1: The student, for at least 40% of the instructional time, conducts laboratory and field investigations following safety procedures and environmentally appropriate and ethical practices.

1.A: demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field investigations as outlined in the Texas Safety Standards; and

Hearing: Frequency and Volume

Field Investigations
Lab Safety

2: The student uses scientific inquiry methods during laboratory and field investigations.

2.A: plan and implement comparative and descriptive investigations by making observations, asking well-defined questions, and using appropriate equipment and technology;

Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Hearing: Frequency and Volume
Pendulum Clock
Real-Time Histogram
Sight vs. Sound Reactions
Time Estimation

2.B: design and implement experimental investigations by making observations, asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and using appropriate equipment and technology;

Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Hearing: Frequency and Volume
Pendulum Clock
Real-Time Histogram
Sight vs. Sound Reactions
Time Estimation

Lab Safety

2.C: collect and record data using the International System of Units (SI) and qualitative means such as labeled drawings, writing, and graphic organizers;

Recording Data

2.D: construct tables and graphs, using repeated trials and means, to organize data and identify patterns; and

Effect of Temperature on Gender
Graphing Skills
Seed Germination

3: The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions and knows the contributions of relevant scientists.

3.A: in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student;

Hypotheses and Theories
Science and the Media

3.B: use models to represent aspects of the natural world such as human body systems and plant and animal cells;

Cell Structure
Digestive System

4: The student knows how to use a variety of tools and safety equipment to conduct science inquiry.

4.A: use appropriate tools to collect, record, and analyze information, including life science models, hand lens, stereoscopes, microscopes, beakers, Petri dishes, microscope slides, graduated cylinders, test tubes, meter sticks, metric rulers, metric tape measures, timing devices, hot plates, balances, thermometers, calculators, water test kits, computers, temperature and pH probes, collecting nets, insect traps, globes, digital cameras, journals/notebooks, and other equipment as needed to teach the curriculum; and

Triple Beam Balance

Hypotheses and Theories
Lab Safety
Science and the Media

4.B: use preventative safety equipment, including chemical splash goggles, aprons, and gloves, and be prepared to use emergency safety equipment, including an eye/face wash, a fire blanket, and a fire extinguisher.

Lab Safety

5: The student knows that interactions occur between matter and energy.

5.A: recognize that radiant energy from the Sun is transformed into chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis;

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis Lab

5.B: demonstrate and explain the cycling of matter within living systems such as in the decay of biomass in a compost bin; and

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle

5.C: diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

6: The student knows that matter has physical and chemical properties and can undergo physical and chemical changes.

6.B: distinguish between physical and chemical changes in matter in the digestive system; and

Digestive System

10: The student knows that there is a relationship between organisms and the environment.

10.A: observe and describe how different environments, including microhabitats in schoolyards and biomes, support different varieties of organisms;

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors

10.B: describe how biodiversity contributes to the sustainability of an ecosystem; and

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors

11: The student knows that populations and species demonstrate variation and inherit many of their unique traits through gradual processes over many generations.

11.A: examine organisms or their structures such as insects or leaves and use dichotomous keys for identification;

Dichotomous Keys

11.C: identify some changes in genetic traits that have occurred over several generations through natural selection and selective breeding such as the Galapagos Medium Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis) or domestic animals.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks

12: The student knows that living systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function.

12.A: investigate and explain how internal structures of organisms have adaptations that allow specific functions such as gills in fish, hollow bones in birds, or xylem in plants;

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

12.B: identify the main functions of the systems of the human organism, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, excretory, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, and endocrine systems;

Circulatory System
Digestive System

12.C: recognize levels of organization in plants and animals, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms;

Circulatory System

12.D: differentiate between structure and function in plant and animal cell organelles, including cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondrion, chloroplast, and vacuole;

Cell Structure
RNA and Protein Synthesis

12.F: recognize that according to cell theory all organisms are composed of cells and cells carry on similar functions such as extracting energy from food to sustain life.

Paramecium Homeostasis

13: The student knows that a living organism must be able to maintain balance in stable internal conditions in response to external and internal stimuli.

13.A: investigate how organisms respond to external stimuli found in the environment such as phototropism and fight or flight; and

Human Homeostasis

13.B: describe and relate responses in organisms that may result from internal stimuli such as wilting in plants and fever or vomiting in animals that allow them to maintain balance.

Paramecium Homeostasis

14: The student knows that reproduction is a characteristic of living organisms and that the instructions for traits are governed in the genetic material.

14.A: define heredity as the passage of genetic instructions from one generation to the next generation;

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

14.B: compare the results of uniform or diverse offspring from sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction; and

Inheritance

14.C: recognize that inherited traits of individuals are governed in the genetic material found in the genes within chromosomes in the nucleus.

Human Karyotyping