School Administrative District #4

Unity of purpose

CORE CURRICULUM: SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

Department: Science

CONTENT STANDARD: INQUIRY AND PROBLEM SOLVING

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 9

1.      Review and extend prior learning

2.        Ask questions and propose strategies and materials to seek answers to questions, i.e., conduct an investigation

á         Make accurate observations using appropriate tools and units of measure

CONTENT STANDARD: SCIENTIFIC REASONING

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grades 9-12

1.      Review and extend prior learning

2.      Judge the accuracy of alternative explanations by identifying the evidence necessary to support them

3.      Develop generalizations based on observations

4.      Determine when there is a need to revise studies in order to improve their validity through better sampling, controls, or data-analysis techniques

5.      Produce inductive and deductive arguments to support conjecture

6.      Analyze situations where more than one logical conclusion can be drawn

CONTENT STANDARD: COMMUNICATION

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grades 9-12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Analyze research or other literature for accuracy in the design and findings of experiments

3.        Use journals and self-assessment to describe and analyze scientific and technological experiences and to reflect on problem-solving processes

4.        Make and use appropriate symbols, pictures, diagrams, scale drawings, and models to represent and simplify real-life situations and to solve problems

5.        Employ graphs, tables, and maps in making arguments and drawing conclusions

6.        Critique models, stating how they do and do not effectively represent the real phenomenon

7.        Gather and present information using a variety of media, including the effective use of the computer

á         Programming

8.        Record results of experiments or activities (e.g., interviews, discussions, field work), summarize, and communicate what he/she has learned

á         Write comprehensive lab reports

9.        Evaluate the communication capabilities of new kinds of media (e.g., cameras with computer disks instead of film)

10.    Use existing and emerging technologies (e.g. PC's, graphing calculators, calculator-based labs) to organize data, generate models, and do research for problem solving

11.    Engage in a debate, on a scientific issue, where both points of view are based on the same set of information

CONTENT STANDARD: IMPLICATIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grades 9-12

1.      Review and extend prior learning

2.      Examine the impact of political decisions on science and technology

3.      Demonstrate the importance of resource management, controlling environmental impacts, and maintaining natural ecosystems

4.      Evaluate the ethical use of new scientific or technological developments

5.      Analyze the impacts of various scientific and technological developments

6.      Examine the historical relationships between prevailing cultural beliefs and breakthroughs in science and technology

7.      Research issues that illustrate the effects of technological imbalances and suggest some solutions

CONTENT STANDARD: EARTH-AND-SPACE SCIENCE

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 9

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Demonstrate an understanding of the properties of the Earth (materials and features) by

á         Identifying and describing the major types of air masses

á         Maritime polar

á         Maritime tropical

á         Continental polar

á         Continental tropical

á         Explaining how a front forms

á         Identifying and describing different types of fronts

á         Stationary

á         Describing how fronts change over time

á         Explaining how various weather systems are formed

á         Cyclones

á         Anti-cyclones

á         Describing ways in which weather information is obtained

á         Local weather observers

á         Balloons

á         Satellites

á         Local weather stations

á         Identifying the symbols and lines used on a weather map

á         Isotherms

á         Isobars

á         Precipitation types

á         Fronts

á         Cyclones

á         Explaining how a weather map is used to describe weather conditions

á         Identifying the factors in the Earth's atmosphere that interact to cause weather

á         Explaining the causes of rain associated with warm air reaching its dew point

á         Explaining seasonal weather systems created by

á         Prevailing westerlies

á         "Nor'easters"

á         Bermuda High

á         Relating seasonal weather systems to

á         Coastal erosion

á         Coastal sand deposition

á         Charting weather systems and movement of weather systems by locating the position of storms in relationship to fronts

