1: Scientific investigation and reasoning. 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: The student is expected to: demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field investigations as outlined in Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards; and

Hearing: Frequency and Volume

2: Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific practices during laboratory and field investigations.

2.A: The student is expected to: 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
Programmable Rover
Real-Time Histogram
Sight vs. Sound Reactions
Time Estimation

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

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Growing Plants
Hearing: Frequency and Volume
Pendulum Clock
Programmable Rover
Real-Time Histogram
Seed Germination
Sight vs. Sound Reactions
Temperature and Sex Determination - Metric
Time Estimation

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

Seed Germination
Temperature and Sex Determination - Metric

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

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

Cell Structure
Cell Types
Digestive System

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

4.A: The student is expected to: use appropriate tools, including life science models, hand lenses, 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 necessary equipment to collect, record, and analyze information; and

Triple Beam Balance

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

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

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis Lab

5.B: The student is expected to: diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

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

6.A: The student is expected to: distinguish between physical and chemical changes in matter.

Chemical Changes

8: Earth and space. The student knows that natural events and human activity can impact Earth systems.

8.B: The student is expected to: analyze the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition on the environment in ecoregions of Texas; and

Weathering

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

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

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors

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

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

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

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

Dichotomous Keys

11.C: The student is expected to: 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 and hybrid plants.

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

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

12.A: The student is expected to: 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: The student is expected to: 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: The student is expected to: recognize levels of organization in plants and animals, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms;

Circulatory System

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

Cell Structure
Cell Types
RNA and Protein Synthesis

12.F: The student is expected to: recognize the components of cell theory.

Paramecium Homeostasis

14: Organisms and environments. 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: The student is expected to: define heredity as the passage of genetic instructions from one generation to the next generation;

Fast Plants^® 2 - Mystery Parent
Inheritance
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

14.B: The student is expected to: compare the results of uniform or diverse offspring from asexual or sexual reproduction; and

Inheritance

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

Human Karyotyping