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In Grade 7, learners continue to investigate science and develop science literacy. They study particle interaction, gravity and its effects on orbital objects, energy transfer, and ecosystems. The knowledge areas of matter, fields, energy, space science, and life systems provide a foundation for study. An active and practical approach to learning and doing science carries on in Grade 7. This includes conducting scientific investigations, furthering tool and measurement skills, exploring science in everyday life, and looking into how science interacts with society and the environment. Learners develop their agency and sense of belonging in science, and explore Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing, including through interacting with the local community and learning in nature. The Grades 7 to 9 Nature of Science band learning outcomes are introduced and include an exploration of the purpose, method, application, and implications of science.
Inquiry questions to help guide learning and planning for the year may include the following:
Please see documents in the curriculum implementation resources section for more information on how to use this curriculum.
The Guiding Principles for the Design of Learning Experiences and Assessment Practices provide guidance to all Manitoba educators as they design learning experiences and classroom assessments to strengthen, extend, and expand student learning.
Please note, this website continues to evolve, so please visit regularly to keep current with what’s new in the Learning Experiences and Assessment Practices section.
The Guiding Principles for the Evaluation and Communication of Student Learning build shared understandings of what is needed to ensure equity, reliability, validity, and transparency in judgment and communication of student learning.
Please note, this website continues to evolve, so please visit regularly to keep current with what’s new in the Evaluation and Communication of Student Learning section.
Science learning outcomes are organized into five strands. These strands and learning outcomes are intended to be woven together throughout all learning experiences while supporting the development of global competencies. All strands equally and cohesively build scientific literacy, skills, and attitudes, inclusive of Indigenous ways and knowledge. Teachers can tailor curriculum implementation to the learners’ specific interests and needs.
Legend
Include the following = compulsory content
Examples/e.g.,= suggestions for learning
Learning Outcome Key
[SCI] Subject
[K] Grade level
[A] Strand
[1] Learning Outcome
SCI.7.A.1
Demonstrate an understanding of different First Nations, Métis, and Inuit ways of knowing, being, and doing by exploring Indigenous methods of observing and interpreting the world, applying scientific principles, and creating technologies within local traditional and contemporary contexts (e.g., wholistic, reciprocal, interconnected, and sustainable ways; land-based learning; outdoor learning; intersections with Western science).
SCI.7.B.1
Develop a sense of agency, identity, and belonging in science by
Science, Technology, Society, and Environment (STSE) Contexts
SCI.7.C.1
Take class, group or personal action on a local, provincial, Canadian or global STSE (Science, technology, society and the environment) issue.
Examples:
Scientific Measurement
SCI.7.C.2
Measure using the appropriate techniques, tools, and units. (Bold indicates items introduced for the first time at this grade level.)
Include the following:
Tools: calendar, clock, thermometer, ruler, pan balance, balance, volumetric vessels, spring scale, compass, astrolabe
Attributes: length, mass, volume, time, temperature, speed, force, direction, altitude, energy
Units: length (km, m, cm, mm), mass (kg, g), volume (L, mL), time (h, min, s), temperature (oC), speed (km/h, m/s), force (N), direction (compass coordinates), altitude (degrees), energy (J)
Skills and understanding of scientific measurement: measure and estimate using standard SI tools and units; select measurement tools; display quantitative data (charts, line graphs, tables, etc.); recognize importance of standard units; convert between SI length, time, and volume units; understand meaning of SI prefixes and their symbols (micro, milli, centi, deci, deka, hecto, kilo, mega); understand the purpose, utility, and immutability of the metric systemmeasure and estimate using standard SI tools and units; select measurement tools; display quantitative data (charts, line graphs, tables, etc.); recognize importance of standard units; convert between SI length, time, and volume units; understand meaning of SI prefixes and their symbols (micro, milli, centi, deci, deka, hecto, kilo, mega); understand the purpose, utility, and immutability of the metric system
Action and Practice
SCI.7.C.3
Apply a range of scientific, technological or engineering practices (e.g., asking questions, identifying problems, observing, experimenting, measuring, classifying, collecting and analyzing data, engaging in scientific debate and argumentation, communicating results, designing and building) in a manner that demonstrates respect and ensures personal safety and the safety of others.
