Scope and sequence · Science
Grade 7 Earth Science: Earth History and the Flood
A year of reading the rocks with real people and real places, from Nicolas Steno’s three principles and the walls of the Grand Canyon to Guy Berthault’s flume, the coelacanth hauled up in 1938, Louis Agassiz and his glaciers, a dice-roll half-life lab and the dacite of Mount St. Helens, each one taken apart to see what was observed, what was measured and what the Flood of Genesis 6–9 would have left behind, and then tested in miniature at the kitchen table.
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What to cover
32 of 36 lessons are MUST COVER. They are tested on the unit tests and exams, or are skills the SAT/ACT relies on. OPTIONAL lessons are enrichment. Do them if time allows. The course is complete when the MUST COVER lessons are done.
Unit 1: Steno’s Principles
- MUST COVER 1.1 Nicolas Steno, the Danish Anatomist Who Became a Bishop (1669) ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 1.2 Superposition · unit test
- MUST COVER 1.3 Original Horizontality and Lateral Continuity · unit test
- MUST COVER 1.4 Cross-Cutting Relationships · unit test
Unit 2: Layers
- MUST COVER 2.1 Reading the Grand Canyon ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 2.2 Flat Gaps Between Layers · unit test
- MUST COVER 2.3 Lab: Rapid Layering in a Flume (Guy Berthault, 1986) · unit test
- MUST COVER 2.4 Coal Seams · unit test
Unit 3: Fossil Record
- MUST COVER 3.1 What Museums Say: Reading a Fossil Sign ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.2 Order of Fossils and Ecological Zonation ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.3 Living Fossils: The Coelacanth of 1938 · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.4 Missing Transitions and How Each Side Explains Them · unit test
Unit 4: The Flood Year
- MUST COVER 4.1 Genesis 6–9 as History ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.2 The Ark’s Size and Stability (Hong, 1994 Study) · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.3 Flood Legends Worldwide · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.4 What a Global Flood Would Leave Behind · unit test
Unit 5: Ice Age
- MUST COVER 5.1 Agassiz and the Glaciers (1837) ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.2 Woolly Mammoths ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.3 One Post-Flood Ice Age (Oard) · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.4 Ice Cores and How Layers Are Counted · unit test
Unit 6: Dinosaurs in Depth
- MUST COVER 6.1 Dinosaur Kinds and Classification ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.2 Dinosaur Eggs and Nests · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.3 Dragon Legends: Weighing the Stories · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.4 Feathers and Birds: What the Evidence Shows · unit test
Unit 7: Dating Methods
- MUST COVER 7.1 Radioactive Decay and Half-Life: A Lab with Dice ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.2 The Three Assumptions · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.3 Carbon-14 in Diamonds and Coal: The RATE Project (2005) · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.4 Discordant Dates: The Mount St. Helens Dacite (Austin, 1996) · unit test
Unit 8: Reading a Museum
- MUST COVER 8.1 The Field Trip Guide: Planning a Museum Visit ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.2 What the Sign Says, What We Observe: The Skull That Changed · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.3 Talking Kindly About It · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.4 The Report: Writing Up What You Saw · unit test
Unit 9: Bonus: Field Lab OPTIONAL unit
- OPTIONAL 9.1 Road-Cut Field Notes
- OPTIONAL 9.2 Mapping Local Layers
- OPTIONAL 9.3 Flood Deposits in a Creek
- OPTIONAL 9.4 Museum Sign Journal
36-week pacing calendar
From the course’s own 36-week pacing guide, with catch-up and review weeks added to fill a 36-week (180-day) year.
