The STANDARDS CORRELATION chart suggests which Nevada Science 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 Nevada Science Standards you can cover see the STANDARDS CORRELATION chart for the following PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects:
PASSPORT TO WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Introduction
Science is the component of the school curriculum in which student inquiry and discovery can develop and flourish. Science seeks to make sense of the natural world by describing its complexity, explaining its systems and events, and finding patterns that allow for predictions. It is the basis for the design of technologies that solve real-world problems and occupies an increasingly important place in our everyday lives. As citizens, we are asked to make decisions about social issues that involve science and technology. As workers, we have occupations that increasingly involve science and technology. In the twenty-first century, adults will need to be comfortable and competent in a complex scientific and technological world. Schools have the responsibility of preparing students for the future. Schools must prepare all students to be scientifically literate.
The study of science involves exploration using a variety of technologies. Current technology tools for communication, research, problem solving, and decision making provide students with opportunities to apply scientific concepts in project-based activities. Use of video, the Internet, and other print and non-print sources enhances students' learning experiences and helps make those experiences meaningful.
The Nevada Science Standards represent a common core for curriculum throughout Nevada's schools. Many people may recognize, however, that as in many human endeavors the process is at least as important as the product. These content standards are the result of an invaluable process of dialogue and consensus-building among educators, scientists, industry representatives, and parents from throughout Nevada about what all students should know and be able to do in science. The content standards are essential to accomplishing the goals for science education listed below.
Goals of Science Education in Nevada
All graduates of Nevada schools should:
Demonstrate the processes of science by posing questions and investigating phenomena through language, methods, and instruments of science;
Acquire scientific knowledge by applying concepts, theories, principles, and laws from life, physical, and Earth/space science;
Demonstrate ways of thinking and acting inherent in the practice of science and exhibit an awareness of the historical and cultural contribution to the enterprise of science; and
Demonstrate an ability to solve problems and make personal decisions about issues affecting the individual, society, and the environment.
Content Organization
All of the sciences connect with each other. However, it has been necessary, for ease of use, to divide this document into an ordered hierarchy. This organizational scheme should in no way be interpreted as a mandate for structuring academic courses or curriculum.
The complete domain of what students should know and be able to do is organized in this document as six strands: physical science; life science; earth and space sciences; environmental sciences; the nature and history of science; and scientific inquiry: processes and skills. Each of the six strands is further divided into content standards which constitute the "big ideas" of science. For example, Physical Science is divided into five content standards, beginning with Forces and Motion. Specific grade-level benchmarks further define student expectations relative to this content standard. These benchmarks are specific enough to provide a common content core for local curriculum but broad enough to allow school districts many diverse curricular paths to meet the standards. The order in which concepts are listed from top to bottom on any given page is not meant to imply an order in which concepts should be taught. Curriculum designers and teachers are encouraged to build units of study that address standards from multiple strands, to emphasize interdisciplinary study.
Knowledge and processes are both important in the area of science. It is even more important that students be able to combine their scientific knowledge and the processes of science to develop their own understanding of science. For example, students should be encouraged to engage in such activities as asking questions, planning and conducting their own investigations, and using tools and technology to gather data. Therefore, the Nevada Science Standards frequently use verb combinations to describe what a student is expected to know and be able to do. For example, at the third grade, students are expected to "investigate and describe the ways that different objects may balance or topple in various situations."
The Nevada Science Standards are intended to provide Nevada students with a rich, thorough, and varied science education to prepare them for the challenges, discoveries, and demands of life in the twenty-first century.
By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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Life Cycles and Disruptions |
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6.K.1: Observe and describe animal attributes.
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Structures, Functions, and Systems |
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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Life Cycles and Disruptions |
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6.1.1: Observe and describe plant attributes.
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Structures, Functions, and Systems |
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Life Cycles and Disruptions |
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6.2.1: Investigate and describe how living things grow and change.
