BASIC SCIENCE 7
Two semesters/One credit each semester
The Basic Science 7 course is designed for the student who may have difficulty in the regular science course. The course is based on Prentice Hall’s Science Explorer. The course contains a combination of Earth, and Life Science topics. The topics are arranged according to themes, such as Cells and Heredity, From Bacteria to Plants, Animals, Inside Earth, Weather and Climate and Earth’s Waters. Emphasis is placed on relevance to the student’s life and hands-on learning.
TEXTBOOK: Science Explorer (Individual Books)
Prentice Hall Inc., 2000
COURSE OUTLINE
UNIT I. CELLS AND HEREDITY Approximate Time
Topic A – Cell Structure and Function 6
Topic B – Cell Processes and Energy 6
Topic C – Genetics: The Science of Heredity 5
Topic D – Modern Genetics 3
UNIT II. FROM BACTERIA TO PLANTS
Topic A – Living Things 8
Topic B – Viruses and Bacteria 8
Topic C – Protists and Fungi 8
Topic D – Introduction to Plants 7
Topic E – Seed Plants 8
UNIT III. ANIMALS
Topic A – Sponges, Cnidarians, and Worms 8
Topic B – Mollusks, Arthropods, and Echinoderms 8
Topic C – Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles 8
Topic D – Birds and Reptiles 8
Topic E – Animal Behavior 8
UNIT IV. INSIDE EARTH
Topic A – Plate Tectonics 8
Topic B – Earthquakes and Mountain Building 7
Topic C – Volcanoes 7
Topic D – Minerals 3
Topic E – Rocks 7
UNIT V. WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Topic A – The Atmosphere 6
Topic B – Weather Factors 7
Topic C – Weather Patterns 6
Topic D – Climate and Climate Change 8
UNIT VI. EARTH’S WATERS
Topic A – Earth: The Water Planet 2
Topic B – Fresh Water 8
Topic C – Fresh Water Resources 6
Topic D – Ocean Motion 4
Topic E – Ocean Zones 5
UNIT I. CELLS AND HEREDITY
TOPIC A – Cell Structure and Function
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the discovery of cells and their parts.
Time:
8 days
References:
Text Volume C, Chapter 1, Sections 1, 2 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. Discovering Cells
2. Looking Inside Cells
3. The Cell in Its Environment
Laboratories/Activities
1. Egg-speriment With a Cell
2. Magnified View of Life
Objectives:
1. Explain how the invention of the microscope contributed to scientists’ understanding of living things.
2. State the three points of the cell theory.
3. Describe how a light microscope works, including how a lens magnifies an object.
4. Identify the role of the cell membrane and nucleus in the cell.
5. Describe the functions performed by other organelles in the cell.
6. Compare bacterial cells with plant and animal cells.
7. Describe the role of specialized cells in many-celled organisms.
8. Describe the three methods by which materials move into and out of cells.
9. Compare passive transport to active transport.
TOPIC B – Cell Processes and Energy
Purpose:
Students will learn about three of the cells major processes.
Time:
9 days
References:
Text Volume C, Chapter 2, Sections 1, 2 & 3
Lecture Topics
1. Photosynthesis
2. Respiration
3. Cell Division
Laboratories/Activities
1. Shine On!
2. Gases in Balance
3. Multiplying by Dividing
Objectives:
1. Describe the process of photosynthesis.
2. Explain how the sun supplies all living things with the energy they need.
3. Describe the events that occur during respiration.
4. Describe the relationship between photosynthesis and respiration.
5. Describe alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation.
6. List the events that take place during the three stages of the cell cycle.
7. Describe the structure of DNA and how DNA replication occurs.
TOPIC C – Genetics: The Science of Heredity
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the history and mechanics of heredity.
Time:
7 days
References:
Text Volume C, Chapter 1, Sections 1, 3 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. Mendel’s Work
2. The Cell and Inheritance
3. The DNA Connection
Laboratories/Activities
1. Paper Pets
2. Class Survey
3. Make the Right Call
Objectives:
1. Describe Mendel’s genetics experiments.
2. Identify the factors that control the inheritance of traits in organisms.
3. Explain how geneticists use symbols to represent alleles.
4. Describe the role of chromosomes in inheritance.
5. Identify and describe the events that occur during meiosis.
6. Explain the term “genetic code.”
7. Describe the process by which a cell produces proteins.
8. Describe the different types of mutations and how they affect an organism.
TOPIC D – Modern Genetics
Purpose:
Students will study how traits are passed from parent to offspring.
