relationship between variables.

prediction that includes:

a. A diagram labeled using scientific terminology that supports

b. A procedure that lists significant steps that identify manipulated

(independent) and responding (dependent) variables.

c. A control for comparing data when appropriate.

d. Identification of tools and procedures for collecting data

and reducing error.

observations (e.g., use of probe).

a. Recording multiple perspectives to scale (e.g., magnification,

cross section, top view, side view, etc.).

the task.

procedures).

experimental design.

results, discuss relationships, and propose new explanations.

beyond the research group.

the conclusion.

environment (community, school, classroom)

Calculating the density of regularly and irregularly shaped

objects.

in a room that has a uniform temperature.

Science Concepts:

a. The density of a substance can be measured and quantified

as the mass (amount of a substance) that is contained

per unit volume of that substance.

b. Changing the temperature of materials will change the

density of the material.

Illustrating through words or representations, the differences

between atoms and molecules.

Recognizing that all living and non-living things are

formed from combinations of about 100 elements.

Science Concepts:

a. All matter is made up of atoms that are too small to see.

b. Atoms bond together to form molecules.

c. An element is a substance in which the atoms are all the

(Note: this sentence is not finished on the DOE website)

the three states of matter and explaining how that motion

defines each state.

Science Concepts:

a. Atoms and molecules are in perpetual motion.

b. The atoms in solids only vibrate closely together.

c. The atoms in liquids loosely slide past one another.

d. The atoms in gases move freely apart from one another,

and collide with one another.

a. There exists a predictable relationship among the volume,

temperature, and amount of a gas and the pressure

the gas exerts

b. For any specified amount of a gas, the pressure that the

gas exerts will increase as the temperature increases or the

volume of the gas decreases. The pressure that the gas exerts

will decrease as the temperature decreases or the volume

of the gas increases.

c. Gases exert pressure in all directions.

a. Increased temperature of substances causes increased

motion of the atoms and molecules in the substance.

b. As the temperature and motion of molecules in a substance

increase, the space between molecules in the substance

increases possibly causing a change in state.

characteristics but the same mass as the original substance.

Science Concepts:

a. Chemical change is a transformation of matter that results

from the interaction of the molecules in a substance

and a new substance results (e.g., electrophoresis of water).

Chemical change is not reversible.

b. During chemical change, the atoms in the substances

are rearranged and because the mass of the product of a

chemical reaction is the same as the mass of the reactants

in that reaction, we know the total number of atoms in the

substances stays the same.

to the mass of the object.

Science Concepts:

a. Velocity indicates the speed and the direction of a moving

object.

b. Momentum is the characteristic of an object in motion

that depends on the object’s mass and velocity. Momentum

provides the ability for a moving object to stay in motion

without an additional force.

c. Acceleration is a relationship between the force applied

to a moving object and the mass of the object (Newton’s

Second Law).

and after it is put in motion (Students include in their

diagram or description, the effect of these forces on the

motion of the object.)

Science Concepts:

a. If there is no change in the speed or direction of a moving

object or stationary object, the forces acting on the

object are balanced

b. If there is a change in the speed or direction of an object,

an outside force needs to be applied and the forces

acting on the object are unbalanced (Newton’s First Law).

a. The force of gravity depends on the amount of mass

objects have and how far apart they may be.

b. The force of gravity is hard to detect unless at least one

of the objects has considerable mass.

of the molecules.

a. Heat energy is the motion of molecules.

b. Increased motion of the molecules in a system increases

the heat energy of the system.

c. Heat energy is transferred by:

Conduction—Collision of molecules in solids.

Convection—Organized flow of heat currents through a

fluid.

Radiation—Transfer by waves that can travel through a

vacuum.

a. Electric circuits provide a means of transferring electrical

energy when heat, light, and sound are produced. The

electrical energy is spread out yet still conserved.

b. Electric charges can have "Potential" energy (voltage).

The higher the potential energy of the charges, the higher

the voltage.

of light energy transfer.

a. Light is a form of radiant energy.

b. Transmitted light can be refracted (change in direction

of the light) when it passes from one media into another.

c. Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Visible (white) light is made up of the colored light waves

of the visible spectrum.

(located in the nucleus) and traits.

Science Concepts:

a. Cells contain structures that carry out survival functions.

b. The nucleus of a cell contains the genes. Every cell contains

a complete set of genes for that organism.

c. Genes provide the instructions that direct the functions

of the cell.

d. Plant cells have a cell wall in addition to a cell membrane.

The cell wall has openings that allow materials to

pass through to the cell and the cell wall provides structural

support for the cell.

e. Most plant cells contain chloroplasts where green pigment

traps the energy from sunlight and transforms it from

light energy into chemical energy.

f. Some materials can pass into and out of cells as concentrations

move toward equilibrium (diffusion).

that genes duplicate in the process of cell division producing

an identical copy of the original cell.

cell division.

