7

Learner’s Material
(Second Part)

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 1

2 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 7

Learner’s Material
(Second Part)

GOVERNMENT PROPERTY
NOT FOR SALE
ALLOTTED TO
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First Year of Use:_________________________________________
Source of Fund (Year included):__________________________

Kagawaran ng Edukasyon
Republika ng Pilipinas

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 3

 Science- Grade 7
Learner’s Material: Second Part
First Edition, 2012
ISBN: ___________

Republic Act 8293, section 176 indicates that: No copyright shall subsist in any
work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government
agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work
for profit. Such agency or office may among other things, impose as a condition the payment
of royalties.
Published by the Department of Education
Secretary: Br. Armin Luistro FSC
Undersecretary: Dr. Yolanda S. Quijano

Development Team of the Learner’s Material

Unit 3: Energy in Motion

Reviewer: Josefina Ll. Pabellon

Coordinator: Merle C. Tan
Authors: Alvie J. Asuncion, Leticia V. Catris, Cerilina M. Maramag,
and Marie Paz E. Morales

Unit 4: Earth and Space

Reviewers: Eligio C. Obille Jr., Risa L. Reyes, and Merle C. Tan

Coordinator: Merle C. Tan
Authors: Ivy P. Mejia, Eligio C. Obille Jr., and Merle C. Tan

Illustrators: Alvin J. Encarnacion, Rizaldo Ramoncito S. Saliva

Layout Artist: Cecile N. Sales

Inilimbag sa Pilipinas ng ____________

Department of Education-Instructional Materials Council Secretariat (DepEd-IMCS)

Office Address: 2nd Floor Dorm G, PSC Complex, Meralco Avenue. Pasig
City, Philippines 1600
Telefax: (02) 634-1054 or 634-1072
E-mail Address: [email protected]

4 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
(2nd Part)

Unit 3: Energy in Motion

Page

Module 1. Describing Motion . . . . . . . ................................... 3

Activity 1: Where is it? . . . . . . . . . ...................... ............. 4
Activity 2: My home to school roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Activity 3: Fun walk . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 11
Activity 4: Doing detective work . .......................... ......... 14

Module 2. Waves Around You . . . . . . ................................... 17

Activity 1: Let’s Make Waves! What happens when waves pass by?. . . . . . . . 18
Activity 2: Anatomy of a Wave: How do you describe waves? . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Activity 3: Mechanical vs. Electromagnetic Waves: How do waves
propagate? . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 27

Module 3. Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 35

Activity 1: My own sounding box . ................................... 36
Activity 2: Properties and characteristics of sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Activity 3: Big time gig! . . . . . . . . . ................................... 46

Module 4. Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 49

Activity 1: Light sources: Langis kandila or lampara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Activity 2: My spectrum wheel . . . .... .............................. 53
Activity 3: Colors of light – color of life! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Activity 4: Light up straight! . . . . ................................... 62

Module 5. Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 65

Activity 1: Warm me up, cool me down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Activity 2: Which feels colder? . . . ................................... 69
Activity 3: Move me up . . . . . . . . . ................................... 72
Activity 4: Keep it cold . . . . . . . . . ................................... 74
Activity 5: All at once . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 76

Module 6. Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................... 79

Activity 1: Charged interactions . . ................................... 80
Activity 2: To charge or not to charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Activity 3: Pass the charge . . . . . . ................................... 85
Activity 4: When lightning strikes ................................... 86
Activity 5: Let there be light! . . . . ................................... 87

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 5

Unit 4: Earth and Space
Page

Module 1. The Philippine Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Activity 1: Where in the world is the Philippines (Part I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Activity 2: Where in the world is the Philippines (Part II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Activity 3: What are some factors that will affect the amount
of water in the watersheds?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Activity 4: How is soil formed from rocks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Activity 5: Where are the mineral deposits in the Philippines? . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Activity 6: How do people destroy natural resources? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Activity 7: Are you ready for “Make-a-Difference” Day? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Module 2. Solar Energy and the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Activity 1: What is the basis for dividing Earth’s atmosphere into layers? . . . 119
Activity 2: Does a greenhouse retain or release heat? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Activity 3: What happens when air is heated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Activity 4: What happens to the air in the surroundings as warm air rises? . . 130
Activity 5: Which warms up faster? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Activity 6: In what direction do winds blow–from high to low pressure
area or vice versa? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Module 3. Seasons and Eclipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Activity 1: Why do the seasons change? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Activity 2: How does the length of daytime and nighttime affect
the season? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Activity 3: Are there shadows in space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Activity 4: Does a Bakunawa causes eclipses? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

6 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 1
2 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 Suggested time allotment: 8 to 10 hours

MODULE

1 DESCRIBING MOTION

Many of the things around us move. Some move slowly like the turtles and
clouds, others move much more quickly like the satellites. Because motion is so
common, it seems to be very simple. But in science, describing motion actually
entails careful use of some definitions.

This module provides you with scientific knowledge and skills necessary to
describe motion along a straight path. You will learn to describe the motion of objects
in terms of position, distance travelled, and speed. You will also learn to analyze or
represent motion of objects using charts, diagrams, and graphs. While these all
provide the same information about the motion of objects, you will find out that one
may be more helpful than the other depending on your particular objective.

At the end of this module, you are expected to answer the following questions:

 When can we say that an object is in motion?

 How do we describe the motion of an object?

Where?

Before you will be able to describe the motion of an object, you must first be
able to tell exactly where it is positioned. Describing exact position entails two ideas:
describing how far the object is from the point of reference and describing its
direction relative to that point of reference. You will learn about the importance of
point of reference and direction when you perform Activity 1.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 3

 Activity 1
Where is it?

Objective

In this activity, you should be able to describe in words the position of an

object within the room or the school ground.

Procedure
1. Obtain from your teacher the piece of paper that describes where you will find
the object.
Q1. Were you able to find the object? Was it easy or difficult?
Q2. Is the instruction clear and easy to follow? What made it so?

2. Put back the object to its place, if you found it. Otherwise, ask your teacher first
where it is located before you move on to the next step.

3. Revise the instruction to make it more helpful. Write it on a separate sheet of

paper and let another group use it to find the object.
Q3. Were they successful in finding the object? Was it easy for them or difficult?

Q4. What other details or information included in your instruction that made it
clearer and easier to follow?
Q5. In your own words, what is point of reference and how important it is?

Describing through visuals

The position of an object can be described in many ways. You can use words,
like what you did in Activity 1. You can also use visuals, like diagrams or graphs. Use
the examples to explore how these help in providing accurate descriptions of
positions of objects.

Using diagrams
Consider the diagram in Figure 1. The positions of the objects are described
in the diagram by their coordinates along the number line.

4 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 -15m -10m - 5m 0m 5m 10m 15m
Figure 1

Q6. What is the position of the dog?

Q7. What is the position of the tree?
Q8. What is the position of the dog with respect to the house?
Q9. What is the position of the tree with respect to the dog?

Here is another example. In this diagram, the positions of the ball rolling
are shown at equal intervals of time. You can use the diagram to describe the
position of the ball at any given time.

(Timer) 00:00 00:05 00:10 00:15

min sec min sec min sec min sec

0m 5m 10m 15m

Figure 2

Q10. What is the initial position of the ball? What is its final position?
Q11. What is the position of the ball at 10 seconds?
Q12. At what time is the position of the ball equal to 5 meters?

Using graphs

Another way to describe the motion of the ball is by the use of motion graphs.
Convert the diagram in Figure 2 to graph by following the guide below.

I. Fill up Table 1 using the data in Figure 2. Note that the positions of the ball are
shown every 5 seconds.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 5

 Table 1: Position of the ball vs time
Time (s) Position of the ball
(m)
0 0

II. Plot the values in Table 1 as points on the graph in Figure 3. Note that time is
plotted on the X-axis while position is plotted on the Y-axis. An example is given
below.

15

Position (m)
10

5 (20s, 5m)

5101520 Time (s)

Figure 3

III. Lastly, draw a straight diagonal line through the points in the graph.

The graph that you have just drawn in Figure 3 is called position-time graph.
You can also use this graph to describe the position of the ball at any given time. For
example, if you are asked to find the position of the ball at 10 seconds, all you need
to do is to find the point along the diagonal line where the vertical line at the 10
second-mark intersects (Figure 4). Then find where the horizontal line from that point
of intersection will cross the Y axis, which is the position axis. This will give you the
position of the ball at 10 seconds.

6 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Point of
intersection

Position (m)
0 10 Time (s)

Figure 4

Now try answering the following questions using your own position-time
graph.
Q13. What is the position of the ball at 7.5 seconds?
Q14. At what time is the position of the ball equal to 12.5 meters?

How Far?
In science, motion is defined N
as the change in position for a
W E
particular time interval. You can then
10m
start describing motion with the S
5m
question, “How far did the object
10m
travel?” There are actually two ways
to answer this question. First is by
getting the total length of the path
Figure 5
travelled by the object. In Figure 5 for

example, the dog ran 10m to the east, then 5m to the south, and another 10m to the
west. So it has travelled a total of 25 meters. The other way is by measuring the
distance between the initial position and final position of the object. Based again on
Figure 5, the dog has travelled 5 meters to the south.
In science, the first measurement gives the distance travelled by the object
(represented by broken lines) while the second measurement gives its
displacement (represented by continuous line).

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 7

 Here are more illustrations showing the difference between distance travelled
(represented by broken lines) by an object and its displacement (represented by
continuous lines).

a.
b.

c.

Figure 6

Can you give one difference between distance and displacement based on
the given examples? When can displacement be equal to zero? Is it possible to get
zero displacement? What if the ball, the car, and the dog in the illustration go back to
their starting positions, what will happen to their respective distances? How about
their displacements? If you answered these questions correctly, then you have most
probably understood the difference between distance and displacement.

 Distance refers to the length of the entire path that the object
travelled.
 Displacement refers to the shortest distance between the object’s two
positions, like the distance between its point of origin and its point of
destination, no matter what path it took to get to that destination.

When a graph is plotted in terms of the distance travelled by the object and
the time it took to cover such distance, the graph can be called distance-time graph.
If the graph is plotted in terms of displacement and

8 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 time, it is called displacement-time graph. Refer to the graph in Figure 7. What is the
displacement of the object after 2 seconds? What is its displacement after 6
seconds? How will you describe the motion of the object between 0s and 2s,
between 2s and 4s, and between 4s and 6s?

Displacement (m) 4

0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (s)
Figure 7

Activity 2
My home to school roadmap

Objective
In this activity you should be able to make a roadmap that shows how you get
to school from your house.

Procedure
1. Devise a way to easily measure distance. Let your teacher check your non-
standard measurement for precision.
2. Using your measuring device, gather the data that you will need for your
roadmap. Make sure that you take down notes of all names of the roads,
landmarks, corners, posts, and establishments you pass by. Record your data
properly.
3. Using your gathered data, draw your house-school roadmap on a short bond
paper. Decide on the most convenient scale to use when you draw your
roadmap. An example is shown below.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 9

 1 cm Scale: 1 cm = 1 km
2 km
5 km

3 km

Figure 8

4. Label your roadmap properly, including names of the roads, establishments,

etc. Specify also the length of road.
5. Finally, let your teacher check again your work.
Q1. What is the total length of your travel from your house to your school?

Q2. What is the total displacement of your travel?

How fast?

After determining how far the object moves, the next question will be “How
fast did the object move?” This information can be provided by the object’s speed or
velocity.

Are you familiar with the traffic signs below? These signs tell us the maximum
or minimum speed limits allowed by law for road vehicles. In general, the minimum
speed limit in the Philippines is 60 km/h and the maximum speed limit is 100 km/h.

What are the units used in the above examples of speed limits? What
quantities do these units represent that are related to speed?

10 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Activity 3
Fun walk

Objective
In this activity you should be able to gather data to determine who walks
fastest.

Procedure
1. Start by choosing a spacious place to walk straight.
2. Half of the group will walk while the other half will observe and record data.

3. Mark on the ground the starting line. All participants must start from the starting
line at the same time.
4. Upon receiving the go signal, all participants must start to walk as fast as they
could. The other members should observe closely as the participants walk and
determine who walks fastest.
5. Repeat #4 but this time, collect data to support your conclusion. Discuss within
your group how you are going to do this.
Q1. What quantities did you measure for your data?
Q2. How did you combine these quantities to determine how fast each
participant was walking?
Q3. How did you use the result to determine who walked fastest?

Speed
The questions in the above activity are actually referring to speed. If you know
the speed of each participant, you can tell who is the fastest. Speed is defined as
distance travelled divided by the time of travel.

speed  distan ce travelled

time of travel

The units of speed can be miles per hour (mi/h), kilometres per hour (km/h), or
meters per second (m/s).

Q4. At constant distance, how is speed related to the time of travel?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 11

 Q5. At constant time to travel, how is speed related to the distance travelled?

Q6. Who was travelling faster than the other, a person who covered 10 meters
in 5 seconds or the one who took 10 seconds to cover 20 meters?

Speed and direction

In describing the motion of an object, we do not just describe how fast the
object moves. We also consider the direction to where it is going. Speed with
direction is referred to as velocity. The sample weather bulletin below will show you
the importance of knowing not just the speed of the storm but also its direction.

Table 2: Sample weather bulletin

Weather Bulletin: Tropical Storm "Juaning"
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 at 09:27:14 AM
Location of 90 km East of Infanta,
Center Quezon
Coordinates 14.8°N, 122.5°E
Strength of the Max. wind speed of 85 km/hr near the center & gustiness of up to 100
winds km/hr
Movement 11km/hr going West-Northwest
Forecast On Wednesday AM: Expected to make landfall over Polillo Island
between 8am to 10am and over Southern Aurora by 1pm to 3pm and
will traverse Central Luzon

Whenever there is a storm coming, we are notified of its impending danger in

terms of its speed and direction. Aside from this, we are also informed about its
strength. Do you know that as the storm moves, its winds move in circles? The
circular speed of the winds of the storm determines its strength. Different storm
signals are given in places depending on the circular speed of the winds of the storm
and the distance from the center.

Study again the weather bulletin above. Which is the speed for the circular
motion of the typhoon winds? Which is the speed for the motion of the storm as a
whole along the path? How important are speed and direction in determining the
weather forecast for the next hours?

12 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Constant speed vs instantaneous speed

If you solved for the distance travelled by each participant over the time he
took to cover such distance, then you have computed for his average speed. But why
average speed and not just speed? It is considered average speed because it
represents the speed of the participant throughout his travel. During his travel, there
were instants that his speed would vary. His speed at an instant is called
instantaneous speed. Similarly, the velocity of a moving body at an instant is called
instantaneous velocity. The instantaneous speed may be equal, greater than, or less
than the average speed.

When an object’s instantaneous speed values are always the same, then it
means that the object is moving with constant speed. We refer to this as constant
motion. Where you will be and what time you will reach your destination is easily
predicted when you move at constant speed or velocity.

Are you familiar with the speedometer? Speedometer is a device used to

measure the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Speedometers are important to the
drivers because they need to know how fast they are going so they know if they are
already driving beyond the speed limit or not.

How fast is the velocity changing?

In reality, objects do not always
move at constant velocity. Storms like
“Juaning” also do change their speeds,
directions, or both. The next activity
will help you analyze examples of
motion with changing velocities (or
with changing speed, since we are
only trying to analyze examples of
motion in only one direction) using
tape charts and motion graphs. Source: http://drrm.region4a.dost.gov.ph/

Figure 9. Track of tropical storm “Juaning”

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 13

 Activity 4
Doing detective work

Consider this situation below:

Supposed you were having your on-the-job training in a private investigating

company. You were asked to join a team assigned to investigate a ‘hit and
run’ case. The alleged suspect was captured by the CCTV camera driving
down a road leading to the place of incident. The suspect denied the
allegation, saying that he was then driving very slowly with a constant speed.
Because of the short time difference when he was caught by the camera and
when the accident happened, he insisted that it was impossible that he would
already be at the place when the crime happened. But when you were viewing
the scene again on the camera, you noticed that his car was leaving oil spots
on the road. When you checked these spots on site, you found out that they
are still evident. So you began to wonder if the spots can be used to
investigate the motion of the car of the suspect and check whether he was
telling the truth or not.

Here is an activity that you can do to help you with your investigation. You will
analyze the motion using strips of papers with dots. For this activity, assume that the
dots represent the ‘oil drops’ left by the car down the road.

Materials
 ruler
 paper strips with dots
 cutter or pair of scissors

Procedure

A. Using tape chart

1. Obtain from your teacher paper strips with dots.
2. Label each dot. Start from 0, then 1, 2, 3, and so on. In this example, each dot
occurred every 1 second.
1 sec

0 1 2 3
Figure 10
14 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
3. Examine the distances between successive dots.
Q1. How will you compare the distances between successive dots?
4. Cut the strip at each drop, starting from
the first to the last drop, and paste them 4

side by side on a graph paper to form a 3

tape chart as shown in Figure 11.
2

1
Q2. How do the lengths of the tapes
compare?
Figure 11. Sample tape chart

Q3. If each tape represents the distance travelled by the object for
1 second, then what ‘quantity’ does each piece of tape provide?
Q4. What does the chart tell you about the speed of the car?

The difference in length between two successive tapes provides the object’s
acceleration or its change in speed or velocity for a time interval of 1 second.

Q5. How will you compare the changes in the lengths of two successive tapes?

Q6. What then can you say about the acceleration of the moving car?

B. Using motion graphs T

ab
5. Measure the distance travelled by le
the car after 1 second, 2 seconds, 3
and so on by measuring the
distance between drops 0 and 1, 0
Tim
and 2, and so on. Enter your e of
measurements in Table 3 on the trav
right. el
(s)

6. Plot the values in Table 3 as Dist

anc
points on the graph in Figure e
12 on the right. trav
elle
d
Q7. How does your (m)
distance-time graph 1
look like?
2

4
 Distance (cm)

0
5

(sec)
Time
 Figure 12
Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 15
7. Join the mid-points of the tops of the
tapes with a line. You have now
4
converted your tape chart to a

Speed (cm/s)
speed-time graph. 3

Q8. How does you graph look like? 2

How is this different from your
1
graph in Figure 12?
1 2 3 4 Time (s)
Q9. How will you interpret this graph
in terms of the speed and Figure 13
acceleration of the moving
car?
Q10. If you found out in your investigation that the arrangement of oil drops left
by the car is similar to what you used in this activity, was the suspect telling
the truth when he said that he was driving with constant speed?

In this module, you have learned how to describe the motion of objects in
terms of position, distance and displacement, speed and velocity, and acceleration.
You have also learned how to represent motion of objects using diagrams, charts,
and graphs.

Let us summarize what you have learned by relating distance, displacement,

speed, velocity, and acceleration.
 If an object does not change its position at a given time interval, then it is
at rest or its speed is zero or not accelerating.
 If an object covers equal distance at equal intervals of time, then it is
moving at constant speed and still not accelerating.
 If an object covers varying distances at equal intervals of time, then it is
moving with changing speed or velocity. It means that the object is
accelerating.

Links and References

Chapter 2: Representing Motion. Retrieved March 14, 2012 from http://igcse-

physics--41-p2-yrh.brentsvillehs.schools.pwcs.edu/modules
Chapter 3: Accelerated Motion. Retrieved March 14, 2012 from http://igcse-physics--
41-p2-yrh.brentsvillehs.schools.pwcs.edu/modules
HS Science IV: Physics in your environment. Teacher’s Edition. 1981. Science
Education Center. Quezon City

16 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 4 to 5 hours

MODULE

2 WAVES AROUND YOU

Waves occur all around you in the physical world. When you throw a stone
into a lake, water waves spread out from the splash. When you strum the strings of a
guitar, sound waves carry the noise all around you. When you switch on a lamp, light
waves flood the room. Water, sound, and light waves differ in important ways but
they all share the basic properties of wave motion. For instance, you can see water
waves and surfers would say that they enjoy riding the waves. On the other hand,
you don’t see sound waves and light waves but you experience them in other ways.
Your ears can detect sound waves and your skin can get burned by ultraviolet waves
if you stay under the sun for too long.

A wave is a periodic disturbance that moves away from a source and carries
energy with it. For example, earthquake waves show us that the amount of energy
carried by a wave can do work on objects by exerting forces that move objects from
their original positions. Have you personally experience an earthquake? How did it
feel? Did you know that you can understand earthquakes by studying waves?

In this module, you would be doing three activities that would demonstrate the
properties of wave motion. After performing these activities, you should be able to:

1. explain how waves carry energy from one place to another;

2. distinguish between transverse and longitudinal waves;

3. distinguish between mechanical and electromagnetic waves; and

4. create a model to demonstrate the relationship among frequency,

amplitude, wavelength, and wave velocity.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 17

 Warm up. What are Waves?

Activity 1 will introduce you to different types of waves distinguished according

to the direction of vibrations of particles with respect to the direction in which the
waves travel. Activity 2 will give you a background of the terms and quantities used
in describing periodic waves. Finally, Activity 3 will strengthen your understanding of
the properties of waves and how they propagate.

Try to wave at your seatmate and observe the motion

of your hand. Do you make a side-to-side motion with the
palm of your hand? Do you do an up-and-down motion with
your hand?

1. Describe your personal hand wave.

Waving is a common
The repetitive motion that you do with your
gesture that people do
hand while waving is called a vibration. A vibration to catch someone’s
causes wave motion. When you observe a wave, the attention or to convey
source is always a vibration. a farewell.

2. Think of a still lake. How would you generate

water waves on the lake?

Activity 1. Let’s Make Waves!

What happens when waves pass by?

