Standards & Benchmarks for Energy

Legend: F=Focus in Lesson O=Ongoing Development E=Early Development

NSE STANDARDS			LESSONS									SBAS				SRB
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	1	2	3	4
A. Science as Inquiry
	Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry
		Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment. (Grades K-4)	O	O	O		O	O	O	O	O				O
		Plan and conduct a simple investigation. (Grades K-4)													F
		Communicate investigations and explanations. (Grades K-4)			O	O	O	O	O		O				O
		Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.					O		O				F
		Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.					O	O	O	O
		Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.			O		O	O	O	O			O
	Understandings About Scientific Inquiry
		Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer with what scientists already know about the world. (Grades K-4)										F				O
		Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer. Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting). (Grades K-4)													F
		Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations. (Grades K-4)					O		O						O
		Scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists' work. (Grades K-4)					O		O				O		O
		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.	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O		O		O	O
		Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations. Different scientific domains employ different methods, core theories, and standards to advance scientific knowledge and understanding.														O
		Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.														O
		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.														O
		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.														O
		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.														O
B. Physical Science
	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.	F	F	F	F	O	O	O	O	F					F
		Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.					F	F	F							O
		Electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy when heat, light, sound, and chemical changes are produced.			E					O						O
		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.			O											O
		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.														O
C. Life Science
	Populations and Ecosystems
		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.														O
D. Earth and Space Science
	Earth in the Solar System
		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.														O
E. Science and Technology
	Abilities of Technological Design
		Design a solution or product.									F
		Implement a proposed design.				O
	Understandings about Science and Technology
		People have always had questions about their world. Science is one way of answering questions and explaining the natural world. (Grades K-4)										O				O
		Scientists and engineers often work in teams with different individuals doing different things that contribute to the results. This understanding focuses primarily on teams working together and secondarily, on the combination of scientist and engineer teams. (Grades K-4)													O
		Many different people in different cultures have made and continue to make contributions to science and technology.														O
		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.														O
		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.														O
		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.														O
F. Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
	Personal Health
		Food provides energy and nutrients for growth and development. Nutrition requirements vary with body weight, age, sex, activity, and body functioning.		O												O
		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.														O
	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.														O
		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.														F
G. 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.														O
		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.									O					O
	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.														O
		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.														O
		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.														O
Unifying Concepts and Processes
	Evidence, models, and explanation					O	O		O		O					O

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Legend: F=Focus in Lesson O=Ongoing Development E=Early Development

