Seventh Grade Lesson Plans (Page 8)

How Stable is Your Food Web?

Lesson Plan Grade: 5th-9th

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"Giant Kelp Forest" © 2010 Tom Thai Could you describe the kelp forest food web as a system? Your students will design and use a simple model to test cause and effect relationships or interactions concerning the functioning of a marine food web, ranking their hypothetical ecosystems according to their stability when faced with a natural or man-made disturbance. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Kinesthetic Astronomy: Earth's Rotation

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-8th

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"Blue Marble" © 2002 NASA Earth Observatory Many of the misconceptions about our solar system are rooted in the fact that it is large and hard to comprehend. This kinesthetic activity will demonstrate concepts like rotation and orbit, clarify movement and direction, and help students understand why earthlings see different things in the sky. Read more

Kinesthetic Astronomy: Longer Days, Shorter Nights

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-8th

"Diagram of the Earth's seasons as seen from the south" © 2006 Tau'olunga This kinesthetic activity demonstrates to students that the Earth's tilt is what is responsible for shifting light patterns and the change in seasons. Read more

Line-Following Robot

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Have your students read about autonomous (also called self-driving or driverless) cars in the news? How can you build a car or a robot that will stay on the road without a human driver? In this project, your students will find out by building a robot that can automatically follow a line around a homemade race course, while learning about the electromagnetic spectrum and electronic circuits. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Oceanic Circulation: What Keeps the Ocean in Motion?

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Why is the ocean vital to our planet? There are many reasons, but one important one is that the ocean is a major player in regulating our weather and climate through currents. In this lesson plan, your students will model ocean currents with cups, water, and food coloring, and explore how temperature and density differences set deep ocean waters in motion to create a global oceanic circulation system. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Ping Pong Catapult

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Learn about potential and kinetic energy the fun way—by launching ping pong balls across the classroom with a catapult! Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Plant Seed Design Challenge

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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In this small group activity, students will build a plant seed (burr) from a Styrofoam® ball and other crafts materials. The seed needs to be designed in a way that it can be dispersed by attaching to a mockup animal (wool glove). Students will first test if their seed attaches to the wool glove and then carry their attached seed along an obstacle course inside the classroom. As students design their plant seed and mimic its dispersal via an animal, they will realize how some plants grow… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Preventing Outbreaks with Herd Immunity

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

What is herd immunity, how is it achieved, and what impact does it have on outbreaks? Students will explore these questions and more in this lesson plan. They will then use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model different levels of viral immunity in communities to understand how a population can reach the herd immunity threshold and the impacts that has on individuals and populations during a COVID-19 outbreak. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. … Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Protect Coastal Communities from Storm Surge Waves

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Sea level rise and more-intense storms, both driven by climate change, threaten coastal communities around the globe. In this engineering project, your students will build a model coastline and design a seawall to protect houses from waves as the sea level rises. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. Materials can be distributed for each student to work independently at home on the challenge and report back. Alternatively, students can design a barrier (draw… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Push Harder — Newton's Second Law

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Don't just teach your students about Newton's laws of motion using diagrams in a textbook—try something hands-on! In this project, students will build their own cars using craft materials and explore the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. Students can graph data and make observations in real-time using a mobile phone and a sensor app or use a low-tech approach with a meter stick and stopwatch. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS2-2. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

Seventh Grade Lesson Plans (130 results)

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