The Bosque Education Guide: Education Standards

Science Part 2: 2003 Content Standard, Benchmarks and Performance Standards

B: Grade Five through Eight

Strand II

Strand II: Content of Science

  
Standard I (Physical Science): Understand the structure and properties of matter, the characteristics of energy, and the interactions between matter and energy.
Activity Number*
5-8 Benchmark I: Know the forms and properties of matter and how matter interacts.  
5 1. Describe properties (e.g., relative volume, ability to flow) of the three states of matter. 13, 28, 29, 30
2. Describe how matter changes from one phase to another (e.g., condensation, evaporation). 29
3. Know that matter is made up of particles (atoms) that can combine to form molecules and that these particles are too small to see with the naked eye. 30
6. Explain the relationship between temperature and the motion of particles in each state of matter. 29
6 1. Understand that substances have characteristic properties and identify the properties of various substances (e.g., density, boiling point, solubility, chemical reactivity). 28
4. Know the differences between chemical and physical properties and how these properties can influence the interactions of matter. 26
7 1. Explain how matter is transferred from one organism to another and between organisms and their environment (e.g., consumption, the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle). 29
5. Know that chemical reactions are essential to life processes. 10
8 Changes in Matter  
7. Know that phase changes are physical changes that can be reversed (e.g., evaporation, condensation, melting). 29
8. Describe various familiar physical and chemical changes that occur naturally (e.g., snow melting, photosynthesis, rusting, burning). 10, 29
5-8 Benchmark II: Explain the physical processes involved in the transfer, change, and conservation of energy.  
6 4. Understand that some energy travels as waves (e.g., seismic, light, sound), including: • the sun as source of energy for many processes on Earth 19
7 1. Know how various forms of energy are transformed through organisms and ecosystems, including: • sunlight and photosynthesis 10
• energy transformation in living systems (e.g., cellular processes changing chemical energy to heat and motion) 10
• effect of mankind’s use of energy and other activities on living systems (e.g., global warming, water quality). 5, 11, 13, 18, 19, 34, 40
8 Energy Transformation  
3. Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy. 17, 34
5-8 Benchmark III: Describe and explain forces that produce motion in objects.  
5 3. Identify forces in nature (e.g., gravity, magnetism, electricity, friction). 13, 26, 29
4. Understand that when a force (e.g., gravity, friction) acts on an object, the object speeds up, slows down, or goes in a different direction. 32
8 Forces  
1. Know that there are fundamental forces in nature (e.g., gravity, electromagnetic forces, nuclear forces). 26, 29
Standard II (Life Science): Understand the properties, structures, and processes of living things and the interdependence of living things and their environments.  
5-8 Benchmark I: Explain the diverse structures and functions of living things and the complex relationships between living things and their environments.  
5 1. Identify the components of habitats and ecosystems (producers, consumers, decomposers, predators). 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 19, 24, 36, 40
2. Understand how food webs depict relationships between different organisms. 3, 4, 6, 11, 19
3. Know that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms (e.g., some organisms move, some survive, some reproduce, some die). 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 40
4. Describe how human activity impacts the environment. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40
6 1. Understand how organisms interact with their physical environments to meet their needs (i.e., food, water, air) and how the water cycle is essential to most living systems. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 40
2. Describe how weather and geologic events (e.g., volcanoes, earthquakes) affect the function of living systems. 11, 13, 14, 26, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36
3. Describe how organisms have adapted to various environmental conditions. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24, 36, 40
7 Populations and Ecosystems  
1. Identify the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem and describe the relationships among these components. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 36, 40
2. Explain biomes (i.e., aquatic, desert, rainforest, grasslands, tundra) and describe the New Mexico biome. 2, 3, 4, 11, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 29, 31
3. Explain how individuals of species that exist together interact with their environment to create an ecosystem (e.g., populations, communities, niches, habitats, food webs). 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 31, 40
4. Explain the conditions and resources needed to sustain life in specific ecosystems. 2, 3, 4, 10, 13, 15, 16, 19
5. Describe how the availability of resources and physical factors limit growth (e.g., quantity of light and water, range of temperature, composition of soil) and how the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles contribute to the availability of those resources to support living systems. 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 40
Biodiversity  
6. Understand how diverse species fill all niches in an ecosystem. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22
7. Know how to classify organisms: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
8 1. Describe how matter moves through ecosystems (e.g., water cycle, carbon cycle). 29, 31
2. Describe how energy flows through ecosystems (e.g., sunlight, green plants, food for animals). 10, 19
3. Explain how a change in the flow of energy can impact an ecosystem (e.g., the amount of sunlight available for plant growth, global climate change). 11, 13, 17, 18, 24, 33, 34, 36, 40
5-8 Benchmark II: Understand how traits are passed from one generation to the next and how species evolve.  
5 1. Know that plants and animals have life cycles that include birth, growth and development, reproduction, and death and that these cycles differ for different organisms. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21
2. Identify characteristics of an organism that are inherited from its parents (e.g., eye color in humans, flower color in plants) and other characteristics that are learned or result from interactions with the environment. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 23
