The Nature of Matter

Standard 1:

The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties. (SC.A.1.3)

1. Identifies various ways in which substances differ (e.g., mass, volume, shape, density, texture, and reaction to temperature and light).

Science Crime Busters, Fossils,

2. Understands the difference between weight and mass.

3. Knows that temperature measures the average energy of motion of the particles that make up the substance.

Keep The Heat

4. Knows that atoms in solids are close together and do not move around easily; in liquids, atoms tend to move farther apart; in gas, atoms are quite far apart and move around freely.

Can’t Judge a Powder by Its Color.

5. Knows the difference between a physical change in a substance (i.e., altering the shape, form, volume, or density) and a chemical change (i.e., producing new substances with different characteristics).

Can’t Judge a Powder by Its Color.

6. Knows that equal volumes of different substances may have different masses.

Standard 2:

The student understands the basic principles of atomic theory. (SC.A.2.3)

1. Describes and compares the properties of particles and waves.

Sounds of Music

2. Knows the general properties of the atom (a massive nucleus of neutral neutrons and positive protons surrounded by a cloud of negative electrons) and accepts that single atoms are not visible.

3. Knows that radiation, light, and heat are forms of energy used to cook food, treat diseases, and provide energy.

Energy

Standard 1:

The student recognizes that energy may be changed in form with varying efficiency. (SC.B.1.3)

1. Identifies forms of energy and explains that they can be measured and compared.

Mission Possible, Keep The Heat

2. Knows that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one form to another.

Mission Possible

3. Knows the various forms in which energy comes to Earth from the sun (e.g., visible light, infrared, and microwave).

Dynamic Planet, Reach for the Stars, Meteorology

4. Knows that energy conversions are never 100% efficient (i.e., some energy is transformed to heat and is unavailable for further useful work).

Mission Possible, Keep The Heat

5. Knows the processes by which thermal energy tends to flow from a system of higher temperature to a system of lower temperature.

Dynamic Planet, Keep The Heat

6. Knows the properties of waves (e.g., frequency, wavelength, and amplitude); that each wave consists of a number of crests and troughs; and the effects of different media on waves.

Sounds of Music

Standard 2:

The student understands the interaction of matter and energy. (SC.B.2.3)

1. Knows that most events in the universe (e.g., weather changes, moving cars, and the transfer of a nervous impulse in the human body) involve some form of energy transfer and that these changes almost always increase the total disorder of the system and its surroundings, reducing the amount of useful energy.

Mission Possible, Keep  The Heat, Meteorology

2. Knows that most of the energy used today is derived from burning stored energy collected by organisms millions of years ago (i.e., nonrenewable fossil fuels).

Fossils

Force and Motion

Standard 1:

The student understands that types of motion may be described, measured, and predicted. (SC.C.1.3)

1. Knows that the motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed.

2. Knows that vibrations in materials set up wave disturbances that spread away from the source (e.g., sound and earthquake waves).

Standard 2:

The student understands that the types of force that act on an object and the effect of that force can be described, measured, and predicted. (SC.C.2.3)

1. Knows that many forces (e.g., gravitational, electrical, and magnetic) act at a distance (i.e., without contact).

2. Knows common contact forces.

Bridge Building, Naked Egg Drop

3. Knows that if more than one force acts on an object, then the forces can reinforce or cancel each other, depending on their direction and magnitude.

Bridge Building, Naked Egg Drop, Wright Stuff, Bottle Rocket

4. Knows that simple machines can be used to change the direction or size of a force.

Mission Possible

5. Understands that an object in motion will continue at a constant speed and in a straight line until acted upon by a force and that an object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by a force.

Mission Possible

6. Explains and shows the ways in which a net force (i.e., the sum of all acting forces) can act on an object (e.g., speeding up an object traveling in the same direction as the net force, slowing down an object traveling in the direction opposite of the net force).

7. Knows that gravity is a universal force that every mass exerts on every other mass.

Reach for the Stars.

Processes that Shape the Earth

Standard 1:

The student recognizes that processes in the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact to shape the Earth. (SC.D.1.3)

1. Knows that mechanical and chemical activities shape and reshape the Earth’s land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas, sometimes in seasonal layers.

Fossils, Meteorology

2. Knows that over the whole Earth, organisms are growing, dying, and decaying as new organisms are produced by the old ones.

