# Grade 7: Science

A course roadmap (science). Language: en. By @si. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. 0 of 21 concepts ready. In the app: https://ai.page/roadmap/tx-sci-grade-7

Part of: [Texas TEKS: Science](https://ai.page/roadmap/tx-sci.md)

Goal: Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Science, Grade 7

## 1. The student knows how the taxonomic system is used to describe relationships between organisms. The student is expected to:

- [Digestion & Enzymes](https://ai.page/c/digestion-and-enzymes/index.md): Describe the organs of the human digestive system and how food is physically and chemically digested, including the role of enzymes as biological catalysts
- [Classifying Organisms](https://ai.page/c/classifying-organisms/index.md): Describe how living things are classified into broad groups (micro-organisms, plants, animals) according to common observable characteristics, similarities, and differences

## 2. The student knows how systems are organized and function to support the health of an organism and how traits are inherited. The student is expected to:

- [How Natural Selection Works](https://ai.page/c/how-natural-selection-works/index.md): Explain natural selection as the mechanism of evolution: heritable variation + competition for resources + differential survival and reproduction = change in allele frequency over generations
- [Human Reproduction](https://ai.page/c/human-reproduction/index.md): Describe the structure and function of the male and female human reproductive systems, and explain the processes of fertilisation, gestation, and birth including the role of the placenta
- [Cells to Organ Systems](https://ai.page/c/cells-to-organ-systems/index.md): Describe the hierarchical organisation of multicellular organisms: cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → organism
- [The Circulatory System](https://ai.page/c/the-circulatory-system/index.md): Identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels, and blood

## 3. The student understands that ecosystems are dependent upon the cycling of matter and the flow of energy. The student is expected to:

- [Matter Cycling in Ecosystems](https://ai.page/c/matter-cycling-in-ecosystems/index.md): Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment in an ecosystem
- [Energy Loss Between Levels](https://ai.page/c/energy-loss-between-levels/index.md): Explain how energy is transferred between trophic levels in a food chain, why energy is lost at each stage, and use pyramids of biomass/numbers to represent this

## 4. The student understands how human activity can impact the hydrosphere. The student is expected to:

- [The Water Cycle](https://ai.page/c/the-water-cycle/index.md): Describe the water cycle, tracing water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, and transpiration in plants, explaining how the sun drives the cycle

## 5. The student understands the causes and effects of plate tectonics. The student is expected to:

- [Plate Boundaries](https://ai.page/c/plate-boundaries/index.md): Explain how plate boundaries cause earthquakes and volcanoes: plates pushing together, pulling apart, or sliding past each other create the forces that trigger these events, and mountains form where plates collide
- [How Tectonic Plates Move](https://ai.page/c/how-tectonic-plates-move/index.md): Understand that convection currents in the molten mantle drive the movement of rigid tectonic plates; distinguish between convergent (collision/subduction), divergent (spreading ridges), and transform (sliding) plate boundaries; explain why volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain chains cluster at boundaries; introduce the Wilson cycle of supercontinent assembly and breakup

## 6. The student understands the patterns of movement, organization, and characteristics of components of our solar system. The student is expected to:

- [The solar system (age 11+)](https://ai.page/c/the-solar-system-age-11/index.md): Describe the detailed structure of the solar system, including moons, asteroids, and comets, compare orbital periods and distances of the planets, and distinguish between planets, dwarf planets, and other bodies

## 7. The student understands the behavior of thermal energy as it flows into and out of systems. The student is expected to:

- [Reactions That Release or Absorb Heat](https://ai.page/c/reactions-that-release-or-absorb-heat/index.md): Distinguish between exothermic reactions (release energy, temperature rises) and endothermic reactions (absorb energy, temperature falls), with everyday and industrial examples
- [How Materials Change State](https://ai.page/c/how-materials-change-state/index.md): Explain melting, freezing, boiling, condensing, and sublimation using the particle model, interpreting heating and cooling curves to identify melting and boiling points
- [Conduction, convection, and radiation](https://ai.page/c/conduction-convection-and-radiation/index.md): Describe and compare the three mechanisms of heat transfer — conduction (particle vibration through solids), convection (fluid movement in liquids/gases), and radiation (infrared waves) — and explain that the rate of transfer depends on temperature difference

