AERO/TAISM Standards & Benchmarks

Science

Scientific Inquiry: Standards 1 - 5

1. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the importance of curiosity, honesty, open-mindedness, and scepticism in their own efforts to understand how and why universal phenomena exist and occur.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Ask questions about the world around them and exhibit willingness to seek answers to selected questions by carefully observing, experimenting, and predicting the outcome of an investigation.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Keep records of investigations and observations and not alter the records.
b. Distinguish observations from ideas and speculations and predications about observations.
c. Offer reasons for findings and also consider reasons suggested by others.
d. Support statements with facts found in books, articles, and other resources.
e. Identify when comparisons might not be accurate or appropriate because some conditions are different.
f. Question scientific claims based on vague attributions (such as "Leading doctors say...") or on statements made by people outside the area of their particular expertise.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Keep scientific records of investigations which reflect the importance of reporting honestly, clearly, and accurately.
b. Question the value of arguments based on very small samples of scientific data, biased samples, or samples for which there was no control sample.
c. Identify the flaws of arguments based on the faulty, incomplete, or misleading use of numbers, such as instances in which (1) average results are reported, but not the amount of variation around the average, and (2) a percentage or fraction is given, but not the total sample size (as in "9 out of 10 dentists recommend...").
d. Suggest alternative ways of explaining scientific data and criticize arguments in which data, explanations, or conclusions are represented as the only ones worth consideration, with no mention of other possibilities.
e. Recognize that there may be more than one reasonable way to interpret a given set of scientific findings.
f. Draw independent conclusions based on data, using critical reasoning to construct models, rationally defend conclusions, and recognize the validity of other positions.
g. Understand that hypotheses are valuable if they lead to fruitful investigations, even if the hypotheses turn out not to be true.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Exhibit traits that show an understanding of how honesty, curiosity, transparency, and skepticism affect the progress of scientific inquiry. (in all courses)
b. Offer different explanations for the same scientific evidence, and explain why it is not always possible to tell which explanation is best supported. (in all courses)
c. Know that scientists do not have models that explain all phenomena, and that current models range from the proven - the Earth is round - to the speculative - cancers are viral. (in all courses)
d. Critically analyze and evaluate experimental designs for accuracy, including variables, controls, adequate data sampling, and logical conclusions and suggest design improvements when appropriate. (in all courses except for Environmental Science)

2. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Know how to describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, colour, and motion.
b. Know how to draw pictures that correctly portray features of an object being observed or described.
c. Know how to explain numerical problems as part of scientific activity.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Know how to write instructions that others can follow in carrying out a scientific procedure.
b. Know how to use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events.
c. Know how to make sketches or models to aid in explaining scientific procedures or ideas.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Know how to write clear, step-by-step instructions for conducting scientific investigations, operating equipment, or following a procedure.
b. Understand and produce writing for scientific purposes that incorporates circle charts, bar and line graphs, two-way data tables, diagrams, and symbols.
d. Analyze and evaluate scientific data to draw a valid conclusion.
e. Write and describe coherent accounts of scientific activities and alternative interpretations of the results.
f. Understand the importance of verbal accuracy and explicit statement of critical assumptions when stating a position.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Choose appropriate summary statistics to describe group differences, always indicating the spread of the data as well as the scientific data's central tendencies. (in Biology)
b. Make and use tables, charts, graphs, and scale drawings to make scientific arguments and claims in oral and written presentations. (in all courses)
c. Participate in group discussions on scientific topics by restating or summarizing accurately what others have said, asking for clarification or elaboration, and expressing alternative positions. (in all courses)

