Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools) - Grade Seven

Learning Area: Natural Sciences

Learning Outcome 1:  Scientific Investigations

The learner will be able to act confidently on curiosity about natural phenomena, and to investigate relationships and solve problems in scientific, technological and environmental contexts.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Plans investigations: Plans simple tests and comparisons, and considers how to make them fair.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • identifies a testable question among a set of possible questions;
  • contributes in ways that aid the investigation (e.g. asks: ‘How could we measure X?’ or ‘Are we treating these two things in the same way?’);
  • gives reasons why a particular test is or is not fair.

• Conducts investigations and collects data: Organises and uses equipment or sources to gather and record information.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • systematically tests two or more items in order to compare them on the same common property;
  • modifies procedure to obtain better observations or readings;
  • uses indexes and glossaries to find useful data in books and catalogues.

• Evaluates data and communicates findings: Generalises in terms of a relevant aspect and describes how the data supports the generalisation.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • offers a strong example of evidence that supports the finding;
  • considers what further work would be needed to decide whether the findings apply to other, similar situations.

Learning Outcome 2:  Constructing Science Knowledge

The learner will know and be able to interpret and apply scientific, technological and environmental knowledge.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Recalls meaningful information: At the minimum, recalls definitions and complex facts.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • distinguishes vertebrates from invertebrates;
  • lists the planets in our solar system,in their correct order and relations of size;
  • tells how electric and magnetic forces affect materials differently;
  • explains what is meant by a variable in an investigation.

• Categorises information: Compares features of different categories of objects, organisms and events.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • uses a simple classification system to group root types of familiar plants;
  • compiles a list of uses of household acids, based on common properties, and compares them with a list of household bases;
  • takes the role of a zookeeper who needs to build animal enclosures in suitable groups, based on the particular needs of the animals.

• Interprets information: Interprets information by identifying key ideas in text, finding patterns in recorded data, and making inferences from information in various forms (e.g. pictures, diagrams, text).
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • creates headings for paragraphs in some passages from a textbook;
  • reconstructs jumbled or partly-deleted text by reference to photos or diagrams;
  • identifies properties of materials from reading a story about the Wright brothers choosing materials to make the first aeroplane;
  • generates own sentences about relationships of the type ‘when X happens, then Y also happens’.

• Applies knowledge: Applies conceptual knowledge by linking a taught concept to a variation of a familiar situation.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • identifies which processes of energy transfer were involved as a hot car engine cooled down;
  • applies the concept of reproduction to debate the question of whether rivers and fires are living or non-living things;
  • evaluates the ‘fair test’ aspect of simple investigations carried out by other people.

Learning Outcome 3:  Science, Society and the Environment

The learner will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships between science and technology, society and the environment.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Understands science as a human endeavour: Compares differing interpretations of events.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • identifies and explains differences in two reports of the same event or investigation;
  • describes difficulties in observing certain phenomena (e.g.behaviour of nocturnal animals), and suggests ways of gaining better information.

• Understands sustainable use of the earth’s resources: Analyses information about sustainable and unsustainable use of resources.
• Achievement is evident when the learner, for example,
  • analyses data provided about water use in South Africa, comparing the amounts used in various production processes and noting amounts released as effluent;
  • presents the analysis as a report to a policy-making body such as Parliament, with recommendations;
  • prepares several devices for cooking on, using different types of fuel and finding out the costs and sources of the fuels.