Grade 7 · STEM Skills and Connections · STEM Program Planning
Plan an Ecosystem Model
Program planning separates a complex goal into data, rules, decisions, outputs, and tests before code is written. A model is useful only when its assumptions and limits are clear.
Visual model
See how the ideas connect
For students
Notice, predict, explain
Choose one part of the model. Predict how it connects to another part, then use the lesson evidence to explain your thinking.
For teachers
Pause for science talk
Show the model before the explanation. Ask “What do you notice?” and “What might change?” Then revisit student ideas after the worked example.
The big idea
A program plan makes reasoning visible before implementation
A scientific model represents selected relationships rather than an entire system. Designers must justify inputs and rules, test expected cases, and communicate uncertainty and possible impacts.
Work it through
Model a wetland population
- Step 1 Define the question and identify inputs such as starting population, available habitat, food, and a disturbance level.
- Step 2 Plan rules that limit growth, apply the disturbance, and update the population one time step at a time.
- Step 3 Sketch outputs such as a table and graph, then list test cases with predictable results.
- Step 4 Document assumptions and explain why an automated or AI-supported prediction should inform, but not replace, human and community evidence.