Objective

In this activity, you will observe and draw

different types of waves and describe how they are
produced. You will also describe the different types of
waves.

Time Allotment: 30 minutes

18 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Materials

 A rope (at least five meters long)

 A colored ribbon
 A coil spring (Slinky™)
 A basin filled with water
 A paper boat

Procedure

A. What are transverse waves?

1. Straighten the rope and place it above a long table. Hold one end of the
rope and vibrate it up and down. You would be able to observe a pulse.
Draw three sketches of the rope showing the motion of the pulse at three
subsequent instances (snapshots at three different times). Draw an arrow
to represent the direction of the pulse’s motion.

Time 1

Time 2

Time 3

a. What is the source of the wave pulse?

b. Describe the motion of your hand as you create the pulse.

c. Describe the motion of the pulse with respect to the source.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 19

 You will now tag a specific part of the rope while making a series of
pulses. A periodic wave can be regarded as a series of pulses.
One pulse follows another in regular succession.

Figure 1. Periodic wave

Tie one end of the rope on a rigid and fixed object (e.g heavy table, door
knob, etc).

Figure 2. Rope tied to a rigid object

Attach a colored ribbon on one part of the rope. You may use adhesive
tape to fix the ribbon. Make a wave by continuously vibrating the end of the
rope with quick up-and-down movements of your hand. Draw the
waveform or the shape of the wave that you have created.

Ask a friend to vibrate the rope while you observe the motion of the
colored ribbon. Remember that the colored ribbon serves as a marker of
a chosen segment of the rope.

a. Does the wave transport the colored ribbon from its original
position to the end of the rope?

20 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 b. Describe the vibration of the colored ribbon. How does it move as
waves pass by? Does it move in the same direction as the wave?

B. What are longitudinal waves?

1. Connect one end of a long table to a wall. Place coil spring on top of table.
Attach one end of the coil spring to the wall while you hold the other end.

Figure 3. Coil spring on a flat table with one

end attached to a wall

Do not lift the coil spring. Ask a friend to vibrate the end of the coil spring
by doing a back-and-forth motion parallel to the length of the spring.
Observe the waves along the coil spring. Draw how the coil spring looks
like as you move it back-and-forth.

2. Attach a colored ribbon on one part of the coil spring. You may use an
adhesive tape to fix the ribbon. Ask a friend to vibrate the coil spring back-
and-forth while you observe the motion of the colored ribbon. Remember
that the colored ribbon serves as a marker of a chosen segment of the coil
spring.

a. Does the wave transport the colored ribbon from its original position
to the end of the rope?

b. Describe the vibration of the colored ribbon. How does it move as

waves pass by?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 21

 C. What are surface waves?

1. Place a basin filled with water on top of a level table. Wait until the water
becomes still or motionless. Create a wave pulse by tapping the surface of
the water with your index finger and observe the direction of travel of the
wave pulse. Tap the surface of the water at regular intervals to create
periodic waves. View the waves from above and draw the pattern that you
see. In your drawing, mark the source of the disturbance.

2. Wait for the water to become still before you place your paper boat on the
surface. Create periodic waves and observe what happens to your paper
boat.

a. Do the waves set the paper boat into motion? What is required to set
an object into motion?

b. If you exert more energy in creating periodic waves by tapping the

surface with greater strength, how does this affect the movement of
the paper boat?

3. If you were somehow able to mark individual water molecules (you used a
colored ribbon to do this earlier) and follow them as waves pass by, you
would find that their paths are like those shown in the figure below.

Figure 4. Surface waves

22 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 a. As shown in the figure, the passage of a wave across a surface of a
body of water involves the motion of particles following a
___________ pattern about their original positions.

b. Does the wave transport water molecules from the source of the
vibration? Support your answer using the shown figure.

D. Summary

1. Waves can be typified according to the direction of motion of the vibrating

particles with respect to the direction in which the waves travel.

a. Waves in a rope are called ____________ waves because the

individual segments of the rope vibrate ____________ to the direction
in which the waves travel.

b. When each portion of a coil spring is alternatively compressed and

extended, ____________ waves are produced.

c. Waves on the surface of a body of water are a combination of

transverse and longitudinal waves. Each water molecule moves in a
_______________ pattern as the waves pass by.

2. How do we know that waves carry energy?

3. What happens when waves pass by?

Activity 2. Anatomy of a Wave

How do you describe waves?

Background

You had the experience of creating periodic waves in Activity 1. In a periodic

wave, one pulse follows another in regular succession; a certain waveform – the
shape of individual waves – is repeated at regular intervals.
Most periodic waves have sinusoidal waveforms as shown below. The
highest point and lowest point of a wave are called the crest and the trough
respectively. The amplitude is the maximum displacement of a vibrating particle on
either side of its normal position when the wave passes.
Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 23
 Figure 5. Sinusoidal wave

Objective

In this activity, you will identify the quantities used in describing periodic
waves.

Time Allotment: 40 minutes

Materials

 A ruler
 A basin filled with water
 A rope (at least five meters long)
 A colored ribbon
 A watch or digital timer

Procedure

A. How can you measure the wavelength of a

wave?

1. The wavelength of a wave refers to the distance between any successive

identical parts of the wave. For instance, the distance from one crest to the
next is equal to one full wavelength. In the following illustration, this is
given by the interval B to F. Identify the other intervals that represent one
full wavelength.

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

24 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 2. Place a basin filled with water on top of a level table. Wait for the water to
become still. Create a vibration by regularly tapping the surface of the
water with your index finger. You would be able to see the subsequent
crest of the water waves.

Figure 6. Crest and trough on a water wave

Draw the water waves as you see them from the top of the basin.
Label one wavelength in your drawing.

3. Increase the rate of the vibrations you create by tapping the surface of the
water rapidly. What happens to the wavelength of the waves?
_______________________________________________

Draw the water waves as you see them from the top of the basin.
Compare it with your drawing in number 2.

B. How do you measure the frequency of a wave?

1. The frequency of a series of periodic waves is the number of waves that

pass a particular point every one second. Just like what you have done in
Activity 1, attach a colored ribbon on a rope to serve

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 25

 as a tag. Tie one end of the rope on a fixed object and ask a friend to
create periodic waves by regularly vibrating the other end of the rope.

2. You will count how many times the colored ribbon reached the crest in 10
seconds. You will start counting once the ribbon reaches the crest a
second time. It means that one wave has passed by the ribbon’s position.
Ask another friend with a watch or a digital timer to alert you to start
counting and to stop counting after 10 seconds. Record the results in
Table 1.

3. It is also useful to consider the period of a wave, which is the time required
for one complete wave to pass a given point. The period of

each wave is = 1

From the identified frequency of the observed periodic waves, the period
can be calculated. For example, if two waves per second are passing by,
each wave has a period of ½ seconds.

Table 1. Frequency and period of the wave

Number of waves Frequency
Period
(N cycles) that passed by of the waves
of the waves (seconds)
the ribbon in 10 seconds (N cycles/10 seconds)

The unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz); 1 Hz = 1 cycle/second.

4. If you increase the frequency of vibration by jerking the end of the rope at
a faster rate, what happens to the wavelength?
__________________________________________________________________

C. How do you measure the speed of a wave?

1. Using the rope with ribbon. Create periodic waves and estimate their
wavelength. Count the number of waves that pass by the ribbon in ten
seconds. Compute the frequency of the waves. Record the results in Table
2.

26 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 2. The wave speed is the distance traveled by the wave per second.
== ℎ

From the basic formula that applies to all periodic waves, you can see that
wave speed, frequency and wavelength are independent of the wave’s
amplitude.

a. Using the data from number 1, calculate the wave speed of the
observed periodic waves. Record the result in Table 2.

Table 2. The speed of a wave

Estimated Number of waves Frequency Wave speed
wavelength (N cycles) that of the waves (meter/second)
(meters) passed by the (N cycles/10
ribbon in 10 seconds)
seconds

Summary

1. What is the relationship between wave speed, wavelength and frequency?

2. Suppose you observed an anchored boat to rise and fall once every 4.0
seconds as waves whose crests are 25 meters apart pass by it.

a. What is the frequency of the observed waves?

b. What is the speed of the waves?

Activity 3. Mechanical vs. Electromagnetic Waves How

do waves propagate?
Objective

In this activity, you will differentiate between mechanical waves and

electromagnetic waves.
Time Allotment: 30 minutes

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 27

 Materials

 Findings from Activity 1

 Chart of the electromagnetic spectrum A.

What are mechanical waves?

1. When you created waves using a rope in Activity 1 Part A, you were able
to observe a moving pattern. In this case, the medium of wave
propagation is the rope.

a. In Activity 1 Part B, what is the medium of wave propagation?

b. In Activity 1 Part C, what is the medium of wave propagation?

2. The waves that you have created in

Activity 1 all require a medium for wave
propagation. They are called
mechanical waves.

a. How can you generate

mechanical waves? The medium of propagation for the
wave shown above is the rope.
3. All three kinds of waves – transverse,
longitudinal, and surface earthquake and can – are sent out by an
be detected many away if the quake is a thousands of kilometers
major one.

a. What do you think is the source of earthquake waves?

b. What is the medium of propagation of earthquake waves? B.

What are electromagnetic waves?

1. Energy from the sun reaches the earth through electromagnetic waves.
As opposed to mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves require no
material medium for their passage. Thus, they can pass through empty
space. Locate the electromagnetic spectrum chart in your classroom. A
smaller image of the chart is shown below. Identify the common name of
each wave shown in the chart.

28 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 1. ______________________ 5. _______________________
2. ______________________ 6. _______________________
3. ______________________ 7. _______________________
4. ______________________

2. The electromagnetic spectrum shows the various types of

electromagnetic waves, the range of their frequencies and wavelength.
The wave speed of all electromagnetic waves is the same and equal to the
speed of light which is approximately equal to 300 000 000 m/s.

Figure 7. The electromagnetic spectrum

a. Examine the electromagnetic spectrum.

1. Describe the relationship between frequency and wavelength

of each electromagnetic wave.

2. Draw waves to represent each electromagnetic wave. Your

illustrations must represent the wavelength of a wave relative
to the others. For instance, gamma rays have a very small
wavelength compared to the other waves in the spectrum.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 29

 1. Gamma Rays

2. __________

3. __________

4. __________

5. __________

6. __________

7. __________

b. The Sun is an important source of ultraviolet (UV) waves, which is

the main cause of sunburn. Sunscreen lotions are transparent to
visible light but absorb most UV light. The higher a sunscreen’s
solar protection factor (SPF), the greater the percentage of UV light
absorbed. Why are UV rays harmful to the skin compared to visible
light?

Compare the frequency and energy carried by UV waves to that

of visible light.

C. Summary

1. Mechanical waves like sound, water waves, earthquake waves, and

waves in a stretched string propagate through a
_______________ while __________________ waves such as radio
waves, visible light, and gamma rays, do not require a material medium
for their passage.

Review. Waves Around You

The activities that you have performed are all about wave motion or the
propagation of a pattern caused by a vibration. Waves transport energy from one
place to another thus they can set objects into motion.

30 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 What happens when waves pass by?

Activity 1 introduced you to transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface

waves. You observed the motion of a segment of the material through which the
wave travels.

1. Transverse waves occur when the individual particles or segments of a

medium vibrate from side to side perpendicular to the direction in which
the waves travel.

2. Longitudinal waves occur when the individual particles of a medium

vibrate back and forth in the direction in which the waves travel.

3. The motion of water molecules on the surface of deep water in which a

wave is propagating is a combination of transverse and longitudinal
displacements, with the result that molecules at the surface move in
nearly circular paths. Each molecule is displaced both horizontally and
vertically from its normal position.

4. While energy is transported by virtue of the moving pattern, it is important

to remember that there is not net transport of matter in wave motion. The
particles vibrate about a normal position and do not undergo a net
motion.

How can you describe waves?

In Activity 2, you have encountered the important terms and quantities used to
describe periodic waves.

1. The crest and trough refer to the highest point and lowest point of a wave
pattern, respectively.

2. The amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement of a particle of

the medium on either side of its normal position when the wave passes.

3. The frequency of periodic waves is the number of waves that pass a

particular point for every one second while the wavelength is the distance
between adjacent crests or troughs.

4. The period is the time required for one complete wave to pass a
particular point.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 31

 5. The speed of the wave refers to the distance the wave travels per unit
time. It is related to the frequency of the wave and wavelength through
the following equation:
= ℎ

How do waves propagate?

Finally, Activity 3 prompted you to distinguish between mechanical and

electromagnetic waves.

1. In mechanical waves, some physical medium is being disturbed for the

wave to propagate. A wave traveling on a string would not exist without
the string. Sound waves could not travel through air if there were no air
molecules. With mechanical waves, what we interpret as a wave
corresponds to the propagation of a disturbance through a medium.

2. On the other hand, electromagnetic waves do not require a medium to

propagate; some examples of electromagnetic waves are visible light,
radio waves, television signals, and x-rays.

Up Next. Light

In the next module, you would learn about visible light, the most familiar form
of electromagnetic waves, since it is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that
the human eye can detect. Through some interesting activities, you would come
across the characteristics of light, how it is produced and how it propagates. You
would need the concepts that you learned from this module to fully understand and
appreciate the occurrence of light.

32 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Pre/Post Test

Consider the diagram below to answer questions 1 and 2.

1. The wavelength of the wave in the diagram above is given by letter

______.

2. The amplitude of the wave in the diagram above is given by letter _____.

3. Indicate the interval that represents a half wavelength.

a. A to E c. A to B
b. B to F d. C to E

4. A pulse sent down a long string eventually dies away and disappears. What
happens to its energy?
a. The energy disappears with the wave.
b. The energy is remains along the length of the string.
c. The energy is transferred from the wave to the environment.
d. The pulse does not carry energy.

5. Mechanical waves transport energy from one place to another through

a. Alternately vibrating particles of the medium
b. Particles traveling with the wave
c. Vibrating particles and traveling particles
d. None of the above

6. In a transverse wave, the individual particles of the medium

a. move in circles
b. move in ellipses
c. move parallel to the direction of travel
d. move perpendicular to the direction of travel

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 33

 7. The higher the frequency of a wave,

a. the lower its speed c. the greater its amplitude

b. the shorter its wavelength d. the longer its period

8. Of the following properties of a wave, the one that is independent of the others
is its

a. amplitude c. wavelength
b. wave speed d. frequency

9. Waves in a lake are 5.00 m in length and pass an anchored boat 1.25 s apart.
The speed of the waves is
a. 0.25 m/s
b. 4.00 m/s
c. 6.25 m/s
d. impossible to find from the information given

10. Energy from the sun reaches the earth through

a. ultraviolet waves c. mechanical waves

b. infrared waves d. electromagnetic waves

References and Web Links

Anatomy of an electromagnetic wave. Available at:

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems/02_anatomy.html

Electromagnetic waves. Available at:

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/waves_particles/
[3] Hewitt, P. (2006). Conceptual Physics 10th Ed. USA: Pearson Addison-
Wesley.

The anatomy of a wave. Available at:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/u10l2a.cfm

The nature of a wave. Available at:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/u10l1c.cfm

34 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 8 to 10 hours

MODULE

3 SOUND

Would you like to try placing your palm on your throat while saying – “What
you doin?” What did your palm feel? Were there vibrations in the throat? Try it again
and this time, say – “Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!”

Terms to Remember
In the previous module you learned Longitudinal Wave
about wave properties and common -Wave whose motion is parallel
characteristics like pitch and loudness. You to the motion of the particles of
the medium
will also learn the 2 kinds of waves according
Mechanical wave
to propagation. These are the longitudinal and
-Wave that need a medium in
transverse waves. Sound is an example of a order to propagate
longitudinal wave. It is also classified as a
mechanical wave. Thus there has to be matter
for which sound should travel and propagate.
This matter is better known as medium.

Figure 1. Longitudinal wave

How does sound propagate?

In Activity 1, you will try to explore how sound is produced. You are going to
use local materials available in your community to do this activity. You can do “Art
Attack” and be very creative with your project.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 35

 Activity 1
My own sounding box

Objectives

In this activity, you should be able to construct a sounding box to

1. demonstrate how sound is produced; and

2. identify factors that affect the pitch and loudness of the sound
produced.

Materials Needed

 shoe box
 variety of elastic or rubber bands (thin and thick)
 extra cardboard – optional
 pair of scissors or cutter
Handle all sharp
 ruler TAKE
tools with care.
CARE!

Procedure

1. Cut and design your shoe box

as shown in Figure 2.

2. Put the rubber bands around

the box. Make sure that the
rubber bands are
almost equally spaced and that
the rubber bands are arranged
according to increasing
thickness from
the lower end to the other end Figure 2. My sounding box
of the box.

36 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 3. Use your finger to pluck each rubber band. Listen to the sound produced.

Q1. What physical signs did you observe when you plucked each
band. Did you hear any sound? What produced the sound?

Q2. How different are the sounds produced by each band with different
thickness?

4. This time use the fingers of one hand to stretch one of the elastics. Pluck the
elastic with the fingers of the other hand and observe.

Q3. Are there changes in the note when you plucked the stretched band?

5. Repeat step 4 with the other elastic bands.

Q4. Arrange the elastics in sequence from the highest note to the lowest note
produced.

When we talk or make any sound, our vocal cords vibrate. When there are no
vibrations felt, no sound is produced. This means that sounds are caused by
vibrations. Vibrations of molecules are to the to-and-fro or back-and-forth movement
of molecules. Vibrations are considered as a disturbance that travels through a
medium. This vibratory motion causes energy to transfer to our ears and is
interpreted by our brain. Sound waves are examples of longitudinal waves. They
are also known as mechanical waves since sound waves need medium in order to
propagate.

In Activity 1, vibrations produced by the elastic band produced sound.

The sounding box amplified (increase in amplitude) this sound.

Sound waves can travel in air. When they come in contact with our eardrums,
the vibrations of the air force our eardrums to vibrate which is sensed and interpreted
by our brain.

Can sound waves also travel in other media like solids

and liquids?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 37

 You can try this one. Place your ear against one end of a tabletop. Ask a
friend to gently tap the other end of the table with a pencil or a ruler. What happens?
Then ask your friend to again gently tap the other end of the table but this time, make
sure that your ear is not touching the table. What happens? In which situation did
you encounter louder and more pronounced sound? In which situation did you
encounter the sound clearly?

Sound is produced by the slight tapping of the table with a pencil or a ruler.
This can be heard clearly at the other end of the table. This shows that sound waves
can also travel through wood or solid. Sound is more distinct in solids than in air.
This also means that sound is heard much louder when it travels in solids than in air.

What about in liquids?

Can sound travel in liquids too?
Liquids are better transmitters
of sound than gases. If two
bodies are struck together
underwater,
the sound heard by a person

who is underwater is louder Figure 3: Molecules of different media

than when heard in air, but
softer than in solids.

As you can see in Figure 3, particles of solids are more closely packed than
particles of liquid and gas. This is why sound produced in solids is much more
distinct and loud than when it is propagated or produced in liquids and gas. Between
liquids and gases, on the other hand, liquid particles appear more closely spaced
than gases. This means that louder sound will be produced in liquids than in gases.

Spacing of particles of the medium like solid, liquid and gas is an important
factor on how would is transmitted. Take a look at Figure 3, liquid particles are closer
to each other than the particles in the gas. Sound waves are transmitted easier in
liquids. Between liquids and solids, the particles of solids are even closer together
than the liquid molecules; therefore, sound travels even faster in solids than in
liquids. Since different media transmit sound differently, sound travels at different
speeds in

38 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 different materials. Since solid is the best transmitter of sound, sound travels
fastest in solids and slowest in gases.

The table below shows the speed of sound in different materials. Table 1: Speed of sound in

different materials

Speed of Sound
Materials V (m/s)
o
Air (0 C) 331
He (0oC) 1005
H (20oC) 1300
Water 1440
Seawater 1560
Iron and Steel 5000
Aluminum 5100
Hard wood 4000

Sound speed is dependent on several factors such as (1) atmospheric

pressure, (2) relative humidity, and (3) atmospheric temperature. Remember these
weather elements you studied in your earlier grades? High values of these elements
lead to faster moving sound. When you are in the low lands and the surrounding is
hot, sound travels fast. Do you want to know why sound travels faster in hot air?
There are more molecular interactions that happen in hot air. This is because the hot
particles of air gain more kinetic energy and so there is also an increase in the mean
velocity of the molecules. Since sound is a consequence of energy transfer through
collisions, more collisions and faster collisions means faster sound.

Going a little deeper on this, speed of sound basically depends on the elastic
property and the inertial property of the medium on which it propagates. The elastic
property is concerned with the ability of the material to retain or maintain its shape
and not to deform when a force is applied on it. Solids as compared to liquids and
gases have the highest elastic property. Consequently, solid is the medium on which
sound travels fastest. This means that the greater the elastic property, the faster the
sound waves travel. The iniertial property, on the other hand, is the tendency of the
material to maintain its state of motion. More inertial property means the more inert
(more massive or greater mass density) the individual particles of the medium, the
less responsive they will be to the interactions between neighbouring particles and
the slower that the wave will be. Within a single phase medium, like air for example,
humid air is more inert than humid air. This is because water that has changed to
vapor is mixed with the air. This phenomenon increases the mass density of air and
so increases the inertial

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 39

 property of the medium. This will eventually decrease the speed of sound on that
medium.

Sound cannot travel in a vacuum. Remember that sound is a mechanical

wave which needs medium in order to propagate. If no matter exists, there will be no
sound. In the outer space, sound would not be transmitted.