3. Students will be familiar with the character of scientific knowledge and inquiry and how it is achieved.

By the end of grade 2:
a. When a science investigation is repeated, the results should be consistent.
b. Explain why accurate descriptions are important in science.
c. Explain why, in doing science, it is often helpful to work with a team and to share findings with others.
d. Know that tools such as thermometers, hand lenses, and rulers aid inquiry by gaining more information.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe some of the many different forms of scientific investigation.
b. Offer justifiable explanations when similar scientific investigations do not produce exactly the same results.
c. Explain why clear and active communication is an essential part of doing science, including informing others about scientific work and exposing ideas to criticism.
d. Explain why scientists use technology in investigations, including to increase their power of observation and to measure and compare accurately.
e. Offer some examples of old scientific knowledge that is still applicable today, and explain that new scientific knowledge is still being discovered.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe why (such as to explore new phenomena, check previous results, compare theories) and how (by collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and creating explanations) scientists conduct investigations.
b. Explain why and how (for example, by repeatedly and independently replicating experiments) scientists determine if experimental results are reliable.
c. Understand that if more than one variable changes at the same time in an experiment, the outcome may not be clearly attributable to any one variable, and that sometimes scientists can design research to account for this.
d. Explain how scientists try to prevent their experiments from bias in what is observed, missed, and concluded in investigations (for example, through independent studies).
e. Understand and follow scientific ethical norms in conducting research with animals and humans who are unable to make fully informed choices (such as very young children).

By the end of grade 12:
a. Exhibit understanding that a change in the scientific view of how the world works is occasionally major, but is more often a small modification of prior knowledge, and that these new ideas often encounter vigorous criticism. (in biology and environmental science)

b. Understand that progress in scientific under-standing often manifests itself in more reliable explanations and more accurate predictions, and is achieved by testing, revising, and sometimes rejecting, old and new theories.
c. Explain why scientists often control conditions in experiments. (in biology and physics)
d. Explain how and why scientific teams seek out the possible sources of bias in their investigations' hypotheses, observations, data analyses, and interpretations, and follow this model in the student's own work. (in biology)
e. Explain how and why ethical considerations can limit scientific research. (in biology)

4. Students will be able to select and use tools and instruments to conduct scientific activities.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Use ordinary hand tools and instruments to construct, measure, and look at objects.
b. Know how to assemble, describe, take apart, and reassemble constructions.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Use technology, including cameras, tape recorders, and computers, to store and retrieve verbal and graphic information and data.
b. Use a variety of scientific tools to collect data.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Know how to use sophisticated tools and instruments when measuring length, volume, weight, elapsed time, rates, and temperature.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Develop and use systematic procedures for recording and organizing information. (in all courses)
b. Select the most appropriate tool for a specific, direct measurement and choose appropriate units for reporting various magnitudes. (in all courses)

5. Students will understand and demonstrate the ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Know that systems are made of parts that work together to function.
b. Use a model - such as a toy or a picture - to describe the features of an object or system.
c. Describe changes in the size, weight, color, or movement of objects, and note which of their other qualities remain the same.
d. Understand the range of sizes, weights, ages, and speeds of both man-made and natural things.
e. Introduce simple machines (4 types).

By the end of grade 5:
a. Understand how parts influence one another in systems with many parts.
b. Identify patterns of change, such as steady, repetitive, or irregular change, using records, tables, or graphs of measurements where appropriate.
c. Identify the least and greatest possible values of certain events or conditions.
d. Identify the four types of simple machines and how they multiply force.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain how parts are related to other parts in systems (such as cars, computers, and creatures), including how the output from one part of a system (in the form of material, energy, or information) can become the input to other parts.
b. Estimate the effect of making a change in one part of a system on the system as a whole.
c. Know how to identify, and discuss, the advantages and disadvantages of several different models could be used to represent the same object.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Apply the concept of a system to the analysis of how things work and the design of solutions to problems, specifying the system's boundaries and subsystems, its relation to other systems, and its input and output. (Science Bonanza project)
b. Explain how systems in equilibrium may return to the same state of equilibrium when the disturbances are small and how large disturbances may destroy a system's equilibrium and eventually result in a different state of equilibrium. (In physics, chemistry and environmental science classes).
c. Understand ecological models of population fluctuation. (in environmental science)


Physical Setting: Standards 6 -14

6. Students will be familiar with current scientific theories about the universe and how those theories evolved.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Understand that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can count, but they are not scattered evenly, and they are not all the same in brightness or color.
b. Know that the sun is a star, and that some stars are smaller and some are larger, but so far away that they look like points of light.
c. Explain when the sun, moon and stars can be seen and how they appear to move across the sky.
d. Describe in simple terms the daily and monthly changes of the moon's appearance.
e. Know the name of our planet, its shape, and its position and relative size in our solar system.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe the stability and movement of patterns of stars, their seasonal appearance, and the relative movement of planets against the background of stars.
b. Understand how the rotation of the earth on its axis every 24 hours produces the night-and-day cycle, and that this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the sun, moon, planets, and stars are orbiting the earth once a day.
c. Describe and explain the importance of the sun as the central star of our solar system.
d. Explain how brightness, size, and distance from Earth affect the appearance of stars.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe our sun, its place in our galaxy, and the galaxy's place and relative magnitude in the universe.
b. Describe our solar system, including the planets, the moons, and comets and asteroids.
c. The phases of the moon are caused by the moon's orbit around the earth, which changes what part of the moon is lighted by the sun and how much of that part can be seen from the earth.

