This course is designed for Grade 7 students to teach science by addressing four important aspects of science such as (i) life systems: interactions in the environment; (ii) structures and mechanisms: structures and mechanisms: form and function; (iii) matter and energy: pure substances and mixtures; and (iv) earth and space systems: heat in the environment. In life systems, students assess the impacts of human activities and technologies on the environment, and evaluate ways of controlling these impacts; investigate interactions within the environment, and identify factors that affect the balance between different components of an ecosystem; demonstrate an understanding of interactions between and among biotic and abiotic elements in the environment. In structures and mechanisms, students analyse personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that need to be considered in designing and building structures and devices; design and construct a variety of structures, and investigate the relationship between the design and function of these structures and the forces that act on them; demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between structural forms and the forces that act on and within them.
In matter and energy, students evaluate the social and environmental impacts of the use and disposal of pure substances and mixtures; investigate the properties and applications of pure substances and mixtures; demonstrate an understanding of the properties of pure substances and mixtures, and describe these characteristics using the particle theory. In earth and space systems, students assess the costs and benefits of technologies that reduce heat loss or heat-related impacts on the environment; investigate ways in which heat changes substances, and describe how heat is transferred; demonstrate an understanding of heat as a form of energy that is associated with the movement of particles and is essential to many processes within the earth’s systems.