PAN-ASIA SCIENCE: GRADE 6

Content Standards

Standard One: Science as Inquiry

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

• Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.
• Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations. Different scientific domains employ different methods, core theories, and standards to advance scientific knowledge and understanding.
• Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
• Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.
• Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories. The scientific community accepts and uses such explanations until displaced by better scientific ones. When such displacement occurs, science advances.
• Science advances through legitimate skepticism. Asking questions and querying other scientists' explanations is part of scientific inquiry. Scientists evaluate the explanations proposed by other scientists by examining evidence, comparing evidence, identifying faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations.
• Scientific investigations sometimes result in new ideas and phenomena for study, generate new methods or procedures for an investigation, or develop new technologies to improve the collection of data. All of these results can lead to new investigations.

1. Benchmarks: As a result of their experiences in grade 6 science class, all students should be able to:
   1. Describe various steps in scientific methods
   2. Identify questions that can be answered through scientific inquiry.
   3. Formulate a testable hypothesis.
   4. Design and conduct an experiment specifying variables to be changed, controlled, and measured.
   5. Select appropriate tools and technology (e.g., calculators, computers, thermometers, meter sticks, balances, graduated cylinders, and microscopes), and make quantitative observations.
   6. Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
   7. Think critically and logically to establish links between evidence and explanations.
   8. Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
   9. Present and explain data and findings using multiple representations, including tables, graphs, mathematical and physical models, and demonstrations.
   10. Organize and present data using computer software programs like Excel and PowerPoint
   11. Draw conclusions based on data or evidence presented in tables or graphs, and make inferences based on patterns or trends in the data.
   12. Communicate procedures and results using appropriate science and technology terminology.
   13. Offer explanations of procedures, and critique and revise them.
   14. Follow appropriate safety procedures when conducting laboratory experiments

Mathematical Skills

1. Solve simple algebraic expressions.
2. Perform basic statistical procedures to analyze the center and spread of data.
3. Measure with accuracy and precision (e.g., length, volume, mass, temperature, time)
4. Convert within a unit (e.g., centimeters to meters).
5. Use common prefixes such as milli-, centi-, and kilo-.
6. Use scientific notation, where appropriate.
7. Use appropriate metric/standard international (SI) units of measurement for mass (kg); length (m); time (s); force (N); speed (m/s); acceleration (m/s2); and frequency (Hz).
8. Use the Celsius scale.

Standard Two: Physical Science

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT PROPERTIES OF MATTER

• A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. 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. Substances often are placed in categories or groups if they react in similar ways; metals is an example of such a group.
• Chemical elements do not break down during normal laboratory reactions involving such treatments as heating, exposure to electric current, or reaction with acids. 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.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT MOTION AND FORCES

• The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. That motion can be measured and represented on a graph.
• An object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line.
• If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. Unbalanced forces will cause changes in the speed or direction of an object's motion.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT ENERGY TRANSFER

• 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.
• Electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy when heat, light, sound, and chemical changes are produced.
• In most chemical and nuclear reactions, energy is transferred into or out of a system. Heat, light, mechanical motion, or electricity might all be involved in such transfers.
• The sun is a major source of energy for changes on the earth's surface. The sun loses energy by emitting light. A tiny fraction of that light reaches the earth, transferring energy from the sun to the earth. The sun's energy arrives as light with a range of wavelengths, consisting of visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet radiation.

2.Benchmarks: As a result of their experiences in grade 6 science class, all students should be able to:

Properties of Matter

1. Differentiate between weight and mass, recognizing that weight is the amount of gravitational pull on an object.
2. Differentiate between volume and mass. Define density.
3. Recognize that the measurement of volume and mass requires understanding of the sensitivity of measurement tools (e.g., rulers, graduated cylinders, balances) and knowledge and appropriate use of significant digits.
4. Define and give examples of the International System of Units
5. Make appropriate estimations before measuring.
6. Accurately measure volume, mass, time, rate, and temperature using appropriate and varied devices and methods.
7. Present findings from measurements in graphs and tables, both hand-drawn and computerized.
8. Explain and give examples of how mass is conserved in a closed system.

Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures

1. Recognize that there are more than 100 elements that combine in a multitude of ways to produce compounds that make up all of the living and nonliving things that we encounter.
2. Differentiate between an atom (the smallest unit of an element that maintains the characteristics of that element) and a molecule (the smallest unit of a compound that maintains the characteristics of that compound).
3. Explain the structure and characteristics of atoms and molecules.
4. Define and give examples of the thee primary states of matter.
5. Give basic examples of elements, compounds, and mixtures.
6. Differentiate between mixtures and pure substances.
7. Recognize that a substance (element or compound) has a melting point and a boiling point, both of which are independent of the amount of the sample.
8. Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.

Motion of Objects

1. 2.17.Explain and give examples of how the motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed.
2. Graph and interpret distance vs. time graphs for constant speed.
3. Explain and apply Newton’s laws of motion
4. Explain and demonstrate the effect of simple machines on motion and force

Forms of Energy

1. Differentiate between potential and kinetic energy. Identify situations where kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy and vice versa.
2. Explain the law of the conservation of energy
3. Recognize that heat is a form of energy and that temperature change results from adding or taking away heat from a system.
4. Explain the effect of heat on particle motion through a description of what happens to particles during a change in phase.
5. Give examples of how heat moves in predictable ways, moving from warmer objects to cooler ones until they reach equilibrium.
6. Recognize that chemical reactions produce energy.
7. Explain the difference and give examples of endothermic and exothermic reactions.
8. Describe the role of catalysts in chemical reactions
9. Recognize that electricity and magnetism are forms of energy
10. Give examples of insulators and conductors
11. Describe the characteristics of electrical currents
12. Create an electrical circuit
13. Describe the characteristics of magnetism
14. Give examples of the practical applications of magnetism
15. Describe the relationship between electricity and magnetism
16. Explain the characteristics and properties of waveform energy
17. Give examples of wave energy

Standard Three: Earth Science

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH SYSTEM

• The solid earth is layered with a lithosphere; hot, convecting mantle; and dense, metallic core.
• Lithospheric plates on the scales of continents and oceans constantly move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle. Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from these plate motions.
• Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment, while destructive forces include weathering and erosion.
• Some changes in the solid earth can be described as the "rock cycle." Old rocks at the earth's surface weather, forming sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock. Eventually, those new rocks may be brought to the surface by the forces that drive plate motions, and the rock cycle continues.
• Soil consists of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material from dead plants, animals, and bacteria. Soils are often found in layers, with each having a different chemical composition and texture.
• 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." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.
• Water is a solvent. As it passes through the water cycle it dissolves minerals and gases and carries them to the oceans.
• The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations.
• Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.
• 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.
• Living organisms have played many roles in the earth system, including affecting the composition of the atmosphere, producing some types of rocks, and contributing to the weathering of rocks.
• The earth processes we see today, including erosion, movement of lithospheric plates, and changes in atmospheric composition, are similar to those that occurred in the past. Earth history is also influenced by occasional catastrophes, such as the impact of an asteroid or comet.
• Fossils provide important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.

3.Benchmarks: As a result of their experiences in grade 6 science class, all students should be able to:

Rocks and Minerals

1. Differentiate between rocks and minerals
2. Describe the basic characteristics of rocks and minerals
3. Give examples of rocks and minerals
4. Explain how rocks and minerals are formed
5. Describe how humans use rocks and minerals for various applications and purposes

The Atmosphere

1. Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the earth’s system.
2. Explain the relationship among the energy provided by the sun, the global patterns of atmospheric movement, and the temperature differences among water, land, and atmosphere.
3. Explain the water cycle
4. Describe the role of oceans in Earth’s atmospheric processes
5. Describe and explain the basic forces that create Earth’s weather
6. Describe the characteristics of common weather patterns and phenomena

Earth’s History

1. Describe Earth’s structure
2. Describe how the movement of the earth’s crustal plates causes both slow changes in the earth’s surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and earthquakes).
3. Describe and give examples of ways in which the earth’s surface is built up and torn down by natural processes, including deposition of sediments, rock formation, erosion, and weathering.
4. Explain and give examples of how physical evidence, such as fossils and surface features of glaciation, supports theories that the earth has evolved over geologic time.

