British Columbia · Grade 10
Science 10
- SC 10
British Columbia’s Grade 10 science course, from Genetics and the Diversity of Life to Formation of the Universe.
- Units
- 4
- Lessons
- 25
- Skills
- 25
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Province of British Columbia
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 9 skills
Genetics and the Diversity of Life
DNA: The Code of Life
DNA structure and function
I can describe DNA's structure and explain how that structure lets it store and pass on genetic information.
Skill 1.1
Mendelian Genetics and Punnett Squares
Mendelian genetics and Punnett squares (predicting single-trait crosses)
I can use Mendelian genetics and a Punnett square to predict the outcome of a single-trait cross.
Skill 1.2
Dominance Patterns
Dominance patterns (complete dominance, co-dominance, incomplete dominance)
I can distinguish complete dominance, co-dominance, and incomplete dominance, and predict the phenotype each produces.
Skill 1.3
Sex-Linked Inheritance
Sex-linked inheritance (traits carried on the X chromosome)
I can explain sex-linked inheritance and solve a Punnett square for a sex-linked cross.
Skill 1.4
Human Genetics and Pedigrees
Human genetics (pedigrees and inherited human traits/conditions)
I can read a human pedigree chart and determine the likely inheritance pattern of a trait.
Skill 1.5
Mutation and Its Impact on Evolution
Mutation and its impact on evolution (mutagens, carcinogens, positive/negative/neutral effects)
I can explain what a mutation is and how it drives evolution.
Skill 1.6
Natural Selection
Natural selection (selection pressure, adaptation, adaptive radiation, extinction)
I can explain how natural selection acts on a population through selection pressure, producing adaptation or extinction.
Skill 1.7
Artificial Selection
Artificial selection (selective breeding in agriculture and of plants/animals)
I can explain artificial selection and compare it to natural selection.
Skill 1.8
Applied Genetics and Ethics
Applied genetics and its ethical considerations (GMOs, gene therapy, cloning, forensics; health/environmental/social implications)
I can describe real applications of genetics and weigh the health, environmental, and social implications they raise.
Skill 1.9
The official wording · 9 outcomes
- 1.1
- DNA structure and function
- 1.2
- patterns of inheritance
- 1.3
- patterns of inheritance
- 1.4
- patterns of inheritance
- 1.5
- patterns of inheritance
- 1.6
- mechanisms for the diversity of life
- 1.7
- mechanisms for the diversity of life
- 1.8
- mechanisms for the diversity of life
- 1.9
- applied genetics and ethical considerations
Key ideas
DNA is a double helix: two strands twisted together, each strand a backbone of alternating sugar and phosphate with bases attached, organized into genes along chromosomes.
Each parent contributes one allele per gene; a dominant allele masks a recessive one in the phenotype when the two are paired together (heterozygous).
Complete dominance: one allele fully masks the other in the heterozygote, so the phenotype matches the dominant allele exactly.
Some genes are carried on the X chromosome; because males have only one X (XY) while females have two (XX), a recessive X-linked allele shows up in males with just one copy but is usually masked in females who carry a second, dominant X.
A pedigree chart uses standard symbols (squares for males, circles for females, filled shapes for affected individuals) to track a trait across multiple generations of a family.
Watch out for
- Thinking DNA IS the trait itself ("the tall gene") rather than a coded instruction that gets read and expressed.
- Assuming a recessive trait is automatically rarer or 'weaker' rather than just masked when paired with a dominant allele.
- Assuming every trait follows simple complete dominance and forcing a blended or co-dominant trait into a dominant/recessive explanation.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 6 skills
Chemical Reactions and Energy Change
How Atoms Rearrange and Balancing Equations
How atoms rearrange in a reaction and how to balance a chemical equation
I can explain how chemical reactions rearrange atoms and represent that with a balanced chemical equation.
Skill 2.1
Classifying Reaction Types
Classifying reaction types (synthesis, decomposition, single/double replacement, combustion, neutralization)
I can classify a chemical reaction as synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement, combustion, or neutralization.
Skill 2.2
Acid-Base Chemistry
Acid-base chemistry (the pH scale, acids and bases, neutralization)
I can identify acids and bases by their properties and describe what happens when they neutralize each other.
Skill 2.3
The Law of Conservation of Mass
The law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions
I can apply the law of conservation of mass to verify chemical equations.
Skill 2.4
Energy Change During Reactions
Energy change during reactions (exothermic vs endothermic, activation energy)
I can distinguish exothermic and endothermic reactions and explain the role of activation energy.
Skill 2.5
Chemistry in Practice
Practical applications of chemical processes, including First Peoples knowledge (traditional medicines, food chemistry, remediation)
I can describe practical chemical processes and their implications, including First Peoples knowledge.
Skill 2.6
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- 2.1
- rearrangement of atoms in chemical reactions
- 2.2
- rearrangement of atoms in chemical reactions
- 2.3
- acid-base chemistry
- 2.4
- law of conservation of mass
- 2.5
- energy change during chemical reactions
- 2.6
- practical applications and implications of chemical processes, including First Peoples knowledge
Key ideas
A chemical reaction breaks the bonds holding reactant atoms together and forms new bonds that hold the same atoms together differently as products.
Synthesis reactions combine simpler substances into one more complex product; decomposition reactions break one compound apart into simpler products — opposite patterns.
Acids and bases have characteristic properties (taste, reaction with indicators, conductivity, reactivity with metals/carbonates) and are classified using the pH scale, where lower values are more acidic and higher values are more basic.
The law of conservation of mass: in a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed — the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products.
Exothermic reactions release energy (often as heat) to the surroundings — the products end up with less stored chemical energy than the reactants.
