Ontario · Grade 9
Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)
- SNC1W
Ontario’s Grade 9 science course, from STEM Skills and Connections to Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe.
- Units
- 5
- Lessons
- 10
- Skills
- 48
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Ontario Ministry of Education
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, with its official code.
Unit 1 · 6 skills
STEM Skills and Connections
STEM Skills, Careers, and Connections
WHMIS and Safe Lab Practices
WHMIS and safe practices for hands-on investigations
I can apply WHMIS and safe-practice standards when planning and carrying out a hands-on investigation.
Official code: A1.5
Designing for STEM Careers and Emerging Technology
Designing an experiment or prototype for a STEM occupation
I can design an experiment or prototype to explore a problem in a STEM-related occupation.
Official code: A2.1
How innovations and AI affect society and careers
I can describe how innovations and emerging technologies such as AI affect society and careers.
Official code: A2.2
Science in its economic, cultural, and social context
I can analyse how science is shaped by economic, cultural, and social contexts.
Official code: A2.3
Scientific literacy on social and environmental issues
I can use scientific-literacy skills to investigate social and environmental issues.
Official code: A2.4
Contributions to science from various communities
I can analyse contributions to science from people in various communities, including in Canada.
Official code: A2.5
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- A1.5
- apply their knowledge and understanding of safe practices and procedures, including the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), while planning and carrying out hands-on investigations
- A2.1
- design an experiment or a prototype to explore a problem relevant to a STEM-related occupation, such as a skilled trade, using findings from research
- A2.2
- describe how scientific innovations and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence systems, impact society and careers
- A2.3
- analyse how the development and application of science is economically, culturally, and socially contextualized, by investigating real-world issues
- A2.4
- apply scientific literacy skills when investigating social and environmental issues that have personal, local, and/or global impacts
- A2.5
- analyse contributions to science by people from various communities, including communities in Canada
Key ideas
WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) is Canada's national standard for classifying and communicating the hazards of materials used in labs and workplaces.
STEM-related occupations, including skilled trades, solve problems by designing experiments and prototypes.
WHMIS hazard symbols (pictograms) — such as flammable, corrosive, toxic, and health hazard — communicate a material's risks at a glance.
Research findings guide the design so it actually addresses the problem.
A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) gives detailed information for a hazardous product: composition, hazards, safe handling, storage, and emergency/first-aid measures.
Watch out for
- Thinking hazard symbols and WHMIS only matter in industry or on a job site, not in a school lab or at home.
- Thinking a design can skip the research step.
- Assuming a chemical is safe just because it's commonly used or looks like water.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 12 skills
Biology: Sustainable Ecosystems and the Impact of Human Activities
Biology
Climate Change and Sustainability
Climate-change impacts on ecosystem sustainability
I can assess how climate change affects the sustainability of local and global ecosystems.
Official code: B1.1
Initiatives for combatting climate change
I can describe initiatives — local and global — that combat climate change.
Official code: B1.1
Personal and community solutions to climate-change impacts
I can identify personal and community solutions that address the impacts of climate change.
Official code: B1.1
Climate-change impacts on communities in Canada
I can assess climate-change impacts on communities in Canada, including FNMI communities.
Official code: B1.2
Sustainable practices and dynamic equilibrium
I can explain how communities' sustainable practices reflect ecosystems' dynamic equilibrium.
Official code: B1.3
The Dynamic Equilibrium of Ecosystems
Interactions of the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere
I can explain how Earth's four spheres interact to sustain ecosystems.
Official code: B2.1
Cycling of matter and flow of energy
I can explain how matter cycling and energy flow maintain dynamic equilibrium.
Official code: B2.2
Cellular respiration and photosynthesis
I can compare cellular respiration and photosynthesis and explain their complementary relationship.
Official code: B2.3
Factors and processes in ecosystem sustainability
I can explain how biodiversity, air and water quality, soil health, and succession sustain ecosystems.
Official code: B2.4
Human activities and dynamic equilibrium
I can explain how human activities affect ecosystems' dynamic equilibrium.
Official code: B2.5
Indicators of climate change
I can use indicators of climate change and analyse how human activities drive it.