Standard Four: Space Science

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SPACE SCIENCE

• The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. The sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system.
• Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. Those motions 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. Gravity alone holds us to the earth's surface and explains the phenomena of the tides.
• The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth's surface, such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle. Seasons result from variations in the amount of the sun's energy hitting the surface, due to the tilt of the earth's rotation on its axis and the length of the day.

4.Benchmarks: As a result of their experiences in grade 6 science class, all students should be able to:

The Earth in the Solar System

1. Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the earth. Gravity plays a major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in determining their motions.
2. Describe lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, and tides. Relate them to the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.
3. Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).
4. Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn causes the seasons.
5. Describe the structure of the solar system
6. Describe the characteristics of electromagnetic radiation
7. Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies, and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.
8. Describe the basic characteristics of stars and galaxies
9. Explain and give examples of the ways in which humans have attempted to explore space

Standard Five: Life Science

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT THE 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 they 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. Each type of cell, tissue, and organ has a distinct structure and set of functions that serve the organism as a whole.
• The human organism has systems for digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, control, and coordination, and for protection from disease. These systems interact with one another.
• Disease is a breakdown in structures or functions of an organism. Some diseases are the result of intrinsic failures of the system. Others are the result of damage by infection by other organisms.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTION AND HEREDITY

• Reproduction is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually.
• In many species, including humans, females produce eggs and males produce sperm. Plants also reproduce sexually—the egg and sperm are produced in the flowers of flowering plants. An egg and sperm unite to begin development of a new individual. That new individual receives genetic information from its mother (via the egg) and its father (via the sperm). Sexually produced offspring never are identical to either of their parents.
• Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.
• Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. Each gene carries a single unit of information. 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. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes.
• The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT 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.
• Regulation of an organism's internal environment involves sensing the internal environment and changing physiological activities to keep conditions within the range required to survive.
• Behavior is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental stimulus. A behavioral response requires coordination and communication at many levels, including cells, organ systems, and whole organisms. 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.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT POPULATIONS AND ECOSYSTEMS

• A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.
• Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. Plants and some microorganisms are producers—they make their own food. All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
• For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.
• The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.
• When an area becomes overpopulated, the environment will become degraded due to the increased use of resources.
• Causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion vary from region to region and from country to country.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT 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.
• Biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations. 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.
• Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival. Fossils indicate that many organisms that lived long ago are extinct. Extinction of species is common; most of the species that have lived on the earth no longer exist.

5.Benchmarks: As a result of their experiences in grade 6 science class, all students should be able to:

Structure and Function of Cells

1. Recognize that all organisms are composed of cells, and that many organisms are single-celled (unicellular), e.g., bacteria, yeast. In these single-celled organisms, one cell must carry out all of the basic functions of life.
2. Compare and contrast plant and animal cells, including major organelles (cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, vacuoles).
3. Recognize that within cells, many of the basic functions of organisms (e.g., extracting energy from food and getting rid of waste) are carried out. The way in which cells function is similar in all living organisms.

Classification of Organisms

1. Classify organisms into the currently recognized kingdoms according to characteristics that they share. Be familiar with organisms from each kingdom.
2. Differentiate between vertebrate and invertebrate animal.
3. Categorize and describe the characteristics of various invertebrates
4. Categorize and describe the characteristics of various vertebrates

The Human Body

1. Describe the hierarchical organization of multi-cellular organisms from cell to tissue to organs to systems to organisms.
2. Explain the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.
3. Describe the basic processes by which humans reproduce and develop

Heredity

1. Recognize that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits. These instructions are stored in the organism’s chromosomes. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.
2. Recognize that hereditary information is contained in genes located in the chromosomes of each cell. A human cell contains about 30,000 different genes on 23 different chromosomes.
3. Compare sexual reproduction (offspring inherit half of their genes from each parent) with asexual reproduction (offspring is an identical copy of the parent’s cell).