AAAS BENCHMARKS			LESSONS									SBAS				SRB
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	1	2	3	4
1. The Nature of Science
	A. The Scientific World View
		Results of similar scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same. Sometimes this is because of unexpected differences in the things being investigated, sometimes because of unrealized differences in the methods used or in the circumstances in which the investigation is carried out, and sometimes just because of uncertainties in observations. It is not always easy to tell which.					O		O				O
	B. Scientific Inquiry
		Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others. (Grades K-2)		O			O		O		O		F
		Scientific investigations may take many different forms, including observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for analysis, and doing experiments. Investigations can focus on physical, biological, and social questions.	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O		O
		Results of scientific investigations are seldom exactly the same, but if the differences are large, it is important to try to figure out why. One reason for following directions carefully and for keeping records of one's work is to provide information on what might have caused the differences.					O		O				O		O
		Scientists' explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe, partly from what they think. Sometimes scientists have different explanations for the same set of observations. That usually leads to their making more observations to resolve the differences.	F	O	O		O		O	O
		If more than one variable changes at the same time in an experiment, the outcome of the experiment may not be clearly attributable to any one of the variables. (Grades 6-8)						O	O						F
	C. The Scientific Enterprise
		Science is an adventure that people everywhere can take part in, as they have for many centuries.														O
		Clear communication is an essential part of doing science. It enables scientists to inform others about their work, expose their ideas to criticism by other scientists, and stay informed about scientific discoveries around the world.	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	F	O		O	O
		Doing science involves many different kinds of work and engages men and women of all ages and backgrounds.														O
2. The Nature of Mathematics
	A. Patterns and Relationships
		Mathematical ideas can be represented concretely, graphically, and symbolically.					O							O	O	O
3. The Nature of Technology
	A. Technology and Science
		Throughout all of history, people everywhere have invented and used tools. Most tools of today are different from those of the past but many are modifications of very ancient tools.														O
		Measuring instruments can be used to gather accurate information for making scientific comparisons of objects and events and for designing and constructing things that will work properly.					O		O				F			O
		Technology extends the ability of people to change the world: to cut, shape, or put together materials; to move things from one place to another; and to reach farther with their hands, voices, senses, and minds. The changes may be for survival needs such as food, shelter, and defense, for communication and transportation, or to gain knowledge and express ideas.														O
	B. Design and Systems
		There is no perfect design. Designs that are best in one respect (safety or ease of use, for example) may be inferior in other ways (cost or appearance). Usually some features must be sacrificed to get others. How such trade-offs are received depends upon which features are emphasized and which are downplayed.									O					O
		Even a good design may fail. Sometimes steps can be taken ahead of time to reduce the likelihood of failure, but it cannot be entirely eliminated.									O
	C. Issues in Technology
		Technology has been part of life on the earth since the advent of the human species. Like language, ritual, commerce, and the arts, technology is an intrinsic part of human culture, and it both shapes society and is shaped by it. The technology available to people greatly influences what their lives are like.														O
		Any invention is likely to lead to other inventions. Once an invention exists, people are likely to think up ways of using it that were never imagined at first.														O
		Transportation, communications, nutrition, sanitation, health care, entertainment, and other technologies give large numbers of people today the goods and services that once were luxuries enjoyed only by the wealthy. These benefits are not equally available to everyone.														O
		Technologies often have drawbacks as well as benefits. A technology that helps some people or organisms may hurt others — either deliberately (as weapons can) or inadvertently (as pesticides can). When harm occurs or seems likely, choices have to be made or new solutions found.														O
4. The Physical Setting
	B. The Earth
		Things on or near the earth are pulled toward it by the earth's gravity.		O												O
		When liquid water disappears, it turns into a gas (vapor) in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. Clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets of water.														O
		Air is a substance that surrounds us, takes up space, and whose movement we feel as wind.														O
	E. Energy Transformation
		Things that give off light often also give off heat. Heat is produced by mechanical and electrical machines, and any time one thing rubs against something else.								F						O
		When warmer things are put with cooler ones, the warm ones lose heat and the cool ones gain it until they are all at the same temperature. A warmer object can warm a cooler one by contact or at a distance.					F	F	F							F
		Some materials conduct heat much better than others. Poor conductors can reduce heat loss.						F	F							F
		Many events involve transfer of energy from one object to another.			F	F	O	O	O	O	F					F
		Most processes involve the transfer of energy from one system to another. Energy can be transferred in different ways. (Grades 6-8)			F	F	O	O	O	O	F					F
		Energy appears in different forms. Motion energy is associated with the speed of an object. Heat energy is associated with the temperature of an object. Gravitational energy is associated with the height of an object above a reference point. Elastic energy is associated with the stretching of an elastic object. Chemical energy is associated with the chemical composition of a substance. Within a system, energy can be transformed from one form to another. (Grades 6-8)	E	F	F	F	O	O	O	O	F					F
	G. The Forces of Nature
		The earth's gravity pulls any object toward it without touching it.		O												O
5. The Living Environment
	E. Flow of Matter and Energy
		Almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants.														O
		Some source of "energy" is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.		O												O
6. The Human Organism
	C. Basic Function
		From food, people obtain energy and materials for body repair and growth. The indigestible parts of food are eliminated.		O												O
	E. Physical Health
		Food provides energy and materials for growth and repair of body parts. Vitamins and minerals, present in small amounts in food, are essential to keep everything working well. As people grow up, the amounts and kinds of food and exercise needed by the body may change.		O												O
8. The Designed World
	B. Materials and Manufacturing
		The choice of materials for a job depends on their properties and how they interact with other materials. (Grades 6-8)							F							O
	C. Energy Sources and Uses
		Moving air and water can be used to run machines.				F					F					O
		The sun is the main source of energy for people and they use it in various ways. The energy in fossil fuels such as oil and coal comes from the sun indirectly, because the fuels come from plants that grew long ago.		O												O
		Some energy sources cost less than others and some cause less pollution than others.								F						O
		People try to conserve energy in order to slow down the depletion of energy resources and/or to save money.								O						F
		Energy can change from one form to another, although in the process some energy is always converted to heat. Some systems transform energy with less loss of heat than others. (Grades 6-8)								F						O
9. The Mathematical World
	A. Numbers
		When people care about what is being counted or measured, it is important for them to say what the units are (three degrees Fahrenheit is different from three centimeters, three miles from three miles per hour).					O		O				O			O
		Measurements are always likely to give slightly different numbers, even if what is being measured stays the same.					O		O				F
	B. Symbolic Relationships
		Tables and graphs can show how values of one quantity are related to values of another.					F					O		F		O
	C. Shapes
		Graphical display of numbers may make it possible to spot patterns that are not otherwise obvious, such as comparative size and trends.					F					O		F		F
	D. Uncertainty
		Some predictions can be based on what is known about the past, assuming that conditions are pretty much the same now.						O	O	O
	E. Reasoning
		One way to make sense of something is to think how it is like something more familiar.						O
11. Common Themes
	A. Systems
		In something that consists of many parts, the parts usually influence one another.									O
	B. Models
		Geometric figures, number sequences, graphs, diagrams, sketches, number lines, maps, and stories can be used to represent objects, events, and processes in the real world, although such representations can never be exact in every detail.		O	O	O	O	O	O		O					O
	C. Constancy and Change
		Things change in steady, repetitive, or irregular ways — or sometimes in more than one way at the same time. Often the best way to tell which kinds of change are happening is to make a table or graph of measurements.					O							O		O
12. Habits of Mind
	A. Values and Attitudes
		Keep records of their investigations and observations and not change the records later.	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O		O	O	O
		Offer reasons for their findings and consider reasons suggested by others.			O		O		O		O		O
	C. Manipulation and Observation
		Keep a notebook that describes observations made, carefully distinguishes actual observations from ideas and speculations about what was observed, and is understandable weeks or months later.		O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O		O	O	O
	D. Communication Skills
		Write instructions that others can follow in carrying out a procedure.													O
		Make sketches to aid in explaining procedures or ideas.			O						F
		Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events.					O	O	O				O	O
		Organize information in simple tables and graphs and identify relationships they reveal. (Grades 6-8)					F							F		O
		Locate information in reference books, back issues of newspapers and magazines, compact disks, and computer databases. (Grades 6-8)										F				O
	E. Critical-Response Skills
		Recognize when comparisons might not be fair because some conditions are not kept the same.					O		O				O		F

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