Official code: B2.6
Sustainable practices in agriculture
I can explain how matter-cycling and energy-flow principles guide sustainable agriculture.
Official code: B2.7
The official wording · 12 outcomes
- B1.1
- assess impacts of climate change on the sustainability of local and global ecosystems
- B1.1
- describe local or global initiatives for combatting climate change
- B1.1
- identify solutions to address some of the impacts
- B1.2
- assess impacts of climate change on communities in Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities
- B1.3
- investigate and explain how sustainable practices used by various communities, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, reflect an understanding of the importance of the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems
- B2.1
- investigate interactions between the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere, and explain why these interactions are important for ecosystem sustainability
- B2.2
- explain how naturally occurring phenomena, including the cycling of matter and the flow of energy, contribute to the dynamic equilibrium within and between ecosystems
- B2.3
- compare and contrast the processes of cellular respiration and photosynthesis, and explain how their complementary relationship contributes to the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems
- B2.4
- investigate factors and processes, including biodiversity, air and water quality, soil health, and succession, and explain how they contribute to ecosystem sustainability
- B2.5
- explain the effects of various human activities on the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems
- B2.6
- identify and use various indicators of climate change to describe the impacts of climate change on local and global ecosystems, and analyse how human activities contribute to climate change
- B2.7
- explain how sustainable practices related to the cycling of matter and the flow of energy can be applied in agricultural innovations
Key ideas
Climate change alters temperature, precipitation, and extreme-weather patterns, which stresses ecosystems.
The biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere constantly interact.
Rising greenhouse-gas (GHG) concentrations — carbon dioxide, methane, and others — trap heat and drive these changes.
These interactions are important for keeping ecosystems sustainable.
Ecosystem sustainability depends on species, habitats, and resource cycles staying in dynamic equilibrium; climate change can push that balance past what it can recover from.
Watch out for
- Thinking climate change affects only distant or global ecosystems, not local ones close to home.
- Thinking the four spheres are separate and independent.
- Confusing weather variability with the sustained, cumulative trend that defines climate change.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 9 skills
Chemistry: Exploring Matter
Chemistry
Elements, Compounds, and Their Impacts
Impacts of consumer-product life cycles
I can assess the life-cycle impacts of a consumer product and suggest improvements.
Official code: C1.1
Impacts of emerging chemical technologies
I can analyse the impacts of emerging chemical technologies and what drives their development.
Official code: C1.2
Atoms, Elements, and the Periodic Table
Properties of matter and ecosystem equilibrium
I can investigate properties and changes of matter that matter for ecosystem sustainability.
Official code: C2.1
Atomic models and experimental evidence
I can compare atomic models and explain how experimental evidence shaped them.
Official code: C2.2
Subatomic particles and the Bohr-Rutherford model
I can identify the location, mass, and charge of subatomic particles using the Bohr-Rutherford model.
Official code: C2.3
Periodic-table position and atomic structure
I can explain how an element's position in the periodic table reflects its atomic structure.
Official code: C2.4
Patterns in the periodic table
I can relate elements' properties to the periodic table and identify its patterns.
Official code: C2.5
Properties of elements and compounds
I can investigate and describe the physical and chemical properties of elements and compounds.
Official code: C2.6
Structure and chemical formulas of compounds
I can relate the structure of a simple compound to its chemical formula.
Official code: C2.7
The official wording · 9 outcomes
- C1.1
- assess social, environmental, and economic impacts of processes associated with the life cycle of consumer products, considering the elements and compounds used to make them, and suggest ways to enhance positive impacts and/or minimize negative impacts
- C1.2
- analyse impacts of using emerging chemical technologies in various fields, including in the skilled trades, and assess factors that influence the development of these technologies
- C2.1
- investigate properties, changes, and interactions of matter that are important for the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems and their sustainability
- C2.2
- research the role of experimental evidence in the development of various atomic models, and compare and contrast different models of the atom
- C2.3
- identify the location, relative mass, and charge of subatomic particles within an atom, using the Bohr- Rutherford model
- C2.4
- explain the relationship between the position of an element in the periodic table and the structure of its atoms, using models
- C2.5
- investigate the physical and chemical properties of elements, and use their findings to relate these properties to the organization of the periodic table, classify elements, and identify patterns in the periodic table
- C2.6
- investigate and describe physical and chemical properties of elements and compounds, including those that make up common household products
- C2.7
- describe the relationship between the structure of simple compounds and their chemical formulas
Key ideas
Making, using, and disposing of a product uses elements and compounds and has social, environmental, and economic impacts.