Ecology

1. Define ecosystem
2. Give examples of types of ecosystems
3. Differentiate between living and nonliving parts of ecosystems
4. Give examples of balance in an ecosystem
5. Define population and explain the general characteristics of populations
6. Give examples of ways in which organisms interact and have different functions within an ecosystem that enable the ecosystem to survive.
7. Explain the roles and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.
8. Explain how dead plants and animals are broken down by other living organisms and how this process contributes to the system as a whole.
9. Recognize that producers (plants that contain chlorophyll) use the energy from sunlight to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water through a process called photosynthesis. This food can be used immediately, stored for later use, or used by other organisms.
10. Demonstrate how energy is transferred through an ecosystem
11. Describe how human activity impacts ecosystems’
12. Differentiate between renewable and nonrenewable resources
13. Identify and describe various environmental problems caused by human activity
14. Describe various ways by which we can protect and conserve the environment
15. Give examples of how science can help alleviate environmental problems

Supplementary Standards

Standard Six: Science and Technology

IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE PROBLEMS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN. Students should develop their abilities by identifying a specified need, considering its various aspects, and talking to different potential users or beneficiaries. They should appreciate that for some needs, the cultural backgrounds and beliefs of different groups can affect the criteria for a suitable product.

DESIGN A SOLUTION OR PRODUCT. Students should make and compare different proposals in the light of the criteria they have selected. They must consider constraints—such as cost, time, trade-offs, and materials needed—and communicate ideas with drawings and simple models.

IMPLEMENT A PROPOSED DESIGN. Students should organize materials and other resources, plan their work, make good use of group collaboration where appropriate, choose suitable tools and techniques, and work with appropriate measurement methods to ensure adequate accuracy.

EVALUATE COMPLETED TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGNS OR PRODUCTS. Students should use criteria relevant to the original purpose or need, consider a variety of factors that might affect acceptability and suitability for intended users or beneficiaries, and develop measures of quality with respect to such criteria and factors; they should also suggest

COMMUNICATE THE PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN. Students should review and describe any completed piece of work and identify the stages of problem identification, solution design, implementation, and evaluation.

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Scientific inquiry and technological design have similarities and differences. Scientists propose explanations for questions about the natural world, and engineers propose solutions relating to human problems, needs, and aspirations. Technological solutions are temporary; technologies exist within nature and so they cannot contravene physical or biological principles; technological solutions have side effects; and technologies cost, carry risks, and provide benefits.

Many different people in different cultures have made and continue to make contributions to science and technology.

Science and technology are reciprocal. Science helps drive technology, as it addresses questions that demand more sophisticated instruments and provides principles for better instrumentation and technique. Technology is essential to science, because it provides instruments and techniques that enable observations of objects and phenomena that are otherwise unobservable due to factors such as quantity, distance, location, size, and speed. Technology also provides tools for investigations, inquiry, and analysis.

Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All technological solutions have trade-offs, such as safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance. Engineers often build in back-up systems to provide safety. Risk is part of living in a highly technological world. Reducing risk often results in new technology.

Technological designs have constraints. Some constraints are unavoidable, for example, properties of materials, or effects of weather and friction; other constraints limit choices in the design, for example, environmental protection, human safety, and aesthetics.

Technological solutions have intended benefits and unintended consequences. Some consequences can be predicted, others cannot.

Standard Seven: Personal and Social Perspectives of Science

PERSONAL HEALTH

• Regular exercise is important to the maintenance and improvement of health. The benefits of physical fitness include maintaining healthy weight, having energy and strength for routine activities, good muscle tone, bone strength, strong heart/lung systems, and improved mental health. Personal exercise, especially developing cardiovascular endurance, is the foundation of physical fitness.
• The potential for accidents and the existence of hazards imposes the need for injury prevention. Safe living involves the development and use of safety precautions and the recognition of risk in personal decisions. Injury prevention has personal and social dimensions.
• The use of tobacco increases the risk of illness. Students should understand the influence of short-term social and psychological factors that lead to tobacco use, and the possible long-term detrimental effects of smoking and chewing tobacco.
• Alcohol and other drugs are often abused substances. Such drugs change how the body functions and can lead to addition.
• Food provides energy and nutrients for growth and development. Nutrition requirements vary with body weight, age, sex, activity, and body functioning.
• Sex drive is a natural human function that requires understanding. Sex is also a prominent means of transmitting diseases. The diseases can be prevented through a variety of precautions.
• Natural environments may contain substances (for example, radon and lead) that are harmful to human beings. Maintaining environmental health involves establishing or monitoring quality standards related to use of soil, water, and air.

