Standards & Benchmarks for Electrical Circuits

STANDARDS

Legend: F = Focus in lesson  O = Ongoing development  E = Early exposure

NSE STANDARDS LESSONS
  1 2 3 4 5 6
A. Science as Inquiry            
  Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry            
    Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.     F     F
    Plan and conduct a simple investigation.           O
    Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. O          
    Communicate investigations and explanations. O O O O O O
  Understandings About Scientific Inquiry            
    Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide more information than scientists obtain using only their senses. 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. F     O O O
    Objects are made of one or more materials, such as paper, wood, and metal. Objects can be described by the properties of the materials from which they are made, and those properties can be used to separate or sort a group of objects or materials. E F O O O  
    Materials can exist in different states—solid, liquid, and gas. Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling.     F O O F
  Light, Heat, Electricity, and Magnetism            
    Magnets attract and repel each other and certain kinds of other materials. E          
D. Earth and Space Science            
  Properties of Earth Materials            
    Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere…     F      
E. Science and Technology            
  Understandings about Science and Technology            
    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. O          

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BENCHMARKS

Lesson Legend:  F = Focus in lesson  O = Ongoing development  E = Early exposure

AAAS BENCHMARKS LESSONS
  1 2 3 4 5 6
1. The Nature of Science            
  A. The Scientific World View            
    When a science investigation is done the way it was done before, we expect to get a very similar result.           E
    Science investigations generally work the same way in different places.           E
  B. Scientific Inquiry            
    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.       O O O
    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          
    Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others. F          
2. The Nature of Mathematics            
  A. Patterns and Relationships            
    Circles, squares, triangles, and other shapes can be found in things in nature and in things that people build. E          
  C. Mathematical Inquiry            
    Numbers and shapes can be used to tell about things. E          
3. The Nature of Technology            
  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. O       O  
4. The Physical Setting            
  B. The Earth            
    Water can be a liquid or a solid, and can go back and forth from one form to the other. If water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing.           F
    Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.           F
    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. (Grades 3-5)           E
    Air is a substance that surrounds us, takes up space, and whose movement we feel as wind. (Grades 3-5)     E      
  C. Processes that Shape the Earth            
    Change is something that happens to many things.         O O
  D. Structure of Matter            
    Objects can be described in terms of the materials they are made of (clay, cloth, paper, etc.) and their physical properties (color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility, etc.). F F O O O  
    Things can be done to materials to change some of their properties, but not all materials respond the same way to what is done to them.       O F O
    Heating and cooling cause changes in the properties of materials. Many kinds of changes occur faster under hotter conditions. (Grades 3-5)           E
8. The Designed World            
  B. Materials and Manufacturing            
    Some kinds of materials are better than others for making any particular thing. Materials that are better in some ways (such as stronger and cheaper) may be worse in other ways (heavier or harder to cut).   F        
9. The Mathematical World            
  C. Shapes            
    Shapes such as circles, squares, and triangles can be used to describe many things that can be seen. O          
  D. Uncertainty            
    Some predictions can be based on what is known about the past, assuming that conditions are pretty much the same now. (Grades 3-5)           E
  E. Reasoning            
    One way to make sense of something is to think how it is like something more familiar. (Grades 3-5)     O O O  
11. Common Themes            
  A. Systems            
    Most things are made of parts.   O        
  C. Constancy and Change            
    Things change in some ways and stay the same in some ways.       O O O
12. Habits of Mind            
  A. Values and Attitudes            
    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. O O O O O O
    Keep records of their investigations and observations and not change the records later. (Grades 3-5) O O O O O O
  B. Computation and Estimation            
    Use whole numbers and simple, everyday fractions in ordering, counting, identifying, measuring, and desribing things and experiences. O          
  C. Manipulation and Observation            
    Measure the length in whole units of objects having straight edges. O          
  D. Communication Skills            
    Describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion. O O   O    
    Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described. O O   O   O
    Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events. (Grades 3-5) E