Examples:
Scientific Instruments
SCI.7.C.4
Use various materials and scientific equipment appropriately, competently, and safely while carrying out various scientific practices.
Examples: telescope, binoculars, glassware, hot plate, chemical substances, craft and recycled materials, classroom materials, materials from nature, logbook, diagrams, charts, graphs, spreadsheets, safety procedures
Careers, Hobbies, and Activities
SCI.7.C.5
Make connections between scientific ideas and a range of careers, hobbies and activities.
Examples: physicist; astronomer; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technician; heating and cooling; engineer; ecologist; dance; sailing; boating; fitness; composting; gardening; practices of hunting, trapping, and fishing; berry picking; stargazing; track and field events; baseball
Purpose: Science is about finding the cause or causes of phenomena in the natural world.
SCI.7.D.1
Demonstrate the understanding that empirical data must be systematically collected, and conclusions reviewed, to detect potential errors and minimize bias.
Include the following: peer review, types of bias.
SCI.7.D.2
Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of scientific predictions, and how they are tested.
Include the following: hypothesis, experiment, variables.
Method: Scientific explanations, theories, and models are those that best fit the evidence available at a particular time.
SCI.7.D.3
Demonstrate the understanding that models are metaphorical representations of phenomena used to aid understanding or explain what is happening.
Examples: physical model, mathematical model, simulation
SCI.7.D.4
Demonstrate the understanding that scientific models may be well established (e.g., Solar System model) while others are more tentative (e.g., black hole model).
Application: The knowledge produced by science is used in engineering and technologies to create products and processes.
SCI.7.D.5
Demonstrate the understanding that many factors play a role in finding optimal solutions to problems.
Examples: available materials; effects on humans and other animals; environmental effects; costs
SCI.7.D.6
Demonstrate the understanding that seeking solutions to problems often involves employing a variety of strategies before an actual solution is determined.
Examples: drawings, models, mathematical modelling, computer simulations
Implication: Applications of science often have ethical, environmental, social, economic, and political implications.
SCI.7.D.7
Demonstrate the understanding that technologies designed to improve life can have predictable as well as unforeseen detrimental consequences.
Examples: medicines (improved health, antibiotic resistance); agricultural technologies (food security, biodiversity loss); manufacturing technologies (affordable goods, pollution); groundwater extraction technologies (water access and reuse, contamination, and aquifer depletion); transportation technologies (mobility, greenhouse gas emissions); plastics and synthetic materials (convenience, pollution); digital communication (connectivity, misinformation and e-waste); renewable energy technologies (clean energy, land-use and wildlife impacts)
SCI.7.D.8
Demonstrate an understanding that as new information emerges about a technology’s impacts, individuals, communities or societies must evaluate whether technologies should continue to be used, modified, redesigned, or replaced.
Examples: environmental impacts of energy technologies; effects of agricultural and land-use technologies on biodiversity; influences of digital communication technologies on social well-being; and effects of waste management technologies on water quality and ecosystem health; environmental impacts of mineral extraction
These outcomes are organized according to the big ideas of science. They are not grouped to form prescriptive clusters or units. Teachers are encouraged to regroup, reorganize and reorder the learning outcomes in this strand according to themes or units that meet the needs of their classes and their teaching.
Outcomes relating to the big ideas of matter: All matter in the universe is made of very small particles.
SCI.7.E.1
Demonstrate an understanding of the particle theory of matter and its significance to understanding the properties and behaviours of substances in different states of matter.
SCI.7.E.2
Demonstrate an understanding of how adding or removing energy affects the speed, and therefore, the kinetic energy of particles in matter.
