Form 3-4 Science Curriculum (gr. 7-9)

SMH’s Form 3-4 Living Science Guides (grades 7-9) will provide your students with a strong foundation in the general science, which covers a little bit of everything, and physical science, which consists of some earth science, and an introduction to chemistry and physics. The work is geared to be completed by your student alone, with teacher assistance and accountability given as needed. If your child has not already fallen in love with science, now is the time to begin applying Charlotte Mason’s natural way to learn this subject.

Suggested Schedule

We see a change in Charlotte Mason’s schedules regarding how the weekly work was arranged at this level. Rather than taking the work term-by-term as in Form 2, students now worked on a different stream/subject each day of the week. You are welcome to follow that plan. Alternatively, you can follow my recommendation to study biology one day a week all year and one other subject three days a week each term. An equal amount of work will be accomplished in a year either way, but the term-by-term approach allows students to focus their experiment time in fewer directions throughout the term.

Read more about scheduling CM Science in the articles Charlotte Mason’s Streams of Science and How I Modify Charlotte Mason’s Streams of Science (forms 3-6).
To learn more about scheduling your science lessons using either Charlotte Mason’s plan or a more traditional school plan read Scheduling High School Science.

Sample Weekly Schedule

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4
biology 40 min.	chemistry 40 min.	chemistry 40 min.	chemistry 40 min.

Two Year Plan

Biology will continue each term, but chemistry would be replaced by another subject during term two. This schedule will allow you to focus your attention and your experiments on just two subjects each term.

Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Grade 7: Biology all year
Chemistry	Weather	Physics
Grade 8: Botany all year
Astronomy	Tech & Eng	Geology

What Subject Should You Start With?

While the above order of subjects is just a suggestion, some subject are best done at particular times of the year. For example, Astronomy is usually best done in the Autumn (Term 1) when the sky is clearest, Weather is most interesting when done in the Winter or early spring (Term 2) when there is the most variation in the weather, and Chemistry might be best done when you can comfortably do an experiment outside (Term 1 or 3.) Outside of those suggestions, they can be taken in any order.

If you need to consider the reading level of the books, note that the three easiest readers are Chemistry, Geology, and Physics. The hardest is Astronomy.

If your student has lost their love for the subject, you might want to ask what they are most interested in learning about. By starting with a subject they are interested in, you are more likely to engage their curiosity.

Other Notes

For more information about biology through the years, read High School Biology Notes.
If your child is apprehensive about science for some reason, begin with the subjects they are most interested in.
View sample student notebooks: Science Notebooks & Nature Notebooks
A secular version is available when the Form 3-4 guides contain religious material. For more information, read the article Secular Living Science Curriculum.

Form 3-4 Curriculum

Paperback copies of all Form 3-4 study guides can be purchased on Amazon.

F3-4 Astronomy

In this Form 3-4 study guide, students will be introduced to the principles and tools of the study of astronomy. Included is an overview of our solar system, the sun, the planets, and comets. Students will learn about the sun’s convection currents, sunspots, solar flares, …