Fossils, Forestry

3. Knows how conditions that exist in one system influence the conditions that exist in other systems.

Dynamic Planet, Meteorology

4. Knows the ways in which plants and animals reshape the landscape (e.g., bacteria, fungi, worms, rodents, and other organisms add organic matter to the soil, increasing soil fertility, encouraging plant growth, and strengthening resistance to erosion).

Forestry

5. Understands concepts of time and size relating to the interaction of Earth’s processes (e.g., lightning striking in a split second as opposed to the shifting of the Earth’s plates altering the landscape, distance between atoms measured in Angstrom units as opposed to distance between stars measured in light-years).

Dynamic Planet, Meteorology

Standard 2:

The student understands the need for protection of the natural systems on Earth. (SC.D.2.3)

1. Understands that quality of life is relevant to personal experience.

Awesome Aquifers

2. Knows the positive and negative consequences of human action on the Earth’s systems.

Water Quality

Earth and Space

Standard 1:

The student understands the interaction and organization in the Solar System and the universe and how this affects life on Earth. (SC.E.1.3)

1. Understands the vast size of our Solar System and the relationship of the planets and their satellites.

Reach for the Stars.

2. Knows that available data from various satellite probes show the similarities and differences among planets and their moons in the Solar System.

Reach for the Stars.

3. Understands that our sun is one of many stars in our galaxy.

Reach for the Stars.

4. Knows that stars appear to be made of similar chemical elements, although they differ in age, size, temperature, and distance.

Reach for the Stars.

Standard 2:

The student recognizes the vastness of the universe and the Earth’s place in it. (SC.E.2.3)

1. Knows that thousands of other galaxies appear to have the same elements, forces, and forms of energy found in our Solar System.

Reach for the Stars.

Processes of Life

Standard 1:

The student describes patterns of structure and function in living things. (SC.F.1.3)

1. Understands that living things are composed of major systems that function in reproduction, growth, maintenance, and regulation.

Process Skills for Life Science

2. Knows that the structural basis of most organisms is the cell and most organisms are single cells, while some, including humans, are multicellular.

Process Skills for Life Science

3. Knows that in multicellular organisms cells grow and divide to make more cells in order to form and repair various organs and tissues.

Process Skills for Life Science

4. Knows that the levels of structural organization for function in living things include cells, tissues, organs, systems, and organisms.

Process Skills for Life Science

5. Explains how the life functions of organisms are related to what occurs within the cell.

Process Skills for Life Science

6. Knows that the cells with similar functions have similar structures, whereas those with different structures have different functions.

Process Skills for Life Science

7. Knows that behavior is a response to the environment and influences growth, development, maintenance, and reproduction.

How Living Things Interact with Their Environment

Standard 1:

The student understands the competitive, interdependent, cyclic nature of living things in the environment. (SC.G.1.3)

1. Knows that viruses depend on other living things.

2. Knows that biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance reproductive success in a particular environment.

Forestry

3. Understands that the classification of living things is based on a given set of criteria and is a tool for understanding biodiversity and interrelationships.

Process Skills for Life Science, Forestry

4. Knows that the interactions of organisms with each other and with the nonliving parts of their environments result in the flow of energy and the cycling of matter throughout the system.

Forestry

5. Knows that life is maintained by a continuous input of energy from the sun and by the recycling of the atoms that make up the molecules of living organisms.

Forestry

Standard 2:

The student understands the consequences of using limited natural resources. (SC.G.2.3)

1. Knows that some resources are renewable and others are nonrenewable.

Forestry, Awesome Aquifers

2. Knows that all biotic and abiotic factors are interrelated and that if one factor is changed or removed, it impacts the availability of other resources within the system.

Water Quality, Science of Fitness

3. Knows that a brief change in the limited resources of an ecosystem may alter the size of a population or the average size of individual organisms and that long-term change may result in the elimination of animal and plant populations inhabiting the Earth.

4. Understands that humans are a part of an ecosystem and their activities may deliberately or inadvertently alter the equilibrium in ecosystems.

Water Quality, Awesome Aquifers

The Nature of Science

Standard 1:

The student uses the scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems. (SC.H.1.3)

1. Knows that scientific knowledge is subject to modification as new information challenges prevailing theories and as a new theory leads to looking at old observations in a new way.

2. Knows that the study of the events that led scientists to discoveries can provide information about the inquiry process and its effects.

Experimental Design, Science Crime Busters

3. Knows that science disciplines differ from one another in topic, techniques, and outcomes, but that they share a common purpose, philosophy, and enterprise.

Experimental Design

4. Knows that accurate record keeping, openness, and replication are essential to maintaining an investigator’s credibility with other scientists and society.

Experimental Design, Science Crime Busters

5. Knows that a change in one or more variables may alter the outcome of an investigation.

Experimental Design, Science Crime Busters

6. Recognizes the scientific contributions that are made by individuals of diverse backgrounds, interests, talents, and motivations.

7. Knows that when similar investigations give different results, the scientific challenge is to verify whether the differences are significant by further study.

Experimental Design

Standard 2:

The student understands that most natural events Occurring comprehensible, consistent patterns. (SC.H.2.3)

1. Recognizes that patterns exist within and across systems.

Experimental Design

Standard 3:

The student understands that science, technology, and society are interwoven and interdependent. (SC.H.3.3)

1. Knows that science ethics demand that scientists must not knowingly subject coworkers, students, the neighborhood, or the community to health or property risks.

All events

2. Knows that special care must be taken in using animals in scientific research.

3. Knows that in research involving human subjects, the ethics of science require that potential subjects be fully informed about the risks and benefits associated with the research and of their right to refuse to participate.

4. Knows that technological design should require taking into account constraints such as natural laws, the properties of the materials used, and economic, political, social, ethical, and aesthetic values.

Mission Possible, Bottle Rocket, Bridge Building, Naked Egg Drop, Write It, Do It, Robo-Billiards, Storm the Castle, Sounds of Music

5. Understands that contributions to the advancement of science, mathematics, and technology have been made by different kinds of people, in different cultures, at different times, and are an intrinsic part of the development of human culture.

Write It, Do It

6. Knows that no matter who does science and mathematics or invents things, or when or where they do it, the knowledge and technology that result can eventually become available to everyone.

7. Knows that computers speed up and extend people’s ability to collect, sort, and analyze data; prepare research reports; and share data and ideas with others.

Compute This

The Nature of Matter

Standard 1:

The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties. (SC.A.1.4)

1. Knows that the electron configuration in atoms determines how a substance reacts and how much energy is involved in its reactions.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

2. Knows that the vast diversity of the properties of materials is primarily due to variations in the forces that hold molecules together.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

3. Knows that a change from one phase of matter to another involves a gain or loss of energy.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

4. Experiments and determines that the rates of reaction among atoms and molecules depend on the concentration, pressure, and temperature of the reactants and the presence or absence of catalysts.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

5. Knows that connections (bonds) form between substances when outer-shell electrons are either transferred or shared between their atoms, changing the properties of substances.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

Standard 2:

The student understands the basic principles of atomic theory. (SC.A.2.4)

1. Knows that the number and configuration of electrons will equal the number of protons in an electrically neutral atom and when an atom gains or loses electrons, the charge is unbalanced.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID, Physics Lab

2. Knows the difference between an element, a molecule, and a compound.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

3. Knows that a number of elements have heavier, unstable nuclei that decay, spontaneously giving off smaller particles and waves that result in a small loss of mass and release a large amount of energy.

4. Knows that nuclear energy is released when small, light atoms are fused into heavier ones.

Astronomy

5. Knows that elements are arranged into groups and families based on similarities in electron structure and that their physical and chemical properties can be predicted.

Chemistry Lab, Chemical ID

6. Understands that matter may act as a wave, a particle, or something else entirely different with its own characteristic behavior.

Physics Lab

Energy

Standard 1:

 The student recognizes that energy may be changed inform with varying efficiency. (SC.B.1.4)

1. Understands how knowledge of energy is fundamental to all the scientific disciplines (e.g., the energy required for biological processes in living organisms and the energy required for the building, erosion, and rebuilding of the Earth).

Mission Possible, Cell Biology, Health Science, Physics Lab

2. Understands that there is conservation of mass and energy when matter is transformed.

Mission Possible, Physics Lab

3. Knows that temperature is a measure of the average translational kinetic energy of motion of the molecules in an object.

Chemistry Lab

4. Knows that as electrical charges oscillate, they create time-varying electric and magnetic fields that propagate away from the source as an electromagnetic wave.

Physics Lab

5. Knows that each source of energy presents advantages and disadvantages to its use in society (e.g., political and economic implications may determine a society’s selection of renewable or nonrenewable energy sources).