7. Students will understand how key features of the earth influence climate, weather, and the water cycle.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Explain/describe the differences in the 4 seasons and how the seasons and weather follow various patterns in different parts of the world.
b. Describe the different states of water (liquid, gas, solid).
c. Understand that if water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing.
d. Explain in simple terms the properties of air and its importance to the earth.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Air is a mixture of gases that surrounds us, takes up space, and whose movement we feel as wind.
b. Demonstrate and explain what happens when cold and hot air meet.
c. Describe the steps of the water cycle.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain what causes the seasons and weather patterns.
b. Describe environmental factors, including the effects of volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts, and atmospheric and oceanic changes, on world climate.
c. Explain the impact of the water cycle on climatic patterns.
d. Explain the influence on climate of heat energy carried by ocean currents.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe how human activity can affect weather and climate. (in environmental science)

8. Students will understand scientific theories of how the earth’s surface is formed and how those theories developed.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Recognize basic features of the earth's surface.
b. Explain how living organisms effect changes in their environment.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe how wind, and water in various forms, shape the Earth's surface, including the processes of erosion and deposit.
b. Describe the composition of rocks and the rock cycle.
c. Explain the effects of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
d. Understand that the rate of change of the earth's surface can range from abrupt (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), to very slow (such as uplift and wearing down of mountains).
e. Understand how fossils are formed.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe how soil is formed and how it is modified by living and decaying organisms.
b. Describe the development, key ideas, and evidence for the theory of plate tectonics.
c. Describe the layers of the Earth and their key characteristics, including the movements of the plates that form the crust and the geographic results of those movements.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe how ideas on the origins and the age of the earth have developed.(in Earth science)
b. Explain the phenomena that occur beneath the earth's surface.(in Earth science)
c. Identify the origin of local geographic features.(in Earth science)

9. Students will know and understand scientific theories of the nature of matter and how those theories developed.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Understand that objects can be described in terms of the materials they are made of (clay, cloth, paper, etc.) and their physical properties (color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility, etc.).
b. Processes can change some of the properties of materials, but not all materials respond the same way to the processes (for example, when heat is applied, some things burn and some things melt).

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe and explain how temperature can change materials' properties and the effects of extreme heat.
b. Understand that materials are composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification.
c. Understand that the mass of an object is always the same as the sum of its parts.
d. Describe and explain how basic types of materials can be used to make many different materials, the properties of which might be different from those of the original materials.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Recount the evolution in thought about elements, from ancient ideas (e.g., the Greeks' four element and the Chinese' five elements) to the knowledge of over 100 elements.
b. Understand basic facts about atoms, including their submicroscopic size, their uniqueness in each element, and their capacity to organize into molecules.
c. Explain the relationship between the energy of atoms and molecules and the state of matter.
d. Understand that reaction rates are influenced by a number of factors, such as temperature.
e. Understand that many substances dissolve in water, which can greatly facilitate reactions between them.
f. Describe the structure of atoms, and how the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons determine their properties.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe the work of early scientists in the evolving model of the atom.
b. Describe the work of John Dalton concerning elements, atoms, compounds, and molecules and how he explained reactions in quantitative terms. (in chemistry)
c. Describe the development and organization of the periodic table and use it to predict characteristics of elements. (in chemistry)
d. Identify types of chemical reactions, write balanced equations, and perform stoichiometric calculations using the mole concept. (in chemistry)
e. Compare the properties and behavior of radioactive isotopes and describe their application, including in research, industry, and medicine. (in chemistry)
f. Describe the work of the Curies, Rutherford, Meitner, Einstein, and Fermi that led to our understanding of radioactivity. (in chemistry)
g. Understand that ions are formed by the gain or loss of electrons. (in chemistry)
h. Explain how molecular and ionic structure determine the properties of substances. (in chemistry)
i. Describe the structure of an atom, and explain why its electron configuration determines how the atom can interact with other atoms, and how atoms form ionic or covalent bonds. (in chemistry)

10. Students will be familiar with the forms and transformations of energy and the significances of energy in understanding the structure of matter and the universe.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Understand that heat is a form of energy that keeps and makes things warm.
b. Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, friction, or mixing one substance with another.

