Science, Grade 9

Unit 1: Working Like a Scientist

The nature of science and the inquiry, engineering-design, and decision-making practices used throughout Grade 9 Science: evaluating claims, reading and writing science, designing and safely conducting investigations, analysing data, and weighing the risks, benefits, and perspectives of science and technology.

• Science as a unique way of knowing
• Evaluating whether a claim is reasonable

• Making meaning from science text
• Communicating scientific thinking in writing
• Designing an investigation
• The engineering design process
• Investigating safely to collect data
• Analysing data for patterns
• Evaluating the strength of evidence

• Benefits and risks of developments
• Defending a decision from multiple perspectives
• Connecting to science careers

Unit 2: Sustainability of Ecosystems

How ecosystems stay in balance: sustainability and biodiversity, the cycling of matter, energy flow through trophic levels, population growth and carrying capacity, and how human activity - especially invasive species - affects ecosystem health.

• Vocabulary of sustainable ecosystems
• Photosynthesis and respiration as opposite reactions
• Matter cycles and why they matter
• Energy flow through trophic levels

• Population changes and carrying capacity
• Human activity and invasive species
• Biodiversity and ecosystem health

Unit 3: Atoms, Elements, and Compounds

The structure of matter at the atomic level: subatomic particles and atomic structure, physical and chemical properties, patterns in the periodic table, ions, and how atoms combine to form ionic and molecular compounds.

• Atomic vocabulary and subatomic particles
• Physical and chemical properties
• Patterns in the periodic table

• Atoms, ions, and chemical change
• Ionic and molecular compounds
• Chemical formulas and ratios

Unit 4: Understanding Electricity

The principles of electricity: static and current electricity, charge and electrostatic force, the movement of electrons, circuit components and pathways, grounding, conservation of energy in circuits, and the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance (Ohm's law).

• Electricity vocabulary and charge
• Static electricity and electron movement

• Circuit components and current
• Energy conservation and electrical safety
• Ohm's law: voltage, current, and resistance