Dave’s Science Course breakdown tables

Science Academic 10

Biology Unit / Tissues, Organs and Systems of Living things
Big Ideas / Plants and animals, including humans, are made of specialized cells, tissues, and organs that are organized into systems.
Developments in medicine and medical technology can have social and ethical implications.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Cell cycle and Mitosis
  • Cell specialization
  • Animal systems and their interaction with each other
  • Terminology associated with topics above
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  • Microscope Usage (mitosis, plant and animal cells, specialized cells (muscle, nerve, xylem, red blood cells)
  • Dissection of worm, fish or frog.
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  • Controversial issues in biology (i.e. stem cell research, cloning)
  • Medical Technology (X-rays, MRI, Nuclear resonance imaging…)
  • Public Health Strategies (i.e. vaccination clinics)

Chemistry Unit / Chemical Reactions
Big Ideas / Chemicals react with each other in predicable ways.
Chemical reactions may have a negative impact on the environment, but they can also be used to address environmental change.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Simple Nomenclature (ionic, polyatomic, acids and molecular compounds)
  • Writing and Balancing Chemical Equations
  • Physical vs. Chemical Change (signs of chem.. change)
  • pH scale
  • Terminology associated with topics above
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  • Synthesis, decomposition, neutralization and displacement reactions
  • Classifying substances as acids/bases/neutrals using pH paper or acid-base indicators
  • Chemical change lab
  • Law of conservation of mass
  • Model building to show reactions
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  • Safety and Environmental issues associated with chemical reactions (i.e. use of chlorine in pools)
  • Analyse how understanding the properties of a substance and their reactions can be applied to solving environmental issues (i.e. chemicals used to treat oil spills)

Physics Unit / Light and Geometric Optics
Big Ideas / Light has characteristics and properties that can be manipulated with mirrors and lenses for a range of uses.
Society has benefited from the development of a range of optical devices and technologies.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Types of Light Emissions
  • Electromagnetic Spectrum
  • Reflection/Refraction
  • Properties of Light and how they cause natural phenomena
  • Ray Diagrams and the associated math to predict image position and characteristics from different lenses and mirrors
  • Laws of Reflection
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Image Positions using ray diagrams and curved/flat mirrors and lenses
  • Light Refraction from one medium to another, qualitative and quantitative observations, calculate the indices of refraction, determining trends as light passes through different media
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  • Technological devices that use mirrors and lenses (i.e. telescope)
  • Technological devices that use the properties of light (i.e. camera)
  • Technological devices that alter human perception of light (i.e. night vision goggles, laser eye surgery…)

Earth and Space Unit / Climate Change
Big Ideas / Earth’s climate is dynamic and is the result of interacting systems and processes.
Global change is influenced by both natural and human factors.
Climate change affects living things and natural systems in a variety of ways.
People have the responsibility to assess their impact on climate change and to identify effective courses of action to reduce this impact.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Climate change (causes and indicators, is it really happening?)
  • Greenhouse Effect (natural vs. human, causes and effects)
  • Heat transfer (ocean currents)
  • Earth’s Climate system (sun, oceans, etc...)
  • Canadian Climate zones
  • How water affects climate
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Heat transfer lab
  • Build a model to show the greenhouse effect
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  • Climate change and the positive-negative effects it is having on human activity and natural systems
  • Assess the effectiveness of current initiatives aimed at curbing climate change (i.e. Energy Star appliances, Drive Clean fuel…)

Science Applied 10

Biology Unit / Tissues, Organs and Systems
Big Ideas / All animals are made of specialized cells, tissues and organs that are organized into systems.
Although technology and chemicals can be used to improve human health, they can also constitute a health hazard.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Cell Cycle and Mitosis (cancer cells vs. non-cancerous cells)
  • Specialized cells (neurons, muscle cells)
  • Organization of the body from cells to organ systems
  • Systems of the body, their functions and their interaction with one another
  • Health problems
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Dissection
  • Microscope work (specialized cells, mitosis)
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  • Medical imaging technology
  • Technology and its effect on human health (i.e. cell phones, pesticides, vitamins…)

Chemistry Unit / Chemical Reactions and their practical applications
Big Ideas / Chemicals react with one another in predictable ways.
Chemical reactions are a necessary component of chemical products and processes used in the home and workplace.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Chemical formulae and naming of simple ionic and molecular compounds
  • Writing and Balancing equations
  • pH scale and neutralization
  • Law of Conservation of Mass
  • Types of Reactions
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Neutralization (as seen in household products (i.e. antacids) and in a lab setting (i.e. HCl and NaOH))
  • Classifying substances as acids, bases or neutrals using pH paper or acid-base indicators]
  • Law of Conservation of Mass
  • Types of Reactions
  • Molecular models
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  • Chemical reactions and their creation of selected products (i.e. carbonated beverages, rust proofing)
  • Identify chemical reactions used in some professions and assess their health/safety impact (i.e. fire-fighting)

Physics Unit / Light and Application of Optics
Big Ideas / A wide range of technologies utilize the properties of light and colour.
The behaviour of light depends on the materials with which it interacts.
Light is a form of energy, produced from a variety of sources, and can be transformed into other useful forms of energy.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Refraction, reflection, absorption, transmission
  • Subtractive and Additive Colour Theories
  • Laws of Reflection
  • Electromagnetic Spectrum
  • Types of light emission
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Build an optical device using mirrors
  • Colour theory lab
  • Qualitative characteristics of images using mirrors and lenses as well as ray diagrams (POEs)
  • Refraction of light
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  • Technology that uses the properties of light and/or colour (i.e. stop lights)
  • Describe the role of optical technologies and their effect on information transmission (i.e. satellites, cell phones)

Earth and Space Unit / Earth’s Dynamic Climate
Big Ideas / Global climate change is affected by both natural and human factors.
Climate change affects living things and natural systems in a variety of ways.
Basic Concepts / Problems/Inquiry / STSE
  • Global Climate Change (indicators, is it happening?, causes and effects, tools used to assess it)
  • Greenhouse Effect
  • Heat sinks and heat transfer
  • Components of Earth’s climate system
  • Terminology associated with the above topics
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  • Carbon footprint
  • How different factors affect global warming
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  • Sources of greenhouse gases
  • Assess human activities that have increased or decreased greenhouse gas emission
  • How climate change has affected natural systems and human activity