Watch out for
- Thinking atoms are destroyed or created during a reaction (especially when mass or volume seems to change, like gas escaping).
- Trying to memorize each reaction as a one-off rather than recognizing the underlying pattern of how reactants rearrange into products.
- Believing pH 0 means 'no acid' rather than the strongest acidity on the common scale.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 7 skills
Energy: Conservation and Transformation
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy (fission vs fusion; nuclear technologies and their impacts)
I can distinguish nuclear fission from fusion and evaluate the applications and impacts of nuclear technologies.
Skill 3.1
Radiation
Radiation (ionizing vs non-ionizing; alpha, beta, gamma)
I can distinguish ionizing from non-ionizing radiation and describe the properties of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
Skill 3.2
The Law of Conservation of Energy
The law of conservation of energy
I can apply the law of conservation of energy to track energy through a system.
Skill 3.3
Gravitational Potential Energy
Gravitational potential energy and calculating PE = mgh
I can define gravitational potential energy and calculate it using PE = mgh.
Skill 3.4
Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy and calculating KE = 1/2 mv squared
I can define kinetic energy and calculate it using KE = 1/2 mv squared.
Skill 3.5
Transformation and Transfer of Energy
Transformation and transfer of energy, including heat (Q = mcΔT)
I can trace how energy transforms and transfers between forms, including calculating heat using Q = mcΔT.
Skill 3.6
Energy Technologies and Their Impact
Local and global impacts of energy transformations from technologies (pollution, habitat loss, CO2 output)
I can evaluate the local and global impacts of energy transformation technologies.
Skill 3.7
The official wording · 7 outcomes
- 3.1
- nuclear energy and radiation
- 3.2
- nuclear energy and radiation
- 3.3
- law of conservation of energy
- 3.4
- potential and kinetic energy
- 3.5
- potential and kinetic energy
- 3.6
- transformation of energy
- 3.7
- local and global impacts of energy transformations from technologies
Key ideas
Nuclear fission splits a large, unstable nucleus into smaller ones, releasing energy; nuclear fusion combines small nuclei into a larger one, also releasing energy — both release far more energy per unit mass than any chemical reaction because they involve the nuclear force, not chemical bonds.
Ionizing radiation carries enough energy to knock electrons off atoms (creating ions), which can damage biological molecules like DNA; non-ionizing radiation does not carry enough energy to do this.
The law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another or transferred from one object to another.
Gravitational potential energy is energy stored in an object because of its height above a reference point — the higher it is, the more stored energy it has.
Kinetic energy is the energy an object has because it is moving, depending on both its mass and its speed.
Watch out for
- Confusing nuclear fission with chemical combustion, thinking nuclear energy comes from burning fuel the same way.
- Assuming all radiation is equally dangerous, without distinguishing ionizing radiation's ability to damage DNA from non-ionizing radiation's much lower risk.
- Thinking energy 'runs out' or disappears rather than converting to a less useful form like heat.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 3 skills
Formation of the Universe
The Big Bang Theory
The big bang theory and the evidence that supports it
I can describe the Big Bang theory and summarize the evidence that supports it.
Skill 4.1
Components of the Universe Over Time
Components of the universe over time (changes to energy, matter, and fundamental forces)
I can describe how the universe's energy, matter, and fundamental forces formed and changed over time.
Skill 4.2
Gathering Astronomical Data
Astronomical data and collection methods (telescopes, Doppler shift, space technologies as evidence)
I can describe how astronomers collect data about the universe and how that data supports scientific models.
Skill 4.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 4.1
- formation of the universe
- 4.2
- formation of the universe
- 4.3
- astronomical data and collection methods
Key ideas
The Big Bang theory describes the universe originating from an extremely hot, dense state roughly 13.8 billion years ago and expanding ever since.
In the earliest moments, the universe was too hot for atoms to exist; as it expanded and cooled, first simple particles, then hydrogen and helium atoms, formed, along with the separation of the fundamental forces.
Astronomers use many types of instruments and technologies to collect data — radio telescopes, space missions like Mars rovers and the ISS, and detectors like SNOLAB — each revealing different information about distant objects.
Key evidence includes the observed expansion of the universe (galaxies moving apart, revealed by red and blue Doppler shift) and the cosmic background microwave radiation, the 'afterglow' of the early universe.
Gravity pulled hydrogen and helium into clumps that ignited as the first stars; stars grouped into the first galaxies.
Watch out for
- Picturing the Big Bang as an explosion INTO empty space, rather than the expansion of space itself from everywhere at once.
- Thinking all elements (including heavy ones like iron and gold) existed from the very start of the universe, rather than being forged later inside stars.
- Thinking telescopes only detect visible light, missing that radio telescopes and other instruments reveal completely different information.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows British Columbia’s own curriculum for Science 10.
Textbooks
In British Columbia, each school district chooses its own textbooks: the ministry no longer recommends them. The ministry’s page
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches Science 10 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep Science 10 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 34
- Fillable fields
- 1,368
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about Science 10
What is Science 10?
British Columbia’s Grade 10 science course: 4 units and 25 skills, from Genetics and the Diversity of Life to Formation of the Universe.
What units are in Science 10?
1. Genetics and the Diversity of Life, 2. Chemical Reactions and Energy Change, 3. Energy: Conservation and Transformation and 4. Formation of the Universe.
Is there a provincial exam for Science 10?
No. British Columbia gives no provincial exam for Science 10.
What textbook does Science 10 use?
Each school district in British Columbia chooses its own textbooks, so ask your teacher which one your class uses.
What comes after Science 10?
Biology 11, Chemistry 11, Physics 11 and Earth Science 11.
Can MapleMind help with Science 10?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Science 10, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for Science 10
Practise every skill of Science 10 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