Sound waves possess characteristics common to all types of waves. These

are frequency, wavelength, amplitude, speed or velocity, period and phase. Just like
other waves, sound also exhibits wave properties just like reflection, refraction,
diffraction, and interference. More than these properties are pitch and loudness of
sound. Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of sound. Loudness is how soft or
how intense the sound is as perceived by the ear and interpreted by the brain. Do
you want to find out more characteristics and properties of sound? Activity No. 2 will
let your discover some of these properties using your sounding box.

Activity 2
Properties and characteristics of sound
Objective

In this activity, you will use your sounding box to describe the characteristics
of sound and compare them with those of sound produced by a guitar.

Materials Needed

 Sounding Box
 Wooden rod
 Ruler
 Guitar

Procedure
Part 1: Sounding the Box...

1. Label the rubber bands of your

sounding box as S1, S2
and so on. Labeling should start with the thinnest rubber band.

40 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 2. Pluck each rubber band. Listen to the sounds produced.

Q1. What did you observed when you plucked each of the rubber bands and
sound is produced? How then is sound produced?

Q2. Is there a difference in the sound produced by each of the rubber bands?
How do they differ?

Q3. Which band produced a higher sound? Which band produced a lower
sound?

Q4. How can you make a softer sound? How can you make a louder
sound?

Q5. What factors affect the pitch and loudness of the sound produced by the
rubber bands?

3. Stretch one of the rubber bands and while doing so, pluck it again.

Q6. Is there a change in the sound produced when you pluck the rubber band
while stretching it? How does stretching the rubber band affect the pitch of
the sound produced?
ruler
4. Place a ruler (on its edge) across the ruler
sounding box as shown in Figure 3.
Pluck each rubber band and observe.

Q7. Is there a difference in the

sound produced when the
ruler is placed across the Figure 3: With stretch rubber
box? bands

5. Move the ruler off center to the left or to a diagonal

position so that one side of each rubber band is
shorter than the other side (Figure 4). Pluck again
each rubber band on each side of the ruler and
observe.
Figure 4: Diagonal
Stretching of the bands

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 41

 Q8. Which part of the rubber band (shorter side or longer side) provides higher
pitch? Which part provides lower pitch?

Q9. Again, what factors affect the pitch of the sound produced by the rubber
bands?

Part 2: The Guitar...

6. Strum each guitar string without holding the frets. (String #0 is the lower most
string while string #6 is the uppermost string.)

7. Record all you observations in the table provided.

String # Pitch (High or Low)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6

Q10. Which string vibrates fastest when strummed?

Q11. Which string vibrates slowest when strummed?

Q12. Which string has the highest frequency?

Q13. Which string has the highest pitch?

Q14. Which has the lowest frequency?

Q15. Which string has the lowest pitch?

Q16. How would you relate pitch and frequency?

The highness or lowness of sound is known as the pitch of a sound or a

musical note. In Activity No. 2 you were able to relate vibrations, frequency and pitch
using your improvised sounding box and a guitar. The pitch of a high frequency
sound is also high and a low frequency sound is also; lower in pitch.

42 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 When you were in your
earlier grades you studied about
the human ear. Our ear and that
of animals are the very sensitive
sound detectors. The ear is a part
of the peripheral auditory system.
It is divided into three major parts:
the outer ear, the middle ear and
the inner ear.

The outer ear called the

pinna collects the sound waves
and focuses them into the ear
Figure 4: The human ear
canal. This canal transmits the
sound waves to the eardrum.

The ear canal is the eardrum membrane or the tympanum. It separates the
outer and the middle ears physically. Air vibrations set the eardrum membrane in
motion that causes the three smallest bones (hammer, anvil and stirrup) to move.
These three bones convert the small-amplitude vibration of the eardrum into large-
amplitude oscillations. These oscillations are transferred to the inner ear through the
oval window.

Behind the oval window is a snail-shell shaped liquid –filled organ called the
cochlea. The large-amplitude oscillations create waves that travel in liquid. These
sounds are converted into electrical impulses, which are sent to the brain by the
auditory nerve. The brain, interprets these signals as words, music or noise.

Did you know that we can only sense within the frequency range of about 20
Hz to about 20000 Hz? Vibrational frequencies beyond 20 000 Hz is called
ultrasonic frequencies while extremely low frequencies are known as infrasonic
frequencies. Our ear cannot detect ultrasonic or infrasonic waves. But some
animals like dogs can hear sounds as high as 50 000 Hz while bats can detect
sounds as high as 100 000 Hz.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 43

 We can see images of your baby
brother or sister when the OB-Gyne asks
your mommy or nanay to undergo
ultrasound. Ultrasonic waves are used to
help physicians see our internal organs.
Nowadays, ultrasonic technology is of
three kinds: 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional,
and 4-dimensional categories. In the 3- and
4-dimensional ultrasonic technologies,

the features of the fetus are very

clearly captured. Figure 5: Ultrasound

It has also been found that ultrasonic waves can be used as rodent and insect
exterminators. The very loud ultrasonic sources in a building will usually drive the
rodents away or disorient cockroaches causing them to die from the induced erratic
behavior. What other applications of sound do you have in mind? Do you want to
share them too?

Loudness and Intensity

Do you still remember intensity of

light in the previous module? In sound,
intensity refers to the amount of energy a
sound wave. Figure 6 shows varying
intensity of sound. High amplitude sounds
usually carry large energy and have higher
intensity while low amplitude sound carry
lesser amount of energy and have lower
intensity.

Figure 6: Varying sounds

Sound intensity is measured by various instruments like the oscilloscope.

Loudness is a psychological sensation that differs for different people. Loudness is
subjective but is still related to the intensity of sound. In fact, despite the subjective
variations, loudness varies nearly logarithmically with intensity. A logarithmic scale is
used to describe sound intensity, which roughly corresponds to loudness. The unit of
intensity level for sound is the decibel (dB), which was named after Alexander
Graham Bell

44 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 who invented the telephone. On the decibel scale, an increase of 1 dB means that
sound intensity is increased by a factor of 10.

Father and son duo

interprets the loudness of a sound
differently. The son considers the
rock music a soft music while the
father considers it a loud sound.
The father may even interpret the
sound as a distorted sound,

which is known as noise.

Figure 7: Father and Son Duo
Noise is wave that is not
pleasing to the senses.

Table 2. Sound Levels of different sound sources

Source of sound Level (dB)

Jet engine, 30 m away 140
Threshold of pain 120
Amplified rock music 115
Old subway train 100
Average factory 90
Busy street traffic 70
Normal conversation 60
Library 40
Close whisper 20
Normal breathing 10
Threshold of hearing 0

Let’s see how you interpret sound yourselves. Look for 3 more classmates
and try Activity 3. This will test your ability to design and at the same time show your
talents!

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 45

Activity 3
Big time gig!

Objectives

In this activity, you should be able to:

1. create musical instruments using indigenous products and

2. use these instruments to compose tunes and present in a Gig. Students
may also utilize other indigenous musical instruments.
Materials Needed

 Indigenous materials such as sticks, bottles or glassware available in your

locality to be used as musical instrument
 Localized or improvised stringed instruments
 Localized or improvised drum set

Procedure

1. Form a group of four (4). One can play a stringed instrument, while the other
can play the drum and the 3 rd member can use the other instrument that your
group will design or create. The last member will be your group’s solo
performer.

2. Look for local materials which you can use to create different musical
instruments.

3. Try to come up with your own composition using the instruments you have
created.

4. In the class GIG you are to play and sing at least 2 songs (any song of your
choice and your original composition).

5. Check the Rubric included to become familiar with the criteria for which you will
be rated.

46 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Big Time Gig!
Rubric Scoring
Task/
4 3 2 1 Score
Criteria
 Makes use of  Makes use
local or  Makes use  Makes use of local
indigenous of local of local materials
materials materials materials only.
Improvised/  The improvised only. only.  The sound
Localized instruments  The  The produced by
musical produce good improvised improvised the
instruments quality sound instruments instruments improvised
comparable to produce produce fair instruments
standard good quality quality is not clear
musical sound. sound. and
instruments. distinct.
The group’s
The group’s The group’s
The group’s original original
original original
composition has composition
composition composition
good melody. has fair melody
has fair melody has fair melody
Composition and the lyrics
and the lyrics and the lyrics
The lyrics provided provided are
provided are provided are
are thematic and NEITHER
thematic and NOT thematic
meaningful thematic nor
meaningful but meaningful
meaningful
 The group  The group  The group
 The group was
was able to was able to was able to
able to
successfully use the use the
successfully use
use the improvised improvised
the improvised
improvised musical musical
musical
musical instruments instruments
instruments in
Performance instruments but some but MOST
their GIG.
in their were out of were out of
 The group was
GIG. tune tune
able to provide
 The group  The group  The group
good quality
was able to was able to was able to
rendition or
provide fair provide fair provide fair
performance.
rendition. rendition. rendition
3 out of 4
2 out of 4
Each one of them members
completed their
Cooperation completed their task completed their Only 1 out of
task so as to
and Team so as to come up task so as to the 4 members
come up with
Work with the expected come up with did his/her job
the expected
output - GIG the expected
output - GIG
output - GIG
TOTAL

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 47

 How was your GIG? Did you enjoy this activity? Aside from the concepts and
principles in sound you learned and applied for a perfect performance what other
insights can you identify? Can you extend your designs to come up with quality
instruments using indigenous materials? You can be famous with your artworks...

Sound waves are mechanical waves than need for a medium for sound to
propagate. Vibrations of the medium create a series of compression and rarefaction
which results to longitudinal waves. Sound can travel in all media but not in vacuum.
Sound is fastest in matter that is closely packed like solid and slowest in gas. Speed
of sound is dependent on factors like temperature, humidity and air pressure. High
temperature brings much faster sound. Increased humidity, on the other hand makes
sound travel slower. As pressure is increased, speed is also increased. Inertial and
elastic properties of the medium also play an important part in the speed of sound.
Solids tend to be highly elastic than gases and thus sound travel fastest in solids. In
a single phase matter however, the inertial property which is the tendency of the
material to maintain its motion also affect speed of sound. Humid air is more massive
and is more inert than dry air. This condition brings lesser molecular interactions and
eventually slower sound. Sound, just like other waves do have characteristics such
as speed, frequency, wavelength, amplitude, phase and period. Like any other wave,
sound exhibit properties like reflection, refraction, interference and diffraction. Other
properties are loudness and pitch. Pitch is dependent on the frequency of sound
wave. The higher frequency the higher the pitch of the sound produced.

Organisms like us are capable of sensing sound through our ears. Just like
other organism, our ears do have parts that perform special tasks until the auditory
signals reach and are interpreted by our brain. Frequencies beyond the audible to
human are known as ultrasonic (beyond the upper limit) and infrasonic (below the
lower limit). Intensity and loudness are quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the
energy carried by the wave. High amplitude waves are intense and are sensed as
loud sound. Low amplitude sound waves are soft sound. Music is a special sound
that forms patterns and are appealing to our sense of hearing.

Reading Materials/Links/Websites
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/sound/u11l2c.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound#Sound_wave_properties_and_characteristics
http://personal.cityu.edu.hk/~bsapplec/characte.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/agatonlydelle/physics-sounds

48 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 5 to 6 hours

MODULE

4 LIGHT

Do you still remember Sir Isaac Newton? What about Christian Huygens? Did
you meet them in your earlier grades? These people were the first to study about
light.

In this module, you will learn about light. You will also find out that there are
different sources of light and that light exhibits different characteristics and
properties. Finally, you will design a simple activity to test whether light travels in a
straight light or not.

What are the common sources of light? How do these common

sources produce light? What are the common properties and
characteristics of light?

Sir Isaac Newton believed that light behaves like a particle while Christian
Huygens believed that light behaves like a wave. A 3 rd scientist, Max Planck came
up with what is now known as the Dual-Nature of Light. He explained that light can
be a particle and can also be a wave. To complete our knowledge about the nature
of light, James Clark Maxwell proposed the Electromagnetic Theory of Light.

While these scientists dig deep into the nature of light and how light are
propagated, let us be more familiar with ordinary materials we use as common
sources of light. The Sun for example is known as a natural source of light. Sun is
also considered as a luminous body (an object capable of producing its own light).
Other sources are the lamps, bulbs, and candles. These are the artificial sources.

In your earlier grades you learned about energy transformation. Energy

transformation is needed to convert or transform forms of energy to light or other
forms. In bulbs, electric potential is converted to light. In lamps, chemical energy is
transformed to light.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 49

 In Activity 1, you will try to observe transformation of chemical energy from
chemical substances such as oil to light. Further, you will also gather data which
chemical substance is best by relating it to the brightness of the light produced. In
this activity, you will use the langis kandila or lampara as we call it in the Philippines
or the Diwali lights as it is known in other countries like India.

Activity 1
Light sources: Langis kandila or lampara

Objectives

In this activity, you should be able to:

1. construct a simple photometer;
2. determine which chemical substance produce the brightest light; and
3. infer that brightness of light is dependent on the distance of the source.

Materials Needed

 an electric glow lamp (Small lamp is needed)

 candle - weighing 75 grams
 wedge with sloping surfaces (sharp angle about 60° to 70 ° that serve as the
photometer (made of white wood or paper)
 langis kandila or lampara
 variety of vegetable oil (about 5)
 aluminum pie containers or small clay pots
 cotton string for wick
 set of books or tripod that will serve as platform for Diwali lights

Procedure
Part 1: Improvised Photometer

Arrange the
electric glow lamp,
the candle and the
wedge as shown on
the right. Make
sure that you do 1 2
this activity in a
dark room for good Figure 1. Improvised photometer set up

results.

50 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Illuminate the side “A” of the wedge by the lamp and side “B” by the candle. In
general the lamp side will look brighter than the other.

Move the wedge nearer to the candle to a spot at which you as an observer,
looking down on the two surfaces of the wedge (from “C”) cannot see any difference
between them in respect of brightness. (They are then equally illuminated; that is to
say the candle light falling on “B” is equal in intensity to the electric light falling on
“A.”)

Calculate the power of the lamp relative to the candle. (E.g. If both side of the
wedge showed equal illumination when it is about 200 cm from 1, and 50 cm from 2,
the distances are as 4 to 1. But as light falls off according to the square of the
distance: (200)2 = 40 000 and (50)2 = 2 500 or 16 to 1.).
Thus the candle-power of the lamp is 16.

Q1. What is the candle power of your set up? (Include your computations.)

Part 2: Langis Kandila or Lampara

1. Make 5 langis kandila or lampara

using aluminium pie containers or
small clay pots as shown. Label your
langis kandila as DL-KL1, DL-KL2
and so on. Figure 2: Langis kandila or lampara

2. Pour different variety of vegetable oil in each of the pot.

3. Use the improvised photometer to determine the brightness of each of the

candle.

4. Replace the candle you used in the 1st part with the langis kandila.

5. Compute the candle power of the lamp with respect to the langis kandila. You
may refer to step 4 for the step by step process of determining the candle
power using the improvised photometer. Record your data on the provided
table:

Table 1. Brightness of Vegetable Oil Variety

Diwali Lights/Langis Vegetable Oil Brightness/Luminous
Kandila Variety Intensity (Candela)
DL-LK 1 Canola Oil
DL-LK 2 Butter
DL-LK 3 Margarine
DL-LK 4 Corn Oil
DL-LK 5 Olive Oil

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 51

 Q2. Which among the langis kandila or lampara is the brightest? Part 3:

Intensity vs Distance from light source

1. Position your brightest Diwali light or langis kandila 20 inches or about 50 cm

from the wedge. Compute the brightness of the Diwali light.

2. Move the langis kandila or Diwali light 10 cm closer then compute the
brightness.

3. Repeat step 2 and each time move the langis kandila or Diwali light 10 cm
closer to the wedge. Compute the corresponding brightness and record your
data on the table below.

Distance from the Brightness

Observation
Wedge (cm) (Candela)
50
40
30
20
10

Q3. How would you relate the brightness or intensity of light with the distance from
the source?

Brightness of light depends on the source and the distance from the source.
Brightness however, is qualitative and is dependent of the person’s perception.
Quantitatively, brightness can be expressed as luminous intensity with a unit known
as candela. The unit expression came from the fact that one candle can
approximately represent the amount of visible radiation emitted by a candle flame.
However, this decades-ago assumption is inaccurate. But we still used this concept
in Activity 1 as we are limited to an improvised photometer. If you are using a real
photometer on the other hand, luminous intensity refers to the amount of light power
emanating from a point source within a solid angle of one steradian .

Further, in Activity 1, varied chemical sources produced different light

intensity. Likewise, different distances from the light source provided varied intensity.

As mentioned earlier, James Clark Maxwell discovered the Electromagnetic

Theory of Light. He combined the concepts of light, electricity and magnetism to
come up with his theory forming electromagnetic waves. Since these are waves they
also exhibit different

52 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 characteristics of waves such as wavelength, frequency and wave speed which you
have studied in the previous module. There are different forms of electromagnetic
waves arranged according to frequency. This arrangement of the electromagnetic
waves is known as Electromagnetic spectrum. The visible part of which is known as
white light or visible light. The next activity will lead you to explore the characteristics
of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Activity 2
My spectrum wheel
Objectives

In this activity, you should be able to

1. construct a spectrum wheel and

2. explore the characteristics of light such as energy, frequency and
wavelength.
Materials Needed

 Spectrum Wheel Pattern

 Cardboard or illustration board TAKE Handle all sharp
 Button fastener CARE! objects with care.
 Glue or paste

Procedure

Part 1: Spectrum Wheel

Cut the two art files that make up the wheel on the next pages.
Cut along the lines drawn on the top wheel. The small window near the center of the
wheel should be completely cut out and removed.

Punch a whole into the center of the two wheels together. You may use a button
fastener to hold the two wheels securely in place, one on top of the other, but they
should be free to rotate relative to each other.

When you see a region of the EM spectrum show up in the open window and the
"W,F,E" that correspond to that region showing up under the flaps then you know
that you have done it right.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 53

 Source: Sonoma State University (http://www.swift.sonoma.edu

54 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 55
 Part 2: Characteristics of Light

Try out your Spectrum Wheel by positioning the inner most of the flaps on EM
SPECTRUM. This will simultaneously position the other flaps to ENERGY,
WAVELENGTH & FREQUENCY.

Turn the upper wheel and observe the combinations.

Fill in the table below with the corresponding combinations you have observed using
your Spectrum Wheel.

Table 1. Characteristics of Light

Frequency x
EM Spectrum Energy Frequency Wavelength
wavelength
Radio
Microwave
Infrared
Visible Light
Ultraviolet
X-Ray
Gamma Ray

Q1. How are frequency and wavelength related for a specific region of the
spectrum?

Q2. What can you observe with the values of the product of frequency and
wavelength in the different spectra?

Q3. How is ENERGY related to FREQUENCY?

Now that we are familiar with the electromagnetic spectrum and the
corresponding energies, frequencies and wavelength probably we can see some
applications of these in everyday living. UV rays are highly energetic than other
spectral regions on its left. This could be a possible reason why we are not advised
to stay under the sun after 9:00 in the morning. Prolong use of mobile phones may
cause ear infection. This may be due to a higher energy emitted by microwaves used
in cellular phones than radio waves commonly used in other communication devices.
What about the visible spectrum? Do you want to know more about this spectral
region?

56 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 What are the frequencies and
energies of the visible spectrum? This is
the visible light. Sir Isaac Newton used a
prism to show that light which we
ordinarily see as white consists of
different colors. Dispersion is a
phenomenon in which a prism separates
white light into its component colors.
Activity 3 will provide you more
information about visible light. In this
activity, you will be able to detect
Figure 3. Color spectrum
relationships between colors, energy,
frequency, wavelength and intensity.

Activity 3
Colors of light – color of life!

Objectives

In this activity, you should be able to

1. make a color spectrum wheel;

2. explore the characteristics of color lights; and
3. observe how primary colors combine to form other colors.

Materials Needed

 Color Spectrum Wheel Pattern Cardboard or illustration board

 white screen
 plastic filters (green, blue and red)
 3 pieces of high intensity flashlights
 button fastener
 glue or paste TAKE Handle all sharp
objects with care
CARE!

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 57

Procedure

Part 1: Color Wheel

1. Cut the two art files that make up the wheel on the next pages.

2. Cut along the lines drawn on the top wheel. Cut the 2 sides as shown. The
small window near the center of the wheel should be completely cut out and
removed.

3. Punch a hole at the center of the two wheels. You may use a button fastener to
secure the two wheels together one on top of the other, but they should be free
to rotate relative to each other.

4. When you see a region of the Color spectrum show up in the open window and
the "W,F,E" that correspond to that region showing up under the flaps then you
know that you have done it right.

58 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 59
60 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 Part 2: Characteristics of Light

1. Try out your Color Spectrum Wheel by positioning the inner most of the flaps on
COLOR SPECTRUM. This will simultaneously position the other flaps to
ENERGY, WAVELENGTH & FREQUENCY.

2. Turn the upper wheel and observe the combinations.

3. Fill in the table below with the corresponding combinations you have observed
using your Spectrum Wheel.

Table 1. Characteristics of Color Lights

Color Energy Frequency Wavelength Frequency x wavelength
Spectrum (eV) (THz) (nm) (m/s)
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Violet

4. You will need to convert the equivalents of frequencies to Hz and the equivalent
wavelengths to meters. Note that terra (T) is a prefix for 1014 while nano (n) is a
prefix equivalent to 10-9.

Q1. Which color registers the highest frequency? shortest wavelength?

Q2. Which color registers the lowest frequency? longest wavelength?
Q3. What do you observe with the wavelength and frequency of the different colors?