By the end of grade 5:
This topic is not covered in Grades 3, 4 & 5.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe the flow of electricity.
b. Describe how mechanical energy is changed into sound energy.
c. Describe the different forms in which energy can appear, including heat energy, chemical energy, mechanical energy, and gravitational energy. (Grade 6 & 7)
d. Show that heat can be transferred through materials by the collisions of atoms or across space by conduction, convection, and radiation.
e. Describe endothermic and exothermic reactions.
f. When warmer objects are put with cooler ones, the warm ones lose heat and the cool ones gain it until they all reach the same temperature.
g. Heat moves from one object to another at different rates, depending on a variety of factors.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain the law of conservation of matter and energy. (in chemistry and physics)
b. Describe the concept of entropy and the principles related to it.(in AP Biology and AP Chemistry)
c. Understand that transformations of energy usually produce some energy in the form of heat. (in AP chemistry)
d. Relate energy levels to configurations of atoms and molecules and relate transformations of energy to changes in these configurations.(in AP Chemistry and AP Biology)
e. Explain why the light emitted or absorbed by separate atoms or molecules (as in a gas) can be used to identify what the substance is. (in chemistry)
f. Understand and assess the uses of nuclear fission and fusion, including the implications for society. (in Environmental science)
g. Recount the essential ideas of Einstein's special and general theories of relativity and use the equation E=mc2 for transformations of mass and energy. (in physics)

11. Students will understand how society uses and conserves various sources of energy.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Explain how fire and electricity are important for humankind.
b. Explain the importance of conserving energy and the various ways to do it.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe how air and water are used in most industries.
b. Describe how the sun is the earth's main source of energy.
c. Describe the relationship of the sun and fossil fuels (coal, oil).
d. Describe the various means of energy conservation and their impact on the environment and society.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain how electricity can be produced, distributed, and transformed into useful forms.
b. Describe attempts in various parts of the world to conserve fossil fuels or use alternate forms of energy to slow the depletion of resources, reduce pollution, or save money.
c. Compare the environmental consequences of producing, distributing, and transforming various forms of energy.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain how electric motors and generators operate by using the interplay of electric and magnetic fields. (in physics)
b. Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using nuclear energy.( in environmental science)
c. Evaluate the impact of industry on our society and environment in terms of energy use. (in environmental science)

12. Students will understand the relationship between force, mass, and the motion of objects.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Discover and describe how objects move in many different ways (directionality, speed, pulling, pushing)

By the end of grade 5:
a. Understand that forces cause changes in speed or direction of motion.
b. Understand that the greater the force, the greater the change in motion will be, for a given mass, and that a given force will have less effect on more massive objects.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain what a force is.
b. Show through calculations that the force on a body is the sum of all forces acting on it.
c. Identify forces acting on an object, including gravity, elastic forces, and friction.
d. Demonstrate that the greater the mass of an object the more force is needed to achieve the same change in motion.
e. Show that when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object does not change.
f. Understand that when the forces on an object are unbalanced, the object will change its motion.
g. Apply Newton's three laws of motion to predict the motion of most objects.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Understand the concept of Galileo's principle of inertia and how this laid the groundwork for Newton's laws of motion. (in physics)

