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Life Science

From cells to ecosystems — explore biology through scientific investigation, primary research, and real-world applications. Covers cell biology, genetics, ecology, and human body systems. TEKS §112.19 aligned.

14 Units

30-45 minutes per unit

What You Will Learn

Scientific Investigation

Learn to design experiments, analyze data, and draw evidence-based conclusions like working scientists.

Genetics & Heredity

From Mendel's peas to modern genomics — understand inheritance, DNA, and why variation matters.

Ecology & Systems

Trace energy through ecosystems, understand biodiversity, and analyze human impacts on living systems.

All Units

How Scientists Think

Learn the scientific method, experimental design with variables, lab safety, and how to distinguish science from pseudoscience.

•Design a controlled experiment with independent, dependent, and controlled variables
•Apply the steps of scientific inquiry to real-world questions
•Distinguish between scientific claims and pseudoscientific claims using evidence-based criteria

Cells: The Building Blocks of Life

Explore cell theory, compare plant and animal cells, learn the functions of key organelles, and discover how microscopes revealed the invisible world.

•Explain the three parts of cell theory and their significance
•Compare and contrast plant and animal cells, identifying unique structures in each
•Describe the function of major cell organelles
+1 more objectives

How Cells Work: Energy and Transport

Understand how cells get energy through photosynthesis and cellular respiration, how materials move across cell membranes, and why cells have size limits.

•Compare and contrast photosynthesis and cellular respiration as complementary processes
•Explain how molecules move across cell membranes through diffusion and osmosis
•Describe why the surface-area-to-volume ratio limits cell size

Genetics: Why You Look Like Your Parents (But Not Exactly)

Discover how DNA, genes, and alleles determine inherited traits, explore Mendel's pea plant experiments, and learn to predict trait inheritance using Punnett squares.

•Describe the relationship between DNA, chromosomes, genes, and alleles
•Explain how Mendel's experiments revealed the rules of inheritance
•Use Punnett squares to predict the probability of offspring inheriting specific traits
+1 more objectives

DNA Technology: Reading the Code of Life

Explore the structure of DNA, understand how mutations drive variation, learn the basics of genetic engineering, and wrestle with the ethics of editing genes.

•Describe the structure of DNA as a double helix made of nucleotide base pairs
•Explain how mutations occur and their potential effects on organisms
•Describe basic genetic engineering techniques and their applications
+1 more objectives

Evolution: How Life Changes Over Time

Understand natural selection, adaptation, and the evidence for evolution from fossils, DNA, and comparative anatomy.

•Explain Darwin's theory of natural selection and how it drives evolution
•Describe how adaptations arise through natural selection over generations
•Evaluate multiple lines of evidence for evolution, including fossils, DNA, and homologous structures
+1 more objectives

Classifying Life: Organizing the Living World

Learn how scientists organize living things into groups using taxonomy, explore domains and kingdoms, practice using dichotomous keys, and understand why biodiversity matters.

•Explain the purpose and structure of biological classification (taxonomy)
•Describe the three domains and six kingdoms of life
•Use a dichotomous key to identify organisms
+1 more objectives

Ecosystems: Everything Is Connected

Explore how living and nonliving factors interact in ecosystems, trace energy through food webs, and discover why every organism — from bacteria to top predators — has a role to play.

•Distinguish between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem
•Construct and interpret food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids
•Classify organisms as producers, consumers, or decomposers
+1 more objectives

Cycles of Matter: Water, Carbon, and Nitrogen

Discover how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle through ecosystems, connecting the air we breathe to the plants we eat and the soil beneath our feet.

•Trace the movement of water through the water cycle and its role in ecosystems
•Explain how carbon moves between the atmosphere, organisms, and rocks
•Describe the nitrogen cycle and why bacteria are essential to life
+1 more objectives

Biomes: Earth's Major Ecosystems

Explore Earth's diverse biomes — from frozen tundras to tropical rainforests — and understand how climate shapes the organisms that live there.

•Define biomes and describe the major terrestrial and aquatic biomes
•Explain how temperature and precipitation patterns determine biome type
•Identify the characteristic organisms and adaptations in each biome
+1 more objectives

Human Body Systems: How You Work

Explore the major systems of the human body — skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, and respiratory — and understand how they work together to keep you alive.

•Identify the major organs and functions of the skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, and respiratory systems
•Explain how body systems work together to move food, oxygen, and nutrients
•Describe how each system maintains homeostasis
+1 more objectives

Body Defense: The Immune System

Discover how your body defends itself against invaders — from physical barriers to sophisticated white blood cells to vaccines that train your immune system.

•Describe the three lines of defense against pathogens
•Explain how the immune system recognizes and destroys invaders
•Compare bacteria, viruses, and how each is targeted by the immune system
+2 more objectives

Human Impact on Ecosystems

Examine how human activities — pollution, habitat destruction, invasive species, and climate change — alter ecosystems and threaten biodiversity.

•Classify types of pollution and their effects on ecosystems
•Explain habitat destruction and its consequences for biodiversity
•Describe what invasive species are and how they disrupt ecosystems
+2 more objectives

Science, Technology, and Society

Explore how science shapes society, how technology translates discoveries into solutions, and how scientific literacy helps you evaluate claims in a complex world.

•Explain how scientific discoveries influence policy and society
•Trace the development of medical treatments from idea to cure
•Evaluate agricultural innovations and their ecological impacts
+2 more objectives

Grade 7 Life Science. Designed for Texas homeschool families. TEKS §112.19 aligned.