Core Curriculum
2.1.3: Heating of the earth?s surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents.
Coastal Winds and Clouds - Metric
Seasons Around the World
3.1.1: Matter is made of minute particles called atoms, and atoms are composed of even smaller components. These components have measurable properties, such as mass and electrical charge. Each atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The electric force between the nucleus and electrons holds the atom together.
3.1.2: The atom?s nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, which are much more massive than electrons. When an element has atoms that differ in the number of neutrons, these atoms are called different isotopes of the element.
3.1.4: Radioactive isotopes are unstable and undergo spontaneous nuclear reactions, emitting particles and/or wavelike radiation. The decay of any one nucleus cannot be predicted, but a large group of identical nuclei decay at a predictable rate. This predictability can be used to estimate the age of materials that contain radioactive isotopes.
3.2.2: An element is composed of a single type of atom. When elements are listed in order according to the number of protons (called the atomic number), repeating patterns of physical and chemical properties identify families of elements with similar properties. This ?Periodic Table? is a consequence of the repeating pattern of outermost electrons and their permitted energies.
Electron Configuration
Element Builder
3.2.3: Bonds between atoms are created when electrons are paired up by being transferred or shared. A substance composed of a single kind of atom is called an element. The atoms may be bonded together into molecules or crystalline solids. A compound is formed when two or more kinds of atoms bind together chemically.
3.3.2: Chemical reactions may release or consume energy. Some reactions such as the burning of fossil fuels release large amounts of energy by losing heat and by emitting light. Light can initiate many chemical reactions such as photosynthesis and the evolution of urban smog.
3.3.4: Chemical reactions can take place in time periods ranging from the few femtoseconds (10 ? 15 seconds) required for an atom to move a fraction of a chemical bond distance to geologic time scales of billions of years. Reaction rates depend on how often the reacting atoms and molecules encounter one another, the temperature, and the properties?including shape?of the reacting elements.
3.3.5: Objects change their motion only when a net force is applied. Laws of motion are used to calculate precisely the effects of forces on the motion of objects. The magnitude of the change in motion can be calculated using the relationship F = ma, which is independent of the nature of the force. Whenever one object exerts force on another, a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction is exerted on the first object.
Atwood Machine
Fan Cart Physics
3.4.1: Gravitation is a universal force that each mass exerts on any other mass. The strength of the gravitational attractive force between two masses is proportional to the masses and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
Gravitational Force
Pith Ball Lab
3.4.2: The electric force is a universal force that exists between any two charged objects. Opposite charges attract, while like charges repel. The strength of the force is proportional to the charges, and, as with gravitation, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
Coulomb Force (Static)
Pith Ball Lab
3.4.3: Between any two charged particles, electric force is vastly greater than the gravitational force. Most observable forces such as those exerted by a coiled spring or friction may be traced to electric forces acting between atoms and molecules.
Coulomb Force (Static)
Pith Ball Lab
3.4.4: Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of a single electromagnetic force. Moving electric charges produce magnetic forces, and moving magnets produce electric forces. These effects help students understand electric motors and generators.
Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic Induction
3.5.2: All energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion; potential energy, which depends on relative position; or energy contained by a field, such as electromagnetic waves.
Air Track
Energy of a Pendulum
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects
Potential Energy on Shelves
Roller Coaster Physics
3.6.1: ?Interactions of energy and matter? is an essential concept of a world-class secondary science curriculum. Included in ?interactions of energy and matter? is the following content: Waves, including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter.
3.6.2: Electromagnetic waves result when a charged object is accelerated or decelerated. Electromagnetic waves include radio waves (the longest wavelength), microwaves, infrared radiation (radiant heat), visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays. The energy of electromagnetic waves is carried in packets whose magnitude is inversely proportional to the wavelength.
4.1.1: Cells have particular structures that underlie their functions. Every cell is surrounded by a membrane that separates it from the outside world. Inside the cell is a concentrated mixture of thousands of different molecules which form a variety of specialized structures, notably the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes, chloroplasts, and the endoplasmic reticulum. Some cells have external structures facilitating movement (cilia and flagella).
Cell Energy Cycle
Cell Structure
4.1.5: Plant cells contain chloroplasts as sites of photosynthesis. Plants and many microorganisms use solar energy to combine molecules of carbon dioxide and water into complex, energy rich organic compounds and release oxygen to the environment.
Cell Energy Cycle
Cell Structure
Photosynthesis Lab
Pond Ecosystem
4.2.1: In all organisms, the instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA, a large polymer formed from subunits of four kinds (A, G, C, and T). The chemical and structural properties of DNA explain how the genetic information that underlies heredity is both encoded in genes (as a string of molecular ?letters?) and replicated (by a templating mechanism). DNA mutations occur spontaneously at low rates. Some of these changes make no difference to the organism, whereas others can change cells and organisms. Some mutations can be caused by environmental factors.
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
4.2.2: Each DNA molecule in a cell forms a single chromosome.
4.2.3: Most of the cells in a human contain two copies of each of 22 different chromosomes plus two chromosomes that determine sex: a female contains two X chromosomes and a male contains one X and one Y. Transmission of genetic information to offspring occurs through meiosis that produces egg and sperm cells that contain only one representative from each chromosome pair. An egg and a sperm unite to form a new individual.
4.2.4: The fact that an organism is formed from cells that contain two copies of each chromosome, and therefore two copies of each gene, explains many features of heredity, such as how variations that are hidden in one generation can be expressed in the next. Different genes coding for the same feature code for it in different ways thus leading to identifiable patterns in heritable traits. These patterns of inheritance can be identified and predicted.
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Microevolution
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)
4.3.1: Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, and (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring.
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
4.4.2: Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers. These tropic levels can be illustrated by food chains and food webs.
4.4.3: Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years.
4.4.4: Human beings live within the world?s ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors are threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected.
Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem
4.5.1: Living systems require a continuous input of energy, derived primarily from the sun, to maintain their chemical and physical organization. Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between the atoms of carbon containing (organic) molecules. These molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules (proteins, DNA, sugars, and fats). The chemical energy stored in bonds between the atoms can be used as sources of energy for life processes.
Correlation last revised: 9/16/2020