SCIENCE, GRADE 9

							                                                                 CURRICULUM GUIDE
For each grade-level indicator, please put a check (or a date) in one of the three columns on the right. Putting a check in the column marked 3 means you taught it
and you know most students learned it. A check in column 2 means it was taught but not mastered. A check in column 1 means you have not taught that
indicator. The column at the far right should be checked when you have assessed that indicator with an OGT-type question (short answer or extended response).

                                                                    SCIENCE, GRADE 7
                                                                     LIFE SCIENCES
BENCHMARK                                                                    ASSESSMENT QUESTION
A. Explain that the basic functions of organisms are carried out in cells and      Compare and contrast an amphibian’s heart and a mammal’s heart using the
groups of specialized cells form tissues and organs; the combination of these      information in the passage.
cells make up multicellular organisms that have a variety of body plans and
internal structures.
Number        Indicators                                                                           Chapters and/or                 3      2      1      Assessed
Of Days                                                                                            Pages
October       1. Investigate the great variety of body plans and internal structures found in
              multicellular organisms.
BENCHMARK                                                                          ASSESSMENT QUESTION
B. Describe the characteristics of an organism in terms of a combination of        Using the characteristics of living organisms, explain why a plant is classified
inherited traits and recognize reproduction as a characteristic of living          as a living organism.
organisms essential to the continuation of the species.
Number        Indicators                                                                           Chapters and/or                 3      2      1      Assessed
Of Days                                                                                            Pages
October       8. Investigate the great diversity among organisms.




Benchmark A




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                                                                    Life Science, Grade 7
                                                                   CURRICULUM GUIDE

BENCHMARK                                                                            ASSESSMENT QUESTION
C. Explain the genetic mechanisms and molecular basis of inheritance.                Look at the statements below. They describe feeding relationships that may
                                                                                     exist between certain desert organisms. Use these statements to create a desert
                                                                                     food web. Also use your food web diagram to answer the following questions:
                                                                                          a. Draw a circle around the producer(s) in this food web.
                                                                                          b. Draw two circles around the primary consumer(s).
                                                                                          c. Draw a rectangle around the secondary consumer(s).
                                                                                          d. Draw a triangle around the tertiary consumer(s).
                                                                                          e. On your food web, label both the cacti and the kangaroo rat with a
                                                                                              short caption. In the caption, describe how each is adapted to live in
                                                                                              the desert biome.
Number         Indicators                                                                            Chapters and/or                3      2      1      Assessed
Of Days                                                                                              Pages
December       2. Investigate how organisms or populations may interact with one another
and January    through symbiotic relationships and how some species have become so adapted
               to each other that neither could survive without the other (e.g., predator-prey,
               parasitism, mutualism and commensalism).
December       3. Explain how the number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on
and January    adequate biotic (living) resources (e.g., plants, animals) and abiotic (non-living)
               resources (e.g., light, water and soil).
December       6. Summarize the ways that natural occurrences and human activity affect the
and January    transfer of energy in Earth’s ecosystems (e.g., fire, hurricanes, roads and oil
               spills).
December       7. Explain that photosynthetic cells convert solar energy into chemical energy
and January    that is used to carry of life functions or is transferred to consumers and used to
               carry on their life functions.
BENCHMARK                                                                            ASSESSMENT QUESTION
D. Explain how extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes           Using the energy pyramid shown, how does the extinction of an organism,
and its adaptive characteristics are insufficient to allow survival (as seen in      such as snails, from the ecosystem affect the energy pyramid for the remaining
evidence of the fossil record).                                                      organisms?
Number         Indicators                                                                            Chapters and/or                3      2      1      Assessed
Of Days                                                                                              Pages
December       4. Investigate how overpopulation impacts an ecosystem.
and January
December       5. Explain that some environmental changes occur slowly while others occur
and January    rapidly (e.g., forest and pond succession, fires and decomposition).


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                                                                      Life Science, Grade 7
CURRICULUM GUIDE




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 Life Science, Grade 7