Time:
5 days
References:
Text Volume C, 4, Sections 1 & 2
Lecture Topics
1. Human Inheritance
2. Human Genetic Disorders
Laboratories/Activities
1. Colorblindness Test
2. Family Puzzles
3. Guilty or Innocent
Objectives:
1. Explain what multiple alleles are.
2. Explain why some human traits show a large variety of phenotypes.
3. Explain how environmental factors can alter the effects of a gene.
4. Explain what determines sex and why some sex-linked traits are more common in males than in females.
5. Describe how geneticists use pedigrees.
6. Describe the causes and symptoms of four human genetic disorders.
7. Explain how genetic disorders are diagnosed.
UNIT II. FROM BACTERIA TO PLANTS
TOPIC A – Living Things
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the major classifications of organisms.
Time:
11 days
References:
Text Volume A, Chapter 1, Sections 1, 3 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. What Is Life?
2. Classifying Organisms
3. The Six Kingdoms
Laboratories/Activities
1. Please Pass the Bread!
2. Organizing Junk
3. Living Mysteries
Objectives:
1. List the characteristics all living things share.
2. Identify what all living things need to survive.
3. Explain why scientists organize living things into groups.
4. Explain the relationship between classification and evolution.
5. Describe early classification systems, including that of Linneaus.
6. Name the seven levels of classification used by scientists.
7. Name and describe the six kingdoms into which all organisms are grouped.
TOPIC B – Viruses and Bacteria
Purpose:
Students will understand the characteristics of viruses and bacteria.
Time:
10 days
References:
Text Volume A, Chapter 2, Sections 1 & 2
Lecture Topics
1. Viruses
2. Bacteria
Laboratories/Activities
1. Modeling a Virus
2. Viruses on a Pin
3. Do Disinfectants Work?
Objectives:
1. Give reasons why viruses are considered to be nonliving.
2. Describe the basic structure of a virus.
3. Explain how viruses multiply.
4. Describe ways in which bacteria cells are different from all other organism’s cells.
5. List positive roles that bacteria play in people’s lives.
6. Name the two kingdoms of bacteria and tell how bacteria reproduce and survive.
TOPIC C – Protists and Fungi
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the characteristics of protists and fungi.
Time:
10 days
References:
Text Volume A, Chapter 3, Sections 1 & 3
Lecture Topics
1. Protists
2. Fungi
Laboratories/Activities
1. Drop of Pond Water
2. My Favorite Fungus
3. What’s for Lunch?
Objectives:
1. Describe the characteristics of animal-like, funguslike, and plantlike protests.
2. Name the characteristics that all fungi share.
3. Describe how fungi obtain food.
4. List the roles fungi play in the living world.
5. Describe the ways that fungi reproduce.
TOPIC D – Introduction to Plants
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the plant kingdom.
Time:
9 days
References:
Text Volume A, Chapter 4, Sections 1, 3 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. The Plant Kingdom
2. Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts
3. Ferns and Their Relatives
Laboratories/Activities
1. Eye on Photosynthesis
2. Masses of Mosses
Objectives:
1. Identify the characteristics that all plants share.
2. Name all the things that plants need to live successfully and describe the plant life cycle.
3. Name some nonvascular plants and list the characteristics that they all share.
4. Describe the structure of a moss plant.
5. Name some seedless vascular plants and list the characteristics that they share.
6. Describe the structure of a fern plant.
TOPIC E – Seed Plants
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with gymnosperms and angiosperms.
Time:
14 days
References:
Text Volume A, Chapter 5, Sections 1-4
Lecture Topics
1. The Characteristics of Seed Plants
2. Gymnosperms
3. Angiosperms
4. Plant Responses and Growth
Laboratories/Activities
1. Leaf Analysis
2. A Close Look at Flowers
3. Which Way is Up?
Objectives:
1. List the characteristics that seed plants share.
2. Name the main parts of a seed, identify the function of each part of the seed, and describe how seeds disperse and germinate.
3. Describe the functions of leaves, stems, and roots.
4. Give examples of gymnosperms and list the characteristics they share.
5. Describe how gymnosperms reproduce.
6. Name types of angiosperms and list the characteristics that they all share.
7. Describe the life cycle of angiosperms.
8. Compare monocots and dicots.
9. Identify three stimuli that produce plant responses.
10. List the functions that plant hormones control.
UNIT III. ANIMALS
TOPIC A – Sponges, Cnidarians, and Worms
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with what an animal is and some of the lower forms of animals.
