LS.1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which

LS.1.a: data are organized into tables showing repeated trials and means;

Diffusion
Seed Germination

LS.1.b: a classification system is developed based on multiple attributes;

Dichotomous Keys

LS.1.c: triple beam and electronic balances, thermometers, metric rulers, graduated cylinders, and probeware are used to gather data;

Triple Beam Balance

LS.1.f: dependent variables, independent variables, and constants are identified;

Diffusion
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Pendulum Clock

LS.1.g: variables are controlled to test hypotheses, and trials are repeated;

Diffusion
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Growing Plants
Pendulum Clock
Seed Germination
Temperature and Sex Determination - Metric

LS.1.h: data are organized, communicated through graphical representation, interpreted, and used to make predictions;

Disease Spread
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Graphing Skills
Hearing: Frequency and Volume
Identifying Nutrients
Pendulum Clock
Temperature and Sex Determination - Metric

LS.1.i: patterns are identified in data and are interpreted and evaluated; and

Pendulum Clock
Temperature and Sex Determination - Metric

LS.2: The student will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of cells.

LS.2.a: cell structure and organelles;

Cell Structure
Cell Types
Paramecium Homeostasis
RNA and Protein Synthesis

LS.2.b: similarities and differences between plant and animal cells;

Cell Structure
Cell Types

LS.2.c: development of cell theory; and

Paramecium Homeostasis

LS.2.d: cell division.

Cell Division
Meiosis

LS.3: The student will investigate and understand that living things show patterns of cellular organization.

LS.3.a: cells, tissues, organs, and systems; and

Circulatory System

LS.5: The student will investigate and understand the basic physical and chemical processes of photosynthesis and its importance to plant and animal life.

LS.5.a: energy transfer between sunlight and chlorophyll;

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis Lab

LS.5.c: photosynthesis as the foundation of virtually all food webs.

Forest Ecosystem

LS.6: The student will investigate and understand that organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on one another and on nonliving components of the environment.

LS.6.a: the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles;

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle
Water Cycle

LS.6.b: interactions resulting in a flow of energy and matter throughout the system;

Carbon Cycle
Food Chain

LS.6.c: complex relationships within terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems; and

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem

LS.6.d: energy flow in food webs and energy pyramids.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

LS.7: The student will investigate and understand that interactions exist among members of a population.

LS.7.a: competition, cooperation, social hierarchy, territorial imperative; and

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

LS.8: The student will investigate and understand interactions among populations in a biological community.

LS.8.a: the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in food webs;

Forest Ecosystem
Ecosystems

LS.8.b: the relationship between predators and prey;

Food Chain
Prairie Ecosystem
Ecosystems

LS.8.e: niches.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

LS.9: The student will investigate and understand how organisms adapt to biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

LS.9.a: differences between ecosystems and biomes;

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors

LS.9.b: characteristics of land, marine, and freshwater ecosystems; and

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

LS.9.c: adaptations that enable organisms to survive within a specific ecosystem.

Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

LS.10: The student will investigate and understand that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic, change over time, and respond to daily, seasonal, and long-term changes in their environment.

LS.10.b: factors that increase or decrease population size; and

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors

LS.10.c: eutrophication, climate changes, and catastrophic disturbances.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors

LS.11: The student will investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

LS.11.a: food production and harvest;

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem

LS.11.b: change in habitat size, quality, or structure;

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Rabbit Population by Season

LS.11.d: population disturbances and factors that threaten or enhance species survival; and

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Pond Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

LS.11.e: environmental issues.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem
Water Pollution

LS.12: The student will investigate and understand that organisms reproduce and transmit genetic information to new generations.

LS.12.a: the structure and role of DNA;

Building DNA

LS.12.b: the function of genes and chromosomes;

Human Karyotyping

LS.12.c: genotypes and phenotypes;

Chicken Genetics
Fast Plants^® 1 - Growth and Genetics
Fast Plants^® 2 - Mystery Parent
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.12.d: characteristics that can and cannot be inherited;

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

LS.12.e: genetic engineering and its applications; and

GMOs and the Environment

LS.12.f: historical contributions and significance of discoveries related to genetics.

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

LS.13: The student will investigate and understand that populations of organisms change over time.

LS.13.a: the relationships of mutation, adaptation, natural selection, and extinction;

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

LS.13.b: evidence of evolution of different species in the fossil record; and

Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

LS.13.c: how environmental influences, as well as genetic variation, can lead to diversity of organisms.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection