The 7th grade unit focuses on examining how organisms develop and function at the level of cells and systems. In this unit, students will investigate content linked to benchmarks organized in three groups - Development and Body Patterns, Cells, and Organ System and Functions. These benchmarks represent two different levels of organization - the organism level and the cellular level. In developing the unit we are starting at the embryonic level and moving up through the formation of organ systems. Using this context, we will examine similarities and differences across species at the morphological level. Using these experiences, students will begin to develop an understanding of how cells give rise to systems and the function that systems carry out so that the whole organism can survive.

In this unit, students will develop an understanding of models as well as the ability to use models as part of their way of thinking about science. Because we are focusing on organisms used as "model systems" in biology as an experimental system, students will develop scientific practices related to experimentation including question generation, experimentation and data analys