Grade 7 Science
12 units matched to the Ontario Curriculum.
Overall expectations
- A1 STEM Investigation and Communication Skills: Use a scientific research process, a scientific experimentation process, and an engineering design process to conduct investigations, following appropriate health and safety procedures
- A2 Coding and Emerging Technologies: Use coding in investigations and to model concepts, and assess the impact of coding and of emerging technologies on everyday life and in STEM-related fields
- A3 Applications, Connections, and Contributions: Demonstrate an understanding of the practical applications of science and technology, and of contributions to science and technology from people with diverse lived experiences
- B1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the impact of human activities and technologies on the environment, and analyse ways to mitigate negative impacts and contribute to environmental sustainability
- B2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of interactions between and among biotic and abiotic components in the environment
- C1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Evaluate the environmental and social impacts of the use and disposal of various pure substances and mixtures
- C2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of matter, including the properties of pure substances and mixtures, and describe these properties using particle theory
- D1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Analyse personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that should be considered when designing and building structures
- D2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between structural forms and the forces acting on them
- E1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the benefits of technologies that reduce heat loss, and analyse various social and environmental impacts of the use of energy from renewable and non-renewable sources
- E2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of heat as a form of energy that is associated with the movement of particles and is essential for many natural processes within Earth’s systems
Units
Unit 1
Ecosystems
Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem, how they interact, and the limiting factors and carrying capacity that decide how many organisms an ecosystem can support.
Expectation: B2.1, B2.2, B2.7 · ecosystems, biotic and abiotic components, and limiting factors
Unit 2
Food Chains & Energy
Producers, consumers and decomposers, food chains and webs, how energy shrinks as it passes up a chain (about 10% each step), and what happens when part of a chain changes.
Expectation: B2.3, B2.4 · producers, consumers and decomposers; energy transfer in food chains
Unit 3
Cycles & Succession
How water, carbon and nitrogen are cycled through ecosystems, why cycling supports sustainability, and the difference between primary and secondary succession.
Expectation: B2.5, B2.6 · cycling of matter; primary and secondary succession
Unit 4
People & Ecosystems
How agriculture, harvesting and technologies affect ecosystems, such as monoculture, overfishing, invasive species and runoff, and ways to protect and restore balance. Includes reading simple data about an environmental measure.
Expectation: B1.1, B1.2, B2.8 · impacts of human activities and technologies on ecosystems, and ways to restore balance
Unit 5
Particles & Mixtures
The particle theory of matter, the states of matter, pure substances versus mixtures, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous mixtures.
Expectation: C2.1–C2.3 · particle theory, pure substances and mixtures, homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures
Unit 6
Solutions & Separating
Solutes, solvents and solubility, what makes things dissolve faster, saturated and unsaturated solutions, concentration, why water is called the universal solvent, ways to separate mixtures, and some environmental effects of industrial separation.
Expectation: C1.2, C2.4–C2.7 · solubility, concentration, water as a solvent, and separating mixtures
Unit 7
Atoms & Elements
Elements versus compounds and mixtures, chemical symbols (H, O, Na, Cl, Fe, Au…), counting atoms in formulas like H₂O and C₆H₁₂O₆, metals and non-metals, and the basics of the periodic table.
Expectation: C2.8 · elements and compounds as atoms and combinations of atoms
Unit 8
Structures & Forces
Solid, frame and shell structures, centre of gravity and stability, symmetry, and the size, direction and point of application of forces, including tension, compression, torsion and shear.
Expectation: D2.1–D2.4 · classifying structures; centre of gravity; forces; symmetry
Unit 9
Safe Structures
Why structures fail (overloading, fatigue, corrosion, freeze-thaw), choosing materials, how engineers assess and maintain safety, the engineering design process, and social, economic and environmental factors in design, including ergonomics.
Expectation: D1.1, D1.2, D2.5–D2.7 · structure failure, materials, safety, design factors and ergonomics
Unit 10
Heat & Particles
Heat as energy linked to particle motion, temperature, expansion and contraction, changes of state, and the ways heat is generated (friction, electricity, burning, chemical reactions and the Sun).
Expectation: E2.1–E2.3 · heat and particle motion; heat generation; expansion and changes of state
Unit 11
Moving Heat
How heat is transmitted by conduction, convection and radiation, how the Sun's radiation heats different surfaces, and technologies such as insulation and double-pane windows that reduce heat loss.
Expectation: E1.1, E2.4–E2.6 · conduction, convection, radiation, and technologies that reduce heat loss
Unit 12
Changing Climate
The greenhouse effect, evidence of climate change (real CO₂ measurements, glaciers, ice cores), human causes, actions that help, and the value of Indigenous knowledge of the land.
Expectation: E1.2, E2.7, E2.8 · the greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas sources, and renewable and non-renewable energy
Ready to try Gradelings?
Curriculum-matched practice for Kindergarten to Grade 9 in British Columbia and Ontario, with kind hints, learning games and no ads. Free for 30 days, no card needed.