S03 Standards

From Brush Schools Wiki

Grade Level 3-5 Science Standards and Benchmarks

Standard 1

Students apply the processes of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about, and evaluate such investigations.

1. Design, plan and conduct a variety of simple investigations (for example: formulate a testable question, state a hypothesis, make systematic observations, develop and communicate logical conclusions based on evidence)ES

2. Select and use appropriate tools and technology to gather and display (for example: graphs, charts, diagrams) quantitative and qualitative data related to an investigation (for example: length, volume, and mass measuring instruments, thermometers, watches, magnifiers, microscopes, calculators, and computers)ES

Standard 2 – Physical Science

Students know and understand common properties, forms, and changes in matter and energy. (Focus: Physics and Chemistry)

Physical Properties

1. Objects have physical properties that can be measured (for example: length, mass, volume and temperature)

2. Measurable physical properties can be compared before and after effecting a change to verify a change has occurred and used to predict its outcome in similar circumstances

3. Matter is made up of parts that are too small to be seen

4. Matter exists in physical states (solid, liquid, gas) and can change from one state to anotherES

Transfer of Energy

5. There are different types and sources of energy (for example: light, heat, motion)ES

6. Electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound and magnetic effectsES

Forces and Motion

7. There are different types of forces (for example: gravity and magnetism)ES

8. Changes in speed or direction of motion are caused by forcesES

Standard 3 – Life Science

Students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment. (Focus: Biology-- Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, Zoology, Ecology)

Structure and Function in Living Systems

1. Each plant or animal has different structures and behaviors that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction

2. Green plants need energy from sunlight and various raw materials to live, and animals consume plants and other organisms to live

3. Human body systems have basic structures, functions and needs (for example: digestive, respiratory, circulatory, skeletal, muscular) ES

Life Cycles of Organisms

4. There is interaction and interdependence between and among nonliving and living components of ecosystems (for example: food webs, symbiotic and parasitic relationships, dependence on rainfall, pollination)

5. Life cycles vary from organism to organism (for example: frog, chicken, butterfly, radish, bean plant)

Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms

6. Fossils can be compared to one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences

7. There are similarities and differences in appearance among individuals of the same population (for example: size, color, shape)

8. There are similarities and differences between organisms (for example: plants vs. animals, vertebrate vs. invertebrate)

Standard 4 – Earth and Space Science

Students know and understand the processes and interactions of Earth’s systems and the structure and dynamics of Earth and other objects in space. (Focus: Geology, Meteorology, Astronomy, Oceanography)

Earth’s Composition, Processes and History

1. Fossils are evidence of past life

2. Natural processes change Earth's surface (for example: weathering, erosion, mountain building, volcanic activity, earthquakes and floods) ES

3. Many of the Earth’s resources can be conserved, recycled and depleted ES

Weather and Water

4. Weather is different from climate

5. Most of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, that most of the water is salt water in the oceans, and that fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, underground sources and glaciersES

6. Water exists on Earth in different states (solid, liquid, gas) and changes from one state to another (for example: evaporation, condensation and precipitation)ES

Solar System

7. There are basic components of the solar system (for example: Sun, planets, moons)

8. The Earth and Sun provide a diversity of resources (for example: soils, fuels, minerals, medicines and food)

9. The rotation of the Earth on its axis, in relation to the Sun, produces the day-and-night cycle and the orbit of the Earth around the Sun completes one year

Standard 5

Students understand that the nature of science involves a particular way of building knowledge and making meaning of the natural world.

1. When a science experiment is repeated with the same conditions, the experiment generally works the same way

2. Models are used to represent events and objects (for example: comparing a map of the school to the actual school; a model of the Earth to the Earth itself)