Include the following: temperature change, state change, conservation of mass during state change, freezing, melting, evaporation, condensation, sublimation.
SCI.7.E.3
Demonstrate the understanding that boiling and melting points are different in different substances due to variations in attraction between the particles that make up each substance.
Outcomes relating to the big ideas of fields: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
SCI.7.E.4
Demonstrate the understanding that gravity is a universal attractive force between objects, extends infinitely, and increases with the masses of the objects.
SCI.7.E.5
Demonstrate the understanding that the gravitational force on objects on Earth is observed as a downward force on the object called weight.
Include the following: mass, newton (N), weight differences on the Moon or other planets.
SCI.7.E.6
Demonstrate an understanding of the role of gravity in the orbits of planets and various satellites.
SCI.7.E.7
Demonstrate the understanding that tides result from the gravitational interaction between the Moon and large bodies of water.
Outcomes relating to the the big ideas of energy: The total amount of energy in the universe is always the same but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event.
SCI.7.E.8
Demonstrate the understanding that when an object is heated, it has more energy than when it is cold.
SCI.7.E.9
Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of heat transfer from a hot object.
Include the following: conduction, convection, radiation, thermal equilibrium, thermal insulator, thermal conductor.
SCI.7.E.10
Demonstrate the understanding that many phenomena can be understood in terms of energy exchanges.
Examples: weather, growth of plants, physical activity, cooking
SCI.7.E.11
Demonstrate the understanding that when energy is transferred from a store, it can make things happen, and energy is ultimately dissipated to the environment as heat in the process.
Include the following: efficiency.
Outcomes relating to the big ideas of space science: Our Solar System is a very small part of one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
SCI.7.E.12
Demonstrate an understanding of the scale and structure of the Solar System and the nature of the bodies it contains.
Include the following: Sun as central star, eight known planets and their types, orbital distances, Moon, Moon phases, orbit, rotation, revolution, solar and lunar eclipses, sizes of celestial bodies.
SCI.7.E.13
Demonstrate the understanding that the apparent motion of the Sun, the Moon, and stars is caused by the rotation of Earth.
SCI.7.E.14
Demonstrate an understanding of the observed motion of planets in relation to background stars.
Include the following: Earth’s rotation and revolution.
SCI.7.E.15
Demonstrate an understanding of the extent of human space exploration and related technologies.
Examples: crewed and un-crewed missions, rockets, probes, rovers, satellites
SCI.7.E.16
Demonstrate an understanding of the astronomical significance of lines of latitude and longitude.
Include the following: seasons, time zones, global climate patterns, equinox, solstice, tropics, equator, Arctic/Antarctic circle.
Outcomes relating to the big ideas of life systems: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
SCI.7.E.17
Demonstrate an understanding of the concept and nature of a selfsustaining ecosystem. Examples: habitat, population, community
SCI.7.E.18
Demonstrate an understanding of photosynthesis.
Include the following: energy, chlorophyll, glucose.
SCI.7.E.19
Demonstrate an understanding of energy transfer in ecosystems.
Include the following: Sun, energy loss, food chain, food web, ecological pyramid.
SCI.7.E.20
Demonstrate an understanding of the roles of organisms at various trophic levels, and their importance in sustaining an ecosystem.
Include the following: producers (autotrophs), consumers (heterotrophs), decomposers.
SCI.7.E.21
Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of competition for resources within an ecosystem.
Examples: energy, nutrients, water, space
SCI.7.E.22
Demonstrate an understanding of the need for the recycling of nutrients and for the replenishing of energy within ecosystems.
SCI.7.E.23
Demonstrate an understanding of the potential effects on plants and animals in an ecosystem when conditions change.
Examples: loss of food source, loss of habitat, polluted water, climate change
Curriculum Implementation Resources
Curriculum implementation resources will include supplementary documents to support implementation. This section and the support documents will continue to be updated, so you are encouraged to visit the site regularly.
