Grade 9 Science Worksheets

Learning Objectives

• Explain how genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins.
• Describe how protein structure determines protein function in cells.
• Use DNA mutations to predict possible effects on protein sequences and cell traits.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how crossing over during meiosis creates genetic variation in gametes
• Describe how independent assortment increases variation by changing chromosome combinations
• Connect meiotic variation to differences observed in offspring after fertilization

Learning Objectives

• Explain how forces affect an object’s motion by changing acceleration and/or velocity
• Differentiate contact forces from field forces and give examples of each
• Use vector ideas (magnitude and direction) to describe forces and combine multiple forces conceptually

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy in terms of motion and position
• Explain how height and speed affect potential and kinetic energy in everyday systems like roller coasters
• Use reference levels and energy transfer ideas to interpret energy changes during motion

Learning Objectives

• Explain how net force determines the direction and magnitude of acceleration
• Use the relationship between net force, mass, and acceleration to predict motion
• Analyze real-world scenarios with multiple forces acting on an object+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how scientific models represent phenomena at different levels of detail
• Differentiate models, explanations, and theories using evidence-based reasoning
• Describe how theories can change when new evidence conflicts with earlier ideas+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how plate convergence and continental collision produce mountain building through folding, thrust faulting, and crustal shortening.
• Identify key tectonic processes (magmatic intrusion and isostatic rebound) and describe how they change rock structure and elevation.
• Use rock types, structural patterns, and timing clues to infer tectonic history and reconstruct past plate motions.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how kinetic and potential energy can change within mechanical systems.
• Describe energy transfers due to work, collisions, and friction, and predict how motion changes.
• Use conservation of energy ideas to account for where mechanical energy goes when heat is produced.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Identify and label all external forces acting on an isolated object in a free body diagram.
• Determine the direction of each force vector and distinguish forces that cancel from forces that produce net force.
• Use net force and Newton’s second law concepts to predict acceleration and motion outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze how external and internal forces interact in a multi-body mechanical system using Newton’s laws and net force ideas
• Predict motion changes by determining the direction and magnitude of net force for linked components
• Use energy accounting to track where energy transfers and where it is dissipated (e.g., heat/sound) during collisions or mechanical events+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain Mendelian inheritance using dominant/recessive phenotypes and genotype ratios
• Compare non-Mendelian patterns (incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, polygenic, sex-linked, imprinting, mitochondrial) to Mendelian expectations
• Apply gene interaction ideas (environmental effects and linkage) to predict why phenotype ratios change

Learning Objectives

• Compare DNA and RNA structural features, including strand structure, sugar type, and base composition
• Explain how complementary base pairing and strand directionality relate to replication and transcription
• Describe how structural differences influence the stability and functions of DNA and RNA

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the Calvin cycle uses ATP and NADPH to fix carbon dioxide into organic molecules.
• Describe the main phases of the Calvin cycle: carbon fixation, reduction, and RuBP regeneration.
• Connect specific enzymes and intermediates (like RuBisCO and 3-carbon intermediates) to each phase.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how major organ systems (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, renal, nervous, endocrine) work together to maintain homeostasis
• Describe how feedback communication helps coordinate body functions under changing external conditions
• Use evidence from a reading passage to connect organ system roles with specific physiological outcomes

Learning Objectives

• Explain how molecular signals regulate gene expression and protein activity in cells
• Describe how receptor-ligand binding and signal transduction cascades control cellular responses
• Use examples such as insulin signaling to connect molecular regulation to physiological outcomes+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how geologic and atmospheric indicators are used to characterize the origin, frequency, and potential impacts of natural hazards.
• Analyze spatial patterns and triggering mechanisms to describe why some places experience higher hazard and risk.
• Evaluate how recurrence intervals and paleoevidence support risk assessment for human and ecological systems.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how amplitude, frequency, wavelength, and phase describe wave behavior in both transverse and longitudinal waves.
• Use the wave speed relationship v = fλ to solve problems involving sound, string waves, and water-wave scenarios.
• Apply sinusoidal reasoning to predict how interference and standing waves form from superposition and reflections.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate homogeneous solutions from heterogeneous mixtures based on uniformity and particle distribution.
• Identify the roles of solute and solvent in solutions and describe how concentration relates to appearance and behavior.
• Select appropriate physical separation methods using differences in physical properties such as size, solubility, or boiling point.

