What does a student learn in StateMaryland,GradeGrade 7,SubjectScience?

Students identify questions and problems that can actually be tested or built toward. They learn to tell the difference between a question science can answer and one it can't.

Students build or draw models (diagrams, simulations, physical replicas) to show how a system or process works, then use those models to explain patterns and test ideas.

Students design their own tests or experiments, collect real data, and use what they find to check whether an idea holds up.

Students read charts, graphs, and data tables to spot patterns and explain what the numbers actually mean.

Students use numbers, measurements, and calculations to back up scientific ideas, not just words. A graph, an equation, or a pattern in data becomes the evidence.

Students build written explanations for what they observe, then back up each claim with data or evidence from their investigation. The reasoning has to connect to an actual scientific principle, not just a guess.

Students look at two or more competing scientific explanations or solutions, weigh the evidence behind each, and argue for which one holds up better. The goal is to let the evidence decide, not just opinion.

Students read science articles and data, judge whether the information is reliable, and explain their findings clearly in writing or discussion.

Students study what atoms and molecules are made of and how they interact to explain everyday physical phenomena, like why ice melts or why some materials conduct heat better than others.

Students learn why objects speed up, slow down, or stay still by studying Newton's laws. They explore how forces like pushes, pulls, and gravity affect motion, and why energy and momentum stay constant in a closed system.

Students explore how energy moves from one object to another and how it changes form, such as heat turning into motion or light. The total amount of energy in a closed system stays the same, even as it shifts around.

Students study how waves, like sound and light, carry energy and send information from one place to another. They look at real examples, from radio signals to medical imaging, to see how wave behavior makes modern technology work.

Students examine how living things are built, starting with cells and working up to the organs and systems that keep an organism alive.

Students trace how energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil move through living things in an ecosystem. They also study how plants, animals, and other organisms depend on and affect each other.

Students examine how traits like eye color or height are passed from parents to children, and why siblings can look different even when they share the same parents.

Students examine how living things share common traits while also varying widely, then explore why those differences accumulate over time through natural selection and other forces that shape which traits get passed on.

Students study where Earth sits in the solar system and how the planets move in predictable patterns. They also look at evidence that tells the story of how Earth itself formed and changed over time.

Students examine how Earth's major systems (land, water, air, and living things) affect one another. They look at real examples of those interactions, like how rainfall shapes landforms or how plants change the air.

Students look at how things like farming, building, and burning fuel change land, water, and air, and how earthquakes, floods, and wildfires put people and communities at risk.

Students identify a real problem, sketch or build possible solutions, then test and improve their design until it works better.

Students examine how the tools and systems people build shape daily life, and how the needs of society push engineers to solve new problems.