Kentucky Core Content for Science Assessment

The STANDARDS CORRELATION chart suggests which Kentucky Core Content for Science Assessment standards you can cover using PASSPORT TO ANTARCTICA in your classroom. We hope you will discover additional standards you can use. These are the ones our Instructional Materials Development team felt most directly related to the activities contained in PASSPORT TO ANTARCTICA.

For additional Kentucky Core Content for Science Assessment science standards you can cover see the STANDARDS CORRELATION chart for the following PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects:

PASSPORT TO THE RAINFOREST

PASSPORT TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM

PASSPORT TO WEATHER AND CLIMATE

LIVE FROM MARS 2001/2002

PASSPORT TO THE UNIVERSE

Grades Primary through 4 with Assessment at Grade 4
Grades 5 through 7 with Assessment at Grade 7
Grades 8 through 11 with Assessment at Grade 11

Grades Primary through 4 with Assessment at Grade 4

Conceptual Understandings: Life Science
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

The Characteristics of Organisms

 

Things in the environment are classified as living, nonliving, and once living. Living things differ from nonliving things. Organisms are classified into groups by using various characteristics (e.g., body coverings, body structures).

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Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants need air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met.

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Each plant or animal has structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.

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Life Cycles of Organisms

 

Plants and animals have life cycles that include the beginning of life, growth and development, reproduction, and death. The details of a life cycle are different for different organisms.

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Plants and animals closely resemble their parents at some time in their life cycle. Some characteristics (e.g., the color of flowers, the number of appendages) are passed to offspring. Other characteristics are learned from interactions with the environment such as the ability to ride a bicycle, and these cannot be passed on to the next generation.

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Organisms and Their Environments

 

Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.

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The world has many different environments. Distinct environments support the lives of different types of organisms. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations.

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All organisms, including humans, cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or to other organisms; other changes are beneficial (e.g., dams built by beavers benefit some aquatic organisms but are detrimental to others).

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Scientific Inquiry
Inquiry skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectation: 2.1 Scientific Ways of Thinking and Working
Content Statements

Students will

 

ask simple scientific questions that can be investigated through observations combined with scientific information.

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use simple equipment (e.g., magnifiers, magnets), tools (e.g., metric rulers, thermometers), skills (e.g., classifying, predicting), technology (e.g., electronic media, calculators, World Wide Web), and mathematics in scientific investigations.

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use evidence (e.g., observations, data) from simple scientific investigations and scientific knowledge to develop reasonable explanations.

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design and conduct simple scientific investigations.

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communicate (e.g., draw, graph, write) designs, procedures, observations, and results of scientific investigations.

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review and ask questions about scientific investigations and explanations of other students.

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Applications/Connections
Applications/connections skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

Students will

 

Science and Technology

 

distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans and examine the interaction between science and technology. Technology (e.g., thermometer, hand lens) is used to study science, while science provides theories for technology. Science is used to design simple technological solutions to problems (e.g., use understanding of heat transfer in designing an insulated container for ice cubes).

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Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

 

examine how designing and conducting scientific investigations fosters an understanding of issues related to natural resources (e.g., scarcity), demonstrate how the study of science (e.g., aquariums, living systems) helps explain changes in environments, and examine the role of science and technology in communities (e.g., location of landfills, new housing developments).

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History and Nature of Science

 

examine the role science plays in everyday life.

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Grades 5 through 7 with Assessment at Grade 7

Conceptual Understandings: Life Science
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms

 

Biological change over time accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations. Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment.

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Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival. Extinction of species is common; most of the species that have lived on Earth no longer exist.

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Populations and Ecosystems

 

A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.

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Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. Plants and some microorganisms are producers because they make their own food. All animals, including humans, are consumers, and obtain their food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.

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For most ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.

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The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors (e.g., quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, soil composition). Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no diseases or predators, populations (including humans) increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.

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Scientific Inquiry
Inquiry skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectation: 2.1 Scientific Ways of Thinking and Working
Content Statements

Students will

 

refine and refocus questions that can be answered through scientific investigation combined with scientific information.

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use appropriate equipment, tools, techniques, technology, and mathematics to gather, analyze, and interpret scientific data.

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use evidence (e.g., computer models), logic, and scientific knowledge to develop scientific explanations.

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design and conduct scientific investigations.

