Standards & Benchmarks for Collecting & Examining Life

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

NSE STANDARDS			LESSONS																							SBA
			0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	S1	S2	S3	S4
A. Science as Inquiry
	Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
		Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.	F	F	O	O			O	O	O	O	O			O	O	O	O	O	O		O	O
		Plan and conduct a simple investigation.	F													O	O	O					O	O
		Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.	O	O	O	O	F		O	O	O			O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O			O		O		F	F
		Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.	F		O											O		O
		Communicate investigations and explanations.	F		O			F				O				O		O		F	O	F
	Understandings about scientific inquiry
		Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer with what scientists already know about the world.	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)	O	F											O	O		O	O		O		O	O
		Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide more information than scientists obtain using only their senses.		F														O	O		O					F		F	F
		Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations.			O											O	O	O	O
		Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.						O
		Scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists’ work.														O									O
B. Physical Science
	Properties of objects and materials
		Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, temperature, and the ability to react with other substances. Those properties can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers.												O		O
C. Life Science
	The characteristics of organisms
		Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms.			F	O	O		O	O	F	F	F	O			F	O	O	O		O	F	F	O
		Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.							F	F	F	F		F	F	F	O	F	F		F				O
	Life cycles of organisms
		Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms.															E				E
		Plants and animals closely resemble their parents.										E
	Organisms and their environments
		All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.										E
		All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.																						E
		Humans depend on their natural and constructed environments. Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms.				E														E
	Understanding about science and technology
		People have always had questions about their world. Science is one way of answering questions and explaining the natural world.	F
		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.	O
		Tools help scientists make better observations, measurements, and equipment for investigations. They help scientists see, measure, and do things that they could not otherwise see, measure, and do.					F											O						O		F		F	F
G. History and Nature of Science
	Science as a human endeavor
		Although men and women using scientific inquiry have learned much about the objects, events, and phenomena in nature, much remains to be understood. Science will never be finished.	E
		Many people choose science as a career and devote their entire lives to studying it. Many people derive great pleasure from doing science.	E

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

AAAS BENCHMARKS			LESSONS																							SBA
			0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	S1	S2	S3	S4
1. The Nature of Science (K-2)
	A. The Scientific World View (Introduction)		F
	B. Scientific Inquiry (Introduction)		F
		People can often learn about things around them by just observing those things carefully, but sometimes they can learn more by doing something to the things and noting what happens.	F	O	O		O								O	O	O	O	O		O		F	F
		Tools such as thermometers, magnifiers, rulers, or balances often give more information about things than can be obtained by just observing things without their help.		O	O	O	O		O	O	O			O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O			O		F		F	F
		Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others.	E					O				O				O			O		O	O		O	O		F
	C. The Scientific Enterprise (Introduction)		F
		Everybody can do science and invent things and ideas.	F
		In doing science, it is often helpful to work with a team and to share findings with others. All team members should reach their own individual conclusions, however, about what the findings mean.	O									O
		A lot can be learned about plants and animals by observing them closely, but care must be taken to know the needs of living things and how to provide for them in the classroom.			F		O		O	O	O						O
2. The Nature of Mathematics (K-2)
	A. Patterns and Relationships
		Circles, squares, triangles, and other shapes can be found in things in nature and in things that people build.		O				O	O						O	O	O		O		O	O
		Numbers can be used to count any collection of things.					O			O	O				O	O								O
	C. Mathematical Inquiry
		Numbers and shapes can be used to tell about things.							O	O	O			O	O	O			O		O	O		O				O	O
3. The Nature of Technology (K-2)
	A. Technology and Science
		Tools are used to do things better or more easily and to do some things that could not otherwise be done at all. In technology, tools are used to observe, measure, and make things.																								F		O	O
5. The Living Environment
	A. Diversity of Life
		Some animals and plants are alike in the way they look and in the things they do, and others are very different from one another.				O	O	O	O	O	O	F				O				O	O				F
		Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.							F	F	F	F				F		O		O	O				O
		Stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes they really do not have.							O	O
		A great variety of kinds of living things can be sorted into groups in many ways using various features to decide which things belong to which group. (Grades 3-5)																					F	F	F
	C. Cells
		Magnifiers help people see things they could not see without them.		O	O		O		O	O	O			O		O			O	O	O
		Most living things need water, food, and air.			O				O	O	O	O	O				O	O	O				O	O
	D. Interdependence of Life
		Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or even other animals) for shelter and nesting.														O
		Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.				F	O	F				O								F		F	O	O	O
	E. Flow of Matter and Energy
		Plants and animals both need to take in water, and animals need to take in food. In addition, plants need light.							O	O	O	O	F	O			O	O	O				O
		Different plants and animals have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.							F	F	F	O		O		O		O		O	O	O	O		O
6. The Human Organism (K-2)
	C. Basic Functions
		The human body has parts that help it seek, find, and take in food when it feels hunger — eyes and noses for detecting food, legs to get to it, arms to carry it away, and a mouth to eat it.									O
		By breathing, people take in the oxygen they need to live.									O
	D. Learning
		People use their senses to find out about their surroundings and themselves. Different senses give different information. Sometimes a person can get different information about the same thing by moving closer to it or further away from it.	O
		Some of the things people do, like playing soccer, reading, and writing, must be deliberately learned. Practicing helps people to improve. How well one learns sometimes depends on how one does it and how often and how hard one tries to learn.																								O	O	O	O
		People can learn from each other by telling and listening, showing and watching, and imitating what others do.	O																						O	O	O	O	O
9. The Mathematical World (K-2)
	D. Uncertainty
		Some things are more likely to happen than others. Some events can be predicted well and some cannot. Sometimes people aren’t sure what will happen because they don’t know everything that might be having an effect.	O														O	O	O				O	O
	E. Reasoning
		People are more likely to believe your ideas if you have good reasons for them.	O
12. Habits of Mind (K-2)
	A. Values and Attitudes (Introduction)		F
		Raise questions about the world around them and be willing to seek answers to some of them by making careful observations and trying things out.	F		O													O	O		O	O	O	O
	D. Communication		F
		Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.			O				O	O	O			O	O	O	O	O	O		O	O	O	O	O		F