🔬 7th grade Science: how to help at home

What each unit covers

1. ⚛️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.

2. 🌲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.

3. 🦊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.

4. ♻️Cycles & Succession

   How water, carbon and nitrogen are cycled through ecosystems, why cycling supports sustainability, and the difference between primary and secondary succession.

5. 🥣Particles & Mixtures

   The particle theory of matter, the states of matter, pure substances versus mixtures, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous mixtures.

6. 🌱How Plants Work

   The parts of seed plants and what they do, photosynthesis, gas exchange, transpiration and pollination, and how plant structures suit where a plant grows.

7. ⚗️Chemical Reactions

   Practices signs of chemical reactions, how properties change when new substances form, conservation of mass, and devices that release or absorb thermal energy through reactions.

8. ⛰️Earth's Moving Surface

   Practices plate tectonics and evidence from fossils, rocks and continent shapes, the rock cycle, and how processes at different speeds shape Earth's surface, including the Cascade volcanoes.

9. 🧪Mixtures & Solutions

   Telling pure substances from mixtures, mechanical mixtures from solutions, solutes and solvents, comparing concentration, and choosing separation methods like filtering, evaporation, magnets and distillation.

10. 🔥Particles and Heat

    Solids, liquids and gases in the particle model, faster particles when heated and slower when cooled, melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation, and why mass stays the same in a phase change.

11. ⛏️Resources & Hazards

    Practices why Earth's mineral, energy and water resources are unevenly spread, and how scientists map and forecast hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and wildfires, with California examples.

12. 🦦Biodiversity & Kelp Forests

    Practices why biodiversity and ecosystem services matter, and how to evaluate solutions that protect ecosystems such as California's kelp forests, wetlands and redwood forests.