Science
Introduction
The standards include grade-level specific content for kindergarten through grade eight. A significant feature is the focus on earth sciences in the sixth grade, life sciences in the seventh grade, and physical sciences in the eighth grade. The standards for grades nine through twelve are divided into four content strands: physics, chemistry, biology/life sciences, and earth sciences. An Investigation and Experimentation strand describes a progressive set of expectations for each grade from kindergarten through grade eight, and one set of Investigation and Experimentation standards is given for grades nine through twelve.
Investigation & Experimentation
(Grades 9 To 12)
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 four strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (such as computer-linked probes, spreadsheets, and graphing calculators) to perform tests, collect data, analyze relationships, and display data.
b. Identify and communicate sources of unavoidable experimental error.
c. Identify possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as sources of error or uncontrolled conditions.
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
e. Solve scientific problems by using quadratic equations and simple trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
f. Distinguish between hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.
g. Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific representations of reality.
h. Read and interpret topographic and geologic maps.
i. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time intervals that are characteristic of natural phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks, locations of planets over time, and succession of species in an ecosystem).
j. Recognize the issues of statistical variability and the need for controlled tests.
k. Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
l. Analyze situations and solve problems that require combining and applying concepts from more than one area of science.
m. Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature, analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer, choice of energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.
Earth Sciences
(Grades 9 To 12)
Earth's Place in the Universe
1. Astronomy and planetary exploration reveal the solar system's structure, scale, and change over time.
2. Earth-based and space-based astronomy reveal the structure, scale, and changes in stars, galaxies, and the universe over time.
Dynamic Earth Processes
3. Plate tectonics operating over geologic time have changed the patterns of land, sea, and mountains on Earth's surface.
Energy in the Earth System
4. Energy enters the Earth system primarily as solar radiation and eventually escapes as heat.
5. Heating of Earth's surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents.
6. Climate is the long-term average of a region's weather and depends on many factors.
Biogeochemical Cycles
7. Each element on Earth moves among reservoirs, which exist in the solid earth, in oceans, in the atmosphere, and within and among organisms as part of biogeochemical cycles.
Biology/Life Sciences
(Grades 9 To 12)
Cell Biology
1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism's cells.
Genetics
2. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population.
3. A multi cellular organism develops from a single zygote, and its phenotype depends on its genotype, which is established at fertilization.
4. Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism.
5. The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells.
6. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.
Evolution
7. The frequency of an allele in a gene pool of a population depends on many factors and may be stable or unstable over time.
Chemistry
(Grades 9 To 12)
Atomic and Molecular Structure
Chemical Bonds
Conservation of Matter and Stoichiometry
Gases and Their Properties
Acids and Bases
Solutions
Chemical Thermodynamics
Reaction Rates
Chemical Equilibrium
Physics
(Grades 9 To 12)
Motion and Forces
1. Newton's laws predict the motion of most objects.
Conservation of Energy and Momentum
2. The laws of conservation of energy and momentum provide a way to predict and describe the movement of objects. Heat and Thermodynamics
3. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, although in many processes energy is transferred to the environment as heat.
4. Waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of wave.
Electric and Magnetic Phenomena
5. Electric and magnetic phenomena are related and have many practical applications.
Grade Eight
Focus on Physical Science
Motion
Forces
Structure of Matter
1. Each of the more than 100 elements of matter has distinct properties and a distinct atomic structure. All forms of matter are composed of one or more of the elements.
Earth in the Solar System (Earth Sciences)
2. The structure and composition of the universe can be learned from studying stars and galaxies and their evolution.
Reactions
3. Chemical reactions are processes in which atoms are rearranged into different combinations of molecules. Chemistry of Living Systems (Life Sciences)
Periodic Table
4. The organization of the periodic table is based on the properties of the elements and reflects the structure of atoms.
Grade Seven
Focus on Life Science
Cell Biology
1. All living organisms are composed of cells, from just one to many trillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope.
Genetics
2. A typical cell of any organism contains genetic instructions that specify its traits. Those traits may be modified by environmental influences.
Evolution
3. Biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations.
Earth and Life History (Earth Sciences)
4. Evidence from rocks allows us to understand the evolution of life on Earth.
Structure and Function in Living Systems
5. The anatomy and physiology of plants and animals illustrate the complementary nature of structure and function.
Grade Six
Focus on Earth Science
Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure
1. Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth's surface and major geologic events.
Shaping Earth's Surface
2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment.
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Sciences)
3. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the objects are at the same temperature.
Energy in the Earth System
4. Many phenomena on Earth's surface are affected by the transfer of energy through radiation and convection currents.
Ecology (Life Sciences)
5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.
Grade Five
Physical Sciences
1. Elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world.
Life Sciences
2. Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials.
Earth Sciences
3. Water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation.
4. Energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in changing weather patterns.
5. The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predictable paths.
Investigation and Experimentation
6. Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with appropriate criteria.
7. Develop a testable question.
8. Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question and write instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
9. Identify the dependent and controlled variables in an investigation.
10. 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.
Grade Four
Physical Sciences
1. Electricity and magnetism are related effects that have many useful applications in everyday life.
Life Sciences
2. All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow.
3. Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival.
Earth Sciences
4. The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them.
5. Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface.
Investigation and Experimentation
6. Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
7. Measure and estimate the weight, length, or volume of objects.
8. Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
9. Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
10. Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.
11. Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.
Grade Three
Physical Sciences
1. Energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another. Light has a source and travels in a direction.
Life Sciences
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival.
Earth Sciences
4. Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns.
Investigation and Experimentation
5. Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same because of differences in the things being investigated, methods being used, or uncertainty in the observation.
6. Differentiate evidence from opinion and know that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed.
7. Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measurements.
8. Predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the prediction.
9. Collect data in an investigation and analyze those data to develop a logical conclusion.