13. Students will recognise gravitational, electrical, and magnetic forces as major kinds of forces acting in nature.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Compare, and describe how objects fall differently according to weight and size.
b. A magnet can be used to make things made with iron move without being touched, and either pushes or pulls on other magnets.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Understand that the earth's gravity pulls any object toward it and compare and describe the force of gravity using objects with different physical properties.
b. Understand why material that has been electrically charged pushes or pulls other charged materials.
c. Describe how electrical currents and magnets can exert force on each other.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Show that gravity is a function of mass and distance.
b. Explain what causes the planets to move in circular orbits around the Sun.
c. Understand magnetic fields and why not all materials are magnetic.
d. Show how magnetic forces can be produced with moving electric charges using fluctuating magnetic fields.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain the law of universal gravitation, as well as Newton's laws of motion, and account for their acceptance even after Einstein's theories of relativity.(in physics)
b. Identify and interrelate the variables affecting the flow of electricity. (in physics)

14. Students will be familiar with the wave nature of sound and electromagnetic radiation.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Describe how vibrating objects produce sounds, including music, and cause vibrations in whatever they touch.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe and explain how sound travels through solids, liquids, and gases at different speeds.
b. Describe and explain the pitch of sound (high and low).

By the end of grade 8:
a. Understand that vibrations, such as sound and earthquakes, set up wavelike disturbances that spread away from the source and move at different speeds in different materials.
b. Understand that waves carry energy from one place to another.
c. Identify transverse and longitudinal waves in mechanical media such as springs, ropes, and seismic waves in the Earth.
d. Solve problems involving wavelengths, frequency, and wave speed.
e. Understand that sound is a longitudinal wave whose speed depends on the properties of the medium in which it propagates.
f. Understand that radio waves, visible light, and x-rays are different wavelength bands in the spectrum of electromagnetic waves.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain different wave phenomena such as reflection, refraction, interference, diffraction, and Doppler effect. (in physics)
b. Describe the electromagnetic spectrum and the characteristics and interrelationships of particular frequencies. (in chemistry and physics)

The Living Environment: Standards 15 - 20

15. Students will be aware of the diversity of living organisms and how they can be compared cientifically.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Explain the similarities and differences in the way plants and animals look and in what they do.
b. Identify the features of different plants and animals that help them thrive in different environments.
c. Sort living things depending on which features are used to group them.
d. Describe the life cycles of various organisms.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Classify organisms as either plants or animals and explain why some organisms cannot be classified as either.
b. Identify the external and internal structures that contribute to the ability of organisms to obtain food.
c. Describe reproduction, seed dispersal, germination, and growth in plants.
d. Compare and contrast life cycles of plants and of animals.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain and apply the system used to classify organisms into kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
b. Discuss the results of sexual and asexual reproduction in terms of species diversity.
c. Compare and contrast prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses.
d. Describe responses of plants and animals to various stimuli in their environment.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain how variation within a species increases the chances of survival of the species under changing environmental conditions. (in biology and environmental science)

16. Students will understand the structure, functions, and reproduction of living cells and organisms.

By the end of grade 2:
a. List the basic needs of living organisms.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Identify the cell as the fundamental unit of living organisms and recognize that some organisms are unicellular, while others are multicellular.
b. Know the levels of organization in living organisms, including cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems.
c. Know that cells continually divide to make more cells for growth and repair.
d. Describe human body systems for obtaining and providing energy, defense, reproduction, and the coordination of body functions.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe cell theory.
b. Describe the basic functions of organisms such as photosynthesis, respiration, digestion, and excretion and know that they occur at a cellular level.
c. Name the basic cell structures and organelles and identify their functions.
d. Compare and contrast plant and animal cells.
e. Know that hereditary information is contained in genes, which are located on chromosomes.
f. Define mitosis and identify its stages.
g. Define meiosis and identify its stages.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Identify and discuss the characteristics of the basic elements of living organisms, including carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. (in biology)
b. Describe the structures and functions of the basic molecules of living organisms, including water, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. (in biology)
c. Describe the structures and functions of the cell membrane and its involvement in the cell's interaction with its surrounding environment, such as the processes of diffusion, osmosis, active transport, pinocytosis, and phagocytosis. (in biology)
d. Explain the chemical reactions necessary for life, such as photosynthesis, respiration, digestion, and excretion, including where these reactions occur. (in biology)
e. Define metabolism and discuss the role of the ATP molecule in the storage and release of energy. (in biology)
f. Explain the structure, function, and replication process for DNA. (in biology)
g. Know that the genetic code used in DNA molecules is almost the same for all life forms and that the degree of similarity in the DNA sequence can be used to compare how closely organisms are related to each other. (in biology)
h. Describe the process of protein synthesis. (in biology)
i. Describe the stages of the cell cycle. (in biology)
j. Define cancer and list causes that increase the risk of cancer. (in biology)