á         Explaining climate by

á         Describing the factors that determine climate

á          Temperature

á          Precipitation

á         Describing the factors that affect the temperature of a region

á          Latitude

á          Altitude

á          Ocean currents

á         Classifying and describing the Earth's three major climate zones

á          Polar

á          Temperate

á          Tropical

á         Comparing marine and continental climates

á         Discussing the effects of local landforms and factors on climate

á          Seasonal winds

á          Large paved areas

á          Towns and cities

á         Describing the factors that affect relative humidity

á         Temperature

á         Absolute humidity

á         Using units of measure related to meteorology

á         Temperature

á          Fahrenheit

á          Celsius

á          Kelvin

á         Air pressure

á          Inches of mercury

á          Centimeters

á          Millibars

á         Wind speed

á          Miles per hour

á          Kilometers per hour

á          Knots

á         Precipitation

á          Inches

á          Centimeters

á         Relative humidity

á          Percent

3.        Analyze the potential effects of change in the earth's oceans and atmosphere by

á         Explaining how human activities influence air quality, including

á         Sources of pollution

á         Methods of control

á         Acid rain

á         Air-born particulates

á         The greenhouse effect and its effects upon the Earth and human activity

á          The gases responsible for the greenhouse effect

á         Explaining that human events may exaggerate climatic change

á         Explaining the effects of non-human-induced climate changes

4.        Demonstrate an understanding of solid earth processes (crust and interior) by

á         Demonstrating an understanding of volcanic activity by

á         Explaining the structure and behavior of volcanoes

á          Types

á          Cinder cone

á          Composite

á          Shield

á         Explaining the processes that create volcanoes

á         Describing how ocean floors and continents are altered as a result of volcanic activity

á         Locating zones of present and past volcanic activity

á         Describing the impact of volcanic activity on humans

á         Becoming acquainted with the technology used to monitor and predict volcanic activity

á         Demonstrating an understanding of seismic waves by

á         Describing the three types of seismic waves

á          P-waves

á          S-waves

á          L-waves

á         Explaining the importance of seismic waves in models of the Earth's interior

á         Demonstrating an understanding of seismic activity by

á         Explaining what earthquakes feel like

á         Explaining what damage earthquakes produce

á         Explaining where earthquakes occur

á         Mapping the occurrence of earthquake zones and major faults

á          Mapping epicenter, over time

á         Explaining the nature of earthquakes along fracture zones with

á          Cross-sectional illustrations of strata

á          Superficial materials at faults

á         Showing similar location of earthquake zones

á         Demonstrating an understanding of plate tectonics by

á         Explaining how convection currents move plates

á         Explaining what happens in sea floor spreading

á         Explaining the evolution of the hypothesis of plate tectonics

á          Continental shape

á          Origin of ocean basins

á          Volcanic zones

á          Folded mountains

á          Ocean floor features

á          Rift zones

á          Earthquakes

á         Explaining the movement of lithospheric plates

á         Explaining the distribution and relationship among igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks, and tectonic features

á         Explaining the formation of mountains by

á         Listing common characteristics of mountains

á          Elevation

á          Folding

á          Faulting

á          Occurrence in belts and clusters

á         Describing the forces which deform and elevate rock

á         Extrapolating as to the tectonic forces in the Earth's crust and the location of where they are concentrated

á         Discussing the rate mountains form with the geologic time scale

á         Demonstrating an understanding of rock formation by

á         Describing a relationship between rock type and tectonic processes

á          Describing a relationship between rock type and weathering, erosion, and deposition

á         Inferring that collision of large rock masses must have produced metamorphic rocks

5.        Demonstrate an understanding of how rocks and minerals are used to determine geologic history

á         Explaining the evolution of landscape caused by erosion

á         Explaining how various landforms provide evidence of glacial activity

6.        Describe ways that scientists measure long periods of time and determine the ages of very old objects by

á         Explaining how radioactive elements help provide the absolute ages of rocks

á         Demonstrate an understanding of half-life as it relates to dating rocks

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of radioactive decay as it relates to dating rocks

á          Alpha

á          Beta

á         Explaining how carbon-14 is used for dating relatively recent rocks and fossils

7.        Demonstrate an understanding of hydrological processes by

á         Describing the effects of sea-level rise on coastal erosion by

á         Diagramming and graphing the impact upon populations and upon the shape of the new coastline

á         Explaining that coastal erosion is a continual process which can be modified by humans, but is for the most part beyond human control

á         Describing the impact of geographic areas sinking or rising in relationship to coastlines

8.        Describe how scientists gather data about the universe by

á         Describing two ways research on other planets has been conducted

á         Light/spectra examinations

á         Space-craft missions

á         Discussing the different space-based techniques of mapping by remote sensing which isolate different wavelengths of the spectrum

