This resource has 31 correlations with the National Standards.  
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• Life Science
  • Structure and function in living systems
    • All organisms are composed of cells--the fundamental unit of life
    • Most organisms are single cells; other organisms, including humans, are multicellular.
    • Cells carry on the many functions needed to sustain life. They grow and divide, thereby producing more cells.
  • Regulation and behavior
    • All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment.
    • Behavior is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental stimulus.
    • Behavioral response is a set of actions determined in part by heredity and in part from experience.
    • An organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment.
    • How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger are based in the species' evolutionary history
  • Populations and ecosystems
    • Plants and some micro-organisms are producers--they make their own food.
    • All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms.
    • Parasites are organisms that live in or on another organisms.
    • Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
    • Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.
  • Diversity and adaptations of organisms
    • Millions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today.
    • Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures, the similarity of their chemical processes, and the evidence of common ancestry.
    • Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations.
    • Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment
  • Behavior of organisms
    • Multicellular animals have nervous systems that generate behavior. (9-12)
    • Nervous systems are formed from specialized cells that conduct signals rapidly through the long cell extensions that make up nerves. (9-12)
    • The nerve cells communicate with each other by secreting specific excitatory and inhibitory molecules. (9-12)
    • Animals often live in unpredictable environments, and so their behavior must be flexible enough to deal with uncertainty and change. Plants also respond to stimuli. (9-12)

• Science as Inquiry
  • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
    • Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
    • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
    • Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
    • Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
    • Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
    • Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
  • Understandings about scientific inquiry
    • Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
    • Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations.

• Content Standards
  • Quality Teaching
    • Deepens educators’ content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (NSDC)

• Teaching Standards
  • Teachers provide students with the time, space, and resources needed to learn science.
    • Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.