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Structures, Functions, and Systems |
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Life Cycles and Disruptions |
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Structures, Functions, and Systems |
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6.3.2: Investigate, compare, and contrast identifiable characteristics of plants and animals.
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Environment, Energy, and Cellular Functions |
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6.3.3: Investigate and describe how plants and animals require certain conditions to survive.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Structures, Functions, and Systems |
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Common Ancestry |
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9.3.1: Explain that many different kinds of living things exist on Earth.
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Natural Selection |
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9.3.2: Explain how particular features of plants and animals help them live in different kinds of places.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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Stability and Change in Ecosystems |
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15.K.1: Recognize that animals live in different places.
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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Stability and Change in Ecosystems |
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15.1.1: Recognize that plants grow in different places.
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Stability and Change in Ecosystems |
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15.2.1: Investigate and describe the roles of plants as producers and animals as consumers and how living things may depend on each other.
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Relationships and Interactions in Ecosystems |
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15.2.2: Investigate and describe how animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants or even other animals (for shelter and nesting).
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Stability and Change in Ecosystems |
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15.3.1: Investigate and describe how animals and plants that live in different places have similarities and differences.
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Relationships and Interactions in Ecosystems |
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15.3.2: Investigate and describe the interactions of organisms within an ecosystem.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Relationships and Interactions in Ecosystems |
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15.4.2: Investigate and describe the variables that affect the survival of organisms within an ecosystem.
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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The Nature of Science |
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18.2.1: Explain that everybody can invent things and ideas.
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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The Nature of Science |
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18.3.1: Explain that science is a process that involves observing and asking questions about the natural world and seeking answers to those questions.
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Attributes of Scientific Research |
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18.3.2: Explain that accurate descriptions in science are important because they enable people to compare their observations with those of others.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Attributes of Scientific Research |
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18.4.2: Identify the components of scientific investigation (e.g. observing, collecting data, classifying)
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Science as a Collaborative Process |
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18.3.4: Give examples of the benefits of working with a team and sharing findings.
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Technology |
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18.3.5: Explain that tools are used to do things better or more easily (e.g. observe, measure, and make things) and to do some things that could not be done at all (e.g. see things that are too small to be seen unaided.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Science as a Collaborative Process |
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18.4.4: Exchange scientific observations and ideas.
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Technology |
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18.4.5: Explain that measuring instruments can be used to gather information for making scientific comparisons of objects and events for designing and constructing things that will work properly.
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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Models |
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20.1.1: Use toy models (e.g. miniature cars, toy animals) to explain the things they represent.
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Systems |
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20.2.3: Explain that something may not work if some of its parts are missing.
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Models |
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20.3.1: Compare a model with what it represents (e.g., a model of the Earth to the Earth itself).
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Models and Predictions |
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20.3.2: Identify observable patterns and predict future events based on those patterns (e.g. seasonal weather patterns.)
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Systems |
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20.3.3: Demonstrate that when parts are put together, they can do things together they couldn’t have done by themselves.
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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By the end of Kindergarten, students know and are able to: |
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Scientific Investigations |
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21.K.1: Ask questions about the world.
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By the end of Grade 1, students know and are able to do everything required in the earlier grade and: |
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Scientific Investigations |
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21.1.1: Make observations and give descriptions.
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By the end of Grade 2, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Scientific Investigations |
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21.2.1: Make observations and give descriptions using words, numbers, and drawings.
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Repeating Scientific Trials |
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21.2.2: Record observations of investigations over time in a notebook or journal.
(e.g., growth of a plant, changes in weather)
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By the end of Grade 3, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Scientific Investigations |
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21.3.1: Observe and raise questions about the world, then seek answers through investigation.
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Repeating Scientific Trials |
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21.3.2: Record observations of investigations over time in a notebook or journal.
(e.g., changes in an aquarium or terrarium)
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By the end of Grade 4, students know and are able to do everything required in earlier grades and: |
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Scientific Investigations |
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21.4.1: Conduct fair tests to make observations.
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