What your child learns in Year 7 Science
New curriculum, taught from 2027
Lessons
1The particle model: solids, liquids, gases and changes of stateMaterials2Expansion, density, and why ice floatsMaterials3Temperature, thermal energy and choosing insulatorsMatter Interactions and Energy4Speed: measuring it, calculating it and graphing itMotion and Forces5The Moon's phases, and why it rises later each dayEarth and Space6The Moon as a clock, the maramataka, and eclipsesEarth and Space7Survival adaptations: how living things fit their environmentOrganism Diversity8Cells: the building blocks of lifeLife Processes9Populations, communities and ecosystemsEcosystems
Physical science
4 areasMaterials: The particle model and states of matter
- Everything is made of tiny particles, and how they are arranged and move in solids, liquids and gases
- Melting, freezing, evaporation, condensation, sublimation and deposition, driven by adding or removing heat
- Why things expand when heated, and why ice floats on water
- Mass stays the same when something changes state
- Everyday problems such as burst bottles, icy roads and wet windows
Matter interactions and energy: Thermal energy and insulation
- Temperature, thermal energy and kinetic energy, and how they differ
- Conduction, convection and radiation
- Conductors and insulators, and running a fair test to compare materials
- Choosing insulating materials for food, homes and clothing
Motion and forces: Speed
- Calculating speed as distance divided by time, in m/s and km/h
- Steady, changing and average speed
- Measuring distance and time carefully, with repeats and averages
- Reading and drawing distance-time graphs
Earth and space: The Earth, Moon and Sun
- Why the Moon has phases, and the 29.5-day cycle as seen from New Zealand
- Why the Moon rises later each day
- Using the Moon to measure time, including the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar
- What lines up in solar and lunar eclipses
Biological science
3 areasOrganism diversity: Survival adaptations
- Structural, behavioural and physiological adaptations, with New Zealand examples
- How adaptations help living things feed, stay safe and reproduce
- Variation within a species, and why the environment decides which features help
- Lamarck's idea about inherited traits, and why it was rejected
Life processes: Cells
- How microscopes revealed cells, from Hooke to van Leeuwenhoek
- The parts of plant and animal cells and what they do
- Specialised cells, and how cells build tissues, organs and systems
- Single-celled life such as bacteria, yeast and algae
Ecosystems: Organisms in an ecosystem
- Populations, communities and ecosystems, and living and non-living factors
- Producers, consumers and decomposers in food webs
- How species depend on each other for food, pollination and shelter
How is Year 7 maths going?
See the Year 7 maths guideSummarised by Vertex Academy from the New Zealand Curriculum, Science Years 0 to 10 (August 2026), Ministry of Education. Vertex Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education.