Standard 1 Science As Inquiry:
As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students will develop the abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry and understandings about scientific inquiry.
Benchmark 1
Students will demonstrate the fundamental abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.
Indicator 1
The students will develop a rich understanding and curiosity of the natural material) world through experience.
Students must have a rich set of experiences to draw on in order to ask and evaluate research questions.
Indicator 2
The students will develop questions and identify concepts that guide scientific investigations.
Formulate a testable hypothesis, where appropriate, and demonstrate the logical connections between the scientific concepts guiding a hypothesis and the design of an experiment. Demonstrate a knowledge base, appropriate procedures, and conceptual understanding of scientific investigations.
Indicator 3
The students will design and conduct scientific investigations.
Requires introduction to the major concepts in the area being investigated, proper equipment, safety precautions, assistance with methodological problems, recommendations for use of technologies, clarification of ideas that guide the inquiry, and scientific knowledge obtained from sources other than the actual investigation. May also require student clarification of the question, method including replication), controls, variables, display of data, revision of methods and replication of explanations, followed by a public presentation of the results with a critical response from peers. Always, students must use evidence, apply logic, and construct an argument for their proposed explanations.
Indicator 4
The students will use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
A variety of technologies, such as hand tools, measuring instruments, and calculators, should be an integral component of scientific investigations. The use of computers for the collection, organization, analysis, and display of data is also a part of this standard. Mathematics plays an essential role in all aspects of an injury. Mathematical tools and models guide and improve the posing of questions, gathering data, constructing explanations, and communicating results. Technology is used to gather and manipulate data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.
Indicator 5
The students will formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
Student inquiries should culminate in formulating an explanation or model. Models can be physical, conceptual, or mathematical. In the process of answering the questions, the students should engage in discussions that result in the revision of their explanations. Discussions should be based on scientific knowledge, the use of logic, and evidence from their investigations.
Indicator 6
The students will recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
Emphasize the critical abilities of analyzing an argument by reviewing current scientific understanding, weighing the evidence, and examining the logic so as to decide which explanations and models are best. In other words, although there may be several plausible explanations, students should be able to use scientific criteria to determine the supported explanation(s).
Indicator 7
The students will communicate and defend a scientific argument.
These abilities include writing procedures, expressing concepts, reviewing information, summarizing data, using language appropriately, developing diagrams and charts, explaining statistical analysis, speaking clearly and logically, constructing a reasoned argument, and responding appropriately to critical comments.
As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students will develop an understanding of the cell, molecular basis of heredity, biological evolution, interdependence of organisms, matter, energy, and organization in living systems, and the behavior of organisms.
Benchmark 1
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and function of the cell.
Indicator 1
Students will understand that some plant cells contain chloroplasts, which are the sites of photosynthesis.
The process of photosynthesis provides a vital connection between the sun and the energy needs of living systems. The cell is the basic unit of function for living things.
Benchmark 2
Students will understand the interdependence of organisms and their interaction with the physical environment.
Indicator 1
The students will understand atoms and molecules on the earth cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere.
The chemical elements, essential elements of life, circulate in the biosphere in characteristic paths known as biogeochemical cycles [e.g., nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, etc.].
Indicator 2
The students will understand energy flows through ecosystems.
Organisms, ecosystems, and the biosphere possess thermodynamic characteristics that exhibit a high state of internal order. Radiant energy that enters the earth's surface is balanced by the energy that leaves the earth's surface. Transfer of energy through a series of organisms in an ecosystem is called the food chain; at each transfer as much as 90% of the potential energy is lost as heat.
Indicator 3
The students will understand organisms cooperate and compete in ecosystems.
The interrelationships and interdependence of organisms may generate stable ecosystems.
Indicator 4
The students will understand living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size, but environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound effects on the interactions among organisms.
The presence and success of an organism, or a group of organisms, depends upon a large number of environmental factors.
Indicator 5
The students will understand human beings live within and impact ecosystems.
Humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human modifications of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors affect ecosystem stability.
Benchmark 3
Students will understand matter, energy, and organization in living systems.
Indicator 1
The students will develop an understanding that living systems require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical organization.
All matter tends toward more disorganized states. With death and the cessation of energy intake, living systems rapidly disintegrate.
Indicator 2
The students will develop an understanding that the sun is the primary source of energy for life through the process of photosynthesis.
Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form simple sugars. The energy in these sugar molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules with biological activity, including proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, and fats. These molecules serve as sources of energy for life processes.
Indicator 3
The students will develop an understanding that food molecules contain energy. This energy is made available by cellular respiration.
Energy is released when the bonds of food molecules are broken and new compounds with lower energy bonds are formed. Cells usually use this energy to regenerate ATP, the molecule involved in cell metabolism.
Indicator 4
The students will develop an understanding that the structure and function of an organism serve to acquire, transform, transport, release, and eliminate the matter and energy used to sustain the organism.
Indicator 5
The students will develop an understanding that the distribution and abundance of organisms and populations in ecosystems are limited by the availability of matter and energy, and the ability of the ecosystem to recycle materials.