Q4. What did you observe with the product of wavelength and frequency for each
color? What is the significance of this value?
Q5. What can you say about the speed of the different colors of light in air?
Q6. Give a plausible explanation as to why white light separate into different colors.

Part 3: Combining Colors

1. Cover the lens of the flashlight with blue plastic filter. Do the same with the 2
other flashlights. The 2nd flashlight with green plastic filter and the 3 rd with red
plastic filter.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 61

 2. Ask 2 other groupmates to hold the 2 other flashlight while you hold on to the
3rd one. Shine these flashlights on the white screen and note the colors
projected on the screen.

3. Let 2 color lights from the flashlights overlap. Observe what color is produced
and fill in the table below.

Table 2. Color that you see

Color of Plastic Filter Color that you see projected on the screen
Green
Blue
Red

Table 3. Color Mixing

Color Combination Resulting Color
Green + Blue
Blue + Red
Red + Green
Red + Green + Blue

Dispersion, a special kind of refraction, provided us color lights. This

phenomenon is observed when white light passes through a triangular prism. When
white light enters a prism and travels slower in speed than in vacuum, color
separation is observed due to variation in the frequencies (and wavelength) of color
lights. Remember the concept of refractive indices in the previous module? The
variations in frequencies (and wavelengths) are caused by the different refractive
indices of the varying color light. Thus, blue light with greater refractive index refracts
more and appears to bend more than red light. But do you really think that light will
bend when travelling in space? The last activity in this module will test your ability to
design an experiment to test if light travels in a straight line or not.

Activity 4
Light up straight!

Objective

In this activity, you should be able to design an experiment given

several materials to show that light travels in a straight line.

62 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Materials Needed

 2 pieces of cardboard Handle all sharp

 cutting tool objects with care.
 bright room TAKE
CARE! Handle all lighting
 ruler or meter stick
tools with care to
 permanent marker avoid being burnt.
 pencil
 any object (e.g. medium size Johnson’s face powder box)

General Instructions

1. Given the materials design a 5-6 step procedure to test that light follows a
straight line or not.

2. Remember that you are only allowed to use the materials specified in this
particular activity.

3. Check the rubric scoring for your guide.

Lighting Up Straight!
Rubric Scoring

Task/
4 3 2 1 Score
Criteria
 Steps are  Steps are  Steps are  Steps are
logically logically logically logically
presented. presented. presented. presented.
 The procedure  The  The  The
included about procedure procedure procedure
5-6 steps. included included included
 All materials about 3-4 about 3-4 about 2-3
Experiment
given to the steps. steps. steps.
Procedure
group are  75% of the  50% of the  25% of the
utilized in the materials materials materials
procedure given to the given to the given to the
group are group are group are
utilized in the utilized in utilized in
procedure the the
procedure procedure

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 63

 The group has The group has The group has The group had
successfully attained the partially some effort but
attained the object object to prove attained the was not able to
to prove that light that light travels object to prove attained the
Result of
travels in a in a straight line that light object to prove
Experiment
straight line using using their travels in a that light
Try-out/
their designed designed straight line travels in a
Feasibility
procedure. procedure but using their straight line
there are some designed using their
steps that are not procedure. designed.
very clear.
Each one of them About 75% of the About 50% of About 25% of
completed their members the members the members
Cooperation task so as to come completed their completed their did his/her job
and Team up with the task so as to task so as to
Work expected output. come up with the come up with
expected output. the expected
output.
TOTAL

Light, accordingly has wavelike nature and particle-like nature. As a wave, it is

part of the electromagnetic waves as the visible spectrum. This visible spectrum is
also known as white light. White light undergoes dispersion when it passes through a
prism. The variations of refractive indices result to variations in the refraction of color
lights dependent on the frequencies (and wavelength) of the color lights. This brings
about blue light being refracted more than the other color lights and thus appears to
be bent. However, light travels in a straight line path in a particular medium.

Brightness or intensity and colors are special properties of light. These can be
observed in different phenomena such as rainbows, red sunset, and blue sky. You
can identify many other applications of light and colors as you become keen
observers of natural phenomena.

Reading Materials/Links/Websites

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup/
lesson/glossary/term-full.php?t=dispersion

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/u14l4a.cfm

64 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 5 to 6 hours

MODULE

5 HEAT
For sure, you have used the word ‘heat’ many times in your life. You have
experienced it; you have observed its effects. But have you ever wondered what heat
really is?
In your earlier grades, you learned that heat moves from the source to other
objects or places. Example is the kettle with water placed on top of burning stove.
The water gets hot because heat from the burning stove is transferred to it.

This module aims to reinforce your understanding of heat as an energy that

transfers from one object or place to another. You will determine the conditions
necessary for heat to transfer and the direction by which heat transfers by examining
the changes in the temperature of the objects involved. You will observe the different
methods of heat transfer and investigate some factors that affect these methods. The
results will help you explain why objects get hot or cold and why some objects are
seemingly colder or warmer than the others even if they are exposed to the same
temperature.

 How is heat transferred between objects or places?

 Do all objects equally conduct, absorb, or emit heat?

What is Heat?

Have you ever heard of the term “thermal energy” before? Any object is said
to possess thermal energy due to the movement of its particles. How is heat related
to thermal energy? Like any other forms of energy, thermal energy can be
transformed into other forms or transferred to other objects or places. Heat is a form
of energy that refers to the thermal energy that is ‘in

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 65

transit’ or in the process of being transferred. It stops to become heat when the
transfer stops. After the energy is transferred, say to another object, it may again
become thermal energy or may be transformed to other forms.

Thermometer

Heat transfer is related to change in

temperature or change in the relative
hotness or coldness of an object. Most of
the activities found in this module will ask Figure 1. Thermometer
you to collect and
analyze temperature readings to arrive at the desired concepts. To achieve this, you
have to use the laboratory thermometer, which is different from the clinical
thermometer we use to determine our body temperature. The kind that you most
probably have in your school is the glass tube with fluid inside, usually mercury or
alcohol. Always handle the thermometer with care to avoid breaking the glass. Also,
be sure that you know how to read and use the device properly to get good and
accurate results. Inform your teacher if you are not sure of this so that you will be
guided accordingly.

Activity 1
Warm me up, cool me down

Objective
In this activity, you should be able to describe the condition necessary for heat
transfer to take place and trace the direction in which heat is transferred.

Materials Needed
 2 small containers (drinking cups or glasses)
 2 big containers (enough to accommodate the small containers)
 tap water
 hot water
 food coloring
 laboratory thermometers (with reading up to 100oC)

Procedure

1. Label the small and big containers as shown in

Figure 2.
Figure 2
66 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 2. Half fill containers 1, 2, and A with tap water. Half fill also container B with hot
water. Be careful when you pour hot water into the container.

3. Add few drops of food coloring on the larger containers.

4. Measure the initial temperature of water in Setup 1 Setup 2

each of the 4 containers, in degree Celsius
(°C). Record your measurements in Table
1.

5. Carefully place container 1 inside

container A (Figure 3). This will be your Figure 3
Setup 1.
6. Place also container 2 inside container B. This will be your Setup 2.

7. Measure the temperature of water in all containers 2 minutes after arranging

the setups. Record again your measurements in the table (after 2 minutes).

8. Continue to measure and record the temperature of water after 4, 6, 8, and 10

minutes. Write all your measurements in the table below.

Table 1. Temperature readings for Setup 1 and Setup 2

Temperature (°C) of Water After
Container 0 min 2 4 6 8 10
(initial) mins mins mins mins mins

Setup 1-Tap water

1 A-Tap water

Setup 2-Tap water

2 B-Hot water

Q1. In which setup did you find changes in the temperature of water inside the
containers? In which setup did you NOT find changes in the temperature of
water inside the containers?
Q2. In which setup is heat transfer taking place between the containers?
Q3. What then is the condition necessary for heat transfer to take place between
objects?
9. Refer to the changes in the temperature of water in the setup where heat
transfer is taking place.
Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 67
 Q4. Which container contains water with higher initial temperature? What happens to
its temperature after 2 minutes?
Q5. Which container contains water with lower initial temperature? What happens to
its temperature after 2 minutes?
Q6. If heat is related to temperature, what then is the direction of heat that transfers
between the containers?
Q7. What happens to the temperature of water in each container after 4, 6, 8, and 10
minutes? What does this tell us about the heat transfer taking place between
the containers?
Q8. Until when do you think will heat transfer continue to take place between the
containers?

If your teacher allows it, you may continue to measure the temperature of the
water in both containers for your basis in answering Q8. And if you plot the
temperature vs. time graph of the water in both containers, you will obtain a graph
similar to Figure 4.
Temperature (°C)

Time (s)

Figure 4

10. Analyze the graph and answer the following questions:

Q9. What does the blue curved line on the graph show? Which container does this
represent?
Q10. What does the red curved line on the graph show? Which container does this
represent?
Q11. What does the orange broken line in the graph show? Is heat transfer still
taking place during this time? If yes, where is heat transfer now taking place?

68 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 If you do not have laboratory thermometers in your school, you may still
perform the activity above using your sense of touch. You can use your fingers or
hands to feel the objects being observed. But be very careful with this especially if
you are dealing with hot water. You have to take note also that touching is not
always reliable. Try out this simple activity below.

Prepare three containers. Half fill one container with hot water, but not hot
enough to burn your hand. Pour very cold water into the second container and
lukewarm water in the third container. First, simultaneously place your left hand
in the hot water and your right hand in the cold water. Keep them in for a few
minutes. Then take them out, and place both of them together into the
container with lukewarm water. How do your hands feel? Do they feel equally
cold?

If you try out this activity, you will observe that your left hand feels the water
cold while your right hand feels it warm. This is due to the initial conditions of the
hands before they were placed into the container with lukewarm water. So if you use
sensation to determine the relative hotness or coldness of the objects, make sure to
feel the objects with different hands or fingers.

How Does Heat Transfer?

In the previous activity, you explored the idea that heat transfers under certain
conditions. But how exactly is heat transferred? The next activities will allow you to
explore these different methods by which heat can be transferred from one object or
place to another.

Activity 2
Which feels colder?

Objective
In this activity, you should be able to describe heat transfer by conduction and
compare the heat conductivities of materials based on their relative coldness.

Materials Needed
 small pieces of different objects (copper/silver coin, paper, aluminum foil,
iron nail, etc.)
 laboratory thermometer

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 69

 Procedure

Part A: To be performed one day ahead.

1. Place a laboratory thermometer inside the freezer of the refrigerator.
2. Place also your sample objects inside the freezer at the same time.
Leave them inside the freezer overnight.

Part B: To be performed the next day.

3. Take the temperature reading from the thermometer inside the freezer.

Q1. What is the temperature reading inside the freezer?

Q2. If ever there is a way to measure also the temperature of the objects placed
inside the freezer, how do you think will their temperature compare with each
other and with the temperature reading from the thermometer?

4. Touch one object lightly with your finger and feel it.

Q3. Did heat transfer take place between your finger and the object? If yes, how and
in what direction did heat transfer between them?
Q4. Did you feel the object cold? What made it so? (Relate this to your answer in
Q3.)
5. Touch the rest of the objects inside the freezer using different fingers, then
observe.

Q5. Did the objects feel equally cold? What does this tell us about the amount of
heat transferred when you touch each object?
Q6. Which among the objects feels ‘coldest’? Which feels ‘warmest’?
Q7. Which among the objects is the best conductor of heat? Which object is the
poorest conductor of heat?

Activity 2 demonstrates heat transfer by conduction, one of the methods by

which heat is transferred. Conduction takes place between objects that are in contact
with each other. The energy from the object of higher temperature is transferred to
the other object through their particles that are close or in contact with each other.
Then the particles receiving the energy will also transfer the energy to other places
within the object through their neighboring particles. During this process, only the
energy moves, not the matter itself. This can be observed in Activity 1. You have
observed that the hot colored water stayed inside container B and did not mix with
the

70 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 water inside container 2. So this shows that only the energy transferred between the
containers.
Here is another example of heat transfer by conduction. Think of a metal
spoon put in a bowl of a hot champorado that you were about to eat when you
suddenly remembered that you had to do first a very important task. When you came
back, you noticed that the handle of the spoon became really hot! How do you think
this happened? The heat from the champorado is transferred to the part of the spoon
that is in direct contact with the food by conduction. Then it is transferred to the
cooler regions of the spoon through its particles. Why did you feel the spoon hot?
When you touched the spoon, heat is also transferred to your hand by conduction.
So your hand gained heat or thermal energy, and this makes you feel the object hot.

Can you now explain why your hand that was previously dipped into hot water
felt the lukewarm water cold while the other hand that was previously dipped into
very cold water felt it hot?

Heat Conductivities

In the previous activity, you found out that some objects conduct heat faster
than the others. This explains why we feel some objects colder or warmer than the
others even if they are of the same temperature. Which usually feels warmer to our
feet – the tiled floor or the rug?

More accurate and thorough experiments had been carried out long before to
determine the heat or thermal conductivity of every material. The approximate values
of thermal conductivity for some common materials are shown below:

Table 2: List of thermal conductivities of common materials

Conductivity Conductivity
Material Material
W/(m·K) W/(m·K)
Silver 429 Concrete 1.1
Copper 401 Water at 20°C 0.6
Gold 318 Rubber 0.16
Polypropylene
Aluminum 237 0.25
plastic
Ice 2 Wood 0.04 - 0.4
Glass, ordinary 1.7 Air at 0°C 0.025

Solids that conduct heat better are considered good conductors of heat while
those which conduct heat poorly are generally called insulators.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 71

 Metals are mostly good conductors of heat. When we use a pot or pan to cook our
food over a stove, we usually use a pot holder made of fabrics to grasp the metal
handle. In the process, we are using an insulator to prevent our hand from being
burned by the conductor, which is the metal pan or pot. Why are woven fabrics that
are full of trapped air considered good insulators?

Activity 3
Move me up

You have previously learned that water is a poor conductor of heat, as shown
in Table 2. But why is it that when you heat the bottom of the pan containing water,
the entire water evenly gets hot quickly? Think of the answer to this question while
performing this next activity.

Objective
In this activity, you should be able to observe and describe convection of heat
through liquids.

Materials Needed

 2 transparent containers (drinking glass, beaker, bottle)

 dropper
 hot water
 cold water
 piece of cardboard

Be careful not to bump the table or shake the container at any time during the
experiment.

Procedure

1. Fill one of the glass containers with tap water.

2. While waiting for the water to become still, mix in a separate container a few
drops of food coloring with a small amount of very cold water. (You may also
make the food coloring cold by placing the bottle inside the refrigerator for at
least an hour before you perform the activity.)
3. Suck a few drops of cold food coloring using the dropper and slowly dip the end
of the medicine dropper into the container with tap water, down

72 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 to the bottom. See to it that the colored water does not come out of the dropper
yet until its end reaches the bottom of the container.
4. Slowly press the dropper to release a small amount of the liquid at the bottom of
the container. Then slowly remove the dropper from the container, making sure
not to disturb the water. Observe for few minutes.

Q1. Does the food coloring stay at the bottom of the container or does it mix with the
liquid above it?
5. Fill the other container with hot water.
6. Place the cardboard over the top of the container
with hot water. Then carefully place the container
with tap water on top of it. The cardboard must
support the container on top as shown in Figure 5.

Q2. What happens to the food coloring after

placing the container above the other Figure 5
container? Why does this happen?
Q3. How is heat transfer taking place in the setup?
Where is heat coming from and where is it going?
Q4. Is there a transfer of matter, the food coloring, involved during the
transfer of heat?
Q5. You have just observed another method of heat transfer, called
convection. In your own words, how does convection take place? How
is this process different from conduction?
Q6. Do you think convection only occurs when the source of heat is at the
bottom of the container? What if the source of heat is near the top of
the container? You may try it by interchanging the containers in your
previous experiment.

What you found out in this experiment is generally true with fluids, which
include liquids and gases. In the next quarter, you will learn about convection of heat
in air when you study about winds.

So what happens in your experiment? When you placed the glass on top of
another glass with hot water, heat transfer takes place from the hot water to the tap
water including the colored water. This makes these liquids expand and become
lighter and float atop the cooler water at the top of the container. This will then be
replaced by the cooler water descending from above.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 73

Activity 4
Keep it cold

So far you have learned that heat can be transferred by conduction and
convection. In each method, a material, either a solid or a liquid or gas, is required.
But can heat also transfer even without the material? If we stay under the sun for a
while, do we not feel warm? But how does the heat from this very distant object
reach the surface of the earth? The transfer of energy from the sun across nearly
empty space is made possible by radiation. Radiation takes place even in the
absence of material.
Do you know that all objects, even ordinary ones, give off heat into the
surrounding by radiation? Yes, and that includes us! But why don't we feel it? We do
not feel this radiation because we are normally surrounded by other objects of the
same temperature. We can only feel it if we happen to stand between objects that
have different temperature, for example, if we stand near a lighted bulb, a burning
object, or stay under the Sun.
All objects emit and absorb radiation although some objects are better at
emitting or absorbing radiation than others. Try out this next activity for you to find
out. In this activity, you will determine how different surfaces of the object affect its
ability to absorb heat.

Introduction

One hot sunny day, Cobi and Mumble walked into a tea shop and each asked
for an order of iced milk tea for takeout. The crew told them as part of their promo,
their customers can choose the color of the tumbler they want to use, pointing to the
array of containers made of the same material but are of different colors and
textures. Cobi favored the container with a dull black surface, saying that the milk tea
will stay cooler if it is placed in a black container. Mumble remarked that the tea
would stay even cooler if it is in a container with bright shiny surface.

Prediction

1. If you were in their situation, which container do you think will keep the iced milk
tea cooler longer? Explain your choice.

2. Assuming an initial temperature of 5 °C, predict the possible temperatures of the

milk tea in each container after 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes. Assume that the
containers are covered.

74 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 °
Temperature ( C)
Cup
0 min 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min
Dull black
5 °C
container
Bright shiny
5 °C
container

Task:

Design a laboratory activity that will enable you to test your prediction. See to it that
you will conduct a fair investigation. Start by answering the questions below:

 What problem are you going to solve? (Testable Question)

_____________________________________________________________________

 What are you going to vary? (Independent variable)

_____________________________________________________________________

 What are you not going to vary? (Controlled Variables)

_____________________________________________________________________

 What are you going to measure? (Dependent variables)

_____________________________________________________________________

1. Write down your step by step procedure. Note that you may use the light from
the sun or from the lighted bulb as your source of energy.
2. Collect your data according to your procedure. Present your data in tabulated
form.
3. Analyze your data and answer the following questions:
Q1. Which container warmed up faster?
Q2. Which container absorbs heat faster?
Q3. Which container will keep the milk tea cooler longer? Is your prediction correct?

Q4. Will the same container also keep a hot coffee warmer longer that the other?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 75

Activity 5
All at once
So far, you have learned that heat can be transferred in various ways. You
have also learned that different objects absorb, reflect, and transmit heat differently.
In the next activities, you will not perform laboratory experiments anymore. All you
have to do is to use your understanding so far of the basic concepts of heat transfer
to accomplish the given tasks or answer the questions being asked.

Task 1

Heat transfer is evident everywhere around us. Look at the illustration below.
This illustration depicts several situations that involve heat transfer. Your task is to
identify examples of situations found in the illustration that involve the different
methods of heat transfer.

Figure 6

1. Encircle three situations in the drawing that involve any method of heat transfer.
Label them 1, 2, and 3.
2. Note that in your chosen situations, there could be more than one heat transfer
taking place at the same time. Make your choices more specific by filling up
Table 3.

76 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Table 3: Examples of heat transfer
Which object Which object What is the method of
Description
gives off heat? receives heat? heat transfer?

Task 2

Below is a diagram showing the basic parts of the thermos bottle. Examine
the parts and the different materials used. Explain how these help to keep the liquid
inside either hot or cold for a longer period of time. Explain also how the methods of
heat transfer are affected by each material.

Stopper made of plastic or

cork

Silvered inner and outer

glass wall

Vacuum between inner and

Hot outer wall
liquid
Outer casing made of
plastic or metal

Figure 7: Basic parts of

Ceramic base a thermos bottle

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 77

 In the next module, you will learn about another form of energy which you also
encounter in everyday life, electricity. Specifically, you will learn about the different
types of charges and perform activities that will demonstrate how objects can be
charged in different ways. You will also build simple electric circuits and discuss how
energy is transferred and transformed in the circuit.

Links and References

Sootin, H. (1964). Experiments with heat. W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.

Where is Heat coming from and where is it going? Retrieved March 10, 2012 from
http://www.powersleuth.org/docs/EHM%20Lesson%204%20FT.pdf

Conduction, Convection, Radiation: Investigating Heat Transfers. Retrieved

March 10, 2012 from
http://www.powersleuth.org/docs/EHM%20Lesson%205%20FT.pdf

78 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 5 to 6 hours

MODULE

6 ELECTRICITY

In Module 5, you learned about heat as a form of energy that can be

transferred through conduction, convection and radiation. You identified the
conditions that are necessary for these processes to occur and performed activities
that allowed you to investigate the different modes of heat transfer. Finally, you
learned to distinguish between insulators and conductors of heat and were able to
identify the uses of each.
Now you will learn about another form of energy which you encounter in
everyday life, electricity. You must be familiar with this energy since it is the energy
required to operate appliances, gadgets, and machines, to name a few. Aside from
these manmade devices, the ever-present nature of electricity is demonstrated by
lightning and the motion of living organisms which is made possible by electrical
signals sent between cells. However, in spite of the familiar existence of electricity,
many people do not know that it actually originates from the motion of charges.

