1: Earth and Space Science

1.1: Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth's common physical features in various mapping representations, including contour maps.

Building Topographic Maps
Ocean Mapping
Reading Topographic Maps

1.3: Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the earth's system.

Conduction and Convection
Heat Transfer by Conduction
Herschel Experiment
Radiation

1.4: Explain the relationship among the energy provided by the sun, the global patterns of atmospheric movement, and the temperature differences among water, land, and atmosphere.

Coastal Winds and Clouds
Pond Ecosystem
Seasons Around the World

1.5: Describe how the movement of the earth's crustal plates causes both slow changes in the earth's surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and earthquakes).

Plate Tectonics
Rock Cycle

1.6: Describe and give examples of ways in which the earth's surface is built up and torn down by natural processes, including deposition of sediments, rock formation, erosion, and weathering.

Rock Cycle

1.8: Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the earth. Gravity plays a major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in determining their motions.

Gravity Pitch

1.9: Describe lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, and tides. Relate them to the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.

2D Eclipse
3D Eclipse
Moonrise, Moonset, and Phases
Phases of the Moon
Tides

1.10: Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).

Comparing Earth and Venus
Phases of the Moon
Solar System
Solar System Explorer

1.11: Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn causes the seasons.

Seasons Around the World
Seasons in 3D
Seasons: Why do we have them?
Summer and Winter

2: Life Science (Biology)

2.2: Recognize that all organisms are composed of cells, and that many organisms are single-celled (unicellular), e.g., bacteria, yeast. In these single-celled organisms, one cell must carry out all of the basic functions of life.

Paramecium Homeostasis

2.3: Compare and contrast plant and animal cells, including major organelles (cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, vacuoles).

Cell Structure
RNA and Protein Synthesis

2.4: Recognize that within cells, many of the basic functions of organisms (e.g., extracting energy from food and getting rid of waste) are carried out. The way in which cells function is similar in all living organisms.

Cell Structure
Paramecium Homeostasis

2.5: Describe the hierarchical organization of multicellular organisms from cells to tissues to organs to systems to organisms.

Cell Structure
Circulatory System
Digestive System
Paramecium Homeostasis

2.6: Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, and movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each

Circulatory System
Digestive System

2.7: Recognize that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits. These instructions are stored in the organism's chromosomes. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.

Human Karyotyping
Inheritance
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

2.8: Recognize that hereditary information is contained in genes located in the chromosomes of each cell. A human cell contains about 30,000 different genes on 23 different chromosomes.

Human Karyotyping

2.9: Compare sexual reproduction (offspring inherit half of their genes from each parent) with asexual reproduction (offspring is an identical copy of the parent's cell).

Inheritance

2.10: Give examples of ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and the diversity of organisms.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection

2.11: Recognize that evidence drawn from geology, fossils, and comparative anatomy provide the basis of the theory of evolution.

Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

2.13: Give examples of ways in which organisms interact and have different functions within an ecosystem that enable the ecosystem to survive.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Food Chain
Plants and Snails

2.14: Explain the roles and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.

Forest Ecosystem

2.15: Explain how dead plants and animals are broken down by other living organisms and how this process contributes to the system as a whole.

Forest Ecosystem

2.16: Recognize that producers (plants that contain chlorophyll) use the energy from sunlight to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water through a process called photosynthesis. This food can be used immediately, stored for later use, or used by other organisms.

Cell Energy Cycle
Energy Conversions
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Photosynthesis Lab

2.18: Recognize that biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection

3: Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics)

3.1: Differentiate between weight and mass, recognizing that weight is the amount of gravitational pull on an object.

Weight and Mass

3.2: Differentiate between volume and mass. Define density.

Density Experiment: Slice and Dice
Density Laboratory

3.3: Recognize that the measurement of volume and mass requires understanding of the sensitivity of measurement tools (e.g., rulers, graduated cylinders, balances) and knowledge and appropriate use of significant digits.

Measuring Volume
Triple Beam Balance
Weight and Mass

3.4: Explain and give examples of how mass is conserved in a closed system.

Chemical Changes
Chemical Equations

3.7: Give basic examples of elements and compounds.

Element Builder

3.10: Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.

Chemical Changes

3.11: Explain and give examples of how the motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed.

Distance-Time Graphs
Free Fall Tower
Free-Fall Laboratory
Measuring Motion

3.12: Graph and interpret distance vs. time graphs for constant speed.

Distance-Time Graphs
Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs

3.13: Differentiate between potential and kinetic energy. Identify situations where kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy and vice versa.

Energy Conversion in a System
Energy Conversions
Energy of a Pendulum
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects
Roller Coaster Physics
Sled Wars

3.14: Recognize that heat is a form of energy and that temperature change results from adding or taking away heat from a system.

Calorimetry Lab
Conduction and Convection
Energy Conversion in a System
Energy Conversions
Heat Absorption
Heat Transfer by Conduction
Temperature and Particle Motion

3.15: Explain the effect of heat on particle motion through a description of what happens to particles during a change in phase.

Phase Changes
Phases of Water

3.16: Give examples of how heat moves in predictable ways, moving from warmer objects to cooler ones until they reach equilibrium.

Conduction and Convection
Heat Transfer by Conduction