17. Students will understand how and why organisms are dependent on one another and their environments.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Know that animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or even other animals) for shelter and nesting.
b. Know that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and explain why different kinds of plants and animals live in different places.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Define ecosystem and provide examples of different ecosystems.
b. Provide examples showing relationships among organisms, such as mutually beneficial and competitive relationships.
c. Define the roles of consumers, producers, and decomposers in an ecosystem and provide examples.
d. Know that changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful to the organism.
e. Describe the response of plants to changing environmental conditions such as light, gravity, water, and space.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Define the terms individual, population, community, and biome and provide examples of each.
b. List and describe ways living organisms interact with the abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
c. Describe and provide examples demonstrating negative and positive relationships among organisms (such as predator/prey, parasite/host, mutualism, and commensalism).
d. Compare and contrast physical and behavioral adaptations to changes in an organism's environment.
e. Explain why some organisms may survive changes and others may not.
f. Identify several kinds and causes of air, land, and water pollution.
g. Describe the impact of pollution to living organisms and to the environment.
h. Propose methods of reducing and controlling pollution.
i. Describe positive and negative ways humans can affect ecosystems.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Define the impact of immigration, emigration, birth rate, and death rate on population size. (in environmental science)
b. Identify the factors that control population fluctuations in a given ecosystem leading to dynamic equilibrium. (in environmental science)
c. Explain how the carrying capacity of an ecosystem may change as availability of resources changes. (in environmental science)
d. Describe stages of succession leading to a climax community. (in environmental science)
e. Identify behavioral, morphological, and physical responses to changes in an organism's environment. (in environmental science)
f. Give examples of natural and human-initiated environmental changes that may influences levels of harmful substances. (in environmental science)
g. Understand how monitoring environmental factors assists scientists in determining the health of the environment (such as soil, air, or water conditions). (in environmental science)

18. Students will understand the cycling of matter and the flow and transformation of energy through systems of living things.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Know that animals need to take in food, and plants need light to produce their food.
b. Know that many materials can be recycled or used again and again, sometimes in different forms.
c. Describe examples of simple food chains.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Identify the sun as the source of food energy for a variety of living organisms on earth.
b. Define and provide examples of herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
c. Trace the flow of energy through the organisms in a variety of ecosystems.
d. Describe food webs in the ocean and on land and discuss their significance.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe the transformation of energy as the energy cycles through processes of photosynthesis and respiration.
b. Know that matter recycles within ecosystems and that although the form of matter changes, the total amount remains constant.
c. Diagram and discuss cycles in ecosystems including water, carbon, and nitrogen.
d. Describe the environmental conditions that lead to the slow formation of fossil fuels and know that by burning these fossil fuels heat, carbon dioxide, and other gases are released into the environment.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Discuss sources and sinks in matter and energy cycles. (in AP Biology and environmental science)
b. Diagram and explain trophic levels in an ecosystem. (in environmental science)

19. Students will understand how biological traits are passed on to successive generations.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Identify variations among individuals within a population.
b. Know that offspring are different from their parents, yet closely resemble them, because traits are transferred from one generation to the next.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Distinguish between traits inherited from parents and behaviors that are learned.
b. Understand that traits are influenced by environmental conditions.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Discuss the processes and results of asexual reproduction.
b. Discuss the processes and results of sexual reproduction.
c. Describe Mendel's experiments, including the principle of dominance and recessiveness, the principle of segregation, and the principle of independent assortment.
d. Predict genotype and phenotype ratios of possible offspring using a Punnett square for monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.
e. Know that traits passed from parents to offspring are encoded in segments of DNA molecules called genes.
f. Describe how selective breeding for particular traits has resulted in new varieties of cultivated plants and domestic animals.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Explain how the sorting and recombination of genes in sexual reproduction result in a great variety of possible gene combinations in the offspring of any two parents. (in biology and AP Biology)
b. Describe how an inherited trait of an individual can be determined by one or by many genes, and how a single gene can influence more than one trait. (in AP Biology)
c. Describe how inserting, deleting, or substituting DNA segments can alter (mutate) genes. (in biology)
d. Know that gene mutations can be caused by many factors (such as radiation and chemicals). (in biology)
e. Know that a mutated gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it, but can only be passed on to offspring when the mutation occurs in a sex cell. (in biology)
f. Provide examples to show that mutations and new gene combinations may have positive, negative, or no effect on an organism. (in AP Biology)
g. Explain how although each cell in an individual has identical genetic information, cells within an individual vary because different portions of the DNA code are activated in different cells. (in biology)
h. Identify and discuss inherited genetic disorders in humans. (in biology)
i. Discuss the ethics and implications of genetic engineering. (in biology)
j. Evaluate how human behavior is influenced by heredity, culture, and personal experience. (in biology)

