Middle School Life Science Scope and Sequence for the Whole Year
Biology Complete – Middle School gives grades 6–8 science teachers 70+ resources for building a life science year. It starts from scientific thinking and the characteristics of living things, then moves through cell theory, plant and animal cells and levels of organization into further life science units. Inquiry practices are woven through the content, and you set the pacing.
See the life science set →Biology Complete – Middle School is a no-prep life science curriculum for grades 6–8 with 70+ resources, starting at $149.90. It covers scientific thinking described as NGSS-style practices (questions, hypotheses, simple investigations, data, diagrams and models, evidence), the characteristics of living things, cell theory, plant vs animal cells, levels of organization, and further life science units. You arrange the sequence into your own school calendar.
The curriculum
Biology Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
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Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
Where life science year plans go wrong
Life science has a clear internal logic, and year maps that ignore it cause trouble later. Students need to know what counts as living before cells make sense, and they need cells before tissues, organs and organ systems mean anything. Skip ahead and you spend spring reteaching what a cell membrane does. The second issue is practices. Asking questions, forming hypotheses, planning a simple investigation and analyzing data are supposed to run through the whole year, but they often get a September unit called scientific method and then disappear. Students then meet a data table in April as if for the first time. A better plan teaches the practices inside the content: a hypothesis about what onion cells will look like, a data set about plant growth, a model of how levels of organization fit together. The third issue is time. Life science units tend to expand, because students have endless questions about living things, and that is good. But it means the later units in the year need protecting, or the course stops halfway through the content you planned.
Why it fits
How the curriculum supports the year
The content is built bottom-up, from what life is to how it is organized, which makes the sequence easy to follow.
- Characteristics of living things give you a clear first unit that every later topic depends on.
- Cell theory and plant vs animal cell lessons set up the microscope or diagram work most classes do in fall.
- Levels of organization link cells to organisms, so later life science units build on that ladder.
- Diagrams and models tasks let you teach structure and function even on days without lab time.
- Data analysis and evidence tasks run through the content, keeping practices active all year.
- Differentiated worksheets support students who struggle with scientific reading in a mixed class.
Getting started
A sample pacing for about 36 weeks
This pacing is a suggestion; the product has no built-in calendar. Adjust the later blocks to the further life science units listed on the product page.
- Weeks 1–4: thinking like a scientistStart with questions, hypotheses and simple investigations using familiar living things. Keep it short and hands-on, since these practices come back in every unit that follows.
- Weeks 5–9: what makes something aliveTeach the characteristics of living things. Sorting tasks and evidence-based arguments about borderline cases get students reasoning before any microscope appears, and they set up the question of what cells have to do with it.
- Weeks 10–17: cellsCover cell theory and plant vs animal cells. Diagrams and models anchor structure and function, and a data task on cell observations keeps inquiry practice going.
- Weeks 18–23: levels of organizationBuild from cells to tissues, organs, organ systems and organisms. Models that students draw or assemble help make the hierarchy concrete, and a short data task keeps inquiry practice in the unit.
- Weeks 24–36: further life science unitsUse the remaining weeks for the further life science units in the curriculum. Protect this block in your planning, and close the year with an evidence-based review task.
Which version
Picking a version
The standard Biology Complete – Middle School ($149.90) has all 70+ resources and is the right starting point for a life science year. The version with Teach-Life-Balance ($189.90) adds a separate course with a planner, guides and templates for teachers who want help managing their own time; it adds no science content. If you teach an integrated science course that mixes life, physical and earth topics, Physics Complete and Chemistry Complete follow the same structure, and TEACHMORE15 gives 15% off two or more Complete Curriculum packages.
Honest limits
What is not included
No lab kits, microscopes, slides or specimens are included. Hands-on investigations use whatever equipment your school has. The curriculum has no ready-made week-by-week calendar, so the pacing above is just an example. Check the content against your state science standards before you submit a year plan; some states put life science in a specific grade, others spread it across grades 6–8. Team use within your school needs a short message to Teach Lessons first. Within 7 days, you can exchange it for store credit of equal value if it is not a fit.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this curriculum NGSS-aligned?
The scientific thinking strand is described as NGSS-style practices, and the content is written for U.S. middle school life science. It is not endorsed, certified or officially aligned to NGSS or any state science standards, and no such claim is made. Check it against your state's life science performance expectations as you build your year map.
What are the further life science units?
Beyond cells, structure and function, the curriculum includes further life science units, and the product page lists them. Look at that list before you finalize the second half of your year so you know which topics fill your spring weeks. Their order in your spring weeks is your decision, since each can be taught on its own.
Do I need a microscope for the cell units?
It helps, but it is not required. Diagrams, models and data tasks let students study cell structure and compare plant and animal cells without a lab. If you do have microscopes, the worksheets fit around actual observations. Online images of real cells can fill in where equipment is missing.
My school teaches integrated science. Does this still work?
Yes. The units can be used individually, so you can place the life science units in the parts of your integrated year where they belong and pair them with Physics Complete or Chemistry Complete for the physical science strands. Check with your department which strands go in which grade.
How do I keep inquiry practices from fading after September?
Plan at least one data or evidence task in every content unit. The curriculum's practice tasks are built into the content, not separated from it, so it is easier to keep hypotheses, data and models going all year. Even a short graph-reading warm-up keeps the skill alive between investigations.
Is there anything for a substitute?
Yes. Diagram and model worksheets on cells or levels of organization, with answer keys, are easy to leave for a substitute who is not a science teacher, and they need no lab setup. Choose ones that review a unit students have already finished, so the substitute is reinforcing material rather than introducing it, and the class keeps moving in your absence.
Build your life science year from the cell up
Open the product page to see the full unit list for Biology Complete – Middle School.
See the life science set →