## 8. The student describes the cause-and-effect relationship between force and motion. The student is expected to:

- [Resultant Forces](https://ai.page/c/resultant-forces/index.md): Describe forces as vector quantities with both magnitude and direction, distinguish between balanced forces (zero resultant, no change in motion) and unbalanced forces (non-zero resultant, causes acceleration or deceleration)
- [Reading Distance-Time Graphs](https://ai.page/c/reading-distance-time-graphs/index.md): Read and plot distance-time graphs for moving objects; interpret the gradient (steepness) of a line as speed; identify stationary periods (horizontal sections), constant speed (straight diagonal lines), and relative speeds by comparing gradients; calculate average speed from the gradient of a straight-line segment using speed = distance ÷ time
- [Relative Motion](https://ai.page/c/relative-motion/index.md): Explain relative motion — how the apparent speed and direction of an object depends on the observer's own motion — using everyday examples such as trains and cars passing

## 9. The student distinguishes between elements and compounds, classifies changes in matter, and understands the properties of solutions. The student is expected to:

- [Atoms, Elements & Compounds](https://ai.page/c/atoms-elements-and-compounds/index.md): Explain the differences between atoms, elements, and compounds; describe the simple Bohr model of the atom (nucleus with protons and neutrons, electrons in shells); and write and interpret chemical symbols and simple formulae

## 10. The student understands that recurring themes and concepts provide a framework for making connections across disciplines. The student is expected to:

- [Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+)](https://ai.page/c/drawing-conclusions-from-evidence-age-12/index.md): Identify patterns and trends in data, draw conclusions that directly address the hypothesis with quantitative reference to evidence, and evaluate the investigation by distinguishing between systematic and random errors and proposing targeted improvements

## 11. The student develops evidence-based explanations and communicates findings, conclusions, and proposed solutions. The student is expected to:

- [Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 9+)](https://ai.page/c/drawing-conclusions-from-evidence-age-9/index.md): Report and present findings including conclusions, causal relationships, explanations, and a degree of trust in results using oral and written forms

## Health: 0 of 100

Of its 21 own concepts: 0 have an explanation, 0 have practice, 0 have a measurement question, 0 have a checked version.

Findings (each is a task for anyone's AI):

- Digestion & Enzymes has no explanation yet
- Classifying Organisms has no explanation yet
- How Natural Selection Works has no explanation yet
- Human Reproduction has no explanation yet
- Cells to Organ Systems has no explanation yet
- The Circulatory System has no explanation yet
- Matter Cycling in Ecosystems has no explanation yet
- Energy Loss Between Levels has no explanation yet
- The Water Cycle has no explanation yet
- Plate Boundaries has no explanation yet
- How Tectonic Plates Move has no explanation yet
- The solar system (age 11+) has no explanation yet
- Reactions That Release or Absorb Heat has no explanation yet
- How Materials Change State has no explanation yet
- Conduction, convection, and radiation has no explanation yet
- Resultant Forces has no explanation yet
- Reading Distance-Time Graphs has no explanation yet
- Relative Motion has no explanation yet
- Atoms, Elements & Compounds has no explanation yet
- Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+) comes before Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 9+), which it needs
- Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+) has no explanation yet
- Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 9+) has no explanation yet

Credit: The structure of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Science (https://tea.texas.gov/system/files/principles-of-applied-engineering-breakouts_0.pdf); concepts from the Marble Skill Taxonomy (v1), © Generative Spark, Inc. (withmarble.com), text CC BY-SA 4.0, database ODbL 1.0: https://github.com/withmarbleapp/os-taxonomy, mapped to its standards by Marble.