Science — Grade 7

Wheelin' fun

In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 3.6

In this lesson for grade seven, students participate in a car-racing lab, and make observations about how design affects speed. Students discuss how the lab applies to careers in motor sports.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science)

By Emma Couch.Adapted by Michelle Arias.

Studying simple machines with Rube Goldberg

Using a copy of a Rube Goldberg cartoon, show how the famous cartoonist drew weird and wacky machines to complete a simple task. Students will develop their own Rube Goldberg-type cartoon, using five types of simple machines, to accomplish their selected feat.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science)

By Cynthia Corley.

Resources on the web

Quake side effects

In this Science Update, students explore global changes caused by tsunamis in southeast Asia. Benjamin Fong Chao of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center presents evidence that suggests the massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia redistributed some... (Learn more)

Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–7 Science)

Provided by:

Inclined Plane

In this multiple-day activity from Illuminations, students time balls rolling down inclines of varying lengths and heights. They then try to make inferences about the relationships among the variables involved. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science)

Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The bicycle as a system

This lesson gives students an opportunity to examine the nature of systems in the context of an object with which they are very familiar—the bicycle. Students will identify the properties of the various subsystems of a bicycle and examine how they relate... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science)

Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science