In this module, you will learn about the different types of charges and perform
activities that will demonstrate how objects can be charged in different ways. You will
also learn the importance of grounding and the use of lightning rods. At the end of
the module you will do an activity that will introduce you to simple electric circuits.
The key questions that will be answered in this module are the following:

What are the different types of charges?

How can objects be charged?
What is the purpose of grounding?
How do lighting rods work?
What constitutes a complete electrical circuit?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 79

Activity 1
Charged interactions
Objectives

After performing this activity, you should be able to:

1. charge a material by friction;

2. observe the behavior of charged objects;
3. distinguish between the two types of charges; and
4. demonstrate how objects can be discharged.

Materials Needed:

 Strong adhesive tape (transparent)

 Smooth wooden table
 Meter stick
 Piece of wood (~1 meter long) to hold tape strips
 Moistened sponge

Procedure:

1. Using a meter stick, pull off a 40- to 60- cm piece of adhesive tape and fold a
short section of it (~1 cm) to make a nonsticky "handle" at that end of the tape.

2. Lay the tape adhesive side down and slide your finger along the tape to firmly
attach it to a smooth, dry surface of a table.
3. Peel the tape from the surface vigorously pulling up on the handle you have
made on one end. See figure below. Make sure that the tape does not curl up
around itself or your fingers.

Figure 1. How to peel the tape off the surface

4. While holding the tape up by the handle and away from other objects, attach
the tape to the horizontal wooden piece or the edge of your table.

80 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Make sure that the sticky side does not come in contact with other objects.

Figure 2. Attaching the tape to a holder

5. Bring your finger near, but not touching, the nonsticky side of the tape. Is there
any sign of interaction between the tape and the finger?
6. Try this with another object. Is there any sign of interaction between the tape
and this object?
7. Prepare another tape as described in steps 1 to 3.
8. Bring the nonsticky side of the two charged tapes you prepared near each
other. Do you observe any interaction?
9. Drag a moistened sponge across the nonsticky side of the tapes and repeat
steps 5, 6 and 8. Do you still observe any interaction?
10. Record your observations.

Types of Charges

You have learned in previous modules that all matter are made up of atoms or
combinations of atoms called compounds. The varying atomic composition of
different materials gives them different electrical properties. One of which is the
ability of a material to lose or gain electrons when they come into contact with a
different material through friction.

In activity 1, when you pulled the tape vigorously from the table, some of the
electrons from the table’s surface were transferred to the tape. This means that the
table has lost some electrons so it has become positively charged while the tape
has gained electrons which made it negatively charged. The process involved is
usually referred to as charging up the material, and in this particular activity the
process used is charging by friction.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 81

 It is important to remember that during the charging process, ideally, the
amount of charge lost by the table is equal to the amount of charge gained by the
tape. This is generally true in any charging process. The idea is known as:

The Law of Conservation of Charge

Charges cannot be created nor destroyed, but can be
transferred from one material to another.
The total charge in a system must remain constant.

Electric Force

When you brought your finger (and the other object) near the charged tape,
you must have observed that the tape was drawn towards your finger as if being
pulled by an invisible force. This force is called electric force which acts on charges.
An uncharged or neutral object that has balanced positive and negative charges
cannot experience this force.

We learned from the previous section that the tape is negatively charged. The
excess negative charge in the tape allowed it to interact with your finger and the
other object. Recall also that when you placed the two charged tapes near each
other they seem to push each other away. These observations tell us that there are
two kinds of electric force which arises from the fact that there also two kinds of
electrical charges. The interactions between the charges are summarized in the
following law:

Electrostatic Law
Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

But your finger and the other object are neutral, so how did they interact with
the charged tape? Generally, a charged object and an uncharged object tend to
attract each other due to the phenomenon of electrostatic polarization which can be
explained by the electrostatic law. When a neutral object is placed near a charged
object, the charges within the neutral object are rearranged such that the charged
object attracts the opposite charges within the neutral object. This phenomenon is
illustrated in Figure 3.

82 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Figure 3. Polarization of a neutral object

Discharging

In Activity 1, after dragging a moistened sponge on the surface of the tape,

you must have noticed that the previous interactions you observed has ceased to
occur. What happened? The lack of interaction indicates that the electrical force is
gone which can only happen when there are no more excess charges in the tape,
that is, it has become neutral.

The process of removing excess charges on an object is called discharging.

When discharging is done by means of providing a path between the charged object
and a ground, the process may be referred to as grounding. A ground can be any
object that can serve as an “unlimited” source of electrons so that it will be capable
of removing or transferring electrons from or to a charged object in order to
neutralize that object.

Grounding is necessary in electrical devices and equipment since it can

prevent the build-up of excess charges where it is not needed. In the next activity,
you will use the idea of grounding to discover another way of charging a material.

Activity 2
To charge or not to charge

Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to apply the phenomenon of
polarization and grounding to charge a material by induction.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 83

 Materials Needed:
 Styrofoam cup
 soft drink can
 balloon

Procedure:

1. Mount the soft drink can on the Styrofoam cup as seen in

Figure 4.
Figure 4. Mounting of
soft drink can

2. Charge the balloon by rubbing it off your hair or

your classmate’s hair. Note: This will work only if the
hair is completely dry.

3. Place the charged balloon as near as possible to

the soft drink can without the two objects
touching. Figure 5. Balloon placed
near the can

4. Touch the can with your finger at the

end opposite the balloon.

5. Remove your hand and observe

how the balloon and the can will
interact. Figure 6. Touching the can

Q1. What do you think is the charge acquired by the

balloon after rubbing it against your hair?

Q2. In which part of the activity did polarization occur? Explain.

Q3. What is the purpose of touching the can in step #4?

Q4. Were you able to charge the soft drink can? Explain how this happened.

Q5. Based on your answer in Q1, what do you think is the charge of the soft drink
can?

84 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Conductors vs. Insulators

The behavior of a charged material depends on its ability to allow charges to

flow through it. A material that permits charges to flow freely within it, is a good
electrical conductor. A good conducting material will allow charges to be distributed
evenly on its surface. Metals are usually good conductors of electricity.

In contrast to conductors, insulators are materials that hinder the free flow
charges within it. If charge is transferred to an insulator, the excess charge will
remain at the original location of charging. This means that charge is seldom
distributed evenly across the surface of an insulator. Some examples of insulators
are glass, porcelain, plastic and rubber.
The observations you made had in Activity 2 depended on the fact that the
balloon and the Styrofoam are good insulators while the soft drink can and you are
good conductors. You have observed that the soft drink can has become charged
after you touched one of its ends. The charging process used in this activity is called
induction charging, where an object can be charged without actual contact to any
other charged object.
In the next activity you will investigate another method of charging which
depends on the conductivity of the materials

Activity 3
Pass the charge

Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to charge a material by

conduction.

Materials Needed:

 2 styrofoam cups
 2 softdrink cans
 balloon

Procedure:

1. Repeat all steps of Activity 2. Figure 7. Putting the two set-ups

2. Let the charged can-cup set-up from Activity into contact.
2 touch a neutral can-cup set-up as shown in
Figure 7.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 85

 3. Separate the two set-ups then observe how the charged balloon interacts with
the first and second set-up.

Q1. Were you able to charge the can in the second set-up? Explain how this
happened.

Q2. Is it necessary for the two cans to come into contact for charging to happen?
Why or why not?

Q3. From your observation in step 3, infer the charge acquired by the can in the
second set-up.

The charging process you performed in Activity 3 is called charging by

conduction which involves the contact of a charged object to a neutral object. Now
that you have learned the three types of charging processes, we can discuss a
natural phenomenon which is essentially a result of electrical charging. You will
investigate this phenomenon in the following activity.

Activity 4
When lightning strikes

Objectives:

After performing this activity, you should be able to:

1. explain how lightning occurs;

2. discuss ways of avoiding the dangers associated with lightning; and
3. explain how a lightning rod functions.

Materials Needed:

 access to reference books or to the Internet

Procedure:

1. Learn amazing facts about lightning by researching the answers to the

following questions:
 What is a lightning?
 Where does a lightning originate?
 How ‘powerful’ is a lightning bolt?
 Can lightning’s energy be caught stored, and used?
 How many people are killed by lightning per year?

86 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

  What can you do to prevent yourself from being struck by lightning?

 Some people have been hit by lightning many times. Why have they
survived?
 How many bushfires are started by lightning strikes?
 ‘Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.’ Is this a myth or a fact?

 What are lightning rods? How do they function?

As introduced at the beginning of this module, electrical energy has numerous

applications. However many of this applications will not be possible unless we know
how to control electrical energy or electricity. How do we control electricity? It starts
by providing a path through which charges can flow. This path is provided by an
electric circuit. You will investigate the necessary conditions for an electric circuit to
function in the following activity.

Activity 5
Let there be light!

Objectives:

After performing this activity, you should be able to:

1. identifytheappropriate arrangementsofwire, bulband battery

whichsuccessfully light abulb; and
2. describe thetwo requirements for anelectriccircuit to function.

Materials Needed:

 3- or 1.5-volt battery
 2-meter copper wires/ wires with alligator clips
 pliers/ wire cutter
 1.5- watt bulb/ LED

Procedure:

1. Work with a partner and discover the appropriate arrangements of wires,

a battery and a bulbthat willmake the bulb light.

2. Once you are successfulin the arrangement, draw a diagram

representing your circuit.
Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 87
 3. Compare your output with other pairs that are successful in their
arrangement.

Q1. What difficulties did you encounter in performing this activity?

Q2. How does your work compare with other pair’s work?

Q3. What was necessary to make the bulb light?

Energy Transfer in the Circuit

In Activity 5, you have seen that with appropriate materials and connections, it
is possible for the bulb to light. We know that light is one form of energy. Where did
this energy come from? The law of conservation of energy tells us that energy can
neither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another.
This tells us that the light energy observed in the bulb must have come from the
electrical energy or electricity in the circuit. In fact, all electrical equipment and
devices are based on this process of transformation of electrical energy into other
forms of energy. Some examples are:

1. Flat iron – Electrical energy to thermal energy or heat

2. Electric fan – Electrical energy to mechanical energy
3. Washing machine – electrical energy to mechanical energy.

Can you identify other examples?

References

“Instructor Materials: Electricity” by American Association of Physics Teachers ©

2001. Retrieved June 11, 2012 from
https://aapt.org/Publications/pips_samples/2_ELECTRICITY/INSTRUCTO
R/099_e4.pdf

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/estatics/U8L2a.cfm (Date
accessed: June 11, 2012)

http://museumvictoria.com.au/pages/7567/lightning-room-classroom-
activities.pdf (Date accessed: June 12, 2012)

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html (Date accessed:

June 12, 2012)

88 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 89
90 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 Suggested time allotment: 14 hours

MODULE THE
1 PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENT

Overview

Everything that we see around us makes up our environment. The landforms and
bodies of water that make up the landscape, the mountains and valleys, rivers and
seas; the climate, the rains brought by the monsoons, the warm, humid weather that we
frequently experience; the natural resources that we make use of; every plant and
animal that live around us. Truly, the environment is made up of a lot of things.

All these things that we find in our surroundings and all the natural phenomena
that we observe are not due to some random luck or accident. What makes up our
environment is very much related to where our country is on the globe. Or, to say it in a
different way, the characteristics of our environment are determined by the location of
the Philippines on the planet.

Latitude and Longitude

Before we learn about the characteristics of our environment, let us first talk
about the location of the Philippines. Where is the Philippines? The Philippines is on
Earth, of course, but where exactly is it located? To answer this question, you have to
learn a new skill: locating places using latitude and longitude.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 91

Activity 1

Where in the world is the Philippines? (Part I)

Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to describe the location of the
Philippines using latitude and longitude.

What to use

globes

What to do

1. Study the image of a globe on the right. Then get

a real globe and identify the parts that are
labelled in the image. Be ready to point them out
when your teachers asks you.

2. After studying the globe and the image on the

right, try to define “equator” in your own words.
Give your own definition when your teacher asks
you. Figure 1. What does the globe
represent?

3. The “northern hemisphere” is that part of the world between the North Pole and the
equator. Show the northern hemisphere on the globe when your teacher asks you.

4. Where is the “southern hemisphere”? Show the

southern hemisphere on the globe when your
teacher asks you.

5. Study the drawing on the right. It shows the lines

of latitude.

Q1. Describe the lines of latitude.

Q2. Show the lines of latitude on the globe

Figure 2. What is the reference
when your teacher asks you.
line when determining the
latitude?
92 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)
 Q3. The starting point for latitude is the equator. The equator is at latitude 0° (0
degree). At the North Pole, the latitude is 90°N (90 degrees north). At the South
Pole, the latitude is 90°S (90 degrees south). Show the following latitudes when
your teacher calls on you: 15°N; 60°N; 30°S; 45°S.

Q4. The globe does not show all lines of latitude. If you wish to find 50°N, where
should you look?

6. Study the drawing on the right. It shows the lines

of longitude.

Q5. Describe the lines of longitude.

Q6. Show the lines of longitude on the globe

when your teacher asks you.

Q7. The starting point for longitude is the Prime

Meridian. The Prime Meridian is at longitude
0°. Show the Prime Meridian on the globe Figure 3. What is the
when your teacher asks you. reference line when
determining the longitude?

Q8. To the right of the Prime Meridian, the longitude is written this way: 15°E (15
degrees east), 30°E (30 degrees east), and so on. To the left of the Prime
Meridian, the longitude is written as 15°W (15 degrees west), 30°W (30
degrees west), and so on. On your globe, find longitude 180°. What does this
longitude represent?

Q9. Not all lines of longitude are shown on a globe. If you want to find 20°W, where
should you look?

Q10. The location of a place may be described by using latitude and longitude. To
the nearest degree, what is the latitude and longitude of Manila?

Q11. Compared to the size of the world, Manila is just a tiny spot, and its location
may be described using a pair of latitude and longitude. But how would you
describe the location of an “area” such as the whole Philippines?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 93

 Now you know how to describe the location of a certain place using latitude and
longitude. The lines of latitude are also known as parallels of latitude. That is because
the lines of latitude are parallel to the equator and to each other. Five lines of latitude
have special names. They are listed in the table below. The latitude values have been
rounded off to the nearest half-degree.

Latitude Name
0° Equator
23.5°N Tropic of Cancer
23.5°S Tropic of Capricorn
66.5°N Arctic Circle
66.5°S Antarctic Circle

Get a globe and find the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Trace the
two lines of latitude with a red chalk. The part of the world between the two chalk lines is
called the tropics. Countries that are located in this zone experience a tropical climate
where the annual average temperature is above 18°C.

Now, find the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle on the globe. Trace them with
blue chalk. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle is the northern temperate
zone; between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle is the southern
temperate zone. Countries in these zones go through four seasons – winter, spring
summer, and autumn.

Finally, the areas within the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle are called the polar
regions or frigid zones. People who choose to live in these areas have to deal with
temperatures that never go above 10°C. It is cold all year round and even during the
summer months, it does not feel like summer at all.

To sum up, the closer the latitude is to the equator, the warmer the climate. The
closer it is to the poles, the colder. Thus, it is clear that there is a relationship between
the latitude of a place and the climate it experiences, and you will find out why in the
next module.

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 Landmasses and Bodies of Water

Using latitude and longitude is not the only way that you can describe the
location of a certain area. Another way is by identifying the landmasses and bodies of
water that are found in that area. So, what are the landmasses and bodies of water that
surround the Philippines? Do the following activity and get to know the surrounding
geography.

Activity 2
Where in the world is the Philippines? (Part II)
Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to describe the location of the
Philippines with respect to the surrounding landmasses and bodies of water.

What to use

globe or world map

What to do

1. Using a globe or a world map as reference, label the blank map below.
2. Your labelled map should include the following:

A. Landmasses B. Bodies of water

Philippine archipelago Philippine Sea

Asian continent South China Sea
Malay peninsula Indian Ocean
Isthmus of Kra Pacific Ocean
Indonesian archipelago
Australian continent

Q1. Which bodies of water in the list are found to the west of the Philippines?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 95

 Q2. Which body of water in the list is located to the east of the Philippines?

Q3. Which large landmass is found to the north of the Philippines?

3. Be ready to show the map with your labels when your teachers asks you.

Figure 4. Where is the Philippines in the map? Why is the Philippines called an
archipelago?

96 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 By now you can say that you really know where the Philippines is. You can now
describe its location in two ways: by using latitude and longitude, and by identifying the
landmasses and bodies of water that surround it. What then is the use of knowing
where the Philippines is located? You will find out in the next section and also in the
following module.

Are We Lucky in the Philippines?

Planet Earth is made up of different things - air, water, plants, animals, soil,
rocks, minerals, crude oil, and other fossil fuels. These things are called natural
resources because they are not made by people; rather they are gathered from nature.
Sunlight and wind are also natural resources. We use all these things to survive or
satisfy our needs.

The Philippines is considered rich in natural resources. We have fertile, arable

lands, high diversity of plant and animals, extensive coastlines, and rich mineral
deposits. We have natural gas, coal, and geothermal energy. Wind and water are also
harnessed for electricity generation.

Photo: Courtesy of Cecile N. Sales Photo: Courtesy of Kit Stephen S. Agad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:POTW_
MichelleELLA01.jpg
Figure 5: What kind of natural resources are shown in the pictures? Do you have
similar resources in your area?

Why do we have rich natural resources? What geologic structures in the country
account for these bounty? Is our location near the equator related to the presence of
these natural resources?

The next lessons will help you find answers to some questions about natural
resources in the country namely, rocks and minerals, water, soil, varied life forms, and
energy.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 97

  How does our latitude position affect the water, soil resources, and biodiversity in
the country?
 What mineral deposits do we have in the country? Where are they located and
why only in those places?
 Given our location, what energy resources are available?
 Which of our practices in using natural resources are sustainable? Which are not
sustainable?
 How can we help conserve natural resources so that future generations can also
enjoy them?

Hopefully, the knowledge and skills acquired in the lessons will help you value
your responsibility as a productive citizen so that you can help prevent protected and
vulnerable places from being mined, forests from being overcut, and natural resources
like metals from ending up in a dumpsite.

Water Resources and Biodiversity

The Philippines boasts of many different kinds of natural water forms, such as
bays, rivers, lakes, falls, gulfs, straits, and swamps. Because it is made up of islands,
the country's coastline (seashore) if laid end-to-end, would measure around 17.5
thousand kilometers. And you know how we are proud of our coastlines! The bodies of
water and its surrounding environment not only support the survival of diverse
organisms for food but are also used for other economic activities. All these you learned
in Araling Panlipunan.

In the previous activity you identified two big bodies of water on the west and
east side of the country: the Pacific Ocean in the east and south China Sea in the west
(sometimes referred to as the West Philippine Sea). These bodies of water are the
origin of typhoons which on the average, according to Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), is about 20 a year.
Typhoons and the monsoons (amihan and habagat) bring lots of rain to the Philippines.

What is your association with too much rainfall? For some, rain and typhoons
result in flooding, landslides, and health related-problems. But water is one of nature’s
gifts to us. People need fresh water for many purposes. We use water for domestic
purposes, for irrigation, and for industries. We need water to generate electricity. We
use water for recreation or its aesthetic value. Many resorts are located near springs,
waterfalls or lakes.

98 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Where does water in your community come from? You collect them when the
rain falls or get them from the river, deep well, or spring. But where does water from
rivers, lakes, and springs originate?

They come from a watershed – an area of land on a slope which drains its water
into a stream and its tributaries (small streams that supply water to a main stream). This
is the reason why a watershed is sometimes called a catchment area or drainage basin.
It includes the surface of the land and the underground rock formation drained by the
stream.

From an aerial view, drainage patterns in a watershed resemble a network

similar to the branching pattern of a tree. Tributaries, similar to twigs and small
branches, flow into streams, the main branch of the tree. Streams eventually empty into
a large river comparable to the trunk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maria1637jf.JPG

Figure 6. The network of streams in a watershed area is illustrated on the left and a photo of a
watershed area is on the right. How does the concept “water runs downhill” apply to a
watershed?

Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross towns and provinces. In
other parts of the world, they may cross national boundaries.

There are many watersheds in the Philippines basically because we have

abundant rainfall. Do you know that Mt. Apo in Davao-Cotabato, Makiling-Banahaw in
Laguna and Quezon, and Tiwi in Albay are watersheds? You must have heard about La
Mesa Dam in Metro Manila, Pantabangan Dam in Pampanga, and Angat Dam in
Bulacan. These watersheds are sources of water of many communities in the area. The
Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City is in a watershed; it is used to generate electricity.
Locate these places in your map. Ask elders where the watershed is in or near your
area? Observe it is used in your community.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 99

 But watersheds are not just about water. A single watershed may include
combination of forest, grassland, marshes, and other habitats. Diverse organisms in the
Philippines are found in these areas! Being a tropical country, the Philippines has
abundant rainfall, many bodies of water, and lots of sunshine. The right temperature and
abundant rainfall explain partly why our country is considered to be a mega-diverse
country. This means that we have high diversity of plants and animals, both on land and
in water (Philippine Clearing House Mechanism Website, 2012).

Reports show that in many islands of the Philippine archipelago, there is a high
number of endemic plants and animals (endemic means found only in the Philippines).
The country hosts more than 52,177 described species of which more than half is found
nowhere else in the world. They say that on a per unit area basis, the Philippines
shelters more diversity of life than any other country on the planet.

For now remember that the main function of a watershed is the production of a
continuous water supply that would maintain the lifeforms within it and in the area fed by
its stream. Later you will learn that besides supporting the survival of varied life forms,
abundant water in the country is important in moderating temperature. This topic will be
discussed later.