Time:
12 days
References:
Text Volume B, Chapter 1, Sections 1, 3 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. What is an Animal?
2. Sponges and Cnidarians
3. Worms
Laboratories/Activities
1. A Tale Told by Tracks
2. Animal Advertisements
Objectives:
1. List and describe four major characteristics that all animals share.
2. Explain how biologists classify animals into groups.
3. Describe the organization of a sponge’s body.
4. Identify the main characteristics of cnidarians.
5. Identify the three main groups of worms.
6. List and identify the characteristics of the three groups of worms.
TOPIC B – Mollusks, Arthropods, and Echinoderms
Purpose:
Students will understand the characteristics of mollusks, arthropods, and echinoderms.
Time:
13 days
References:
Text Volume B, Chapter 2, Sections 1, 2, 3 & 5
Lecture Topics
1. Mollusks
2. Arthropods
3. Insects
4. Echinoderms
Laboratories/Activities
1. A Snail’s Pace
2. What’s Living in the Soil?
Objectives:
1. Describe the main characteristics of mollusks.
2. Identify the major groups of mollusks.
3. Describe the major characteristics of arthropods.
4. Identify the main groups of arthropods.
5. Describe the characteristics of insects.
6. Describe the overall impact of insects on humans.
7. Describe the typical echinoderm characteristics.
TOPIC C – Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the characteristics of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles.
Time:
16 days
References:
Text Volume B, Chapter 3, Sections 1-4
Lecture Topics
1. What is a vertebrate?
2. Fishes
3. Amphibians
4. Reptiles
Laboratories/Activities
1. Home Sweet Home
2. Soaking Up Those Rays
Objectives:
1. Describe the main characteristic that is shared by all vertebrates.
2. Describe how vertebrates differ in the way they control body temperature.
3. Explain how fish use their gills.
4. Name the three major groups of fish.
5. Describe the life cycle of an amphibian.
6. Describe how amphibians are adapted for movement on land.
7. Describe some adaptations that allow reptiles to live on dry land.
8. State how a reptile’s egg is different from an amphibian’s egg.
TOPIC D – Birds and Mammals
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with characteristics of birds and mammals.
Time:
12 days
References:
Text Volume B, Chapter 4, Sections 1, 3 & 4
Lecture Topics
1. Birds
2. What is a mammal?
3. Diversity of mammals
Laboratories/Activities
1. Looking at an Owl’s Leftovers
2. Keeping Warm
3. No Thumbs
Objectives:
1. Identify the common characteristics of birds.
2. Explain how birds are adapted to their environments.
3. Describe the characteristics all mammals share.
4. Identify the characteristic used to classify mammals as monotremes, marsupials, or placental mammals.
TOPIC E – Animal Behavior
Purpose:
Students will understand the functions and patterns of animal behavior.
Time:
13 days
References:
Text Volume B, Chapter 5, Sections 1 & 2
Lecture Topics
1. Why do animals behave as they do?
2. Patterns of behavior
Laboratories/Activities
1. Line Them Up
2. Become a Learning Detective
3. Expressions
Objectives:
1. Describe the functions of animals’ behaviors.
2. Compare instinctive and learned behavior.
3. Explain the function of courtship behavior.
4. Explain how animals benefit from living in groups.
5. Explain how migration is important for an animal’s survival.
UNIT IV. INSIDE EARTH
TOPIC A – Plate Tectonics
Purpose:
Students will become familiar with the basic characteristics of Earth’s plates.
Time:
12 days
References:
Text Volume F, Chapter 1, Sections 1, 3, 4 & 5
Lecture Topics
1. Earth’s Interior
2. Drifting Continents
3. Sea-Floor Spreading
4. The Theory of Plate Tectonics
Laboratories/Activities
1. Sea-Floor Spreading
2. Hot Plates
Objectives:
1. Describe what geologists do.
2. List the characteristics of Earth’s crust, mantle, and core.
3. Describe the theory of continental drift.
4. List the evidence used by Alfred Wegener to form his theory and why other scientists rejected it.
5. Describe the process of sea-floor spreading.
6. List the evidence for sea-floor spreading.
7. Explain the process of subduction.
8. Explain the theory of plate tectonics.
9. Describe the three types of plate boundaries.
TOPIC B – Earthquakes
Purpose:
Students will study the various aspects of an earthquake.
Time:
9 days
References:
Text Volume F, Chapter 2, Sections 1-3
Lecture Topics
1. Earth’s Crust in Motion
2. Measuring Earthquakes
3. Earthquake Hazards and Safety
Laboratories/Activities