Indicator 6
The students will develop an understanding that as matter and energy flow through different levels of organization of living systems--cells, organs, organisms, communities--and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each recombination results in the storage of some energy and a dissipation of some energy into the environment as heat. Matter is recycled, energy is not.
Benchmark 4
Students will understand the behavior of animals.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that, like other aspects of an organism's biology, behaviors have evolved through natural selection.
Behaviors are often adaptive when viewed in terms of survival and reproductive success. Behavioral biology has implications for humans, as it provides links to psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
Standard 3 Earth And Space Science:
As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, students will develop an understanding of energy in the earth system, geochemical cycles, the formation and organization of the earth system, and the organization and development of the universe.
Benchmark 1
Students will develop an understanding of the sources of energy that power the dynamic earth system.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that essentially all energy on earth originates with the sun, is generated by radioactive decay in the earth's interior, or is left over from the earth's formation.
Indicator 2
The students will understand that convection circulation in the mantle is driven by the outward transfer of the earth's internal heat.
Indicator 3
The students will understand that energy flow determines global climate and, in turn, is influenced by geographic features, cloud cover, and the earth's rotation.
Benchmark 2
Students will develop an understanding of the actions and the interactions of the earth's subsystems: the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.
Indicator 1
The students will understand the systems at the earth's surface are powered principally by the sun and contain an essentially fixed amount of each stable chemical atom or element.
Indicator 2
The students will understand the processes of the carbon, rock, and water cycles.
Indicator 3
The students will understand water, glaciers, winds, waves, and gravity as weathering and erosion agents.
Indicator 4
The students will understand earth's motions and seasons.
Indicator 5
The students will understand the composition and structure of earth's atmosphere.
Standard 4 Science In Personal And Environmental Perspectives:
As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students will develop an understanding of personal and community health, population growth, natural resources, environmental quality, natural and human-induced hazards, and science and technology in local, national, and global settings.
Benchmark 1
Students will develop an understanding of the overall functioning of human systems and their interaction with the environment in order to understand specific mechanisms and processes related to health issues.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that hazards and the potential for accidents exist for all human beings.
Benchmark 2
Students will demonstrate an understanding of population growth.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that rate of change in populations is determined by the combined effects of birth and death, and emigration and immigration.
Populations can increase through exponential growth. Population growth changes resource use and environmental conditions.
Indicator 2
The students will understand that a variety of factors influence birth rates and fertility rates.
Indicator 3
The students will understand that populations can reach limits to growth.
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms that can be sustained in a given environment. Natural resources limit the capacity of ecosystems to sustain populations.
Benchmark 3
Students will understand that human populations use natural resources and influence environmental quality.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that natural resources from the lithosphere and ecosystems have been and will continue to be used to sustain human populations. These processes of ecosystems include maintenance of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are altering many of these processes, and the changes may be detrimental to ecosystem function.
Indicator 2
The students will understand that the earth does not have infinite resources.
Increasing human consumption places stress on most renewable resources and depletes non-renewable resources.
Indicator 3
The students will understand that materials from human activities affect both physical and chemical cycles of the earth.
Natural systems can reuse waste, but this capacity is limited.
Indicator 4
The students will understand that humans use many natural systems as resources.
Benchmark 4
Students will understand the effect of natural and human-influenced hazards.
Indicator 1
Students will understand that natural processes of earth may be hazardous for humans.
Humans live at the interface between two dynamically changing systems, the atmosphere and the earthÆs crust. The vulnerability of societies to disruption by natural processes has increased. Natural hazards include volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and severe weather. Examples of slow, progressive changes are stream channel position, sedimentation, continual erosion, wasting of soil, and landscapes.
Indicator 2
Students will understand that there is a need to assess potential risk and danger from natural and human induced hazards.
Human-initiated changes in the environment bring benefits as well as risks to society. Various changes have costs and benefits. Environmental ethics have a role in the decision making process.
Benchmark 5
Students will develop an understanding of the relationship between science, technology, and society.
Indicator 1
The students will understand that science and technology are essential components of modern society. Science and technology indicate what can happen, not what should happen. The latter involves human decisions about the use of knowledge.
Indicator 2
The students will understand that understanding basic concepts and principles of science and technology should precede active debate about the economics, policies, politics, and ethics of various challenges related to science and technology.
Indicator 3
The students will understand that progress in science and technology can be affected by social issues and challenges.
Benchmark 6
Ecology: Principles of the Environment
Indicator 1
Students will define environmental science. Explain what the science attempts to answer and the practical applications of the science.
Indicator 2
Students will list and describe four key environmental problems.
Indicator 3
Students will describe evolution of the environmental crisis from the beginning of culture to modern societies.
Indicator 4
Students will define the population, resource and pollution model, identifying the three factors that make up the model.
Indicator 5
Students will describe the multiple cause and effect model.
Indicator 6
Students will describe the impact analysis model.
Indicator 7
Students will determine factors which suggests whether a risk is acceptable to a population.
Indicator 8
Students will describe four ways in which decisions are made regarding the acceptance or rejection of risk.
