Science, Grade 10 (Senior 2)

Unit 1: Scientific Skills and Inquiry

The senior-years doing of science in Senior 2 - selecting methods and tools for sampling data, measuring accurately in SI units, and recording and displaying data.

• Select and use appropriate methods and tools for sampling
• Estimate and measure accurately using Système International (SI) and
• Record, organize, and display data using an appropriate format.

Unit 2: Dynamics of Ecosystems

Biogeochemical cycles, bioaccumulation, carrying capacity and limiting factors, population dynamics, biodiversity and sustainability, and human impact.

• Illustrate and explain how carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are
• Discuss factors that may disturb biogeochemical cycles. Include: natural
• Describe bioaccumulation and explain its potential impact on consumers
• Describe the carrying capacity of an ecosystem
• Investigate and discuss various limiting factors that influence population

• Construct and interpret graphs of population dynamics
• Describe potential consequences of introducing new species and species
• Observe and document a range of organisms that illustrate
• Explain how the biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to
• Investigate how human activities affect an ecosystem and use

Unit 3: Chemistry in Action

Valence and the periodic table, ionic and covalent bonding, naming compounds, conservation of mass, balancing equations, reaction types, acids and bases, and air pollution.

• Relate an element's position in the periodic table to
• Explain, using the periodic table, how and why elements
• Write formulas and names of binary ionic compounds. Include:
• Write formulas and names for covalent compounds using prefixes.
• Investigate the Law of Conservation of Mass, and recognize

• Balance chemical equations. Include: translation of word equations to
• Investigate and classify reactions as synthesis, decomposition, single displacement,
• Experiment to classify acids and bases using their characteristic
• Discuss the occurrence of acids and bases in biological
• Explain how acids and bases interact to form a

• Describe the formation and the environmental impact of various
• Investigate technologies that are used to reduce emissions of

Unit 4: In Motion

Displacement, time, and velocity, acceleration, Newton's laws, inertia, momentum and impulse, energy in collisions, friction, and braking distance.

• Analyze the relationship among displacement, time, and velocity for
• Collect displacement data to calculate and graph velocity versus
• Analyze the relationships among velocity, time, and acceleration for
• Outline the historical development of the concepts of force
• Experiment to illustrate the effects of inertia in car

• Describe qualitatively how force is related to motion. Include:
• Investigate and describe qualitatively Newton's Third Law
• Define momentum and impulse and qualitatively relate impulse to
• Investigate the conservation of energy in a motor vehicle
• Investigate conditions that illustrate the effects of friction on

• Investigate the factors that influence braking distance. Include: reaction
• Using the relationship between displacement, velocity, and friction (
• Use the decision-making process to address an STSE issue

Unit 5: Weather Dynamics

The hydrosphere and atmosphere, Earth's radiation budget, heat transfer and winds, severe weather, meteorological data, and climate change.

• Illustrate the composition and organization of the hydrosphere and
• Outline factors influencing the Earth's radiation budget. Include: solar
• Explain effects of heat transfer within the atmosphere and
• Explain the formation and dynamics of selected severe weather
• Collect, interpret, and analyze meteorological data related to a

• Investigate the social, economic, and environmental impacts of a
• Investigate and evaluate evidence that climate change occurs naturally
• Discuss potential consequences of climate change