Have you ever asked yourself the following questions? If we have abundant
rainfall to feed watersheds, why do we experience drought some parts of the year?
What factors affect the health of a watershed? Is there a way of regulating the flow of
water in watershed so that there will be enough for all throughout the year? What can
people do to keep watersheds ‘healthy’? Find out about these in the next activity.

Activity 3
What are some factors that will affect the amount of
water in watersheds?
Objective

You will design a procedure to show how a certain factor affects the amount of
water that can be stored underground or released by a watershed to rivers, lakes
and other bodies of water.

100 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 What to do

1. In your group, choose one factor that you want to investigate.

a. Vegetation cover

b. Slope of the area

c. Kind of soil

d. Amount of rainfall

2. Identify the variables that you need to control and the variable that you will change.

3. Design a procedure to determine the effect of the factor you chose on watersheds.

4. Be ready to present your design in the class and to defend why you designed it
that way.

Soil Resources, Rainfall and Temperature

Recall in elementary school science that soil is formed when rocks and other
materials near the Earth’s surface are broken down by a number of processes
collectively called weathering. You learned two types of weathering: the mechanical
breaking of rocks or physical weathering, and the chemical decay of rocks or chemical
weathering.

Let us review what happens to a piece of rock when left under the Sun and rain
for a long time. Do the next activity.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 101

 Activity 4
How are soils formed from rocks?
Objectives

1. Using the information in the table, trace the formation of soil from rocks.

2. Identify the factors acting together on rocks to form soil.

What to use

Drawing pens

What to do

1. Processes involved in soil formation are listed in the table below. Read the
descriptions of the processes and make your own illustrations of the different
processes. Draw in the designated spaces.

2. Use the descriptions and your drawings to answer the following questions. Q1.

What are the factors that act together on rocks to form soil?

Q2. What does the following sentence mean, “Soils were once rocks”?

Processes of soil formation Illustrations of processes

When a piece of rock is exposed to the Sun, Drawing A

its outer part expands (becomes bigger)
because it heats up faster than the inner part
(Drawing A).

On cooling, at night time, the outer part of Drawing B

the rock contracts or shrinks because the
outer part of the rock cools faster than the
inner portion (Drawing B). The process of
expansion and contraction are repeated over
the years and produce cracks in the rock
causing the outer surface to break off.

102 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Processes of soil formation Illustrations of processes

Once broken, water enters the cracks causing Drawing C

some minerals to dissolve. The rock breaks
apart further. (Drawing C).

Air also enters the cracks, and oxygen in the Drawing D

air combines with some elements such as
iron to produce iron oxide (rust or kalawang)
which is brittle and will easily peel off. In a
similar way, carbon dioxide from the air
reacts with water to form an acid causing the
rock to soften further. Once soft and broken,
bacteria and small plants start to grow in the
cracks of the rock (Drawing D).
After some time, the dead plants and
animals die and decay causing the formation
of more acidic substances which further
breaks the rocks. The dead bodies of plants
and animals are acted upon by
microorganism and breakdown into smaller
compounds while the minerals from the rock
return to the soil.

Soil covers the entire Earth. Temperature, rainfall, chemical changes, and
biological action act together to continuously form soil. Climate, expressed as both
temperature and rainfall effects, is often considered the most powerful soil-forming
factor.

Temperature controls how fast chemical reactions occur. Many reactions

proceed more quickly as temperature increases. Warm-region soils are normally more
developed or more mature than cold-region soils. Mature soils have more silt and clay
on or near the surface. Thus, soils in the tropical areas are observed to sustain various
farming activities and account for why the primary source of livelihood in the Philippines
and other countries in the

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 103

tropical region is their fertile land. What is the effect of very little rainfall on food
production?

Climate (temperature and rainfall) is a significant factor not only in soil formation
but also in sustaining diversity of plants and animals in the country. On the other hand,
water also directly affects the movement of soluble soil nutrients from the top soil to
deep under the ground (leaching). These nutrients may no longer be available to
shallow rooted plants. Acidic rainwater may also contribute to the loss of minerals in soil
resulting in low yield. So rainfall determines the kind of vegetation in an area. In turn, the
degree of vegetation cover, especially in sloping areas, determines how much soil is
removed. Are there ways to protect soil resources?

Rocks and Mineral Resources

History tells us that rocks have been used by humans for more than two million
years. Our ancestors lived in caves; they carved rocks and stones to make tools for
hunting animals, cultivating crops, or weapons for protection. Rocks, stones, gravel, and
sand were and are still used to make roads, buildings, monuments, and art objects.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DirkvdM_rocks.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pana_Banaue_Rice_Terraces.jpg

Figure 7. What are the features of the Figure 8. What kind of tools do you think
rocks? What environmental factors may were used to build the Rice Terraces? Why
have caused such features? are terraces useful?

The mining of rocks for their metal content has been considered one of the most
important factors of human progress. The mining industry has raised levels of economy
in some regions, in part because of the kind of metals available from the rocks in those
areas.

104 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Activity 5
Where are the minerals deposits in the Philippines?
Mineral deposits can be classified into two types: metallic and non-metalllic. You
have already learned the symbols of some metals and nonmetals. Review them before
you do the activity.

Objectives

After performing this activity, you will be able to

1. locate the metallic mineral deposits across the country;

2. find out what geologic features are common in areas where the deposits are
found;
3. give a possible reason/s for the association between metallic mineral
deposits and geologic features in the country; and
4. infer why your area or region is rich or not rich in metallic mineral
deposits.

What to use

Figure 9: Metallic Deposits Map of the Philippines

Figure 10: Map of Trenches and Faults in the Philippines
Figure 11: Map of Volcanoes in the Philippines
2 pieces of plastic sheet used for book cover, same size as a book page
Marking pens (two colors, if possible)

What to do

Part I

1. Familiarize yourself with the physical map of the Philippines. Identify specific
places of interest to you in the different regions.

2. In your notebook, make a four-column table with headings similar to Table 1.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 105

 Table 1: Metallic Minerals in the Philippines and Their Location

Metal, in Metal, in Province/Region Geologic Structure

Symbols Words Where the Metals are Near the Location
(Example: Found of the Metallic
Au) Deposits
(1) (2) (3) (4)

3. As a group, study the Metallic Deposits Map of the Philippines. See Figure 9. In the
map you will see symbols of metals. Fill in the information needed in Columns 1
and 2 of your own table.

4. Check with each other if you have correctly written the correct words for the
symbol of the metals. Add as many rows as there are kinds of metals in the map.

5. Analyze the data in Table 1.

Q1. Identify five metals which are most abundant across the country. Put a number
on this metal (1 for most abundant, 2 next abundant, and so on).

Q2. Record in Column 3 where the five most abundant metals are located.

106 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Figure 9. Metallic Deposits in the Philippines

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 107

 Figure 10. Trenches and Faults in the Philippines

108 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Figure 11. Volcanoes in the Philippines

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 109

 Part II

1. Get two plastic sheets. On one sheet, trace the outlines of the trenches and faults
from Figure 10. On the other sheet, trace the location of volcanoes from Figure 11.

2. Place the Trench and Fault plastic sheet over the Metallic Deposits map.

3. Place the Volcanoes plastic sheet over the two maps.

Q3. What geologic structures are found near the location of the metallic deposits?
Write trenches, faults or volcanoes in column 4 of Table 1.
Q4. Write a statement to connect the presence of metallic deposits with trenches
or volcanic areas.
Q5. Why do you think are metallic deposits abundant in places where there are
trenches or volcanoes?

4. Look for your province in the map.

Q6. Are there metallic deposits in your area?
Q7. What could be reason for the presence or absence of metallic deposits in your
area? You can download the detailed map of Trenches, Faults and volcanoes
in the Philippines from the website of Phivolcs.
Q8. If there are metallic deposits, what activities tell you that there are indeed
deposits in or near your area/province?

The important metallic minerals found in various parts of the Philippines include
gold, copper, iron, chromite (made up of chromium, iron, and other metals), nickel,
cobalt, and platinum. The most productive copper and gold producers in the Philippines
are found in Baguio, the province of Benguet, and in Surigao-Davao areas. Major
producers of nickel are in Palawan and Surigao (DENR Website, 2012).

Metals are important. The properties of metals make them useful for specific
purposes. You learned these in Quarter 1. Iron is the main material for steel bars used
in buildings and road construction. Copper is used in making electrical wires. Tin is the
material for milk cans and other preserved food products. Nickel is mixed with copper or
other metals to form stainless cooking wares. Gold is important in making jewelry.

110 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 What other metals are you familiar with? What are the uses of aluminum? What
metal is used to make GI sheets for roofing? What metals are used to make artificial
arms or legs? Are metals used in chairs and other furniture? Do you know that some
dentists use gold for filling teeth cavities? Look around and find how versatile metals
are.

The Philippines has also varied nonmetallic resources including sand and gravel,
limestone, marble, clay, and other quarry materials. Your teacher will show you a map
of the nometallic deposits in the Philippines. Locate your area and determine what
nonmetallic deposits are found there. How are these deposits recovered? How are they
used in your community? For example: What are the uses of sand, gravel, or clay? How
are marble stones used? Think of other nonmetals and their uses!

Copper –iron ore Iron filings Quartz Copper ore

Figure 12. From the drawing, what are ores? Have you noticed that a piece of ore can have
more than one kind of mineral in it?

Do you know that the Philippines is listed as the 5th mineral country in the world,
3rd in gold reserves, 4th in copper, and 5th in nickel! The ores (mineral-bearing rocks)
are processed out of the country to recover the pure metal. We buy the pure metal. Is
this practice advantageous to the Philippines? Why or why not?

The richness of the Philippines in

terms of mineral resources is being
attributed to its location in the so-called
Pacific Ring of Fire. See Figure
13. This area is associated with over
450 volcanoes (small triangles in the
map) and is home to approximately 75%
of the world's active volcanoes. Why are
there minerals where there are Figure 13. Besides the Philippines, what
volcanoes? other countries are in the Ring of Fire? Do
you think they are also rich in mineral
resources?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 111

 Geologists (scientists who study the Earth and the processes that occur in and
on it) explain that there is a continuous source of heat deep under the Earth; this melts
rocks and other materials (link to usgs website) The mixture of molten or semi-molten
materials is called magma. Because magma is hotter and lighter than the surrounding
rocks, it rises, melting some of the rocks it passes on the way. If the magma finds a way
to the surface, it will erupt as lava. Lava flow is observed in erupting volcanoes.

But the rising magma does not always reach the surface to erupt. Instead, it may
slowly cool and harden beneath the volcano and form different kinds of igneous rocks.
Under favourable temperature and pressure conditions, the metal-containing rocks
continuously melt and redeposit, eventually forming rich-mineral veins.

Though originally scattered in very small amounts in magma, the metals are
concentrated when magma convectively moves and circulates ore-bearing liquids and
gases. This is the reason why metallic minerals deposits such as copper, gold, silver,
lead, and zinc are associated with magmas found deep within the roots of extinct
volcanoes. And as you saw in the maps, volcanoes are always near trenches and faults!
You will learn more of this later.

For now you must have realized that the presence of mineral deposits in the
Philippines is not by accident. It is nature’s gift. If before, your association with
volcanoes and trenches is danger and risk to life and property, now you know that the
presence of volcanoes, trenches and other geological structures is the reason for the
rich mineral deposits in the country.

The existence of volcanoes also explains why the Philippines is rich in

geothermal energy (heat from the Earth). Energy resources will be discussed in the next
section.

Energy Resources

The abundance of some metal resources in the Philippines is related to geologic

structures, specifically the presence of volcanoes and trenches in the country. The year-
round warm temperature and availability of water are effects of our geographic location.

The tropical climate and the geological conditions also provide several
possibilities to get clean and cheap energy. Do you know which energy

112 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

resources are due to these factors? Were the following included in your list-solar
energy, heat from the ground (geothermal energy), hydrothermal energy from falling
water), wind energy, and natural gas?

Solar energy is free and inexhaustible. This

energy source will be discussed in a later science
subject.

Geothermal energy was briefly introduced in

the lesson on mineral resources and their location.
The Philippines ranked second to the United States in
terms of geothermal energy deposits. Geothermal
power plants are located in Banahaw-Makiling,
Laguna, Tiwi in Albay, Bacman in Sorsogon, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hot_Spring.jpg

Palimpinon in Negros Occidental, Tongonan in Leyte,

Figure 14. Do you know that heat
and Mt. Apo side of Cotabato. from the Earth may escape as steam
in a hot spring?

Try to locate places with geothermal power plants in your map? Does your area
have geothermal energy deposits? How do you know?

Hydrothermal or hydroelectric power

plants use water to generate electricity.
They provide for 27% of total electricity
production in the country. Ambuklao in
Benguet, Mt Province, Agus in Lanao del
Sur and Agus in Lanao del Norte are large
hydrothermal power plants. Small
hydroelectric power plants are in Caliraya,
Laguna, Magat in Isabela, Loboc in Bohol,
and other places. Used water from
Photograph courtesy of National Power Corporation, retrieved
hydropower plants flows through irrigation from http://www.industcards.com/hydro-philippines.htm
systems. Many of the reservoir areas are
Figure 15. How is water used to
used for sport activities.
generate electricity?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 113

 Again, locate places with hydroelectric power plants in your map? Does your
area have hydroelectric power plants? What other uses do you have for water in these
areas?

Natural gas is a form of fossil fuel, so are coal and crude oil (sometimes called
petroleum). Fossil fuels were formed from plants and animals that lived on Earth
millions of years ago. They are buried deep in the Earth. Natural gas and oil are taken
from the deep through oil rigs while coal is extracted through mining. Fossil fuels are
used to produce electricity and run vehicles and factory machines. Did you know that
petroleum is the raw material for making plastics?

In the Philippines, we have coal

and natural gas deposits. Coal is a black
or brownish black, solid rock that can be
burned. It contains about 40% non-
combustible components, thus a source
of air pollution when used as fuel. Coal
deposits are scattered over the
Philippines but the largest deposit is
located in Semirara Island, Antique. Coal Figure 16. The black bands in the picture are
coal deposits. Coal is not like the charcoal
mines are also located in Cebu,
you use for broiling fish or barbecue. What do
Zamboanga Sibuguey, Albay, Surigao, you think is the difference?
and Negros Provinces.

Our natural gas deposits are found offshore of Palawan. Do you know where this
place is? The Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power Project employs ‘state-of-the-art
deepwater technology’ to draw natural gas from deep beneath Philippine waters. The
gas fuels three natural gas-fired power stations to provide 40-45% of Luzon's power
generation requirements. The Department of Energy reports that since October 2001,
the Philippines has been importing less petroleum for electricity generation, providing
the country foreign-exchange savings and energy security from this clean fuel.

Natural gas is considered clean fuel because when burned, it produces the least
carbon dioxide, among fossil fuels. CO2 is naturally present in air in small amounts.
However, studies show that increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in
increase in atmospheric temperature, globally. You will learn about global warming in
the next module.

114 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Did you know that in Ilocos Province, giant wind mills as shown in Figure 5 of
this module are used to generate electricity. In Quirino, Ilocos Sur the electricity
generated from wind mills runs a motorized sugarcane press for the community's
muscovado sugar production? This project is a joint effort between the local farmers
and local organizations with support from Japan. In Bangui, Ilocos Norte, the windmills
as high as 50 meters not only help improve the tourism in Ilocos but it also provides
40% of the energy requirements for electricity in the entire province. This proves that
we do not have to be dependent on fossil fuel in our country.

What do you think are the environmental conditions in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos
Norte that allow them to use wind power for electricity? Do you think there are places
that have these conditions? Support your answers.

Conserving and Protecting Natural Resources

There are two types of natural resources on Earth - renewable and

nonrenewable. What is the difference between these two kinds of resources?

The food people eat comes from plants and animals. Plants are replaced by new
ones after each harvest. People also eat animals. Animals have the capacity to
reproduce and are replaced when young animals are born. Water in a river or in a well
may dry up. But when the rain comes the water is replaced. Plants, animals, and water
are resources that can be replaced. They are renewable resources.

Most plants grow in top soil. Rain and floods wash away top soil. Can top soil be
replaced easily? Soil comes from rocks and materials from dead plants and animals. It
takes thousands of years for soil to form. Soil cannot be replaced easily, or it takes a
very long time to replace. It is a nonrenewable resource.

Metals like copper, iron, and aluminum are abundant on Earth. But people are
using them up fast. They have to dig deeper into the ground to get what they need.
Coal, oil and natural gas (fossil fuels) were formed from plants and animals that lived on
Earth millions of years ago. It takes millions of years for dead plants and animals to turn
into fossil fuels. Soil, coal, oil and natural gas are nonrenewable resources.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 115

 Before you do Activity 6, think of these sentences: “Too much is taken from
Earth!" and "Too much is put into Earth." You may write up a short essay about your
understanding of the sentences.

Activity 6
How do people destroy natural resources?
Objectives

1. Identify the effects of some human activities on natural resources.

2. Suggest ways to reduce the effects.

What to Do

1. Study Table 2 and tell if you have observed the activities listed in your locality.

Table 2. Ways People Destroy Natural Resources

Activities Effects on Natural Resources
(1) (2)
When roads are built, mountains are Damage natural habitats and/or kill
blown off using dynamite. plants and animals.
Rice fields are turned into residential or
commercial centers.
People cut too many trees for lumber or
paper or building houses.
More factories are being built to keep up
with the demands of a fast growing
population and industrialization.

Too much mining and quarrying for the

purpose of getting precious metals and
stones and gravel.
Some farmers use too much chemical Too much fertilizer destroys the quality of
fertilizers to replenish soil fertility. the soil and is harmful to both human
and animals.
Plastics and other garbage are burned.

Cars, trucks, and tricycles that emit dark

smoke (smoke belchers) are allowed to
travel.
Other activities

116 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 2. Discuss the effects of these activities on natural resources.

3. Write the effects on the column opposite the activities. An activity may have more
than one effect. Some of the effects have already been listed in the table.

4. Do you know of other activities that destroy or cause the depletion of natural
resources? Add them to the list and fill the corresponding effect in column 2.

5. What can you do to conserve resources?

Protecting Resources in Your Own Way

All resources used by humans, including fuels, metals, and building materials,
come from the Earth. Many of these resources are not in endless supply. It has taken
many thousands and millions of years to develop and accumulate these resources.

To conserve natural resources is to protect or use them wisely without wasting

them or using them up completely. Conserving natural resources can make them last
and be available for future generations. This is what sustainability of natural resources
means. Each one of us should think about how to make things sustainable. Remember:
The lives of future generations depend on how we use natural resources today.

Activity 7
Are you ready for “Make-a-Difference” Day?
This activity involves you in hands-on activities that help you learn more about
reducing waste, reusing materials instead of throwing them away, recycling,
composting, and conserving natural resources and energy. There are many activities
that you can include: conducting a "waste-free lunch" or building art materials out of
cans, bottles, and other recyclable trash. Depending on the location and nature of your
school, you might want to include river cleanup, trail maintenance, or tree planting. Or,
you can mix these activities with a poster making contest for use in the campaign on
non-use of plastic bags for shopping and/or marketing.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 117

What to do

1. In your group, make a list of what is done in your school that help conserve natural
resources. Discuss your list before finalizing the report.
2. Make another list of what is done in your school that do not help conserve natural
resources. For example, do you still have lots of things in the trash can or on the
ground? What are they? What is being done with them?
3. Come up with a one-day plan on what else can be done in school to conserve
natural resources. Present your plan to the class.
4. Based on the group presentation, decide which part in the plans will be adopted or
adapted to make a class plan. The plan should consider the following:

 Easy to follow
 Who will be responsible for making the plan happen
 What should be done if the people responsible for making the plan happen will
not or cannot do it
 What natural resources will be conserved
 Schedule of activities to include monitoring
 Why you think this plan is the best idea
5. With your teacher’s permission, make an appointment with your principal to
present your plan and to solicit support. Maybe she might recommend the “Make-
a-Difference” Day for the whole school!

Hopefully, the “Make-a-Difference” Day will engage you in a variety of

environmental activities that help foster not only an appreciation for the environment
and the resources it provides but also develop a life-long environmental stewardship
among your age group.

Links and Other Reading Materials

gdis.denr.gov.ph (Geohazard Map)

http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph
http://www.jcmiras.net/surge/p124.htm (Geothermal power plants in the
Philippines)
http://www.industcards.com/hydro-philippines.htm (Hydroelectric power plants in
the Philippines)

118 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Suggested time allotment: 12 hours

MODULE SOLAR ENERGY AND THE

2 ATMOSPHERE

In the previous module, you learned that the presence of different natural
resources in the Philippines is related to the country’s location. It was also mentioned
that the climate in a certain area depends on its latitude. In this module, you are
going to learn more about how the location of the Philippines influences its climate
and weather. To prepare you for this lesson, you must first learn about the envelope
of air that surrounds the Earth where all weather events happen – the atmosphere.

Activity 1
What is the basis for dividing
Earth’s atmosphere into layers?

Earth’s atmosphere is divided into five

layers. What is the basis for subdividing the
atmosphere?

Objectives

You will be able to gather information

about Earth’s atmosphere based on a graph.
Specifically, you will:

1. describe the features of each of the five

layers;
2. compare the features of the five layers; and

3. explain the basis for the division of the layers Figure 1. What are the layers of the
of the atmosphere. atmosphere?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 119

What to use

 Graph in Figure 1
 A ruler, if available

What to do

1. Study the graph.

Q1. What are the five layers? Estimate the height of each layer.
Q2. Describe the graph for each layer.
Q3. In which layer is temperature increasing with increasing altitude?
Q4. In which layer is temperature decreasing with increasing altitude?
Q5. What is the relationship between temperature and height in the
- troposphere?
- stratosphere?
- mesosphere?
- thermosphere?
- exosphere?

