1: Matter and Energy

1.8.5: Matter and energy. The student knows that matter is composed of atoms and has chemical and physical properties.

1.8.5.A: The student is expected to describe the structure of atoms, including the masses, electrical charges, and locations, of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and electrons in the electron cloud;

Element Builder

1.8.5.B: The student is expected to identify that protons determine an element’s identity and valence electrons determine its chemical properties, including reactivity;

Element Builder

1.8.5.C: The student is expected to interpret the arrangement of the Periodic Table, including groups and periods, to explain how properties are used to classify elements;

Ionic Bonds

1.8.5.D: The student is expected to recognize that chemical formulas are used to identify substances and determine the number of atoms of each element in chemical formulas containing subscripts; and

Chemical Equations

1.8.5.E: The student is expected to investigate how evidence of chemical reactions indicates that new substances with different properties are formed and how that relates to the law of conservation of mass.

Chemical Changes

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

1.7.5.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

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

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

Chemical Changes
Chemical and Physical Changes

1.6.6: Matter and energy. The student knows matter has physical properties that can be used for classification.

1.6.6.A: The student is expected to compare metals, nonmetals, and metalloids using physical properties such as luster, conductivity, or malleability; and

Circuit Builder
Mineral Identification

1.6.6.B: The student is expected to calculate density to identify an unknown substance.

Density Laboratory

2: Force, Motion, and Energy

2.8.6: Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that there is a relationship between force, motion, and energy.

2.8.6.A: The student is expected to demonstrate and calculate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object’s motion;

Crumple Zones
Fan Cart Physics

2.6.8: Force, motion, and energy. The student knows force and motion are related to potential and kinetic energy.

2.6.8.A: The student is expected to compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy;

Energy of a Pendulum
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects
Roller Coaster Physics
Sled Wars

2.6.8.C: The student is expected to calculate average speed using distance and time measurements; and

Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs - Metric
Free-Fall Laboratory

2.6.8.D: The student is expected to measure and graph changes in motion.

Distance-Time Graphs - Metric
Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs - Metric
Free Fall Tower
Free-Fall Laboratory

2.6.9: Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that the Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it just changes form.

2.6.9.C: The student is expected to demonstrate energy transformations such as energy in a flashlight battery changes from chemical energy to electrical energy to light energy.

Energy Conversion in a System
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects

3: Earth and Space

3.8.7: Earth and space. The student knows the effects resulting from cyclical movements of the Sun, Earth, and Moon.

3.8.7.A: The student is expected to model and illustrate how the tilted Earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night, and revolves around the Sun, causing changes in seasons;

Seasons: Earth, Moon, and Sun
Seasons: Why do we have them?

3.8.7.B: The student is expected to demonstrate and predict the sequence of events in the lunar cycle; and

Moonrise, Moonset, and Phases
Phases of the Moon

3.8.7.C: The student is expected to relate the positions of the Moon and Sun to their effect on ocean tides.

Tides - Metric

3.8.8: Earth and space. The student knows characteristics of the universe.

3.8.8.A: The student is expected to describe components of the universe, including stars, nebulae, and galaxies, and use models such as the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for classification;

H-R Diagram

3.8.9: Earth and space. The student knows that natural events can impact Earth systems.

3.8.9.A: The student is expected to describe the historical development of evidence that supports plate tectonic theory;

Building Pangaea

3.8.9.B: The student is expected to relate plate tectonics to the formation of crustal features; and

Plate Tectonics

3.8.9.C: The student is expected to interpret topographic maps and satellite views to identify land and erosional features and predict how these features may be reshaped by weathering.

Building Topographic Maps
Reading Topographic Maps

3.8.10: Earth and space. The student knows that climatic interactions exist among Earth, ocean, and weather systems.

3.8.10.A: The student is expected to recognize that the Sun provides the energy that drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds;

Coastal Winds and Clouds - Metric

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

3.7.8.C: The student is expected to model the effects of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed.

Pond Ecosystem

3.6.11: Earth and space. The student understands the organization of our solar system and the relationships among the various bodies that comprise it.

3.6.11.B: The student is expected to understand that gravity is the force that governs the motion of our solar system.

Gravity Pitch

4: Organisms and Environments

4.8.11: Organisms and environments. The student knows that interdependence occurs among living systems and the environment and that human activities can affect these systems.

4.8.11.A: The student is expected to investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic factors such as food and abiotic factors such as quantity of light, water, range of temperatures, or soil composition;

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Pond Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season

4.8.11.B: The student is expected to explore how short- and long-term environmental changes affect organisms and traits in subsequent populations; and

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

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

4.7.10.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

4.7.11: 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.

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

Dichotomous Keys

4.7.11.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

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

4.7.12.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
Muscles and Bones

4.7.12.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; and

Cell Energy Cycle
Cell Structure
RNA and Protein Synthesis

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

Paramecium Homeostasis

4.7.14: 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.

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

Inheritance

4.7.14.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

SIRS: Scientific Investigation and Reasoning Skills

SIRS.8.2: Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific practices during laboratory and field investigations.

SIRS.8.2.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;

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

SIRS.8.2.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;

Boyle's Law and Charles's Law
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Diffusion
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

SIRS.8.2.D: The student is expected to construct tables and graphs, using repeated trials and means, to organize data and identify patterns; and

Diffusion

SIRS.8.2.E: The student is expected to analyze data to formulate reasonable explanations, communicate valid conclusions supported by the data, and predict trends.

Boyle's Law and Charles's Law

SIRS.8.3: 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.

SIRS.8.3.B: The student is expected to use models to represent aspects of the natural world such as an atom, a molecule, space, or a geologic feature;

Big Bang Theory - Hubble's Law
Element Builder

SIRS.8.4: Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools and safety equipment to conduct science inquiry.

SIRS.8.4.A: The student is expected to use appropriate tools, including lab journals/notebooks, beakers, meter sticks, graduated cylinders, anemometers, psychrometers, hot plates, test tubes, spring scales, balances, microscopes, thermometers, calculators, computers, spectroscopes, timing devices, and other necessary equipment to collect, record, and analyze information; and

Crumple Zones
Triple Beam Balance