Properties, changes, and interactions of matter (like pH, dissolving, and reactions) affect ecosystems.
We can suggest ways to enhance positive impacts and minimize negative ones.
These matter processes are important for keeping ecosystems in dynamic equilibrium.
Emerging chemical technologies affect many fields, including the skilled trades.
Watch out for
- Thinking a product's only impact is when it's used.
- Thinking chemistry is separate from ecosystems.
- Overlooking the elements and compounds behind a product.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 12 skills
Physics: Electrical Energy and Its Transfer
Physics
Producing and Using Electrical Energy Responsibly
Benefits and challenges of electricity sources
I can assess the benefits and challenges of producing electricity from different sources.
Official code: D1.1
Electricity's community impacts and sustainability
I can evaluate electricity's impacts on communities and describe sustainable practices.
Official code: D1.2
A plan of action for an energy issue
I can develop a plan of action to address an electrical-energy issue.
Official code: D1.3
Impacts of emerging electrical technologies
I can analyse the impacts of emerging electrical-energy technologies.
Official code: D1.4
Charge, Circuits, and Ohm's Law
Behaviour of electric charges
I can explain the behaviour of electric charges and relate it to subatomic particles.
Official code: D2.1
Conductivity of materials
I can determine whether materials are conductors or insulators.
Official code: D2.2
DC-circuit components and SI units
I can identify DC-circuit components and the electrical quantities with their SI units.
Official code: D2.3
Deriving Ohm's law
I can investigate current, potential difference, and resistance and derive Ohm's law.
Official code: D2.4
Applying Ohm's law
I can apply Ohm's law to calculate current, potential difference, or resistance.
Official code: D2.5
Series and parallel circuits
I can build series and parallel circuits and compare current, voltage, and resistance in each.
Official code: D2.6
Electricity versus electrical energy
I can explain the difference between electricity and electrical energy.
Official code: D2.7
Device efficiency and energy transformations
I can determine a device's efficiency and identify its energy transformations.
Official code: D2.8
The official wording · 12 outcomes
- D1.1
- assess social, environmental, and economic benefits and challenges resulting from the production of electrical energy from various sources
- D1.2
- evaluate how electrical energy production and consumption impact various communities locally or globally, and describe ways to achieve sustainable practices
- D1.3
- develop a plan of action to address a local or global electrical energy production or consumption issue, including strategies for energy conservation
- D1.4
- analyse social, environmental, and economic impacts of emerging technologies related to electrical energy production, consumption, storage, and conservation
- D2.1
- conduct investigations to explain the behaviour of electric charges in static and current electricity, and to relate the observed behaviour to the properties of subatomic particles and atomic structure
- D2.2
- determine the conductivity of various materials by investigating their ability to hold or transfer electric charges
- D2.3
- identify the components of a direct current (DC) circuit and explain their functions, and identify electrical quantities, their symbols, and their corresponding International System of Units (SI) units
- D2.4
- investigate the relationships between electric current, potential difference, and resistance in electrical circuits, and develop a mathematical model to represent the relationships
- D2.5
- apply a mathematical model to calculate electric current, potential difference, and resistance in real- world situations
- D2.6
- construct series and parallel circuits to compare electric current, potential difference, and resistance in both types of circuits
- D2.7
- explain the difference between electricity and electrical energy
- D2.8
- determine the efficiency of various electrical devices that consume or produce electrical energy, and identify the energy transformations in each device
Key ideas
Electricity is produced from sources like hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, and fossil fuels.
Static electricity is a build-up of charge; current electricity is charge in motion.
Each source has social, environmental, and economic benefits and challenges.
Charge behaviour comes from electrons — subatomic particles — and atomic structure.