Q6. Observe the whole graph. What is the basis for the division of
Earth’s atmosphere?
Q7. From the graph, can you generalize that the higher the layer of the
atmosphere (that is closer to the Sun), the hotter the temperature? Why or
why not?
Q8. What other information about Earth’s atmosphere can you derive
from the graph?

2. Read the succeeding paragraphs and think of a way to organize and summarize
the data about the atmosphere from the graph and the information in the
discussion that follows.

The troposphere is the layer closest to Earth’s surface. The temperature just
above the ground is hotter than the temperature high above. Weather occurs in the
troposphere because this layer contains most of the water vapor. Remember the
water cycle? Without water, there would be no clouds, rain, snow or other weather
features. Air in the troposphere is constantly moving. As a result, aircraft flying
through the troposphere may have a very bumpy ride – what we know as turbulence.
People who have used the airplane for travelling have experienced this especially
when there is a typhoon in areas where the plane passes through.

120 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 The stratosphere is the layer of air that extends to about 50 km from Earth’s
surface. Many jet aircraft fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. It is in the
stratosphere that we find the ozone layer. The ozone layer absorbs much of the
Sun’s harmful radiation that would otherwise be dangerous to plant and animal life.

The layer between 50 km and 80 km above the Earth’s surface is called the
mesosphere. Air in this layer is very thin and cold. Meteors or rock fragments burn
up in the mesosphere.

The thermosphere is between 80 km and 110 km above the Earth. Space

shuttles fly in this area and it is also where the auroras are found. Auroras are
caused when the solar wind strikes gases in the atmosphere above the Poles. Why
can we not see auroras in the Philippines?

The upper limit of our atmosphere is the exosphere. This layer of the
atmosphere merges into space. Satellites are stationed in this area, 500 km to 1000
km from Earth.

To summarize what has been discussed: More than three quarters of Earth’s
atmosphere is made up of nitrogen while one fifth is oxygen. The remaining 1% is a
mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapour, and ozone. These gases not only produce
important weather features such as cloud and rain, but also have considerable
influence on the overall climate of the Earth, through the greenhouse effect and
global warming.

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

In order to understand the greenhouse effect, you need to first understand

how a real greenhouse works.

In temperate countries, a greenhouse is used to grow seedlings in the late

winter and early spring and later, planted in the open field when the weather is
warmer. Greenhouses also protect plants from weather phenomena such snowstorm
or dust storms. In tropical countries, greenhouses are used by commercial plant
growers to protect flowering and ornamental plants from harsh weather conditions
and insect attack.

Greenhouses range in size from small sheds to very large buildings. They
also vary in terms of types of covering materials. Some are made of glass while
others are made of plastic.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 121

 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gartengew%C3%A4chshaus.JPG

Figure 2. Different sizes of greenhouses. How does a greenhouse work?

Activity 2
Does a greenhouse retain or release heat?

Objectives

The activity will enable you to

1. construct a model greenhouse.

2. find out if your model greenhouse retains heat
3. relate the concept of greenhouse to the increasing temperature of
Earth’s atmosphere.

What to use

 2-liter plastic soft drink bottle

 2-plastic containers to serve as base of the bottles
 knife or scissors
 transparent tape Be careful when
 two alcohol thermometers CAUTION handling sharp
 one reading lamp (if objects like knife or
available), otherwise bring scissors and
the setups under the Sun breakable equipment
like thermometer.

What to do

Constructing the model greenhouse

For each model greenhouse you will need a two-liter plastic soft drink
container (with cap) and a shallow plastic container for the base.

122 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 1. Remove the label of the soft drink bottle but keep the cap attached.

2. Cut off carefully, the end of the bottle approximately 5-6 cm from the bottom.
Dispose of the bottom piece.

3. Place the bottle with cap in the plastic base. This is your model greenhouse.
Label it Bottle A.

4. Use scissors or knife to cut several elongated openings or vents (1.5 x 5.0 cm)
on the sides of Bottle B. Leave Bottle A intact.

5. Tape a thermometer onto a piece of cardboard. Make sure that the cardboard is
longer than the thermometer so that the bulb will not touch the plastic base.
Make two thermometer setups, one for Bottle A and another for Bottle B. Place
one thermometer setup in each bottle.

Figure 3. How to construct a model greenhouse

6. Place both bottles approximately 10 cm away from NOTE:

the lamp. DO NOT turn on the lamp yet.
If you have no lamp,
Q1. Predict which bottle will get hotter when you
bring the setups
turn on the light or when they are exposed to outside the classroom
the Sun. How will you know that one bottle is under the Sun where
hotter than the other? they will not be
disturbed.
Q2. Write down your prediction and the reason why
you predicted that way.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 123

 7. Turn on the light and begin collecting data every five minutes for 25 minutes.
(Note: But if you have no lamp, place the setups under the Sun. Read the
temperature every 20 minutes for over two hours.)

8. Record the temperature readings of Bottle A and Bottle B in your notebook.

9. Graph your data separately for Bottles A and B.

Q3. What variable did you put in the x-axis? In the y-axis?
Q4. Why did you put these data in the x and y axes, respectively?
Q5. Describe the graph resulting from observations in Bottle A.
Q6. Describe the graph resulting from observations in Bottle B.
Q7. Explain the similarities in the graphs of Bottles A and B.
Q8. Explain the differences in the graphs of Bottles A and B.
Q9. Does this activity help you answer the question in the activity title: Do
greenhouses retain heat? What is the evidence?

Greenhouses allow sunlight to enter but prevent heat from escaping. The
transparent covering of the greenhouse allows visible light to enter without
obstruction. It warms the inside of the greenhouse as energy is absorbed by the
plants, soil, and other things inside the building. Air warmed by the heat inside is
retained in the building by the roof and wall. The transparent covering also prevents
the heat from leaving by reflecting the energy back into the walls and preventing
outside winds from carrying it away.

The Earth’s atmosphere is compared to a greenhouse. You know that besides

nitrogen and oxygen, Earth’s atmosphere contains trace gases such as carbon
dioxide, water vapor, methane, and ozone. Like the glass in a greenhouse, the trace
gases have a similar effect on the Sun’s rays. They allow sunlight to pass through,
resulting in the warming up of the Earth’s surface. But they absorb the energy
coming from the Earth’s surface, keeping the Earth’s temperature suitable for life on
Earth. The process by which the Earth’s atmosphere warms up is called ‘greenhouse
effect,’ and the trace gases are referred to as ‘greenhouse gases.’

124 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 https://sites.google.com/site/glowar88/all-about-global-warming/1-what-is-global-warming

Figure 4. Why are greenhouse gases like the glass in the

greenhouse?

The ‘greenhouse effect’ is a natural process and it warms the Earth. Without
the greenhouse effect, Earth would be very cold, too cold for living things, such as
plants and animals.

To further understand the effect

of greenhouse gases look at Figure 5.
It contains some data about Venus and
Earth, planets that are almost of the
same size and if you remember from
elementary school science, are near
each other, so they are called twin
planets. The composition of
atmosphere and the average surface
temperature of the two planets are also
given. Why is the average temperature
of Venus very much higher than that of Figure 5. What gas is present in the
Earth? What could have caused this atmosphere of Venus that explains its
phenomenon? high surface temperature?

Both Earth and Venus have carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in their
atmospheres. The small amount of carbon dioxide on Earth’s gives the right
temperature for living things to survive. With the high surface temperature

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 125

of Venus due to its high carbon dioxide concentration, do you think life forms like
those we know of could exist there? Why or why not?

Is Earth Getting Warmer? What is the Evidence?

Studies have shown that before 1750 (called the pre-industrialization years),
carbon dioxide concentration was about 0.028 percent or 280 parts per million (ppm)
by volume. The graph below shows the concentration of carbon dioxide from 1958 to

2003. What information can you

derive from the graph?

Recent studies report that in

2000-2009, carbon dioxide rose by
2.0 ppm per year. In 2011, the level
is higher than at any time during the
last 800
thousand years. Local
temperatures fluctuate naturally,
over the past 50 years but the
average global temperature has
increased at the fastest rate in
recorded history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mauna_Loa_Carbon_Dioxi de-
en.svg#file

Figure 6. Carbon dioxide measurements in

Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii

So what if there is increasing emission of greenhouse gases like carbon

dioxide into the atmosphere? What is the problem with a small increase in carbon
dioxide concentration in the atmosphere?

More carbon dioxide means that more heat is trapped in Earth’s atmosphere.
More heat cannot return back into space. More heat trapped by the carbon dioxide
means a warmer Earth.

The increasing temperature phenomenon is known as ‘global warming’.

Global means that all countries and people around the world are affected even if that
country is not a major contributor of greenhouse gases. Many scientists now agree
that many human activities emit more greenhouses gases into the atmosphere,
making the natural greenhouse effect stronger. Scientists are also saying that if we
carry on polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, it will have a dangerous
effect on the Earth.

126 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Sources of Greenhouse Gases

Carbon dioxide is naturally produced when people and animals breathe.

Plants and trees take in and use carbon dioxide to produce their own food.
Volcanoes also produce carbon dioxide. Methane comes from grazing animals as
they digest their food and from decaying matter in wet rice fields. Ozone is also
naturally present in the stratosphere.

But human activities emit a lot of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Study Figure 7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Carbon_Emission_by_Type .png

Figure 7. Does burning of fossil fuels raise the carbon

dioxide concentration in the atmosphere?

Which fossil fuel has the highest contribution to carbon dioxide concentration
in the atmosphere?
What human activities use this fuel? List at least three.
Recall Module 1. What kind of fossil fuels are used in the Philippines?
Are we also contributing to the increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the
atmosphere? Why or why not?

Carbon dioxide comes from the burning of fossil fuel such as coal, crude oil
and natural gas. Cutting down and burning of trees releases carbon dioxide.
Methane can also be released from buried waste. For example, the left-over food,
garden wastes, and animal wastes collected from our homes are thrown into
dumpsites. When lots of wastes are compressed

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 127

and packed together, they produce methane. Coal mining also produces methane.

Another group of greenhouse gases includes the chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs

for short. CFCs have been used in spray cans as propellants, in refrigerators as
refrigerants, and in making foam plastics as foaming agents. They become
dangerous when released into the atmosphere, depleting the ozone layer. For this
reason, their use has been banned around the world.

What have you learned about the atmosphere? There are natural processes
in the atmosphere that protect and sustain life on Earth. For example, the
greenhouse effect keeps temperature on Earth just right for living things. For as long
as the concentration of greenhouse gases are controlled, we will have no problem.

But human beings activities have emitted greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere, increasing their levels to quantities that have adverse effects on people,
plants, animals and the physical environment. Burning of fossil fuels, for example,
has increased levels of carbon dioxide thus trapping more heat, increasing air
temperature, and causing global warming. Such global phenomenon is feared to melt
polar ice caps and cause flooding to low-lying areas that will result to reduction in
biodiversity. It is even feared that global warming is already changing climates
around the globe, causing stronger typhoons, and creating many health-related
problems. You will learn more about climate change later.

Common Atmospheric Phenomena

In the next section, you will learn two concepts that will help you understand
common atmospheric phenomena: why the wind blows, why monsoons occur, and
what is the so-called intertropical convergence zone. All of these are driven by the
same thing: the heat of the Sun or solar energy. Thus, we begin by asking, what
happens when air is heated?

Activity 3
What happens when air is heated?
Objective

After this activity, you should be able to explain what happens when air is
heated.

128 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 What to use

two paper bags

candle
long straight stick
match
masking tape
chair
Figure 8. Setup for Activity 3
What to do

1. Attach a paper bag to each end of the stick (see drawing above). The open end
of each bag should be facing down.

2. Balance the stick with the paper bags on the chair (see drawing below.)

3. Make a prediction: what do you think

will happen if you place a lighted
candle under the open end of one of
the bags?

4. Now, light the candle and place it

below one of the bags. Caution: Do not
place the candle too close to the paper
bag. It may catch fire. Be ready with a
pail of water or wet rag just in case.

Figure 9. Balance the stick with paper

bags on a chair.

Q1. Was your prediction accurate?

Describe what happened.

Q2. Can you explain why?

Figure 10. What will happen when a

lighted candle is placed under one of
the bags?

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 129

 This is the first concept that you need to know: Warm air rises. Now, try to
answer the following question. When warm air is rising, what is its effect on the air in
the surroundings? Will the air in the surroundings stay in place? Or will it be affected
in some way by the rising air? Do the following activity and find out.

Activity 4
What happens to the air in the surroundings as warm air
rises?
Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to

explain what happens to the air in the surroundings as
warm air rises.

What to use

box candle
scissors match
cardboard tube smoke source
clear plastic (ex. mosquito coil)

Figure 11.
Setup for Activity 4
What to do

Pre-activity

Make two holes in the box: one hole on one side and another hole on top (see
drawing). Place the cardboard tube over the hole on top and tape it in place. Make a
window at the front side of the box so you can see inside. Cover the window with
clear plastic to make the box airtight.

Activity proper

1. Open the box and place the candle directly below the hole on top. Light up the
candle and close the box.

2. Make a prediction: What do you think will happen if you place a smoke source
near the hole?

130 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 3. Now, place the smoke source near the
hole.

Q1. Was your prediction accurate?

Q2. What happened?

Q3. Can you explain why?

Figure 12. What happens to the

smoke when the source is
placed near the hole?

What Makes the Air Move?

As you have seen in the activity, air in the surroundings can be affected by
rising warm air. The drawing below shows how this happens. First, the air above the
candle becomes warm because of the flame. What happens to this warm air? It
rises. As warm air rises, what happens to the air in the surroundings? It will move
toward the place where warm air is rising. But you cannot see air, how can you tell
that it is moving? Did you see smoke from the mosquito coil? The movement of the
smoke shows the movement of the air.

Figure 13. Air in the surroundings move toward

the place where warm air is rising.

Let us now relate what happened in the activity to what happens in nature.
During the day, the surface of the Earth becomes warm because of the Sun. Some
parts of the Earth will warm up more quickly than others. Naturally, the air above the
warmer surfaces will also become warm. What happens to the warm air? Just like in
the activity, it will rise. How is the air in the surroundings affected? It will move
toward the place where warm air

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 131

 is rising. This is the other concept that you need to know: Air moves toward the
place where warm air is rising.

Whenever we feel the air moving, that means that somewhere, warm air is
rising. And the air around us moves toward the place where warm air is rising. Do
you remember that ‘moving air’ is called wind? Every time you feel the wind, it
means that air is moving toward the place where warm air is rising. Strictly speaking,
wind is air that is moving horizontally.

Let us use now the two concepts you have learned to explain other things.
You know that the surface of the Earth is made basically of two things: land and
water. When the Sun’s rays strike land and water, do they heat up as fast as each
other? Do land and water absorb heat from the Sun in the same way? Or is there a
difference? Perform the next activity and find out.

Activity 5
Which warms up faster?
Objectives

After performing this activity, you should be able to

1. compare which warms up faster: sand or water

2. compare which cools faster: sand or water
3. use the results of the activity to explain sea breeze and land breeze

What to use

2 identical plastic containers string

2 thermometers water
2 iron stands with clamps sand

What to do

1. In the shade, set up everything as shown below. The bulbs of the thermometer
should be 2 cm below the surface of the water and sand.

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 Figure 14. Setup for Activity 5

2. Wait for 5 minutes, then read the initial temperature of the water and sand.
Record the temperature readings below.

Initial temperature reading for water: __________

Initial temperature reading for sand: __________

3. Now, place the setup under the Sun. Read the thermometers again and record
the temperature readings in Table 1. Read every 5 minutes for 25 minutes.

Table 1. In the Sun

Observation Water Sand time (minutes)

0
5
10
15
20
25

4. After 25 minutes, bring the setup back to the shade. Read the thermometers
and record the temperature readings in Table 2. Read every 5 minutes for 25
minutes.

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 Table 2. In the shade
Observation Water Sand time (minutes)

0
5
10
15
20
25

5. Study the data in the tables and answer the following questions.

Q1. Which has a higher temperature after 25 minutes in the Sun, water or
sand?

Q2. After 25 minutes, how many Celsius degrees was the increase in the
temperature of the water? Of the sand?

6. Make a line graph using the temperature readings taken while the setup was in
the Sun.

Q3. Based on the graph, which became hot faster, water or sand?

Q4. What happened to the temperature of the water and sand when brought to
the shade?

Q5. How many Celsius degrees was the decrease in temperature of the water
after 25 minutes? Of the sand?

7. Make a line graph using the temperature readings taken when the setup was in
the shade.

Q6. Based on the graph, which cooled down faster, water or sand?

Sea Breeze and Land Breeze

The sand and water in the previous activity stand for land and water in real
life. From the activity, you have learned that sand heats up faster than water, and
that sand cools down faster than water. In the same way, when land surfaces are
exposed to the Sun during the day, they heat up faster than bodies of water. At night,
when the Sun has set, the land loses heat faster than bodies of water. How does this
affect the air in the surroundings?

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 Imagine that you are standing by the sea, along the shore. During the day, the
land heats up faster than the water in the sea. The air above land will then become
warm ahead of the air above the sea. You know what happens to warm air: it rises.
So the warmer air above the land will rise. The air above the sea will then move in to
replace the rising warm air. (See drawing below.) You will then feel this moving air as
a light wind—a sea breeze.

Figure 15. When does sea breeze occur?

What will happen at night, when the Sun is gone? The land and sea will both
cool down. But the land will lose heat faster than the water in the sea. In other words,
the sea will stay warm longer. This time the air above the sea will be warmer than
that above land. The warm air above the sea will then rise. Air from land will move
out to replace the rising warm air. (See drawing below.) This moving air or wind from
land is called a land breeze.

Figure 16. When does land breeze occur?

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 In the illustration above, you can see an arrow pointing upward. This
represents rising warm air. The place where warm air rises is a place where air
pressure is low. In other words, the place where warm air is rising is a low-pressure
area. In contrast, cold air is dense and tends to sink. The place where cold air is
sinking is a high-pressure area. Based on what you learned so far, in what direction
does air move, from a low-pressure area to a high-pressure area or the other way
around? You probably know the answer already. But the next section will make it
clearer for you.

Monsoons

Do you know what monsoons are? Many people think that monsoons are
rains. They are not. Monsoons are wind systems. But these winds usually bring
abundant rainfall to the country and this is probably the reason why they have been
mistaken for rains. In Filipino, the monsoons are called amihan or habagat,
depending on where the winds come from. Find out which is which in the following
activity.

Activity 6
In what direction do winds blow–from high to low
pressure area or vice versa?
Objectives

After performing this activity, you should be able to

1. Interpret a map to determine direction of wind movement

2. Explain why it is cold around in December to February and warm around
July.
3. Illustrate why habagat brings lots of rain
4. Give examples how the monsoons (amihan and habagat) affect people.

What to use

Figure 17: Pressure and Winds in January

Figure 18: Pressure and Winds in July
pencil

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 What to do

Part I.

Study Figure 17. It shows the air pressure and direction of winds in different parts of
the world in January. Low-pressure areas are marked by L and high-pressure areas
are marked by H. Broken lines with arrowheads show the direction of the wind.

Q1. Choose a low-pressure area and study the direction of the winds around it. Do
the winds move toward the low-pressure area or away from it?

Q2. Choose a high-pressure area and study the direction of the winds around it. Do
the winds move toward the high-pressure area or away from it?

Q3. In what direction do winds blow? Do winds blow from high-pressure areas to
low-pressure areas? Or, from low-pressure areas to high-pressure areas?

Q4. Where is North in the map? South? West? East? Write the directions on the
map.

Q5. Where is the Philippines on the map? Encircle it.

Q6. Study the wind direction near the Philippine area. From what direction does the
wind blow near the Philippines in January?

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 Figure 17. Press ure and Winds in January

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 Figure 18. Pressure and Winds in J uly

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Part II.

Study Figure 18. It shows the air pressure and direction of winds in different parts of the
world in July.

Q7. Study the wind direction near the Philippine area. From what direction does the
wind blow in the vicinity of the Philippines in July?

Figure 17 shows what happens during the colder months. The wind blows from
the high-pressure area in the Asian continent toward the low-pressure area south of the
Philippines. The cold air that we experience from December to February is part of this
wind system. This monsoon wind is locally known as amihan. As you can see from
Figure 17, the wind passes over some bodies of water before it reaches the Philippines.
The wind picks up moisture along the way and brings rain to the eastern part of the
Philippines.

Now, what happens during the warmer months? Study Figure 18 carefully. What
do you observe about the low-pressure area and high-pressure area near the
Philippines? They have changed places. (You will learn why in the next module.) As a
result, the direction of the wind also changes. This time the wind will move from the
high-pressure area in Australia to the low-pressure area in the Asian continent. This
monsoon wind is locally called habagat. Trace the path of the habagat before it reaches
the Philippines. Can you explain why the habagat brings so much rain? Which part of
the Philippines does the habagat affect the most?

The monsoons, habagat and amihan, affect people in different ways. Try to
explain the following. Why do farmers welcome the monsoons? Why are fisherfolk not
so happy about the monsoons? Why do energy providers appreciate the monsoons?
Why are fishpen owners worried about the monsoons? How do the monsoons affect
your own town?

In the next section, you will apply the two concepts once more to explain another
weather event.