Learning Objectives

• Explain Newton’s three laws using force–motion relationships and real-world examples.
• Use Newton’s laws to predict and justify how changes in force affect acceleration and motion.
• Apply action–reaction reasoning to systems involving recoil and anchoring loads.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how impulse links force and time to the change in momentum, using the relationship J = FΔt
• Determine the direction of momentum change by analyzing whether the net impulse acts in the same or opposite direction as motion
• Apply impulse concepts to predict how changing stopping time affects peak force in real safety scenarios

Learning Objectives

• Explain how biodiversity includes species diversity and genetic variation within ecosystems.
• Describe how environmental and human-caused changes can alter population sizes and species interactions.
• Evaluate how changes in biodiversity can affect ecosystem stability and functions.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how limiting factors (resources, predation, disease, and environment) constrain population growth.
• Describe the relationship between limiting factors and carrying capacity.
• Analyze how changes in limiting factors can shift community interactions and biodiversity.

Learning Objectives

• Explain major sources of mutations, including replication errors and environmental mutagens such as radiation and chemicals.
• Describe how different types of DNA mutations (point mutations, insertions/deletions, and chromosomal changes) can affect gene function or regulation.
• Connect heritable mutations to how genetic variation becomes the raw material for natural selection and evolution.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how changes in greenhouse gases can trigger feedbacks that amplify or reduce Earth’s energy imbalance
• Describe at least two feedback pathways involving water vapor and ice/snow reflectivity
• Analyze how clouds and atmospheric circulation can affect the balance of incoming solar energy and outgoing infrared radiation+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain power as the rate of energy transfer or the rate of doing work
• Use time and energy information to compare power in different situations
• Interpret real-world examples (such as appliances and motors) using rate reasoning

Learning Objectives

• Explain Newton’s Third Law using the idea of action–reaction pairs that act on different objects
• Identify forces in a scenario and determine the direction and relative size of the matching third-law force
• Predict how force pairs affect the motion of each object involved+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how changes in surface albedo can either amplify or reduce climate warming through feedback loops.
• Use cause-and-effect reasoning to describe how melting ice and snow influence the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth.
• Analyze how clouds and vegetation can create additional albedo-related feedbacks at regional scales.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the Sun, Moon, and Earth alignment creates solar and lunar eclipses
• Compare the order of bodies (relative positions) for solar vs. lunar eclipses
• Describe how orbital inclination affects eclipse frequency and where totality can be observed

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the changing geometry between the Sun, Earth, and Moon causes the visible lunar phases.
• Describe the synodic month and why lunar phases repeat in a predictable sequence.
• Use illuminated fraction and viewing perspective to predict which phase comes next.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how adaptive radiation leads to rapid diversification from a single ancestral lineage into multiple species
• Describe the roles of ecological niches, key innovations, and varying selective pressures in driving trait and behavior differences
• Interpret how models help scientists study rates of lineage splitting and trait evolution over time and space

Learning Objectives

• Explain the difference between primary and secondary ecological succession after disturbance or colonization.
• Identify how species turnover and changing resource availability drive changes in community composition over time.
• Use cause-and-effect reasoning to describe feedbacks that influence habitat conditions and ecosystem stability.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how catabolic and anabolic pathways connect to meet an organism’s energy needs across tissues
• Describe how hormonal and nutrient signals redirect metabolic intermediates toward ATP production, storage, or biosynthesis
• Compare immediate post-translational control with longer-term changes in enzyme expression and organelle activity