20. Students will understand the arguments for natural selection as scientific explanation of biological evolution.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Define the term endangered, provide examples of endangered organisms, and identify reasons why some organisms are endangered.
b. Define the term extinct, provide examples of organisms that are extinct, and identify reasons why some organisms become extinct.
c. Identify fossils as the remains or imprints of once-living organisms.
d. Know that some organisms that lived long ago are similar to existing organisms, and some are quite different.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Know that individuals vary, and that those best adapted to an environment are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce.
b. Compare fossils to one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences.
c. Relate the age of fossils to their position in a rock layer and explain why the fossils in more recently formed rock layers are more likely to resemble existing species.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Define the phrase "survival of the fittest" and relate it to the process of natural selection.
b. Know that small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate through successive generations, so descendants are different from their ancestors.
c. Define biological evolution as the process whereby the earth's present-day species developed from earlier species.
d. Understand how selective breeding influences the process of evolution.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe various scientific theories explaining the origin of life on Earth. (in biology)
b. Explain Darwin's theory of natural selection.(in biology)
c. Understand how the work of other scientists (for example, Mendel, et al) supports Darwin's theory. (in biology)
d. Evaluate evidence supporting biological evolution, including morphological, anatomical, and molecular features of fossils and living organisms. (in biology)
e. Describe patterns of evolution (i.e., divergent, convergent, and co evolution). (in biology)
f. Explain biological and morphological characteristics used to define a species. (in biology)
g. Define gene pool and discuss the implications of varying allele frequencies within a gene pool. (in AP Biology)
h. Discuss conditions defined in the Hardy-Weinberg Principle that result in genetic equilibrium. (in AP Biology)
i. Know that disruption of genetic equilibrium may result in evolution. (in AP Biology)

Human Organism and Society: Standards 21 - 24

21. Students will know and understand the biological, cultural, and social explanations for why human beings have important traits in common yet different from one another.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Recognize that all humans are part of the same group, even though they have different external features such as the size and shape of eyes, and different color of hair, skin, and eyes.
b. Describe the basic needs of humans such as water, food, air, shelter, waste removal, and a particular range of temperatures in the environment.
c. Recognize that human basic needs of water, food, waste removal, and a particular range of temperatures are the same as other animals'.
d. Describe human family and community structure in which individuals have different roles and depend on other people for various physical and emotional needs.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Cite examples to show that human behavior is due to a combination of factors, including inheritance, environmental and society.
b. Compare the factors that influence human behavior to the factors that influence the behavior of other animals.
c. Compare human body systems to the systems of other animals.
d. Explain how fossil evidence supports the theory that human beings evolved from earlier species.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Identify and explain how artifacts and preserved remains provide evidence of the physical characteristics and behavior of human beings who lived a very long time ago.
b. Explain how human similarities enable them to donate blood and organs to one another.

22. Students will be familiar with important aspects of human development from fertilization to death.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Recognize and explain that a human baby grows inside its mother for about nine months until its birth.
b. Explain why a human baby is unable to care for itself, and how its survival depends on the care it receives from other people.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Outline the steps of the in utero development for a human being.
b. Describe how human embryos are nourished by the mother.
c. Recognize the substances a pregnant woman takes in that will affect how well or poorly the baby develops.
d. Explain that fertilization occurs when sperm from a male's testes are deposited near an egg cell from the female ovary and one of the sperm cells enters the egg cell.
e. Recognize the usual sequence of development among human beings from fertilization to death.
f. Recognize there is some variation in the age at which individuals' development occurs.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe the stages of human embryonic development from fertilization to birth.
b. Describe the usual sequence of physical and mental development from birth to adulthood.
c. Describe the means by which different contraceptive methods prevent pregnancy.
d. Compare and contrast human embryonic development to other vertebrates.
e. Describe the various body changes that occur in human beings from adulthood until death.
f. Explain the influence of sanitation, diet, medication, gender, genes, environmental conditions and personal behaviors on length and quality of life.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe how successive generations of an embryo's cells form by division, with small differences in their immediate environments causing them to develop slightly differently, by activating or inactivating different parts of the DNA information. (in biology)

