Year 7 Assessment Booklet 20-19

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S CIENCES C OURSE O UTLINE

A IMS OF S CIENCES With inquiry at the core, the MYP Sciences framework aims to guide students to independently and collaboratively investigate issues through research, observation and experimentation. The MYP Sciences curriculum explores the connections between science and everyday life. As they investigate real examples of science applications, students will discover the tensions and dependencies between science and morality, ethics, culture, economics, politics, and the environment. Scientific inquiry also fosters critical and creative thinking about research and design, as well as the identification of assumptions and alternative explanations. Students learn to appreciate and respect the ideas of others, gain good ethical-reasoning skills and further develop their sense of responsibility as members of local and global communities. Learning science involves more than simply learning technical terminology. The MYP Sciences enables students to access, use and communicate scientific knowledge correctly and confidently in oral, written and visual modes. The aims of MYP Sciences are to encourage and enable students to:  Understand and appreciate science and its implications.  Consider science as a human endeavour with benefits and limitations.  Cultivate analytical, inquiring and flexible minds that pose questions, solve problems, construct explanations and judge arguments.  Develop skills to design and perform investigations, evaluate evidence and reach conclusions.  Build an awareness of the need to effectively collaborate and communicate.  Apply language skills and knowledge in a variety of real-life contexts.  Develop sensitivity towards the living and non-living environments.  Reflect on learning experiences and make informed choices. C OURSE D ESCRIPTION S EMESTER O NE Students investigate essential skills in Science through practical activities requiring explanations of observations, measurement and report writing. The ‘Classification, Habitats and Interactions’ unit has a particular emphasis on classifying living things as well as well investigating things that influence survival in ecosystems. Students will inquire about the relationships between organisms and explore the various impacts of change which can occur in habitats. In the study of ‘Earth Resources’, students investigate the water cycle, as well as the impact of human activity on renewable and non-renewable resources. Finally, students study and plan an individual scientific inquiry which will be entered into the Somerset Science Competition. S EMESTER T WO Through the unit, ‘Earth in Space’, students will develop an understanding of the spatial relationship between Earth and other bodies in our solar system. Students will also investigate the factors which influence tides. The ‘Mixtures and Pure Substances” Unit, students will investigate methods of separating and identifying substances in mixtures. They will also inquire into ways to purify water. Furthermore, an investigation of ‘Properties of Substances’, will enable students to gain an understanding of concepts such as biodegradability and changes of state. Through a study of ‘Forces’, students investigate the principles of force, friction and gravity.

Mrs Clare Walker Sciences Teacher

S OMERSET C OLLEGE IB - C URRICULUM I NFORMATION B OOKLET Y EAR 7 M IDDLE Y EARS P ROGRAMME