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 The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

Many people who listen to weather forecasts are confused about the intertropical
convergence zone. But it is easy to understand it once you know that warm air rises,
and air moves toward the place where warm air is rising. Take a look at the drawing
below.

Figure 19. Sun’s rays at the equator and

at a higher latitude

Figure 19 shows the rays of the Sun at two different places at noon. Study the
drawing carefully. Where would you observe the Sun directly above you? When you are
at the equator? Or when you are at a higher latitude?

As you can see, the position of the Sun at midday depends on where you are. At
the equator, the Sun will be directly overhead and the rays of the Sun will hit the ground
directly. At a higher latitude, the Sun will be lower in the sky and the Sun’s rays will
strike the ground at a lower angle. Where do you think will it be warmer?

It is clear that it is warmer at the equator than anywhere else. Because of that,
the air over the equator will be warmer than the air over other parts of the Earth. And
you already know what happens to warm air. It rises. And when warm air rises, air in the
surroundings will then move as a result.

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 Figure 20. How does the air move at the equator?

As you can see from Figure 20, air from north of the equator and air from south
of the equator will move toward the place where warm air is rising. Thus, the
intertropical convergence zone is the place where winds in the tropics meet or
converge. (Recall that the area near the equator is called the tropics.) In time the rising
warm air will form clouds, which may lead to thunderstorms. Now you know why
weather forecasters often blame the ITCZ for some heavy afternoon rains. The band of
white clouds in the following picture shows the location of the ITCZ.

Figure 21. Satellite photo showing the location of ITCZ

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Summary

This module discussed global atmospheric phenomena like the greenhouse

effect and global warming (including ozone depletion) that affect people, plants, animals
and the physical environment around the world. And though the greenhouse effect is a
natural phenomenon, there is a growing concern that human activities have emitted
substances into the atmosphere that are causing changes in weather patterns at the
local level.

Highlighted in this module are concepts used to explain common atmospheric

phenomena: why the wind blows, why monsoons occur, and what is the so-called inter
tropical convergence zone.

It is important for everyone to understand the varied atmospheric phenomena so

that we can all prepare for whatever changes that occur in the environment and cope
with these changes.

There are still many things to learn about the atmosphere, specifically on
weather and climate. You have just been provided with the basic concepts. You will
learn more as you move to Grade 8 and onwards.

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 Suggested time allotment: 10 hours

MODULE

3 SEASONS AND ECLIPSES

Overview

In Grade 6, you have learned about the major members of our solar system.
Like the other planets, the Earth moves mainly in two ways: it spins on its axis and it
goes around the Sun. And as the Earth revolves around the Sun, the Moon is also
revolving around the Earth. Can you imagine all these “motions” happening at the
same time? The amazing thing is we do not feel that the Earth is moving. In reality,
the planet is speeding around the Sun at 30 kilometers each second. (The solar
system is also moving around the center of the Milky Way!)

But even if we do not actually see the Earth or Moon moving, we can observe
the effects of their motion. For example, because the Earth rotates, we experience
day and night. As the Moon goes around the Earth, we see changes in the Moon‘s
appearance.

In this module you will learn that the motions of the Earth and Moon have
other effects. Read on and find out why.

Seasons

In Grade 6, you tracked the weather for the whole school year. You found out
that there are two seasons in the Philippines: rainy and dry. You might have noticed
too that there are months of the year when it is cold and months when it is hot. The
seasons follow each other regularly and you can tell in advance when it is going to
be warm or cold and when it is going to be rainy or not. But can you explain why
there are seasons at all? Do you know why the seasons change? The following
activity will help you understand why.

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Activity 1
Why do the seasons change?
Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to give one reason why the
seasons change.

What to use

Figures 1 to 5

What to do

1. Study Figure 1 carefully. It shows the Earth at different locations along its orbit
around the Sun. Note that the axis of Earth is not perpendicular to its plane of
orbit; it is tilted. The letter “N” refers to the North Pole while “S” refers to the
South Pole.

Figure 1. The drawing shows the location of the Earth at different

times of the year. Note that the axis of Earth is not vertical; it is tilted.
(Not drawn to scale)

Q1. In which month is the North Pole tilted toward the Sun– in June or
December?

Q2. In which month is the North Pole tilted away from the Sun– in June or
December?

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 2. Study Figure 2 carefully. The drawing shows how the Earth is oriented with
respect to the Sun during the month of June.

Figure 2. Where do direct rays from the Sun fall in June?

Q3. In June, which hemisphere receives direct rays from the Sun– the Northern
Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere?

3. Study Figure 3 carefully. The drawing shows how the Earth is oriented with
respect to the Sun during the month of December.

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 Figure 3. Where do direct rays from the Sun fall in December?

Q4. In December, which hemisphere receives direct rays from the Sun-the
Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere?

Look at Figure 1 again. Note that the axis of the Earth is not perpendicular to
the plane of its orbit; it is tilted from the vertical by 23.5 degrees. What is the effect of
this tilt?

In June, the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun. Naturally, the Northern
Hemisphere will also be tilted toward the Sun. The Northern Hemisphere will then
receive direct rays from the Sun (Fig. 2). When the Sun’s rays hit the ground directly,
the place will become warmer than when the rays are oblique (Figures 4 and 5). This
is why it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere at this time.

But the Earth is not stationary. The Earth goes around the Sun. What
happens when the Earth has moved to the other side of the Sun?

After six months, in December, the North Pole will be pointing away from the
Sun (Figure 1). The Northern Hemisphere will no longer receive direct rays from the
Sun. The Northern Hemisphere will then experience a time of cold. For temperate
countries in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be winter. In tropical Philippines, it is
simply the cold season.

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 What’s the angle got to do
with it?

“Direct rays” means that the

rays of the Sun hit the
ground at 90°. The rays are
vertical or perpendicular to
the ground. When the Sun’s
rays strike the ground at a
high angle, each square
meter of the ground receives
a greater amount of solar
energy than when the rays
are inclined. The result is
greater warming. (See
Figure 4.)

On the other hand, when the

Figure 4. In the tropics, the warm season is due to
Sun’s rays come in at an
the Sun’s rays hitting the ground directly. To an
observer, the position of the Sun at noon will be oblique angle, each square
exactly overhead. meter of the ground will
receive a lesser amount of
Which part of the Earth receives the direct solar energy. That’s because
rays of the Sun in December? As you can see in at lower angles, solar energy
Figure 3, it is the South Pole that is tilted toward will be distributed over a
the Sun. This time the Sun’s direct rays will fall on wider area. The place will
the Southern Hemisphere. It will then be summer then experience less heating
in the Southern Hemisphere. Thus, when it is cold up. (See Figure 5.)
in the Northern Hemisphere, it is warm in the
Southern Hemisphere.

After another six months, in June of the following year, the Earth will have
made one full trip around the Sun. The Sun’s direct rays will fall on the Northern
Hemisphere once more. It will be warm in the Northern Hemisphere and cold in the
Southern Hemisphere all over again. Thus, the seasons change because the direct
rays of the Sun shift from one hemisphere to the other as the Earth goes around the
Sun.

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 Figure 5. The cold season is the result of the Sun’s
rays striking the ground at a lower angle. To an
observer, the Sun at midday will not be directly
above; it will be lower in the sky.

Now you know one of the reasons why the seasons change. Sometimes the
Sun’s direct rays fall on the Northern Hemisphere and sometimes they fall on the
Southern Hemisphere. And that is because the Earth is tilted and it goes around the
Sun. There is another reason why the seasons change. Find out in the next activity.

Activity 2
How does the length of daytime and nighttime affect the
season?
Objectives

After performing this activity, you should be able to

1. Interpret data about sunrise and sunset to tell when daytime is long and when
daytime is short;
2. Infer the effect of length of daytime and nighttime on seasons;

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 3. Summarize the reasons why seasons change based on Activity 1 and Activity
2.

What to use

Table 1

What to do

1. Study the table below. It shows the times of sunrise and sunset on one day of
each month.

Table 1: Sunrise and sunset in Manila on selected days of 2011

Day Sunrise Sunset Length of daytime

Jan 22, 2011 6:25 AM 5:50 PM 11h 25m

Feb 22, 2011 6:17 AM 6:02 PM 11h 45m

Mar 22, 2011 5:59 AM 6:07 PM 12h 08m

Apr 22, 2011 5:38 AM 6:11 PM 12h 33m

May 22, 2011 5:27 AM 6:19 PM 12h 52m

Jun 22, 2011 5:28 AM 6:28 PM 13h 00m

Jul 22, 2011 5:36 AM 6:28 PM 12h 52m

Aug 22, 2011 5:43 AM 6:15 PM 12h 32m

Sep 22, 2011 5:45 AM 5:53 PM 12h 08m

Oct 22, 2011 5:49 AM 5:33 PM 11h 44m

Nov 22, 2011 6:00 AM 5:24 PM 11h 24m

Dec 22, 2011 6:16 AM 5:32 PM 11h 16m

Q1. Compare the times of sunrise from January, 2011 to December,

2011. What do you notice?

Q2. Compare the times of sunset during the same period. What do you notice?

Q3. Compare the time of sunrise on June 22, 2011 with that on December 22,
2011. On which day did the Sun rise earlier?

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 Q4. Compare the time of sunset on June 22, 2011 with that on December 22,
2011. On which day did the Sun set later?

Q5. When was daytime the longest?

Q6. When was daytime the shortest?

You know that there are 24 hours in a day. You probably think that daytime
and nighttime are always equal. But you can infer from the activity that the length of
daytime changes from month to month. When the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun,
daytime will be longer than nighttime in the Northern Hemisphere.

What happens when daytime is longer than nighttime? The time of heating up
during the day will be longer than the time of cooling down at night. The Northern
Hemisphere steadily warms up and the result is summer. At the same time, in the
Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is happening. Nights are longer than daytime. It
is winter there.

But when the Earth has moved farther along its orbit, the North Pole will then
be tilted away from the Sun. Nighttime will then be longer than daytime in the
Northern Hemisphere. There would be a shorter time for heating up and longer time
to cool down. The result is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In tropical Philippines,
it is the cold season. Meanwhile, it will be summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

At this point, you should now be able to explain why the seasons change.
Your explanation should include the following things: the tilt of the Earth; its
revolution around the Sun; the direct rays of the Sun, and the length of daytime.
There are other factors that affect the seasons but these are the most important.

After discussing the motions of the Earth, let us now focus on the motions of
another celestial object, the Moon. You have seen that the shape of the Moon
appears to change from night to night. You have learned in Grade 5 that the
changing phases of the Moon are due to the revolution of the Moon. The movement
of the Moon also produces other phenomena which you will learn in the next section.

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 Shadows and Eclipses

Do you know how shadows are formed? How about

eclipses? Do you know why they occur? Do you think that
shadows and eclipses are related in any way?

In this section, you will review what you know about

shadows and later on perform an activity on eclipses.
Afterwards, you will look at some common beliefs about
eclipses and figure out if they have any scientific bases at
all.

Using a shadow-play activity, your teacher will demonstrate how shadows are
formed and how shadows affect the surroundings. The demonstrations should lead
you to the following ideas:

 When a light source is blocked by an object, a shadow of that object is

cast. The shadow will darken the object on which it falls.

 The distance of the object from the light source affects the size of its
shadow. When an object is closer to the light source, its shadow will
appear big. But when it is farther from the light source, its shadow is
smaller.

 The occurrence of shadows is an ordinary phenomenon that you

experience every day. Shadows can be seen anywhere. Sometimes, the
shadow appears bigger than the original object, other times smaller.

How about in outer space? Are shadows formed there, too? How can you tell
when you are here on Earth?

The next activity will help you answer these questions. The materials that you
will use in the activity represent some astronomical objects in space. You will need to
simulate space by making the activity area dark. Cover the windows with dark
materials such as black garbage bag or dark cloth.

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Activity 3
Are there shadows in space?

Objective

After performing this activity, you should be able to explain how shadows are
formed in space.

What to use

 1 big ball (plastic or Styrofoam ball)

 1 small ball (diameter must be about ¼ of the big ball)
 flashlight or other light source
 2 pieces barbecue stick (about one ruler long)
 any white paper or cardboard larger than the big ball
 Styrofoam block or block of wood as a base

What to do

Note: All throughout the activity, stay at the back or at the side of the flashlight as
much as possible. None of your members should stay at the back of the big
ball, unless specified.

1. Pierce the small ball in the middle with the barbecue

stick. Then push the stick into a Styrofoam block to make it stand
(see drawing on the right). The small ball represents the Moon.
Do the same to the big ball. The big ball represents the Earth.

2. Hold the flashlight and shine it on the small ball (see drawing below). The
distance between the flashlight and the ball is one footstep. Observe the small
ball as you shine light on it. The flashlight represents the Sun.

Sun Moon

1 footstep

Q1. What is formed on the other side of the Moon?

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 3. Place the Earth one footstep away from the Moon (see drawing below). Make
sure that the Sun, Moon, and Earth are along a straight line. Turn on the
flashlight and observe.

Sun Moon Earth

1 footstep 1 footstep

Q2. What is formed on the surface of the Earth?

4. Place the white paper one footstep away from the Earth (see drawing below).
The white paper must be facing the Earth. Observe what is formed on the white
paper.
Sun Moon Earth

1 footstep 1 footstep
1 footstep

Q3. What is formed on the white paper?

5. Ask a group mate to move the Moon along a circular path as shown
below.

Circular path

Q4. What happens to the shadow of the Moon as you move the Moon
around the Earth?

Q5. Observe the appearance of the Moon. What is the effect of the shadow of
the Earth on the Moon as the Moon reaches position X (see drawing
above)?

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 You have just simulated the formation of shadows of astronomical objects in
space. The formation and darkening is exactly the same as the formation of shadows
commonly seen around you. When shadows are formed on astronomical objects, a
darkening effect is observed. This phenomenon is called an eclipse.

How Do Eclipses Happen?

In the earlier grades, you learned about the members of the solar system. You
know that the Sun gives off light. As the different members of the solar system move
around the Sun, they block the light from the Sun and form shadows. What this
means is that planets have shadows, and even their moons have shadows, too. But
we cannot see the shadows that they form because we are far from them. The only
shadows that we can observe are the shadows of the Moon and Earth.

Figure 6. Look at the shadows of the Moon and Earth. Where does the shadow of
the Moon fall? Where does the shadow of the Earth fall?

Look at Figure 6. (Note that the objects are not drawn to scale.) In the
drawing, there are two Moons. Of course, you know that we only have one Moon.
The figure is just showing you the Moon at two different locations as it goes around
the Earth.

The figure shows where the shadows of the Moon and Earth are as viewed in
space. But here on Earth, you cannot observe these shadows. Why? Look at the
shadow of the Moon in positions A and B. In position A, the Moon is too high; its
shadow does not fall on Earth. In position B, the Moon is too low; the shadow of the
Earth does not fall on the Moon. The shadows of the Earth and Moon are cast in
space. So, when can we observe these shadows? In what positions can we see
these shadows? Let us look at another arrangement.

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 Figure 7. When does the shadow of the Moon fall on Earth? When does Earth cast
a shadow on the Moon?

In Figure 7, the Earth has moved along its orbit, taking the Moon along. The
Moon is shown in two different locations once more. Note that at these positions, the
Moon is neither too high nor too low. In fact, the Moon is in a straight line between
the Sun and the Earth. You can say that the three objects are perfectly aligned.

At position A, where does the shadow of the Moon fall? As you can see, the
shadow of the Moon now falls on the Earth. When you are within this shadow, you
will experience a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon comes
directly between the Sun and Earth (Figure 7, position A). You have simulated this
solar eclipse in Activity 3.

Figure 8. Where is the Moon in relation to the Sun and Earth during a solar
eclipse?

Let us look at the Sun, Moon, and Earth in Figure 8. Look at the tip of the
shadow of the Moon as it falls on Earth. Is the entire shadow of the Moon completely
dark? Do you notice the unequal shading of the shadow? Actually this unequal
shading is comparable to what you have observed in your simulation activity.

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 Remember the shadow of the small
ball (Moon) on the big ball (Earth) in your
activity? It has a gray outer part and a
darker inner part (Figure 9). In the case of
the Moon’s shadow, this gray outer region
is the penumbra while the darker inner
region is the umbra.

If you are standing within the umbra

of the Moon’s shadow, you will see the
Figure 9. Is the shadow of the small ball Sun disappear from your view. The
uniformly dark?
surroundings appear like it is early
evening. In this case, you are
witnessing a total solar eclipse. In comparison, if you are in the penumbra, you will
see the Sun partially covered by the Moon. There are no dramatic changes in the
surroundings; there is no noticeable dimming of sunlight. In this case, you are
observing a partial solar eclipse.

Let us go back to Figure 7. Look at the Moon in position B. Do you notice that
at this position the Moon is also aligned with the Sun and Earth? At this position, a
different type of eclipse occurs. This time, the Moon is in the shadow of the Earth. In
this case, you will observe a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon is
directly on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun.

The occurrence of a lunar eclipse was simulated in the activity. Do you

remember the small ball (Moon) in position X? You noticed that the shadow of the
big ball (Earth) darkened the whole surface of the small ball. In a lunar eclipse, the
shadow of the Earth also darkens the Moon (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Where is the Earth in relation to the Sun and Moon during a lunar
eclipse?

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 Focus your attention on the shadow of the Earth in Figure 10. The shadow is
wider than that of the Moon. It also has an umbra and a penumbra. Which part of the
Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon? Is the Moon always found within the umbra?

The appearance of the Moon is dependent on its location in the Earth’s

shadow. When the entire Moon is within the umbra, it will look totally dark. At this
time you will observe a total lunar eclipse. But when the Moon passes only through a
part of the umbra, a partial lunar eclipse will be observed. A part of the Moon will
look dark while the rest will be lighter.

In earlier grades, you learned that it takes about one month for the Moon to
complete its trip around the Earth. If that is the case, then we should be observing
monthly eclipses. In reality, eclipses do not occur every month. There are only about
three solar eclipses and three lunar eclipses in a year. What could be the reason for
this?

The answer lies in the orbit of the Moon. Look at the orbit of the Earth and the
Moon in Figures 6 and 7. Do their orbits have the same orientations? As you can see
the Moon’s orbit is slightly inclined. The orbit is tilted by 5 0 from the plane of the orbit
of the Earth. As the moon moves around the Earth, it is sometimes higher or lower
than the Earth. In these situations, the shadow of the Moon does not hit the surface
of the Earth. Thus, no eclipses will occur. Eclipses only happen when the Moon
aligns with the Sun and Earth.

Facts, Myths, and Superstitions

Some people believe that a sudden darkening during the day (solar eclipse)
brings bad luck. Others say that it is also bad luck when the Moon turns dark during
a Full Moon (lunar eclipse).

Do you think these beliefs regarding eclipses are true? Let us find that out in
the next activity.

Activity 4
Does a Bakunawa cause eclipses?
Objective

When you finish this activity, you should be able to evaluate some beliefs about
eclipses.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 159

What to do

1. Collect some beliefs about eclipses. You may Ancient Tagalogs call eclipses as
ask older people in your family or in the laho. Others call it as eklepse
community Or, you may read on some of (pronounced as written). Old
people would tell you that
these beliefs.
during laho or eklepse, the Sun
and the Moon are eaten by a
Table 2. Beliefs related to eclipses and its
big snake called Bakunawa. The
scientific bases
only way to bring them back is
Beliefs Scientific explanations
to create a very loud noise. The
Bakunawa gets irritated with
the noise and spews out the Sun
and the Moon back to the
people.

Q1. Which beliefs and practices have scientific

bases? Why do you say so?

Q2. Which beliefs and practices have no scientific bases? Support your
answer.

Which among the beliefs you have collected do you consider true? Do all the
beliefs you have collected have scientific bases? Are the explanations of the
occurrences of eclipses related to these beliefs? Are there any proofs that tell you
they are true?

In science, explanations are supported with evidence. Beliefs related to

eclipses, such as the Sun being swallowed by Bakunawa (a large animal), or the
increase of harmful microorganisms during an eclipse, are passed on by adults to
young children. But until now, no proof has been offered to show that they are true.

However, there are beliefs that have scientific bases. For example, it is bad to
look directly at the Sun during a solar eclipse. Doing so will damage your eyes. This
is true. Even if only a thin crescent of the Sun is left uncovered by the Moon, it will
still be too bright for you to observe. In fact, it is 10,000 times brighter than the Full
Moon and it will certainly harm your retina. So if you ever observe a solar eclipse, be
ready with a solar filter or welder’s goggles to protect your eyes.

160 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)

 Now you are an informed student on the occurrence of eclipses. The next
time an eclipse occurs, your task is to explain to your family or the community the
factors that cause eclipse.

Summary

You may still be wondering why the topics Seasons and Eclipses were
discussed together in a single module. The reason is that these phenomena are
mainly the result of the motions of the Earth and Moon through space. As the Earth
goes around the Sun, the northern and southern hemispheres are alternately
exposed to the direct rays of the Sun, leading to the annual changes in seasons.
And as the Moon goes around the Earth, it sometimes forms a straight line with the
Sun and Earth, leading to the occurrence of eclipses. We do not directly see nor
observe the motions of the Earth and Moon, but we can observe the phenomena
that arise because of them.

Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part) 161

 For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

DepEd-Bureau of Secondary Education, Curriculum

Development Division
3/F Bonifacio Bldg., DepEd Complex Meralco
Avenue, Pasig City, Philippines 1600
Telefax: (632) 632-7746 or 633-7242

E-mail Address: [email protected]

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162 Grade 7 Science: Learner’s Material (Second Part)