á         Surface and climate property maps

á         Mineral distribution

á         Temperature

á         Ozone distribution

9.         Explain how astronomers measure interstellar distance

10.     Research current explanations for phenomena such as black holes and quasars

á         Discuss the current hypotheses about the solar system's origin, concerning the condensation of gas and aggregation of particles

á         Discuss the age of the solar system

CONTENT STANDARD: BIOLOGY

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 9

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Analyze the basic characteristics of living things, including their need for food, water, and gases and the ability to reproduce

á         Distinguish between the cell wall and the cell membrane in both structure and function

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the fluid-mosaic model of membrane structure

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the process of diffusion and osmosis

á         Identify methods of transporting materials through the cell membrane

á         Active transport

á         Passive transport

á         Endocytosis

á         Pinocytosis

á         Phagocytosis

á         Exocytosis

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the functions of cytoplasmic organelles

á         Mitochondria

á         Chloroplast

á         Ribosomes

á         ER and Golgi apparatus

á         Lysomes

á         Vacuoles and plastids

á         Compare the processes of photosynthesis and respiration and describe the factors that affect them

á         Define autotroph

á         Define heterotroph

á         Describe the experiments that contributed to the understanding of photosynthesis

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of the reactions of photosynthesis and the products of those reactions

á         Light reaction

á         Dark reactions

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of the process of glycolysis

á         Explain the process of phosphorylation, i.e., the Kreb's cycle

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the organizational hierarchy of living things

á         Cells

á         Tissues

á         Organs

á         Systems

á         Organisms

á         Demonstrate an understanding of cell growth

á         Limits

á         Rates

á         Controls

á         Uncontrolled cell growth

á         Illustrate how cells replicate and transmit information, including DNA and RNA

á         Interphase

á         Mitosis

á       Prophase

á       Metaphase

á       Anaphase

á       Telophase

á         Cytokinesis

á         Relate osmotic pressure to the process of osmosis

á         Build models to demonstrate

á         Differential permeability

á         Plasmolysis

á         Cytoplasmic streaming

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of nucleic acid and the difference between DNA and RNA

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of DNA

á       Explain the structure and function of DNA

á       Explain the process of DNA replication

á       Explain how DNA is isolated, cut, spliced, and handled

á       Explain how DNA is used to transfer cells and organisms

á       Describe some possible applications of analyzing and sequencing human DNA

á          Health and medicine

á          Criminology

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of RNA

á       Explain the structure and function of RNA

á       List and discuss the three types of RNA

á          Messenger RNA

á          Transfer RNA

á          Ribosomal RNA

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of the biochemistry of protein synthesis

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship among the cell wall, cell membrane, vacuoles, and turgidity in plants

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the need for meiosis, the reduction division during gamete formation

á         Explain the need for reduction division of chromosomes during gamete formation

á         Discuss how the phases of meiosis provide for the orderly reduction of chromosomes

á         Explain how the process of meiosis reveals the mechanism behind Mendel's conclusions about segregation and independent assortment on a cellular level

á         Describe why the offspring of sexually reproducing species have different survival rates than those of asexually reproducing species under a variety of conditions and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel

á         Describe the experiments of Gregor Mendel

á         Use a Punnett square to explain how pairs of genes segregate during an F1 cross

á         Use a two-factor cross to demonstrate how genes assort independently

á         Demonstrate how probability can be used to predict the expected outcomes of genetic crosses

á         Discuss how the expected results of a genetic cross may differ from the observed results

á         Identify the factors that may cause the observed results of a genetic cross to differ from the expected results

á         Demonstrate how a Punnett square can be used to predict the results in a genetic cross

á       One factor

á       Two factor

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the chromosome theory of heredity

á         Explain how gene linkage affects inherited traits

á         Describe the process of crossing over and explain how that process increases genetic variety

á         Describe the process of gene mapping

á         Describe the process of sex determination and the patterns of inheritance for sex-linked traits

á         Discuss mutation and the effects of mutation

á         Define mutation

á         Distinguish between somatic (body cell) and germ (gamete) mutations

á         Describe and compare the various types of mutations

á       Gene

á       Chromosomal

á         Discuss the factors that regulate and control gene expression

á         Define and discuss dominance, incomplete dominance, and co-dominance

á         Compare the regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues involving new genetic techniques, i.e., genetic engineering

