This resource has 85 correlations with the National Standards.  
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• Physical Science
  • Properties of objects and materials
    • Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, and temperature.
    • The observable properties of objects can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers.
    • Materials can exist in different states--solid, liquid, and gas.
  • Properties and changes of properties in matter
    • A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility.
    • A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.
    • Substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form new substances (compounds) with different characteristic properties.
    • In chemical reactions, the total mass is conserved.
    • There are more than 100 known elements that combine in a multitude of ways to produce compounds, which account for the living and nonliving substances that we encounter.
  • Structure and properties of matter
    • Atoms interact with one another by transferring or sharing electrons that are furthest from the nucleus. (9-12)
    • An element is composed of a single type of atom. (9-12)
    • Atoms may be bonded together into molecules or crystalline solids. (9-12)
    • The interactions among molecules are determined by the structure of the molecule, including the constituent atoms and the distances and angles between them. (9-12)
    • Carbon atoms can bond to one another in chains, rings, and branching networks to form a variety of structures, including synthetic polymers, oils, and the large molecules essential to life. (9-12)
  • Structure of atoms
    • Matter is made of minute particles called atoms, and atoms are composed of even smaller components. (9-12)
    • Each atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. (9-12)
    • The atom's nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, which are much more massive than electrons. (9-12)
  • Chemical Reactions
    • A large number of important reactions involve the transfer of electrons (oxidation/reduction reactions). (9-12)
    • A large number of important reactions involve the transfer of hydrogen ions (acid/base reactions) between reacting ions, molecules, or atoms. (9-12)
  • Position and motion of objects
    • Sound is produced by vibrating objects.
    • The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration.
  • Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
    • Light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object.
    • Light can be reflected by a mirror, refracted by a lens, or absorbed by the object.
    • Heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
    • Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another.
  • Transfer of Energy
    • Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical.
    • Energy is transferred in many ways.
    • Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.
    • Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection).
    • To see an object, light from that object--emitted by or scattered from it--must enter the eye.
  • Motion and Forces
    • Gravitation is a universal force that each mass exerts on any other mass. (9-12)
    • The strength of the gravitational attractive force between two masses is proportional to the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. (9-12)
  • Conservation of energy and increase in disorder
    • Energy can never be destroyed. (9-12)
    • Heat consists of random motion and the vibrations of atoms, molecules, and ions. (9-12)
    • The higher the temperature, the greater the atomic or molecular motion. (9-12)
  • Interactions of energy and matter
    • Waves, including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves, have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter. (9-12)

• Life Science
  • The characteristics of organisms
    • Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light.
    • Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.
  • Structure and function in living systems
    • Living systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function
    • Important levels of organization for structure and function include cells, organs, tissues, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems
    • 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.
    • This requires that cells take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or an organism needs.
    • Specialized cells perform specialized functions in multicellular organisms.
    • Groups of specialized cells cooperate to form a tissue, such as a muscle.
    • Different tissues are in turn grouped together to form larger functional units, called organs.
  • Reproduction and heredity
    • Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell.
  • 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.
  • Populations and ecosystems
    • Plants and some micro-organisms are producers--they make their own food.
  • 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.
  • The cell
    • The process of photosynthesis provides a vital connection between the sun and the energy needs of living systems. (9-12)
    • Cells can differentiate, and complex multicellular organisms are formed as a highly organized arrangement of differentiated cells. (9-12)
    • Cells have particular structures that underlie their functions. (9-12)
    • Every cell is surrounded by a membrane that separates it from the outside world. (9-12)
    • Inside the cell is a concentrated mixture of thousands of different molecules which form a variety of specialized structures that carry out such cell functions as energy production, transport of molecules, waste disposal, synthesis of new molecules, and the storage of genetic material. (9-12)
    • Food molecules taken into cells react to provide the chemical constituents needed to synthesize other molecules. (9-12)
    • Cells store and use information to guide their functions. (9-12)
    • The genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires. (9-12)
    • Plant cells contain chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis. (9-12)
  • Biological evolution
    • Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related. (9-12)
    • Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities which reflect their evolutionary relationships. (9-12)
  • Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
    • Living systems require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical organizations. With death, and the cessation of energy input, living systems rapidly disintegrate. (9-12)
    • Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between the atoms of carbon-containing (organic) molecules. These molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, sugars, and fats). (9-12)
    • The complexity and organization of organisms accommodates the need for obtaining, transforming, transporting, releasing, and eliminating the matter and energy used to sustain the organism. (9-12)
  • Behavior of organisms
    • Organisms have behavioral responses to internal changes and to external stimuli. (9-12)

• Earth Science
  • Changes in earth and sky
    • Some changes to the surface of the Earth are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes
    • Objects in the sky have patterns of movement.
    • The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.
  • Structure of the earth system
    • Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces.
    • Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment.
    • Destructive forces include weathering and erosion.
    • Some changes in the solid earth can be described as the "rock cycle."
    • Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle."
  • Earth in the solar system
    • Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion.
    • The motions of most objects in the solar system explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
    • Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun and governs the rest of the motion in the solar system.
  • Energy in the earth system
    • Heating of earth's surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents. (9-12)

• Science as Inquiry
  • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
    • 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
    • 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 of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
    • Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.
    • Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.