Science Concepts:

a. Cells only come from other cells.

b. Cells repeatedly divide to make more cells for growth

and repair.

c. During cell reproduction, genes duplicate so that each

new cell will have an identical set of genes.

d. When cells divide, they are reproducing asexually.

e. In asexual reproduction, the new cell (organism) is

identical to the parent.

f. Some complete organisms can reproduce asexually

(e.g., budding).

g. In asexual reproduction, the new cell (organism) is

identical to the parent.

h. Half of an individual’s traits come from one parent—

half from the other.

[See S 7-8: 40 Human Body-Human Heredity.]

Science Concepts:

a. Plant cells take in carbon dioxide and water and use the

energy from sunlight to chemically change them to food

(sugar) and oxygen.

b. All cells chemically change sugar (food) and oxygen

into energy required to survive.

c. Energy is used by all cells to carry out functions for

survival and some energy is transferred to the environment

as heat.

organisms to sustain life (e.g., using a word equation).

Science Concept:

a. Plants transform energy from the sun into stored chemical

energy by changing carbon dioxide and water into

sugar (food). Plants use or store the sugar they produce to

satisfy their energy needs.

b. All organisms release the energy stored in sugar (food)

through a chemical change that requires oxygen and produces

carbon dioxide and water in addition to energy.

Some consumers eat plants directly (herbivores). Some

consumers eat other animals (carnivores) and use the energy

from the plant’s sugar food that was stored in the

animal’s cells. Some consumers eat both plant and animal

material (omnivore).

change (e.g., local river study).

Science Concept:

a. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources, an ecosystem

will maintain equilibrium and continue indefinitely.

b. Factors that affect biotic or abiotic resources such as

disease, predation, climate, and pollution can change the

dynamics of an ecosystem and the interdependent relationships

among populations of organisms. until a new

equilibrium is reached (e.g., Members of a species that

occur together at a given time are referred to as a population).

an ecosystem by…

the ecosystem to sustain life while conserving mass (e.g.,

worm farm, compost).

Science Concept:

a. When decomposers break down the matter contained in

plants and animals, the molecules of matter can be recycled

through the ecosystem and used by plants to produce

food or as building material for all organisms.

b. As matter is transferred from one organism to another

in an ecosystem, the total amount (mass) remains the

same. [See S :15— Physical Science Chemical Change.]

into groups based on internal and external structures

recognized by scientists.

another and produce fertile offspring are classified as a

species.

Science Concepts:

a. Scientists organize the vast diversity of organisms by

describing similarities and differences among living

things. Details of internal and external structures of organisms

are more important for scientific classification than

behavior and general appearance.

b. Individuals that can reproduce with one another and

produce fertile offspring are classified as a species.

Science Concepts:

a. Differences in physical characteristics (traits) occur

randomly (by chance) in a population or species.

b. As environments change, organisms that possess advantageous

traits (those that enable them to survive) pass

those traits to offspring through reproduction.

a. Every organism requires a set of instructions (genes) for

specifying its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions

from one generation to another.

b. An inherited trait of an individual can be determined by

one or by many genes, and a single gene can influence

more than one trait.

to maintain equilibrium.

system.

Science Concepts:

a. The lungs take in the oxygen that the body cell’s need

for the chemical change that releases energy from food

and the lungs eliminate carbon dioxide that produced during

the chemical change.

b. The reproductive system enables the whole organism

(human) to reproduce.

c . In order to maintain equilibrium, internal body systems

react to environmental changes through the nervous system.

(e.g., sweating, increased respiration during exercise,

response to environmental stimuli, etc.).

fungi) and toxic materials that can interfere with body

systems and cause harm.

Science Concepts:

a. Viruses, bacteria. Fungi, and parasites may infect then

human body and interfere with normal body functions.

b. The environment may contain dangerous levels of substances

that are harmful to human beings.

system and its relationship to the galaxy .

Science Concepts:

a. The sun is many thousands of times closer to the earth

than any other star. The sun is located near the edge of a

disc-shaped galaxy of stars.

water cycle (precipitation, evaporation, condensation, runoff,

ground water, transpiration).

weather patterns.

and explaining how the sun’s energy hitting the earth surface

creates the seasons.

Science Concepts:

a. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays

an important role in determining climatic patterns. Water

evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises and cools,

condenses into rain or snow, and falls again to the surface.

Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local

weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because

water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.

b. The entire planet is surrounded by a relatively thin blanket

of air composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and small

amounts of other gases, including water vapor.

c. Heat from the sun is the primary source of energy for

changes on the earth’s surface. The differences in heating

of the earth’s surface produce the planet’s weather patterns.

d. Seasons result from variations in the amount of sun’s

energy hitting the earth’s surface. This happens because of

the tilt of the earth’s axis and the orbit of the earth around

the sun.

monitoring/managing them for responsible use.

a. Human activities have impacts on natural resources,

such as increasing wildlife habitats, reducing/managing

the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and

variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere and intensive

farming. Some of these changes have decreased

the capacity of the environment to support life forms. Others

have enhanced the environment to support greater

availability of resources.

b. Fresh water, limited in supply, is essential for life and

also for most industrial processes. Rivers, lakes, and

groundwater can be depleted or polluted, becoming unavailable

or unsuitable for life.