NATURAL HAZARDS

• Internal and external processes of the earth system cause natural hazards, events that change or destroy human and wildlife habitats, damage property, and harm or kill humans. Natural hazards include earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, floods, storms, and even possible impacts of asteroids.
• Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.
• Natural hazards can present personal and societal challenges because misidentifying the change or incorrectly estimating the rate and scale of change may result in either too little attention and significant human costs or too much cost for unneeded preventive measures.

RISKS AND BENEFITS

• Risk analysis considers the type of hazard and estimates the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer consequences. The results are used to determine the options for reducing or eliminating risks.
• Students should understand the risks associated with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions), with chemical hazards (pollutants in air, water, soil, and food), with biological hazards (pollen, viruses, bacterial, and parasites), social hazards (occupational safety and transportation), and with personal hazards (smoking, dieting, and drinking).
• Individuals can use a systematic approach to thinking critically about risks and benefits. Examples include applying probability estimates to risks and comparing them to estimated personal and social benefits.
• Important personal and social decisions are made based on perceptions of benefits and risks.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIETY

• Science influences society through its knowledge and world view. Scientific knowledge and the procedures used by scientists influence the way many individuals in society think about themselves, others, and the environment. The effect of science on society is neither entirely beneficial nor entirely detrimental.
• Societal challenges often inspire questions for scientific research, and social priorities often influence research priorities through the availability of funding for research.
• Technology influences society through its products and processes. Technology influences the quality of life and the ways people act and interact. Technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes that can be beneficial or detrimental to individuals and to society. Social needs, attitudes, and values influence the direction of technological development.
• Science and technology have advanced through contributions of many different people, in different cultures, at different times in history. Science and technology have contributed enormously to economic growth and productivity among societies and groups within societies.
• Scientists and engineers work in many different settings, including colleges and universities, businesses and industries, specific research institutes, and government agencies.
• Scientists and engineers have ethical codes requiring that human subjects involved with research be fully informed about risks and benefits associated with the research before the individuals choose to participate. This ethic extends to potential risks to communities and property. In short, prior knowledge and consent are required for research involving human subjects or potential damage to property.
• Science cannot answer all questions and technology cannot solve all human problems or meet all human needs. Students should understand the difference between scientific and other questions. They should appreciate what science and technology can reasonably contribute to society and what they cannot do. For example, new technologies often will decrease some risks and increase others.

Standard Eight: History and Nature of Science

SCIENCE AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR

• Women and men of various social and ethnic backgrounds—and with diverse interests, talents, qualities, and motivations—engage in the activities of science, engineering, and related fields such as the health professions. Some scientists work in teams, and some work alone, but all communicate extensively with others.
• Science requires different abilities, depending on such factors as the field of study and type of inquiry. Science is very much a human endeavor, and the work of science relies on basic human qualities, such as reasoning, insight, energy, skill, and creativity—as well as on scientific habits of mind, such as intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism, and openness to new ideas.
• Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. Although all scientific ideas are tentative and subject to change and improvement in principle, for most major ideas in science, there is much experimental and observational confirmation. Those ideas are not likely to change greatly in the future. Scientists do and have changed their ideas about nature when they encounter new experimental evidence that does not match their existing explanations.
• In areas where active research is being pursued and in which there is not a great deal of experimental or observational evidence and understanding, it is normal for scientists to differ with one another about the interpretation of the evidence or theory being considered. Different scientists might publish conflicting experimental results or might draw different conclusions from the same data. Ideally, scientists acknowledge such conflict and work towards finding evidence that will resolve their disagreement.
• It is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists. Evaluation includes reviewing the experimental procedures, examining the evidence, identifying faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations. Although scientists may disagree about explanations of phenomena, about interpretations of data, or about the value of rival theories, they do agree that questioning, response to criticism, and open communication are integral to the process of science. As scientific knowledge evolves, major disagreements are eventually resolved through such interactions between scientists.
• Students should understand the difference between scientific and other questions and what science and technology can reasonably contribute to society.