Indicator 9
Students will summarize the main purpose of risk assessment.
Benchmark 7
Ecology: Principles of the Ecosystem.
Indicator 1
Students will define ecology and list the various subdivisions.
Indicator 2
Students will describe various terminology associated with ecology.
Indicator 3
Students will list and describe abiotic factors which affect ecosystems.
Indicator 4
Students will explain the terms range of tolerance and limiting factor and how these factors affect ecosystem.
Indicator 5
Students will describe the biotic components of an ecosystem.
Indicator 6
Students will describe a typical food chain and the roles of the organisms within the food chain.
Indicator 7
Students will define the term energy and the laws of thermodynamics.
Indicator 8
Students will explain the flow of biomass within an ecosystem and relate this to an ecological pyramid.
Indicator 9
Students will describe the nutrient cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
Indicator 10
Students will describe how ecosystems maintain stability.
Indicator 11
Students will list and discuss examples of imbalance in ecosystems.
Indicator 12
Students will list and discuss ways humans have had an impact on ecosystems.
Benchmark 8
Ecology: Population
Indicator 1
Students will describe the population explosion and relate to current population.
Indicator 2
Students will analyze the meaning of exponential growth.
Indicator 3
Students will compare the roles of crude birth rate, crude death rate, net migration, immigration, emigration, in-migration and out-migration on population statistics.
Indicator 4
Students will describe the future of the world population and make predictions based on various graphs concerning the current population status.
Indicator 5
Students will research eight contribution factors to the world hunger crisis.
Indicator 6
Students will describe ways which limited population growth can be achieved.
Benchmark 9
Ecology: Pollution Toxins
Indicator 1
Students will define the terms toxin, carcinogen, teratogen, and mutagen.
Indicator 2
Students will compare and contrast the terms chronic effects and acute effects.
Indicator 3
Students will describe three types of mutations that occur in cells and the possible consequences of those mutations.
Indicator 4
Students will discuss environmental toxicity.
Indicator 5
Students will discuss effects that toxins have on cells.
Indicator 6
Students will list and describe factors that influence the toxicity of a chemical in an organism.
Indicator 7
Students will discuss biomagnification and bioconcentration and the factors which may influence a chemical's movement in an ecosystem.
Indicator 8
Students will describe the major provisions of the Toxic Substance Control Act.
Benchmark 10
Ecology: Air Pollution
Indicator 1
Students will describe anthropogenic and natural forms of air pollution.
Indicator 2
Students will list and describe the major pollutants and their sources.
Indicator 3
Students will compare and contrast primary pollutants with secondary pollutants.
Indicator 4
Students will describe factors which effect the severity of air pollution.
Indicator 5
Students will describe the effects of air pollution on organisms, materials, and climate.
Indicator 6
Students will list and discuss air pollution control strategies.
Indicator 7
Students will critique the pro's and con's of nuclear energy.
Benchmark 11
Ecology: Water Pollution
Indicator 1
Students will define water pollution. Describe point and non-point sources of water pollution.
Indicator 2
Students will describe features of surface waters.
Indicator 3
Students will differentiate between watersheds and streams.
Indicator 4
Students will describe the characteristics of watersheds and their role in providing appropriate wildlife.
Indicator 5
Students will give examples showing the conservation and preservation of watersheds.
Indicator 6
Students will describe nutrient pollution, listing the organic and inorganic nutrients involved.
Indicator 7
Students will explain the role of eutrophication plays in natural succession.
Indicator 8
Students will describe waste water treatment practices.
Indicator 9
Students will list and discuss forms of water pollution such as infectious agents, toxic organic and inorganic pollutants, and sediment and thermal pollution.
Indicator 10
Students will discuss aspects of ground water pollution.
Indicator 11
Students will describe legal forms of water pollution control.
Indicator 12
Students will analyze water quality from an area watershed/stream and design a management control policy based on resulting data.
Benchmark 12
Ecology: Environmental Ethics
Indicator 1
Students will explain the meaning of the term "frontier mentality" and compare this to current attitudes.
Indicator 2
Students will describe the practice of sustainable ethics.
Indicator 3
Students will the Gaia hypothesis.
Standard 5 History And Nature of Science:
As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students will develop understanding of science as a human endeavor, the nature of scientific knowledge, and historical perspectives.
Benchmark 1
Students will develop an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge.
Indicator 1
The students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge.
Scientific knowledge is generally empirically based, logical, skeptical, and consistent with observable reality. Scientific knowledge is subject to experimental or observational confirmation. Scientific knowledge is built on past understanding and can be refined and augmented.
Benchmark 2
Students will understand science from historical perspectives.
Indicator 1
The students will demonstrate an understanding of the history of science.
Modern science has been a successful enterprise that contributes to dramatic improvements in the human condition. Science progresses by incremental advances of scientists or teams of scientists. Some advances that are fundamental and long-lasting include: Copernican revolution, Newtonian physics, relativity, geological time scale, plate tectonics, atomic theory, nuclear physics, biological evolution, germ theory, industrial revolution, molecular biology, quantum theory, medical and health technology.
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