23. Students will understand the basic processes of the human body.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Describe human body parts and how they are used to see, find, and take in food.
b. Explain how the senses are used to find out about and interact with the environment including finding food, warning of danger, and interacting with other organisms.
c. Describe means by which the spread of germs can be stopped. (see g. from grade 5)

By the end of grade 5:
a. Describe how the brain gets signals from all parts of the body telling what is going on throughout the body and sends signals to parts of the body to influence what they do – Nervous System.
b. Describe the body's requirement of nutrients in food for energy and maintenance, growth and repair and digestive process.
c. Describe the process of breathing and its role in the exchange of the gases oxygen (taken in) and carbon dioxide (eliminated) – Respiratory System (Grade 4).
d. Describe the skeletal system.
e. Explain the role of the muscular system.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Describe the hierarchical organization of living things from cells to organ systems. (Grade 6)
b. Describe cellular respiration, its use of oxygen and its production of carbon dioxide and energy. (Grade 8)
c. Explain the role of while blood cells and antibodies in the defense of the body against invading micro-organisms and viruses. (Grade 6)
d. Describe the formation of natural immune responses and artificially induced immune responses and through vaccination. (Grade 6)
e. Identify hormones as chemicals from glands that affect other body parts and explain how they help the body respond to danger and regulate human growth, development, and reproduction. (Grade 8)
f. Describe the role of the excretory system in the removal of dissolved water molecules. (Grade 8)
g. Explain how the skin and lungs function in removal of excess body heat. (Grade 8)
h. Describe the composition and pathways of the circulatory system. (Grade 8)
i. Describe means by which the spread of germs and infections can be stopped, including washing hands, covering one's mouth, washing and covering cuts and scrapes, and not sharing personal items. (Grade 6)
j. Understand that germs may keep the body from working properly, and ways the body defends against them, including tears, saliva, skin, blood cells, and stomach secretions. (Grade 6)
k. Understand the history of disease, including the development of germ theory and its role in the development of knowledge of how to strengthen the immune system and cure infections. (Grade 6)
l. Understand that tobacco, alcohol, other drugs, and certain poisons in the environment are substances that can be harmful to human beings and other living organisms.

By the end of grade 12:
a. Describe the function and structure of the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems and understand how these systems function to coordinate cellular activities and facilitate cellular communication. (in biology)
b. Describe modes of transmission and prevention of AIDS and STDs. (in biology)
c. Give examples of some viral diseases, such as AIDS, which destroy critical cells of the immune system, leaving the body unable to deal with multiple infection agents and cancerous cells. (in biology)
d. Explain the mechanism of allergic reactions and describe the body's response to them.(in biology)

24. Students will understand that a variety of factors influence learning in human beings.

By the end of grade 2:
a. Describe some of the things people do, like playing soccer, reading, and writing, which must be deliberately learned.
b. Explain that different people learn at different rates, and learning may be influenced by how hard and how often a person practices an activity.
c. Give examples of how people can learn from each other by telling and listening, showing and watching, and imitating others.

By the end of grade 5:
a. Cite examples to show that human beings can make judgments about new situations using the memory of their past experiences.
b. Cite examples of skills that can be practiced until they become automatic.
c. Give examples of behaviors humans repeat because they feel good or have pleasant consequences and examples of behaviors humans avoid because they feel bad or have unpleasant consequences.

By the end of grade 8:
a. Explain why the level of skill a person can reach in any particular activity depends on innate abilities, practice, and the use of appropriate learning tools and materials.
b. Provide evidence to show that language and tools enable human beings to learn complicated and varied things from others.
c. Explain why many forms of sensory stimuli contribute to learning.