1.h. Students know living organisms and most materials are composed of
just a few elements.
1.i. Students know the common properties of salts, such as sodium
chloride (NaCl).
Life Sciences
2. Plants and animals have
structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
2.a. Students know many multicellular organisms have specialized
structures to support the transport
of materials.
2.b. Students know how blood circulates through the heart chambers,
lungs, and body and how carbon
dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) are exchanged in the lungs and tissues.
2.c. Students know the sequential steps of digestion and the roles of
teeth and the mouth, esophagus,
stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon in the function of
the digestive system.
2.d. Students know the role of the kidney in removing cellular waste
from blood and converting it into
3. Water on Earth moves between
the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
3.a. Students know most of Earth's water is present as salt water in
the oceans, which cover most of
Earth's surface.
3.b. Students know when liquid water evaporates, it turns into water
vapor in the air and can reappear
as a liquid when cooled or as a solid if cooled below the freezing
point of water.
3.c. Students know water vapor in the air moves from one place to
another and can form fog or clouds,
which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can fall to Earth as rain,
hail, sleet, or snow.
3.d. Students know that the amount of fresh water located in rivers,
lakes, underground sources, and
glaciers is limited and that its availability can be extended by
recycling and decreasing the use of
water.
3.e. Students know the origin of the water used by their local
communities.
Earth Sciences (Weather)
4. Energy from the Sun heats
Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in changing weather patterns. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
4.a. Students know uneven heating of Earth causes air movements
(convection currents).
4.b. Students know the influence that the ocean has on the weather and
the role that the water cycle
plays in weather patterns.
4.c. Students know the causes and effects of different types of severe
weather.
4.d. Students know how to use weather maps and data to predict local
weather and know that weather
forecasts depend on many variables.
4.e. Students know that the Earth's atmosphere exerts a pressure that
decreases with distance above
Earth's surface and that at any point it exerts this pressure equally
in all directions.
Earth Sciences (The Solar System)
5. The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the
Sun in predictable paths. As a basis for understanding this concept:
5.a. Students know the Sun, an average star, is the central and largest
body in the solar system and is
composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.
5.b. Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the
Moon, the Sun, eight other planets
and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and
comets.
5.c. Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the
gravitational attraction between the Sun and the planet.
Investigation and
Experimentation
6. Scientific progress is made
by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for
understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students
should develop their own questions and perform investigations.
Students will:
6.a. Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with
appropriate criteria.
6.b. Develop a testable question.
6.c. Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a
student-developed question and write
instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
6.d. Identify the dependent and controlled variables in an
investigation.
6.e. Identify a single independent variable in a scientific
investigation and explain how this variable
can be used to collect information to answer a question about the
results of the experiment.
6.f. Select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks,
balances, and graduated cylinders) and
make quantitative observations.
6.g. Record data by using appropriate graphic representations
(including charts, graphs, and labeled
diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.
6.h. Draw conclusions from scientific evidence and indicate whether
further information is needed to
support a specific conclusion.
6.i. Write a report of an investigation that includes conducting tests,
collecting data or examining
evidence, and drawing conclusions.
urine, which is stored in the bladder.
2.e. Students know how sugar, water, and minerals are transported in a
vascular plant.
2.f. Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy from
sunlight to build molecules of
sugar and release oxygen.
2.g. Students know plant and animal cells break down sugar to obtain
energy, a process resulting in