This is the 2026 Annual Teaching Plan for Grade 9 Natural Sciences. The year covers cells and human body systems, compounds and chemical reactions, forces and electricity, and the Earth, its atmosphere and the stars.
The plan is set out in four knowledge strands in this order: Life and Living, Matter and Materials, Energy and Change, and Planet Earth and Beyond. Each topic shows its duration in weeks, core concepts, resources and informal assessment, and each strand ends with remediation, revision and formal SBA tasks. A final section lists the science process skills.
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What the Natural Sciences Grade 9 ATP covers
Term 1
- Plant and animal cell structure
- Cells, tissues, organs and systems
- Musculoskeletal, excretory and nervous systems
- Circulatory and respiratory systems
- Human reproduction and puberty
- Digestive system and healthy diet
Formal assessment: Practical task or investigation, and a test.
Term 2
- The Periodic Table
- Names and formulae of compounds
- Balanced chemical equations
- Reactions of metals and non-metals with oxygen
- Rusting and how to prevent it
- Acids, bases and pH
- Neutralisation and acid rain
Formal assessment: Practical task or investigation, and a test.
Term 3
- Contact and field forces
- Gravity, mass and weight
- Magnetic and electrostatic forces
- Electric cells and resistance
- Series and parallel circuits
- Safety with electricity
- Power stations and the national grid
- Cost of electrical power
Formal assessment: Project and a test.
Term 4
- The Earth as a system and its spheres
- Lithosphere and the rock cycle
- Mining and refining mineral resources
- Mining in South Africa and the environment
- Layers of the atmosphere
- Greenhouse effect and global warming
- Birth, life and death of a star
Formal assessment: Test.
Source: Department of Basic Education, 2023/24 Annual Teaching Plans. DBE Circular S19 of 2025 keeps the 2023/24 ATPs in use, with some exclusions, so check with your school or district for any changes.