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communicate (e.g., write, graph) designs, procedures, observations, and results of scientific investigations.

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review and analyze scientific investigations and explanations of other students.

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Applications/Connections
Applications/connections skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

Students will

 

Science and Technology

 

describe how science helps drive technology and technology helps drive science. Because perfectly designed solutions do not exist, technological solutions have intended benefits and unintended consequences.

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Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

 

describe the individual’s roles and responsibilities in the following areas: changes in populations, resources and environments including ecological crises and environmental issues, natural hazards, science and technology in society, and personal and societal issues about risks and benefits.

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History and Nature of Science

 

demonstrate the role science plays in everyday life: past, present, and future. Science is a human endeavor. Men and women of various social and ethnic backgrounds engage in activities of science (to include careers in science). Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observations, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. It is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists.

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Grades 8 through 11 with Assessment at Grade 11

Conceptual Understandings: Life Science
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

Biological Change

 

Species change over time. Biological change over time is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) natural selection. The consequences of change over time provide a scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life forms and for the striking molecular similarities observed among the diverse species of living organisms.

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The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of biological change over time that has filled every available niche with life forms. The millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live on Earth today are related by descent from common ancesters.

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Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related. Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities that, reflect their relationships. Species is the most fundamental unit of classification. Different species are classified by the comparison and analysis of their internal and external structures and the similarity of their chemical processes.

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The Interdependence of Organisms

 

Atoms (e.g., carbon, nitrogen) and molecules (e.g., water) cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere.

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Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.

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Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. Often changes in one component of an ecosystem will have effects on the entire system that are difficult to predict. The interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years.

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Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size. However, behaviors, environments, and resources influence the size of populations. Models (e.g., mathematical, physical, conceptual) can be used to make predictions about changes in the size or rate of growth of a population.

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Human beings live within the world’s ecosystems. Human activities can deliberately or inadvertently alter the dynamics in ecosystems. These activities can threaten current and future global stability and, if not addressed, ecosystems can be irreversibly affected.

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Matter, Energy, and Organization in Living Systems

 

Living systems require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical organization since the universal tendency is toward more disorganized states. The energy for life primarily derives from the Sun. Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between the atoms of carbon-containing molecules. These molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules (e.g., DNA, proteins, sugars, fats). In addition, the energy stored in the bonds between the atoms can be used as sources of energy for life processes.

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The chemical bonds of food molecules contain energy. Energy is released when the bonds of food molecules are broken and new compounds with lower energy bonds are formed. Cells usually store this energy temporarily in the phosphate bonds of ATP. During the process of cellular respiration, some energy is lost as heat.

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As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels (e.g., cells, organs, organisms, communities) and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each recombination results in storage and dissipation of energy into the environment as heat. Matter and energy are conserved in each change.

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Scientific Inquiry
Inquiry skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectation: 2.1 Scientific Ways of Thinking and Working
Content Statements

Students will

 

formulate testable hypotheses and demonstrate the logical connections between the scientific concepts guiding a hypothesis and the design of an experiment.

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use equipment, tools, techniques, technology, and mathematics to improve scientific investigations and communications.

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use evidence, logic, and scientific knowledge to develop and revise scientific explanations and models.

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design and conduct different kinds of scientific investigations.

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communicate and defend the designs, procedures, observations, and results of scientific investigations.

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review and analyze scientific investigations and explanations of other investigators, including peers.

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Applications/Connections
Applications/connections skills will be assessed only in the context of physical, Earth/space, and life sciences content.
Academic Expectations: 2.2 Patterns of Change, 2.3 Systems, 2.4 Scale and Models, 2.5 Constancy, and 2.6 Change Over Time
Content Statements

Students will

 

Science and Technology

 

apply scientific theory and conceptual understandings to solve problems of technological design and examine the interaction between science and technology.

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Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

 

explore the impact of scientific knowledge and discoveries on personal and community health; recognize how science influences human population growth, use science to analyze the use of natural resources by an increasing human population; investigate how science can be used to solve environmental quality problems, use science to investigate natural and human-induced hazards; and analyze how science and technology are necessary but not sufficient for solving local, national, and global issues.

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History and Nature of Science

 

analyze the role science plays in everyday life and compare different careers in science; recognize that scientific knowledge comes from empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism, and is subject to change as new evidence becomes available; and investigate advances in science and technology that have important and long-lasting effects on science and society.

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