BOE Approved Science Curriculum

Kindergarten:

Focus: Students will investigate how the five senses provide information. Students will recognize patterns and effects of weather. Students will describe relationships between plants and animals and their environments. Students will analyze the effects of different forces on an object. With support, students will engineer solutions to problems and construct arguments based on information learned through investigation.

• Students will relate the five senses to their function.
• Students will analyze how forces affect an object to determine why an object moves.
• Students will recognize patterns and variations in local weather and the purpose of weather forecasting.
• Students will analyze the relationships between plants, animals (including humans) and the environment. Students will explore solutions to reduce human impact on the environment.
• With support, students will use engineering design to solve problems.

1st Grade:

Focus: Students will analyze the relationships between topics including light and sound, parents and offspring, and objects in space. With support, students will engineer solutions to problems and construct arguments based on information learned through investigation.

• Students will investigate light and the relationship between sound and vibrating materials to explain how they enable communication.
• Students will use specific examples to demonstrate how plant and animal characteristics are inherited from parents to help them survive.
• Students will explain patterns of object movement in the sky throughout the year.
• With support, students will use engineering design to solve problems.

2nd Grade:

Focus: Students will investigate the properties of matter and relationships between plants and animals. Students will analyze how erosion changes the land. Students will ask questions, make observations and gather data to define and solve a problem. Students will engineer solutions to problems and construct arguments based on information learned through investigation.

• Students will apply their understanding of properties of matter to evaluate a problem involving changes in materials.
• Students will apply their knowledge of weathering and erosion to develop a plan that minimizes their effects on Earth's surface.
• Students will gather and analyze information about plants and animals to explain how they are interdependent on one another for survival.
• Students will use engineering design to solve problems.

3rd Grade:

Focus: Students will explore the relationships between forces and motion. Students will use data to analyze weather patterns around the world. Students will evaluate the effectiveness of organisms’ adaptations for survival in their environments. Students will utilize engineering design standards as methods of inquiry.

• Students will investigate the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object, and apply scientific ideas of electric and magnetic interactions between two objects.
• Students will gather information about organisms past and present to analyze factors contributing to a species' survival.
• Students will describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles which follow the same pattern. Students will analyze and draw conclusions about how the environment and inherited traits influence organisms.
• Students will collect, organize and interpret data to examine seasonal weather patterns and climates, predict typical weather conditions, and evaluate a design solution for a specified weather-related hazard.
• Students will use engineering design, including identifying criteria and constraints, to solve problems and evaluate the effectiveness of their solution.

4th Grade:

Focus: Students will explore the relationships between energy and motion. Students will describe wave patterns and compare them to other patterns that transfer information. Students will examine structures of plants and animals that support life and receive information. Students will examine processes that shape the Earth. Students will utilize engineering design standards as methods of inquiry.

• Students will investigate the relationship between energy and motion, demonstrate that energy can be transferred, and describe that the use of energy affects the environment.
• Students will describe properties of waves, discover that waves can cause objects to move and demonstrate that patterns are used to transfer information.
• Students will analyze the internal and external structures of plants and animals which function to support life.
• Students will explain how Earth changes over time and generate ideas about how to lessen the impact of weathering and erosion on humans. Students will use engineering design, including identifying criteria and constraints, to solve problems and evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions.

5th Grade:

Students will investigate properties, and structures of matter. Students will compare and contrast Earth’s ecosystems. Students will examine the relationships among the Earth and space systems. Students will utilize engineering design standards as methods of inquiry.

• Students will model the particles within different states of matter and compare and contrast the properties of matter.
• Students will use evidence to determine whether a chemical or physical change has occurred.
• Students will analyze the relationships between matter and energy within an ecosystem.
• Students will explain the interactions among Earth's systems.
• Students will analyze the position and movement of Earth in space.
• Students will describe how objects on Earth are affected by its gravity.
• Students will use engineering design, including identifying criteria and constraints, to solve problems and evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions.

6th Grade:

Students will explain how organisms survive by identifying patterns and making connections between adaptations passed on through generations and the influence of the environment on organisms. Students will use engineering design principles in order to solve problems.

• Students will demonstrate how form and function relate in cells. Students will explain how cellular functions play a direct role in the way larger organisms function.
• Students will identify patterns, determine probabilities and analyze the effects of traits that offspring inherit from their parents. Students will examine the influence of humans and technology on artificially selected organisms.
• Students will apply the fundamentals of natural selection to demonstrate that life on Earth has evolved and continues to evolve.
• Students will examine the cycling of matter and flow of energy through ecosystems, apply laws of natural selection, and make observations and apply their knowledge of the interactions between living and nonliving parts of the local ecosystem to draw conclusions about the interconnectedness of life.
• Students will use engineering design to solve problems and precisely identify criteria and constraints to evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions, taking into consideration the context of the given problem. Students will compare and revise solutions to arrive at an optimal design.

7th Grade:

Focus: Students will use observations and make inferences to construct an understanding of the universe, and will analyze the role of forces and energy throughout the universe. Students will evaluate how processes on and within Earth impact humans. Students will use engineering design principles in order to solve problems.

• Students will explain the relationship between Earth and objects in space, their interactions and the forces involved.
• Students will analyze the processes, the energy flow and forces on Earth's surface and in Earth's interior to explain how natural resources are distributed.
• Students will analyze how evidence from fossils and rocks provide clues about Earth's history and the processes that have changed the surface. Students will evaluate ideas about how to lessen the impact of natural hazards.
• Students will investigate potential and kinetic energy and the relationship between them.
• Students will investigate motion and forces and provide evidence explaining how they interact.
• Students will investigate waves and how they interact with different materials. Students will construct an argument that digital signals are more reliable than analog signals.
• Students will use engineering design to solve problems and precisely identify criteria and constraints to evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions, taking into consideration the context of the given problem. Students will compare and revise solutions to arrive at an optimal design.

8th Grade:

Students will explore atomic structure, thermal energy and chemical reactions in order to develop a deeper understanding of matter, its properties and how it combines to form new substances. Students will examine human impacts on the environment, weather and climate as well as implications for future populations and communities. Students will use engineering design principles in order to solve problems.

• Students will model atomic and molecular structures, use the periodic table to determine properties of elements, balance and classify chemical equations to demonstrate conservation of matter, describe factors that affect the rate of chemical reactions and explain the role of energy in chemical reactions.
• Students will synthesize the effects of thermal energy on matter and model the effects of temperature on the kinetic energy of particles.
• Students will analyze environmental factors and their impact on the Earth (resource use, human population, ecosystems, biodiversity, and populations of organisms). Students will develop solutions to minimize human impacts on the environment.
• Students will analyze the effects of temperature on air masses, weather and climate. Students will examine evidence related to climate change.
• Students will analyze the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
• Students will use engineering design to solve problems and precisely identify criteria and constraints to evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions, taking into consideration the context of the given problem. Students will compare and revise solutions to arrive at an optimal design.