HISTORY OF SCIENCE

• Many individuals have contributed to the traditions of science. Studying some of these individuals provides further understanding of scientific inquiry, science as a human endeavor, the nature of science, and the relationships between science and society.
• In historical perspective, science has been practiced by different individuals in different cultures. In looking at the history of many peoples, one finds that scientists and engineers of high achievement are considered to be among the most valued contributors to their culture.
• Tracing the history of science can show how difficult it was for scientific innovators to break through the accepted ideas of their time to reach the conclusions that we currently take for granted.

Topic: Human Body Systems

Structure and Function of Cells

Students will be able to…

6.1   Recognize that many of the basic functions of organisms (e.g. extracting energy from food and getting rid of waste) are carried out within cells.  The way in which cells function is similar in all living things.

Systems in Living Things

6.2   Describe the hierarchical organization of multi cellular organisms from cell to tissue to organs to systems to organisms.

6.3  Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.

Topic: Water & Weather

Heat Transfer in the Earth’s System

Students will be able to…

6.4   Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the earth’s system.

6.5   Explain the relationship among the energy provided by the sun, the global patterns of atmospheric movement, and the temperature differences among water, land, and atmosphere.

Topic: Heat Energy

Heat Energy

Students will be able to…

6.6   Recognize that heat is a form of energy and that temperature change results from adding or taking away heat from a system.

6.7   Give examples of how heat moves in predictable ways, moving from warmer objects to cooler ones until they reach equilibrium

Topic: Technology/Engineering

Materials, Tools and Machines

Students will be able to…

6.8   Identify appropriate materials, tools, and machines to solve problems

6.9   Engineering Design: Students will be able to…

6.10            Identify and explain the steps of the engineering design process.

6.11            Demonstrate methods of representing solutions to a design problem.

Topic: Scientific Inquiry

Use of Tools

Students will be able to…

6.12            Use simple tools such as rulers, magnifiers, balances, thermometers, graduated cylinders, etc. to observe and measure things carefully.

Experimentation

Students will be able to…

6.13            Pose questions, design and conduct simple science experiments using appropriate equipment and measuring tools.  Some questions may be posed by the student and some will be posed by the teacher.

6.14            Predict, observe, classify and clearly record results in journals or logs.

6.15            Communicate scientific procedures and explanations using presentations, charts, simple graphs, discussions and writing.

6.16            Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.

6.17            Compare results and explanations with scientific knowledge.

Discussion & Presentation

Students will be able to…

6.18            Participate in formal and informal discussions in large and small groups, using agreed upon rules to conduct and facilitate them

6.19            Organize and present their thoughts in a logical manner

6.20            Support their ideas with evidence or details; expect and request the same of others

6.21            Actively listen, respond to, and build on ideas generated during discussions

6.22            Use the information to inform or change their perspectives

6.23            Ask for clarification when others’ responses are unclear

6.24            Summarize and evaluate what they have learned from the discussion

6.25            Evaluate the productivity of discussions using established criteria; make suggestions to improve the discussions

6.26            Give oral presentations, using established criteria to prepare, assess, and improve their presentations

Composition

Students will be able to…

6.27            Write frequently in response to readings, other presentations, and observations (e.g., summaries, questions, reactions, connections, predictions, reports).

6.28            Maintain a system for collecting, referring to, and sharing their thoughts, observations, writings, illustrations, and other work.

6.29            Write occasional, brief research reports to extend their knowledge beyond classroom presentations; include a clear focus and supporting details

6.30          Write, share, assess, and revise frequent responses to MCAS-like, open response (key) questions posed by the teacher