Yogesh Pathak

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As said earlier, twelve year olds continue to learn new subjects, events, and models. They are now much stronger in logic and rational, objective analysis and this reflects in the educational content they deal with. This is the right year to cover a larger set of concepts and integrate them effectively. The material also attempts to draw upon a certain pre-teen cognitive maturity that 7th graders have achieved.

 

Key concepts in the 7th grade strand of the Web of Ecological Concepts include the following.  

• This is a good year to revisit natural history in depth

  • Geology

  • Continents and their movement in the prehistoric times

  • Key periods in the formation of life and biodiversity on earth

  • Past natural extinctions and their reasons

• The theory of evolution, it’s history, and evidence like adaptation.

  • Darwin’s work and hypotheses in more detail

  • Evidence to prove the hypotheses

  • Some modern enhancements to the theory of evolution

• Oceans (contd).

  • Formation of low and high tides

  • Spring tide and Neap tide

  • Calendar of low and high tides with local examples

  • Ecological significance of tides for coastal and marine ecosystems

  • Formation of waves and energy transfer in waves

  • Erosion due to waves

  • Tsunami

• Atmosphere (contd.)

  • Atmospheric pressure

  • Atmospheric pressure bands on Earth’s surface

  • Winds on Earth and their connections with oceans, geology and ecology – marine and terrestrial, seasonal/monsoon winds, storms, cyclones, hurricanes.

  • Ecological significance of winds for life processes e.g. bird migration

• Formation of seasons across the Earth, the calendar of seasons

• Key ecosystems on Earth

  • Biomes and regional biodiversity in detail (re. adaptation: see below)

  • Seasons across the biomes – ecological changes, lifecycles of plants and animals

  • Human life across various biomes; food/clothes/shelter, types of crops, resource use, seasonality

• Study of water (contd).

  • Revision of material from past grades

  • Physical and chemical properties of water: evaporation, distillation, condensation, freezing, salinity, anomalous behaviour, pH, etc.

  • Special properties of water, it’s role in natural history

  • Forms of water on the Earth

  • Water pollution

  • Water management

  • Rainwater harvesting

• Study of soil (contd).

  • Revision of material from past grades

  • Transportation of soil due to rivers and winds

  • Soil from the standpoint of agriculture

  • Soil from the standpoint of ecological health

  • Types of soil (preliminary – local area/state)

  • Properties of soil e.g. Texture, pH, Electrical conductivity

  • Soil pollution, soil testing

  • Methods of conservation of soil - preliminary

• Formal classification and taxonomy of plants and animals

  • Species in the local area

  • Species in the district, state/country, regional ecosystems/biomes, etc.

  • The benefits of formal classification.

  • Linnaeus’ system of classification

• A few body systems in man, mammals, and birds (e.g. circulatory system. auditory system, digestive system and nutrition, muscular system, nervous system)

  • Types of nutrition in animals: Holo/Saprozoic, Parasitic; Herbi/Carni/Omnivorous animals

• Plants

  • Structure: Root, Stem, Leave, Flower, and Fruit structure in detail

  • Linkage of above to classification/identification

  • Autotrophic Nutrition: Photosynthesis

  • Transportation of nutrients

  • Nitrogen fixation

  • Other types of plant nutrition: Symbiotic, Heterotrophic, Insectivorous, Saprophytic

• Adaptation

  • Desert plants and animals

  • Temperate/cold regions’ plants and animals

  • Forest plants and animals

  • Grassland plants and animals

  • Aquatic plants and animals

  • Adaptations for food ingestion

• Animal and plant bodies w.r.t. electricity: General conductivity, specific examples like electric eels

• Control and coordination mechanisms within the bodies of plants, animals, and humans.

• A formal introduction to microbiology

  • Cells: Structure, observation, measurement, size – preliminary

  • The context of ecosystems and food chains for microbiology

  • Animal-microbe interactions

  • Plant-microbe interactions

  • Human-microbe interactions. Useful microorganism, e.g. gut bacteria, fermentation

  • Human diseases caused by bacteria and virus / pathogens

  • Microbe-linked problems posed by human interference in natural ecosystems

• A resource-centric view of nature: preliminary

  • Natural resources as seen by the hunter gatherer

  • Natural resources as seen by the farmer

  • Natural resources as seen by the pastoralist

  • Natural resources as seen by the industrial man: ocean and land based resources including various minerals, fossil fuels

  • Problems caused by overexploitation of resources – both biotic and abiotic

• Ancient and modern human history of a given region (e.g. a state) and it’s relationship with the state’s ecology, resources, and economy:

  • Ecological history

  • Biodiversity

  • Agriculture

  • Land use, Resource use, exploitation

  • Possible linkages with inter-cultural conflicts

  • Economic models – the growth of trade (national and international)

  • Social history e.g. professions, distribution of agricultural surplus, linked with economic models and biodiversity

  • Linkage of political conflict with natural resource ownership and trade ownership e.g. forest land, fertile land, rivers, lakes, coasts

  • The role of military power and conflicts

  • Resource needs of the military e.g. water, firewood, ship-building wood, animals for military and transportation, agricultural produce

  • Technology in agriculture and military

  • Taxation on agriculture income and other forms of taxes

  • Social stratification around agriculture, political power, and military

• Agriculture (contd).

  • Revision of material from earlier grades

  • Agriculture for meat, honey, eggs, fish, silk, flowers, nursery, and other types 

  • Agriculture distribution, pricing, and marketing, including role of middlemen, corporations, and government

  • Modern agricultural economics – preliminary

  • Agriculture techniques – preliminary

  • Agriculture technologies, seeds, fertilizer, and energy inputs – local, national (preliminary), international (preliminary)

• Human settlements

  • Evolution of settlements during the hunter-gatherer, pastoralist, and early agricultural era – hamlets surrounded by agricultural land

  • Dense settlements of the early river-based agricultural civilizations e.g. Harappa. Characteristics like stratified housing, public spaces, water management, local craft factories supporting trade, trading ports, etc.

  • Medieval and modern cities: land use, dependence on surroundings for natural resources (e.g. water, agricultural produce), networks (e.g. water, sewage, city roads), public spaces, government establishments, markets, trading ports

  • Technology and energy needs of a modern city - preliminary

  • Economic processes and opportunities in a modern city - preliminary

  • Technology, resource, and comfort gap between a modern city and rural settlement, resulting migration

  • Pollution and waste in modern settlements (compare with historical)

• Advanced map drawing techniques covering geological forms, elevation lines, contour maps, agriculture, networks (e.g. roads, water, sewage), settlements, and depicting land use change

• Our nation’s constitution

  • Basics

  • It’s place in our lives

  • It’s connection with natural history, history of man and nature, history of resource use in the country

  • Responsibilities of today’s citizens vis-a-vis nature.

• Our nation’s governance (and a focus on protection of nature)

  • Executive branch: Central, State and Local

  • Judicial branch

  • Protection and conservation of nature as enshrined in the constitution and mentioned in the governing laws

  • Responsibilities of executive branch at various levels w.r.t. protecting the natural environment and resources

  • Responsibilities of judiciary w.r.t. protecting the natural environment and resources

  • General responsibilities of common citizens w.r.t. protecting nature on a day-to-day basis

 

 

Other concepts in geography, history, and science that are appropriate at this level, should also be covered in parallel. Below are some examples, but this is not an exhaustive list.

• Hierarchical organization of plant and animal bodies: Cells, Tissues, Organs, Systems

• Reproduction among organisms – plants and animals: Various methods of reproduction

• Forms of energy such as electricity, heat, sound, and magnetism

• Physical and chemical properties of matter

• Physical and chemical change