Mission Possible

6. Knows that the first law of thermodynamics relates the transfer of energy to the work done and the heat transferred.

7. Knows that the total amount of usable energy always decreases, even though the total amount of energy is conserved in any transfer.

Mission Possible

Standard 2:

The student understands the interaction of matter and energy. (SC.B.2.4)

1. Knows that the structure of the universe is the result of interactions involving fundamental particles (matter) and basic forces (energy) and that evidence suggests that the universe contains all of the matter and energy that ever existed.

Astronomy

Force and Motion

Standard 1:

The student understands that types of motion may be described, measured, and predicted. (SC.C.1.4)

1. Knows that all motion is relative to whatever frame of reference is chosen and that there is no absolute frame of reference from which to observe all motion.

2. Knows that any change in velocity is an acceleration.

Standard 2:

The student understands that the types of force that act on an object and the effect of that force can be described, measured, and predicted. (SC.C.2.4)

1. Knows that acceleration due to gravitational force is proportional to mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the objects.

2. Knows that electrical forces exist between any two charged objects.

3. Describes how magnetic force and electrical force are two aspects of a single force.

Physics Lab

4. Knows that the forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together are much stronger than electromagnetic force and that this is the reason for the great amount of energy released from the nuclear reactions in the sun and other stars.

Astronomy

5. Knows that most observable forces can be traced to electric forces acting between atoms or molecules.

6. Explains that all forces come in pairs commonly called action and reaction.

Tower Building

Processes that Shape the Earth

Standard 1:

The student recognizes that processes in the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact to shape the Earth. (SC.D.1.4)

1. Knows how climatic patterns on Earth result from an interplay of many factors (Earth’s topography, its rotation on its axis, solar radiation, the transfer of heat energy where the atmosphere interfaces with lands and oceans, and wind and ocean currents).

Dynamic Planet, Meteorology

2. Knows that the solid crust of Earth consists of slow-moving, separate plates that float on a denser, molten layer of Earth and that these plates inter-act with each other, changing the Earth’s surface in many ways (e.g., forming mountain ranges and rift valleys, causing earthquake and volcanic activity, and forming undersea mountains that can become ocean islands).

Dynamic Planet, Fossils

3. Knows that changes in Earth’s climate, geological activity, and life forms may be traced and compared.

Dynamic Planet, Fossils

4. Knows that Earth’s systems and organisms are the result of a long, continuous change over time.

Dynamic Planet, Fossils

Standard 2:

The student understands the need for protection of the natural systems on Earth. (SC.D.2.4)

1. Understands the interconnectedness of the systems on Earth and the quality of life.

Earth and Space

Standard 1:

The student understands the interaction and organization in the Solar System and the universe and how this affects life on Earth. (SC.E.1.4)

1. Understands the relationships between events on Earth and the movements of the Earth, its moon, the other planets, and the sun.

Astronomy

2. Knows how the characteristics of other planets and satellites are similar to and different from those of the Earth.

Astronomy

3. Knows the various reasons that Earth is the only planet in our Solar System that appears to be capable of supporting life as we know it.

Astronomy

Standard 2:

The student recognizes the vastness of the universe and the Earth’s place in it. (SC.E.2.4)

1. Knows that the stages in the development of three categories of stars are based on mass: stars that have the approximate mass of our sun, stars that are two-to-three stellar masses and develop into neutron stars, and stars that are five-to-six stellar masses and develop into black holes.

Astronomy

2. Identifies the arrangement of bodies found within and outside our galaxy.

Astronomy

3. Knows astronomical distance and time.

Astronomy

4. Understands stellar equilibrium.

Astronomy

5. Knows various scientific theories on how the universe was formed.

Astronomy

6. Knows the various ways in which scientists collect and generate data about our universe (e.g., X-ray telescopes, computer simulations of gravitational systems, nuclear reactions, space probes, and supercollider simulations).

Astronomy

7. Knows that mathematical models and computer simulations are used in studying evidence from many sources to form a scientific account of the universe.

Astronomy

Processes of Life

Standard 1:

The student describes patterns of structure and function in living things. (SC.F.1.4).

1. Knows that the body processes involve specific biochemical reactions governed by biochemical principles.

Cell Biology, Health Science, Designer Genes

2. Knows that body structures are uniquely designed and adapted for their function.