Welcome to Seventh Grade Life Science

The Life Science curriculum in grade seven introduces students to basic biological concepts using a “hand-on” approach. The year begins with an introduction to the scientific method, the development of controlled experiments, and metric measurement. Once these are mastered, the students discover what it really means to be “alive” by identifying the characteristics and needs of living things.  

A unit on the use of the microscope allows the students’ understanding of life to move to the cellular level by studying the function of the organelles and the many processes cells must perform to keep an organism functioning. These include diffusion, osmosis, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, DNA replication, protein synthesis, mitosis, and meiosis. Basic genetics, heredity, mutations, natural selection, survival of the fittest, and evolution are taught to explain the development of and diversity among the species. The remainder of the year is spent exploring how organisms are classified and named and the characteristics that place them into particular taxonomic groups.