6 1. Understand that the fossil record provides data for how living organisms have evolved. 25
2. Describe how species have responded to changing environmental conditions over time (e.g., extinction, adaptation). 22, 23, 24, 25
7 Reproduction  
1. Know that reproduction is a characteristic of all living things and is essential to the continuation of a species. 10, 11
2. Identify the differences between sexual and asexual reproduction. 10, 11
Heredity  
5. Understand that some characteristics are passed from parent to offspring as inherited traits and others are acquired from interactions with the environment. 2, 3, 4, 10
Biological Evolution  
7. Describe how typical traits may change from generation to generation due to environmental influences (e.g., color of skin, shape of eyes, camouflage, shape of beak). 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 24
10. Identify adaptations that favor the survival of organisms in their environments (e.g., camouflage, shape of beak). 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 24
12. Explain how species adapt to changes in the environment or become extinct and that extinction of species is common in the history of living things. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 25
13. Know that the fossil record documents the appearance, diversification, and extinction of many life forms. 25
8 3. Describe the widespread role of carbon in the chemistry of living systems. 19
5-8 Benchmark III: Understand the structure of organisms and the function of cells in living systems.  
5 2. Know that some organisms are made of a collection of similar cells that cooperate (e.g., algae) while other organisms are made of cells that are different in appearance and function (e.g., corn, birds). 2, 3, 4
3. Describe the relationships among cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems. 2, 3, 4
6 2. Describe the differences between substances that were produced by living organisms (e.g., fossil fuels) and substances that result from nonliving processes (e.g., igneous rocks). 25, 26
7 Structure of Organisms  
1. Understand that organisms are composed of cells and identify unicellular and multicellular organisms. 2, 3, 4
8 1. Describe how cells use chemical energy obtained from food to conduct cellular functions (i.e., respiration). 10
2. Explain that photosynthesis in green plants captures the energy from the sun and stores it chemically. 10
Standard III (Earth and Space Science): Understand the structure of Earth, the solar system, and the universe, the interconnections among them, and the processes and interactions of Earth’s systems.  
5-8 Benchmark I: Describe how the concepts of energy, matter, and force can be used to explain the observed behavior of the solar system, the universe, and their structures.  
7 1. Explain why Earth is unique in our solar system in its ability to support life. 29
2. Explain how energy from the sun supports life on Earth. 29
5-8 Benchmark II: Describe the structure of Earth and its atmosphere and explain how energy, matter, and forces shape Earth’s systems.  
5 1. Understand that water and air relate to Earth’s processes, including:  
• how the water cycle relates to weather 29
• how clouds are made of tiny droplets of water, like fog or steam. 29, 30, 31
2. Know that air is a substance that surrounds Earth (atmosphere), takes up space, and moves, and that temperature fluctuations and other factors produce wind currents. 29
3. Know that most of Earth’s surface is covered by water, that most of that water is salt water in oceans, and that fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, underground sources, and glaciers. 13, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35
6 Structure of Earth  
1. Know that Earth is composed of layers that include a crust, mantle, and core. 26, 27
2. Know that Earth’s crust is divided into plates that move very slowly, in response to movements in the mantle. 26, 27
3. Know that sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks contain evidence of the materials, temperatures, and forces that created them. 13, 18, 25, 26, 27
Weather and Climate  
4. Describe the composition (i.e., nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor) and strata of Earth’s atmosphere, and differences between the atmosphere of Earth and those of other planets. 29
• heat, air movement, pressure, humidity, oceans 29
• how clouds form by condensation of water vapor 29
• how weather patterns are related to atmospheric pressure 29
• factors that can impact Earth’s climate (e.g., volcanic eruptions, impacts of asteroids, glaciers). 26, 27, 31
Changes to Earth  
7. Know that landforms are created and change through a combination of constructive and destructive forces, including:  
• weathering of rock and soil, transportation, deposition of sediment, and tectonic activity 13, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32
• similarities and differences between current and past processes on Earth’s surface (e.g., erosion, plate tectonics, changes in atmospheric composition) 13, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32
• impact of volcanoes and faults on New Mexico geology. 25, 26, 27
8. Understand the history of Earth and how information about it comes from layers of sedimentary rock, including:  
• sediments and fossils as a record of a very slowly changing world 25
• evidence of asteroid impact, volcanic and glacial activity. 26, 27
7 1. Understand how the remains of living things give us information about the history of Earth, including:  
• layers of sedimentary rock, the fossil record, and radioactive dating showing that life has been present on Earth for more than 3.5 billion years. 25
3. Know that changes to ecosystems sometimes decrease the capacity of the environment to support some life forms and are difficult and/or costly to remediate. 14, 17, 18, 35, 36, 40
8 1. Describe the role of pressure (and heat) in the rock cycle. 26, 27
2. Understand the unique role water plays on Earth, including:  
• ability to remain liquid at most Earth temperatures 29
• properties of water related to processes in the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, percolation 29, 30, 31
• dissolving of minerals and gases and transport to the oceans 29
• fresh and salt water in oceans, rivers, lakes, and glaciers 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
3. Understand the geologic conditions that have resulted in energy resources (e.g., oil, coal, natural gas) available in New Mexico. 25, 26, 27, 28

 

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