SCIENCE

1. Trace energy transformations, and/or apply the principles of
mass/energy conservation to physical and biological systems

Identify the changes in the forms of energy within a system

2. Utilize models of atomic and molecular
structures and/or interactions to explain,
interpret, or predict experimental results

Explain how a chemical reaction
occurs on a molecular level

3. Use fundamental forces to explain and make predictions about
motions and changes in systems

Explain how the path of a thrown ball can be predicted and
why the ball falls toward the ground

4. Analyze the results of changing a component of simple systems

Explain and predict how a change can affect a system like a
lake, a machine, or a mountain range

5. Relate structure and function in physical and biological systems

Use the structure of wings and feathers to explain why birds
can fly

6. Predict the effect on an ecosystem due to a given or proposed
environmental change

Identify how an environmental change will disrupt the
balance of an ecosystem

7. Evaluate the scientific validity of data used in persuasive
communication

Evaluate the adverstising claim of a soap product

8. Formulate an experimental design to test a given hypothesis

Design an experiment that will test an idea

9. Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of natural
phenomena on the earth's geological formations over short and
long time spans

Explain how and why mountains, rivers, and lakes change

10. Analyze and interpret meteorological data and predict weather
for a specified location

Use data to predict weather

11. Relate planetary cycles and observations to natural phenomen
including seasons, tides, days/nights, phases of the moon and
eclipses

Explain the tides or an eclipse of the sun

12. Demonstrate an understanding of units of measure and
precision by using an appropriate measuring device for an
application

Identify the appropriate instrument needed to make a given
measurement

13. Identify the safety precautions that should be taken given a
Manufacturers Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or a product label with a
key

Know how to interpret safety precautions given on a MSDS
or a product label

14. Relate the effects of biotic and abiotic factors to animal life
including growth, reproduction, and behavior.

Describe how living and nonliving (like fleas and floods)
factors can affect animal life

15. Demonstrate an understanding that scientific theories and
methods have developed and continue to develop throgh time

Describe how light and water affect plants

16. Relate the effect of light and other factors on various aspects of
plant life and growth, including photosynthesis and respiration,
germination, and tropism

Describe how light and water affect plants

17. Relate patterns of diversity, extinction, adaptation, and
speciation as a result of natural selection at the molecular and
population levels

Explain why maple seeds that spin as they fall provide a
survival advantage to the maple tree; Use DNA to explain
how bulldogs and greyhounds are alike and different

18. Relate biodiversity to the stability of ecosystems within
biomes

Explain why a forest is more stable than a corn field when a
plant disease occurs