Standard 4: Science
Students will understand and apply
scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and
living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Physical Setting:
Key Idea 1
The Earth and celestial phenomena can be
described by principles of relative motion and perspective.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe patterns of daily, monthly, and
seasonal changes in their environment.
Middle Level Students:
- explain daily, monthly, and seasonal
changes on earth.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain complex phenomena, such as tides,
variations in day length, solar insulation, apparent motion of the planets, and annual
traverse of the constellations.
- describe current theories about the origin
of the universe and solar system.
Key
Idea 2
Many of the phenomena that we observe on
Earth involve interactions among components of air, water, and land.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe the relationships among air,
water, and land on Earth.
Middle Level Students:
- explain how the atmosphere (air),
hydrosphere (water), and lithosphere (land) interact, evolve, and change.
- describe volcano and earthquake patterns,
the rock cycle, and weather and climate changes.
Commencement Level
Students:
- use the concepts of density and heat
energy to explain observations of weather patterns, seasonal changes, and the movements of
the Earth’s plates.
- explain how incoming solar radiations,
ocean currents, and land masses affect weather and climate.
Key
Idea 3
Matter is made up of particles whose
properties determine the observable characteristics of matter and its reactivity.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- observe and describe properties of
materials using appropriate tools.
- describe chemical and physical changes,
including changes in states of matter.
Middle Level Students:
- observe and describe properties of
materials, such as density, conductivity, and solubility.
- distinguish between chemical and physical
changes.
- develop their own mental models to explain
common chemical reactions and changes in states of matter.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain the properties of materials in
terms of the arrangement and properties of the atoms that compose them.
- use atomic and molecular models to explain
common chemical reactions.
- apply the principle of conservation of
mass to chemical reactions.
- use kinetic molecular theory to explain
rates of reactions and the relationships among temperature, pressure, and volume of a
substance.
Key
Idea 4
Energy exists in many forms, and when
these forms change energy is conserved.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe a variety of forms of energy
(e.g., heat, chemical, light) and the changes that occur in objects when they interact
with those forms of energy.
- observe the way one form of energy can be
transformed into another form of energy present in common situations (e.g., mechanical to
heat energy, mechanical to electrical energy, chemical to heat energy).
Middle Level Students:
- describe the sources and identify the
transformations of energy observed in everyday life.
- observe and describe heating and cooling
events.
- observe and describe energy changes as
related to chemical reactions.
- observe and describe the properties of
sound, light, magnetism, and electricity.
- describe situations that support the
principle of conservation of energy.
Commencement Level
Students:
- observe and describe transmission of
various forms of energy.
- explain heat in terms of kinetic molecular
theory.
- explain variations in wavelength and
frequency in terms of the source of the vibrations that produce them, e.g., molecules,
electrons, and nuclear particles.
- explain the uses and hazards of
radioactivity.
Key
Idea 5
Energy and matter interact through forces
that result in changes in motion.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe the effects of common forces
(pushes and pulls) on objects, such as those caused by gravity, magnetism, and mechanical
forces.
- describe how forces can operate across
distances.
Middle Level Students:
- describe different patterns of motion of
objects.
- observe, describe, and compare effects of
forces (gravity, electric current, and magnetism) on the motion of objects.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain and predict different patterns of
motion of objects (e.g., linear and angular motion, velocity and acceleration, momentum
and inertia).
- explain chemical bonding in terms of the
motion of electrons.
- compare energy relationships within an
atom’s nucleus to those outside the nucleus.
The Living Environment:
Key Idea 1
Living things are both similar to and
different from each other and nonliving things.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe the characteristics of and
variations between living and nonliving things.
- describe the life processes common to all
living things.
Middle Level Students:
- compare and contrast the parts of plants,
animals, and one-celled organisms.
- explain the functioning of the major human
organ systems and their interactions.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain how diversity of populations
within ecosystems relates to the stability of ecosystems.
- describe and explain the structures and
functions of the human body at different organizational levels (e.g., systems, tissues,
cells, organelles).
- explain how a one-celled organism is able
to function despite lacking the levels of organization present in more complex organisms.
Key
Idea 2
Organisms inherit genetic information in
a variety of ways that result in continuity of structure and function between parents and
offspring.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- recognize that traits of living things are
both inherited and acquired or learned.
- recognize that for humans and other living
things there is genetic continuity between generations.
Middle Level Students:
- describe sexual and asexual mechanisms for
passing genetic materials from generation to generation.
- describe simple mechanisms related to the
inheritance of some physical traits in offspring.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain how the structure and replication
of genetic material result in offspring that resemble their parents.
- explain how the technology of genetic
engineering allows humans to alter the genetic makeup of organisms.
Key
Idea 3
Individual organisms and species change
over time.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe how the structures of plants and
animals complement the environment of the plant or animal.
- observe that differences within a species
may give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.
Middle Level Students:
- describe sources of variation in organisms
and their structures and relate the variations to survival.
- describe factors responsible for
competition within species and the significance of that competition.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain the mechanisms and patterns of
evolution.
Key
Idea 4
The continuity of life is sustained
through reproduction and development.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe the major stages in the life
cycles of selected plants and animals.
- describe evidence of growth, repair, and
maintenance, such as nails, hair, and bone, and the healing of cuts and bruises.
Middle Level Students:
- observe and describe the variations in
reproductive patterns of organisms, including asexual and sexual reproduction.
- explain the role of sperm and egg cells in
sexual reproduction.
- observe and describe developmental
patterns in selected plants and animals (e.g., insects, frogs, humans, seed-bearing
plants).
- observe and describe cell division at the
microscopic level and its macroscopic effects.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain how organisms, including humans,
reproduce their own kind.
Key
Idea 5
Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium
that sustains life.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe basic life functions of common
living specimens (guppy, mealworm, gerbil).
- describe some survival behaviors of common
living specimens.
- describe the factors that help promote
good health and growth in humans.
Middle Level Students:
- compare the way a variety of living
specimens carry out basic life functions and maintain dynamic equilibrium.
- describe the importance of major
nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in maintaining health and promoting growth and explain
the need for a constant input of energy for living organisms.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain the basic biochemical processes in
living organisms and their importance in maintaining dynamic equilibrium.
- explain disease as a failure of
homeostasis.
- relate processes at the system level to
the cellular level in order to explain dynamic equilibrium in multi-celled organisms.
Key
Idea 6
Plants and animals depend on each other
and their physical environment.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- describe how plants and animals, including
humans, depend upon each other and the nonliving environment.
- describe the relationship of the sun as an
energy source for living and nonliving cycles.
Middle Level Students:
- describe the flow of energy and matter
through food chains and food webs.
- provide evidence that green plants make
food and explain the significance of this process to other organisms.
Commencement Level
Students:
- explain factors that limit growth of
individuals and populations.
- explain the importance of preserving
diversity of species and habitats.
- explain how the living and nonliving
environments change over time and respond to disturbances.
Key
Idea 7
Human decisions and activities have had a
profound impact on the physical and living environment.
Performance Indicators
(Benchmarks)
Elementary Level
Students:
- identify ways in which humans have changed
their environment and the effects of those changes.
Middle Level Students:
- describe how living things, including
humans, depend upon the living and nonliving environment for their survival.
- describe the effects of environmental
changes on humans and other populations.
Commencement Level
Students:
- describe the range of interrelationships
of humans with the living and nonliving environment.
- explain the impact of technological
development and growth in the human population on the living and non-living environment.
- explain how individual choices and
societal actions can contribute to improving the environment.
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