| Week | Plan | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Session 1: Lesson 1.1 Nicolas Steno, the Danish Anatomist Who Became a Bishop (1669): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 1.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 2 | Session 1: Lesson 1.2 Superposition: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 1.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 3 | Session 1: Lesson 1.3 Original Horizontality and Lateral Continuity: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 1.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 4 | Session 1: Lesson 1.4 Cross-Cutting Relationships: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 1.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 1 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 5 | Session 1: Lesson 2.1 Reading the Grand Canyon: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 2.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 6 | Session 1: Lesson 2.2 Flat Gaps Between Layers: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 2.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 7 | Session 1: Lesson 2.3 Lab: Rapid Layering in a Flume (Guy Berthault, 1986): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 2.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 8 | Session 1: Lesson 2.4 Coal Seams: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 2.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 2 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 9 | Session 1: Lesson 3.1 What Museums Say: Reading a Fossil Sign: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 3.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 10 | Session 1: Lesson 3.2 Order of Fossils and Ecological Zonation: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 3.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 11 | Session 1: Lesson 3.3 Living Fossils: The Coelacanth of 1938: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 3.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 12 | Session 1: Lesson 3.4 Missing Transitions and How Each Side Explains Them: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 3.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 3 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 13 | Session 1: Lesson 4.1 Genesis 6–9 as History: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 4.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 14 | Session 1: Lesson 4.2 The Ark’s Size and Stability (Hong, 1994 Study): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 4.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 15 | Session 1: Lesson 4.3 Flood Legends Worldwide: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 4.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 16 | Session 1: Lesson 4.4 What a Global Flood Would Leave Behind: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 4.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 4 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 17 | Session 1: Lesson 5.1 Agassiz and the Glaciers (1837): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 5.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 18 | Session 1: Lesson 5.2 Woolly Mammoths: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 5.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 19 | Session 1: Lesson 5.3 One Post-Flood Ice Age (Oard): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 5.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 20 | Session 1: Lesson 5.4 Ice Cores and How Layers Are Counted: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 5.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 5 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 21 | Session 1: Lesson 6.1 Dinosaur Kinds and Classification: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 6.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 22 | Session 1: Lesson 6.2 Dinosaur Eggs and Nests: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 6.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 23 | Session 1: Lesson 6.3 Dragon Legends: Weighing the Stories: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 6.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 24 | Session 1: Lesson 6.4 Feathers and Birds: What the Evidence Shows: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 6.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 6 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 25 | Session 1: Lesson 7.1 Radioactive Decay and Half-Life: A Lab with Dice: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 7.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 26 | Session 1: Lesson 7.2 The Three Assumptions: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 7.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 27 | Session 1: Lesson 7.3 Carbon-14 in Diamonds and Coal: The RATE Project (2005): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 7.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 28 | Session 1: Lesson 7.4 Discordant Dates: The Mount St. Helens Dacite (Austin, 1996): warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 7.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 7 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 29 | Session 1: Lesson 8.1 The Field Trip Guide: Planning a Museum Visit: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 8.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 30 | Session 1: Lesson 8.2 What the Sign Says, What We Observe: The Skull That Changed: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 8.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 31 | Session 1: Lesson 8.3 Talking Kindly About It: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 8.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 32 | Session 1: Lesson 8.4 The Report: Writing Up What You Saw: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 8.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 8 review and unit project | ||
| Wk 33 | Session 1: Lesson 9.1 Road-Cut Field Notes: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 9.1 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 34 | Session 1: Lesson 9.2 Mapping Local Layers: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 9.2 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 35 | Session 1: Lesson 9.3 Flood Deposits in a Creek: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 9.3 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook | ||
| Wk 36 | Session 1: Lesson 9.4 Museum Sign Journal: warm-up, video, teaching and picture study Session 2: Lesson 9.4 experiment, worked examples, practice and notebook Session 3: Unit 9 review and unit project |
Grading: Unit tests (eight tests, 60 points each) and lesson practice sets 35%, Field notebook (dated pages, labeled sketches, units on every number, the two closing sentences) 20%, Experiments (prediction, careful measurement, honest record and the improve-it step) 20%, Unit projects 25%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69. Below 60: redo the test or project with help.