á         Traits to be changed in human genetics

á         Regulation of genetic experimentation as it relates to humans

á         Demonstrate an understanding of how human traits are inherited

á         Action of dominant genes

á         Action of recessive genes

á         Distinguish between sex chromosomes and autosomes

á         Demonstrate an understanding of human traits determined by multiple alleles

á         ABO blood groups

á         Rh blood groubs

á         Distinguish between traits determined by multiple alleles and polygenic traits

á         Demonstrate an understanding of how sex is determined in humans

á         X chromosome

á         Y chromosome

á         Demonstrate an understanding of conditions of non-disjunction of sex chromosomes

á         Demonstrate an understanding of human sex-linked traits

á         Colorblindness

á         Hemophilia

á         Distinguish between sex-linked and sex-influenced traits

á         Explain how examination of chromosomes can indicate the presence of genetic disorders

á         Demonstrate an understanding of methods of detecting genetic disorders during pregnancy

á         Amniocentesis

á         Chorionic villus biopsy

3.        Demonstrate an understanding of the living organism

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the need for systems to name and to classify organisms

á         Describe characteristics of a good biological classification system

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the classification system developed by Carolus Linnaeus

á         Explain the system of binomial nomenclature

á         Identify the taxa in the classification system devised by Linnaeus

á         Compare the traits of two organisms, each from different taxa

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the basis of modern classification

á         Identify a taxon with a clear biological identity

á         Explain how taxa show evolutionary relationships between organisms

á         Discuss the importance of biochemistry and homologous structures to taxonomists

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of characteristics of organisms belonging to each kingdom

á         Origin/evolution

á         Nutrition and respiration

á         Growth and reproduction

á         Symbiotic relationships

á         Ecological significance

4.        Demonstrate an initial understanding of the energy transformations in cells

á         Compare and contrast the two types of respiration

á         Aerobic

á         Anaerobic

á         Discuss the overall energy production in the two types of respiration

5.        Analyze theories scientists use to explain the origin and evolution of life

á         Demonstrate an understanding of Darwin's observations and his explanation of evolution

á         Demonstrate an understanding of how species have adapted structural modifications for survival

á         Homologous structures

á         Specialization

á         Co-evolution

á         Discuss the evidence of evolution

á         Relate the contributions of James Hutton and Charles Lyell to Darwin's work

á         Explain relative dating of fossils

á         Discuss radioactive dating

á       Half-life

á       Decay

á         Explain the time divisions used on the geological time scale

á         Demonstrate an understanding of how evidence other than fossils help support the theory of evolution

á         Explain how similarities in embryos can be used as evidence of shared ancestry

á         Describe what homologous structures are and how they can be used to support evolution

á         List examples of vestigial organs that indicate evolutionary change has taken place

á         Relate the presence of biochemical compounds found in all organisms to a shared evolutionary relationship

á         Demonstrate an understanding of natural selection

á         Discuss the principle of survival of the fittest

á         Explain the relationship between genetics and evolutionary theory

á         Discuss natural selection in terms of variation

á         Discuss evolution as it occurs in a population of organisms

á         State a genetic definition of species

á         Demonstrate an understanding of the process of speciation

á         Define niche

á         State the biological "rule" that applies to species and niches

á         Explain the process of speciation, e.g., speciation in Darwin[Îs finches

á         Demonstrate an understanding of evolutionary modifications which have occurred since Darwin's time

á         Explain genetic drift

á         Define gradualism

á         Account for rapid evolution

á       Isolation of small population

á       Migration

á       Mass extinction

á         Discuss punctuated equilibrium

CONTENT STANDARD: CHEMISTRY

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 9

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Demonstrate an understanding of the properties of matter

á         Distinguish among saturated and unsaturated and super-saturated solutions

3.        Demonstrate an understanding of the composition of matter

á         Define atmospheric pressure and explain how pressure is measured with a barometer

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of the processes by which matter changes from one phase to another

á         Condensation

á         Evaporation

á         Sublimation

á         Demonstrate an initial understanding of various heat-related properties

á         Boiling point

á         Heat of condensation

á         Heat of fusion

á      &nb