Producing and consuming electricity affects communities locally and globally.
Watch out for
- Thinking one source is purely good or purely bad.
- Thinking charge is created rather than transferred.
- Considering only cost, ignoring environmental impact.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 5 · 9 skills
Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe
Earth and Space Science
Why We Explore Space
Impacts of space observation and exploration
I can evaluate the social, environmental, and economic impacts of space exploration.
Official code: E1.1
Space technology and understanding Earth
I can evaluate how space technologies improve our understanding of Earth.
Official code: E1.2
Space innovations applied on Earth
I can assess how space innovations are applied in different fields on Earth.
Official code: E1.3
The Solar System and the Universe
The Sun and its importance
I can describe the Sun's characteristics and its importance to the solar system and life on Earth.
Official code: E2.1
The Sun's energy and natural phenomena
I can explain how the Sun's energy drives natural phenomena and renewable energy.
Official code: E2.2
Evidence for the origin of the universe
I can summarize the evidence for theories of the universe's origin and evolution.
Official code: E2.3
Components of the solar system and universe
I can describe and compare the major components of the solar system and universe.
Official code: E2.4
Quantifying distances in space
I can quantify astronomical distances using appropriate units.
Official code: E2.5
Causes of astronomical phenomena
I can explain the causes of astronomical phenomena observed from Earth.
Official code: E2.6
The official wording · 9 outcomes
- E1.1
- evaluate social, environmental, and economic impacts of space observation and exploration
- E1.2
- evaluate how space observation and exploration technologies contribute to our understanding of climate change, natural disasters, and other phenomena
- E1.3
- assess ways in which technological innovations related to space observation and exploration are applied in various fields, including their contributions to sustainable practices on Earth
- E2.1
- describe the importance of the Sun and its characteristics, including its role in the solar system and in sustaining life on Earth
- E2.2
- explain how the Sun’s energy causes natural phenomena on Earth, and how these phenomena contribute to renewable energy production
- E2.3
- summarize observational evidence used to support theories about the origin and evolution of the universe and the solar system, considering diverse ways of knowing
- E2.4
- describe major components of the solar system and the universe and compare their characteristics
- E2.5
- quantify distances in the solar system and the universe by applying an understanding of relative distances and sizes and using appropriate units of measure
- E2.6
- conduct investigations to explain the causes of various astronomical phenomena that can be observed from Earth
Key ideas
Space observation and exploration have social, environmental, and economic impacts.
The Sun is a star at the centre of the solar system, holding the planets in orbit with its gravity.
These include scientific knowledge, spin-off technologies, cost, and space debris.
Its energy sustains life on Earth by driving climate, weather, and photosynthesis.
Satellites and space technologies observe Earth from above.
Watch out for
- Thinking space exploration has only benefits or only costs.
- Thinking the Sun is not a star.
- Considering just one type of impact.
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 Ontario’s own curriculum for Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed).
Strands
| Strand | Outcomes | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| ASTEM Skills, Careers, and Connections | Outcomes 6 | Taught in Unit 1STEM Skills and Connections |
| BBiology | Outcomes 10 | Taught in Unit 2Biology: Sustainable Ecosystems and the Impact of Human Activities |
| CChemistry | Outcomes 9 | Taught in Unit 3Chemistry: Exploring Matter |
| DPhysics | Outcomes 12 | Taught in Unit 4Physics: Electrical Energy and Its Transfer |
| EEarth and Space Science | Outcomes 9 | Taught in Unit 5Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe |
Study it in MapleMind
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Questions about Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)
What is Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)?
Ontario’s Grade 9 science course: 5 units and 48 skills, from STEM Skills and Connections to Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe.
What units are in Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)?
1. STEM Skills and Connections, 2. Biology: Sustainable Ecosystems and the Impact of Human Activities, 3. Chemistry: Exploring Matter, 4. Physics: Electrical Energy and Its Transfer and 5. Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe.
Is there a provincial exam for Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)?
No. Ontario gives no provincial exam for Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed).
What comes after Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)?
Science, Grade 10, Academic and Science, Grade 10, Applied.
Can MapleMind help with Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed)?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed), 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.
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