7TH GRADE LIFE SCIENCE LEOCE STUDY GUIDE
UNIT 1: NATURE OF SCIENCE
CHAPTERS: NOS lessons 1-3
KEY TERMS: hypothesis, theory, experimental group, outcome variable (dependent variable),
test variable (independent variable), control group, conclusion, replication, repetition
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
1. Draw a 5 cm ruler and label the centimeter and millimeter lines.
2. What could cause a scientific theory to be modified?
3. Use the experiment below to identify the hypothesis, outcome variable (dependent
variable), test variable (independent variable), experimental group, control group and
conclusion.
Sophie and Bob wanted to know if the amount of caffeine in energy drinks will
affect their heart rate. They used energy drinks with the same ingredients but
with different amounts of caffeine. The table below shows their results:
Trial #
1
Drink A
(0 mg caffeine)
64
Heart Rate (beats/minute)
Drink B
(35 mg caffeine)
75
Drink C
(120 mg caffeine)
102
2
3
70
72
80
78
130
125
4. Describe the errors in this experiment and explain how you would correct them.
Mike wants to find out which color water will take longer to heat up. He poured 20ml of blue
water, 20ml of black water, and 15ml of red water into separate beakers and then poured
clear water into a fourth beaker. He placed the blue and black water in the driveway, clear
water on the patio and red water in the shade. He checked the temperature of the beakers in
the driveway at 2 pm and all other beakers were checked at 4 pm.
UNIT 2: CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
CHAPTERS: 1.2, 1.3, 2
KEY TERMS: cell organelles, homeostasis, slide, specimen, high power objective, low power
objective
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
5. State the three parts of the cell theory.
6.
Describe how the cell theory developed and changed over time.
7. What cell structures are found in plant cells that are not found in animal cells?
8. Describe the function of the following cell parts: cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus,
cytoplasm, chloroplast, mitochondria, and vacuole.
9. How do cells maintain homeostasis?
10. Describe the procedures you would follow for viewing a specimen with a microscope
when changing from low to high power.
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UNIT 3: HUMAN BODY
CHAPTERS: 3.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.2, 13.3, 14, 15.1, 15.2, 16.1, 17.1
KEY TERMS: homeostasis, arteries, veins, capillaries, kidneys, heart, small intestine, large
intestine, stomach
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
11. What are the levels of organization in multicellular organisms?
12. What is the main function of the following body systems: nervous, excretory,
musculoskeletal, circulatory, digestive and respiratory?
13. Describe the path of food as it travels through the body.
14. Describe the path of blood as it travels through the body. Use terms: heart, arteries,
veins and capillaries.
15. Describe how systems interact with each other to maintain homeostasis. (Use at least 4
different body systems)
UNIT 4: HEREDITY AND REPRODUCTION
CHAPTERS: 3.1, 4, 5.1, 5.2
KEY TERMS: homozygous, heterozygous, phenotype, genotype, dominant, recessive, trait,
genes, chromosomes, asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction, mitosis, meiosis, pedigree
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
16. In guinea pigs black fur is dominant and white fur is recessive. Draw a Punnett Square
that shows the cross between a homozygous dominant guinea pig with a
heterozygous guinea pig. What percentage of the offspring will be black? What
percentage of the offspring will be white?
17. Describe the relationship between the nucleus, chromosomes and genes.
18. Compare the offspring produced by asexual reproduction and the offspring produced
by sexual reproduction.
19. Compare/contrast the results of mitosis and meiosis.
20. Using the pedigree below, label the generations and determine how many offspring in
the second generation that do not have the disease will be carriers of the trait.
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UNIT 5: DIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION OF ORGANISMS
CHAPTERS: 1.2, 6.1, 6.3
KEY TERMS: survival of the fittest, adaptations, natural selection, theory of evolution, domains,
kingdoms, fossil record
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
21. Describe the distinguishing characteristics of each of the domains and kingdoms.
22. Explain how common ancestry relates to homologous structures.
23. Explain the theory of evolution by natural selection.
24. A farmer uses an insecticide to kill the bugs on his tomato plants. Most of the bugs die
but some do not. The following year he sprays the same insecticide but it does not kill
most of the bugs. Explain this event using what you know about natural selection.
UNIT 6: INTERDEPENDENCE, CYCLES OF MATTER AND ENERGY
CHAPTERS: 10.1, 18, 19.1, 19.3
KEY TERMS: ecosystem, producer, consumer, decomposer, food webs, predator, prey,
competition, limiting factors, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, photosynthesis, respiration,
carbon cycle, Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy
STUDENT QUESTIONS:
25. In Chapter 18 Review page 721, find the diagram of the food web.
a. List the producers and consumers.
b. What decomposer can be added to this food web?
c. Using the same food web, identify the predators of the fish (medium).
d. Pick one organism from the food web and explain what would happen if that
organism was eliminated.
26. Name 4 possible limiting factors that could affect squirrels on your school campus.
27. Contrast the processes of photosynthesis and respiration using the terms; food, water,
carbon dioxide and oxygen.
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28. In Chapter 18 page 723, find the diagram of the carbon cycle.
a. What process removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
b. Name three processes that return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
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