GRADE 6 Focus on Earth
Science
Shaping the Earth’s Surface
2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a.
Students know water
running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the landscape, including
California’s landscape.
b.
Students know rivers
and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course,
and flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.
c.
Students know beaches
are dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by rivers and moved along the
coast by the action of waves.
d.
Students know earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods change human and wildlife habitats.
Heat
(Thermal Energy) (Physical Science)
3. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the objects are at the same temperature. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a.
Students know energy
can be carried from one place to another by heat flow or by waves, including
water, light and sound waves, or by moving objects.
Energy
in the Earth System
4. Many phenomena on Earth's surface are affected by the transfer of energy through radiation and convection currents. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a.
Students know the
sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on Earth’s surface; it powers
winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
b.
Students know solar
energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the form of visible light.
d.
Students know convection
currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.
e.
Students know differences
in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity result in changes of weather.
Investigation and Experimentation
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a.
Develop a hypothesis.
b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
c.
Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about
the relationships between variables.
d.
Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and
oral presentations.
e.
Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.
f.
Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps and
construct and interpret a simple scale map.
g.
Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the
relative ages of rocks and intrusions).
h.
Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the
phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a grove of trees, a stream, a hill or slope).
Grade 7
Investigation
and Experimentation
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
b.
Use a variety of print and electronic resources (including the World Wide Web)
to collect information and evidence as part of a research project.
c.
Communicate the logical connection among hypotheses, science concepts, tests
conducted, data collected, and conclusions drawn from the scientific evidence.
d.
Construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate
scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth’s plates and cell structure).
e.
Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and
oral presentations.
Grade 8Grade Eight
Focus on Physical Science
Motion
1. The velocity of an object is the rate of change of its position. As a basis for under-standing this concept:
a. Students know position is defined in relation
to some choice of a standard reference point and a set of reference directions.
b. Students know that average speed is the total
distance traveled divided by the total time elapsed and that the speed of an
object along the path traveled can vary.
c. Students know how to solve problems involving
distance, time, and average speed.
d. Students know the velocity of an object must
be described by specifying both the direction and the speed of the object.
e. Students know changes in velocity may be due
to changes in speed, direction, or both.
f. Students know how to interpret graphs of
position versus time and graphs of speed versus time for motion in a single
direction.
Forces
2. Unbalanced forces cause changes in velocity. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know a force has both direction and
magnitude.
b. Students know when an object is subject to two
or more forces at once; the result is the cumulative effect of all the forces.
c. Students know when the forces on an object are
balanced; the motion of the object does not change.
Density and Buoyancy
8. All objects experience a buoyant force when immersed in a fluid. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a.
Students know density
is mass per unit volume.
b.
Students know how
to calculate the density of substances (regular and irregular solids and
liquids) from measurements of mass and volume.
c.
Students know the
buoyant force on an object in a fluid is an upward force equal to the weight of
the fluid the object has displaced.
d.
Students know how
to predict whether an object will float or sink.
Investigation
and Experimentation
9. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a.
Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.
b.
Evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data.
c.
Distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test.
d.
Recognize the slope of the linear graph as the constant in the relationship y =
kx and
apply this principle in interpreting graphs constructed from data.
Grade 9-12
Physics
Motion and Forces
1. Newton’s laws predict the motion of most objects. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to solve problems that
involve constant speed and average speed.
b. Students know that when forces are balanced,
no acceleration occurs; thus an object continues to move at a constant speed or
stays at rest (Newton’s first law).
c. Students know how to apply the law F = ma to solve one-dimensional motion problems that involve constant
forces (Newton’s second law).
Investigation and Experimentation
1. Scientific
progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the
content in the other four strands, students should develop their own questions
and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (such as
computer-linked probes, spreadsheets, and graphing calculators) to perform
tests, collect data, analyze relationships, and display data.
b. Identify and communicate sources of unavoidable experimental
error.
c. Identify possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as
sources of error or uncontrolled conditions.
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
e. Solve scientific problems by using quadratic equations and
simple trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
f. Distinguish between hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.
g. Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories
as scientific representations of reality.
h. Read and interpret topographic and geologic maps.
i. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time intervals that are
characteristics of natural phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks, locations
of planets over time, and succession of species in an ecosystem).
j. Recognize the issues of statistical variability and the need
for controlled tests.
k. Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
l. Analyze situations and solve problems that require combining
and applying concepts from more than one area of science.
m. Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the
literature, analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues
include irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear
transfer, choice of energy sources, and land and water use decisions in
California.
n. Know that when an observation does not agree with an accepted
scientific theory, the observation is sometimes mistaken or fraudulent (e. g.,
the Piltdown Man fossil or unidentified flying objects) and that the theory is
sometimes wrong (e.g., the Ptolemaic model of the movement of the Sun, Moon,
and planets).