Learning Objectives

• Explain how photons drive charge separation in photosystems during the light reactions.
• Describe how an electron transport chain creates a proton gradient that powers ATP synthase.
• Connect water splitting to electron replenishment and oxygen release.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how pulmonary ventilation and cardiovascular transport work together to deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
• Describe how heart rate, stroke volume, and vascular resistance can change in response to respiratory and metabolic demands.
• Use chemoreceptor feedback to predict how changes in blood gases affect ventilation and circulation.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how ligands bind to receptors and initiate signal transduction inside cells
• Describe how second messengers and phosphorylation help relay and amplify signals
• Compare autocrine, paracrine, endocrine, and synaptic signaling by distance and time scale+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the hypothalamus connects neural signals to hormonal control through releasing factors.
• Describe the roles of portal vessels and fenestrated capillaries in neuroendocrine regulation.
• Identify tropic hormones and their effects on target organs involved in metabolism, growth, reproduction, and stress.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the hypothalamus and thermoreceptors coordinate heat gain and heat loss through feedback loops.
• Describe how the skin and vasculature adjust heat loss using vasoconstriction and vasodilation.
• Analyze how sweating, shivering, and metabolic-rate changes affect body temperature under different environmental conditions.

Learning Objectives

• Interpret microscopy images using scale bars, resolution limits, staining/contrast, and controls
• Differentiate what electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy can reveal about cells and organelles
• Evaluate claims about cellular processes by comparing image sets over time while accounting for artifacts

Learning Objectives

• Model how seafloor spreading and subduction zones drive changes in Earth’s surface and seafloor features.
• Explain how volcanic arc systems and mountain belt uplift result from crustal deformation and faulting.
• Use evidence such as seafloor magnetic anomaly patterns and geologic cross-sections to support plate tectonics.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how hazard risk is evaluated using occurrence, frequency, and consequences for earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and floods.
• Use ideas from probabilistic models and historical records to interpret return-period information and its limits.
• Describe how exposure, vulnerability, and cascading system effects influence community and infrastructure susceptibility.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Use Punnett squares to predict genotype and phenotype ratios in single-gene crosses involving dominant and recessive alleles.
• Interpret probability outcomes in monohybrid and dihybrid inheritance, including how independent assortment affects ratios.
• Compare simple Mendelian expectations with real inheritance patterns (incomplete dominance, codominance, and linked loci).

Learning Objectives

• Explain how natural selection increases the frequency of heritable traits that improve reproductive success in a specific environment.
• Describe selective pressure, fitness, and adaptive trade-offs using examples from Alberta.
• Compare artificial selection in agriculture with natural selection and infer how adaptation can accumulate over generations.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how environmental chemical changes can be analyzed using mass conservation and measurable mass flows
• Connect acid deposition chemistry to observable effects on limestone using particulate and atomic explanations
• Describe how tailings chemistry and nutrient cycling involve system boundaries and chemical transformations

Learning Objectives

• Interpret coefficient ratios in a balanced chemical equation to relate relative amounts of reactants and products.
• Use mass conservation to explain how total mass is conserved during reactions such as corrosion and fuel combustion.
• Calculate and justify reaction quantities using proportional reasoning and relative masses.

Learning Objectives

• Interpret slopes on displacement–time and velocity–time graphs as physical quantities (velocity and acceleration).
• Use the area under a velocity–time graph to determine displacement and describe motion histories.
• Identify features such as constant segments, sign changes, discontinuities, and curved sections in real-world motion data.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how physical barriers, innate immune cells, and adaptive immune responses protect the body from pathogens and environmental insults.
• Compare antigen recognition in innate versus adaptive immunity and describe how antibody-mediated responses contribute to protection.
• Describe how inflammation and immune memory help the body respond to threats, and how nutrition, stress, and exposures can change immune competence.

Learning Objectives

• Represent forces as vectors with both magnitude and direction
• Resolve a force into orthogonal components and interpret what the components mean physically
• Determine the resultant (net force) using graphical and analytical vector addition+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how orogenic processes (crustal shortening, thickening, metamorphism, and isostatic adjustment) build mountain belts.
• Use ideas from structural cross sections, uplift rate estimates, and thermochronology to link plate convergence to surface topography.
• Describe how mountain building influences erosion, river incision, sediment delivery, and regional climate over long timescales.