e.g., organs and organ systems) and its related function supports survival of animals.

Initial Level: Match organisms to their habitats.

Precursor Level: Identify factors that influence growth of organisms.

Target Level: Interpret data to show that environmental resources (e.g., food, light, space, water) influence growth of organisms.

Initial Level: Identify food that animals eat.

Precursor Level: Classify animals based on what they eat (e.g., herbivore, omnivore, carnivore).

Target Level: Use models of food chains/webs to identify producers and consumers in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Initial Level: Recognize that organisms differ within the same species.

Precursor Level: Identify similarities and differences between plant and animal parents and their offspring.

Target Level: Make a claim supported by evidence that offspring inherit traits from their parents.

Initial Level: Observe and identify examples of change (e.g., state of matter, color, temperature, and odor).

Precursor Level: Gather data on the properties (e.g., color, texture, odor, and state of matter) of substances before and after chemical changes have occurred.

Target Level: Interpret and analyze data on the properties (e.g., color, texture, odor, and state of matter) of substances before and after chemical changes have occurred.

Initial Level: Identify ways to change the movement of an object (e.g., faster, slower, stop).

Precursor Level: Investigate and identify ways to change the motion of an object (e.g., change an incline's slope to make an object go slower, faster, farther).

Target Level: Investigate and predict the change in motion of objects based on the forces acting on those objects.

Initial Level: Identify objects/materials used to minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.

Precursor Level: Investigate objects/materials and predict their ability to maximize or minimize thermal energy transfer.

Target Level: Test and refine a device to either minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.

Initial Level: Use a model to recognize that sound waves are transmitted by vibrations.

Precursor Level: Investigate changes in vibrations and sources of sound in everyday life.

Target Level: Use a model to show how light or sound waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Earth's Place in the Universe

Earth and the Solar System

Earth's Systems

Earth's Materials and Systems

Weather and Climate

Earth and Human Activity

Natural Resources

Human Impacts on Earth Systems

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Structure and Function

Growth and Development of Organisms

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Variation of Traits

Matter and Its Interactions

Structure and Properties of Matter

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Forces and Motion

Energy

Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Wave Properties

Student Sensemaking of phenomena

Asking questions and defining problems.

Planning and carrying out investigations.

Analyzing and interpreting data.

Using mathematical and computational thinking.

Engaging in argument from evidence.

Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information.

Constructing explanations and designing solutions.

Developing and using models.

Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, considering 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.

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Use arguments based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

Construct an explanation using data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.

Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.

Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.

Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.