Unit A: Applications of Matter and Chemical Change Students will extend their understanding of matter by investigating and classifying simple chemical reactions used at home and in the workplace. Students also become aware that many different materials can be created from a relatively small number of components and that technologies based on chemical changes are widely used in producing useful materials.
Unit B: Understanding Common Energy Conversion Systems Students will investigate a variety of important energy conversions occurring in biological, chemical, physical and technological systems. Although energy appears in many forms and is essentially conserved, in each energy transformation the availability of useful energy decreases. Students learn that the technologies for extracting, processing and using fossil fuels involve converting energy into more useful forms.
Unit C: Disease Defense and Human Health The human organism as a living system is affected by a variety of environmental and genetic factors. Students will investigate the nature of these factors, their effects on the health of the human organism, and how social conditions and decisions play a role. Students learn about the body's natural defense systems and about medical techniques developed to minimize the risk of exposure to environmental toxins and pathogens. Although inheritance is well understood, minimizing genetic disorders in a complex issue involving scientific, ethical and social perspectives.
Unit D: Motion, Change and Transportation Safety There is a greater risk of being injured of killed while travelling in a motor vehicle than in any other daily activity. Students learn about safety systems and practices designed to protect passengers, and link these practices to the law of conservation of momentum. Key understandings are related to speed, distance, time, and force.