The STANDARDS CORRELATION chart suggests which California Academic Content Standards you can cover using PASSPORT TO WEATHER AND CLIMATE 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 WEATHER AND CLIMATE.
For additional California Academic Content Standards you can cover see the STANDARDS CORRELATION chart for the following PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects:
Elementary Standards: Kindergarten, Grade One,
Grade Two, Grade Three,
Grade Four, Grade Five
Middle School Standards: Grade Six, Grade Seven,
Grade Eight
High School Starndards: Grades 9-12
3. Earth is composed of land, air, and water. As a basis for understanding this concept:
. Students know changes in weather occur from day to day and across seasons,
affecting Earth and its inhabitants.
video 4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Observe common objects by using the five senses.
video b. describe the properties of common objects.
video c. describe the relative position of objects using one reference (e.g., above or below).
video d. compare and sort common objects based on one physical attribute (including color, shape, texture, size, weight).
video e. communicate observations orally and in drawings.
video 3. Weather can be observed, measured, and described. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
a. Students know how to use simple tools (e.g., thermometer, wind vane) to measure
weather conditions and record changes from day to day and across the seasons.
video b. Students know that the weather changes from day to day but that trends in tem-perature
or of rain (or snow) tend to be predictable during a season.
video c. Students know the sun warms the land, air, and water.
video 4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. draw pictures that portray some features of the thing being described.
video b. Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.
video c. record observations on a bar graph.
video d. describe the relative position of objects using two references (e.g., above and next to, below and left of).
video e. Make new observations when discrepancies exist between two descriptions of
the same object or phenomenon.
video 4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Make predictions based on observed patterns and not random guessing.
video b. Measure length, weight, temperature, and liquid volume with appropriate tools
and express those measurements in standard metric system units.
video c. Compare and sort common objects according to two or more physical attributes
(e.g., color, shape, texture, size, weight).
video d. Write or draw descriptions of a sequence of steps, events, and observations.
video e. Construct bar graphs to record data, using appropriately labeled axes.
video f. Use magnifiers or microscopes to observe and draw descriptions of small objects
or small features of objects.
video g. Follow oral instructions for a scientific investigation.
video 1. Energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to
another. As a basis for understanding this concept:
e. Students know matter has three forms: solid, liquid, and gas.
video f. Students know evaporation and melting are changes that occur when the objects
are heated.
video 5. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar
scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same because of differences
in the things being investigated, methods being used, or uncertainty in the
observation.
video b. Differentiate evidence from opinion and know that scientists do not rely on
claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be
confirmed.
video c. Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measurements.
video d. Predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the
prediction.
video e. Collect data in an investigation and analyze those data to develop a logical conclusion.
video 1. Electricity and magnetism are related effects that have many useful applications in
everyday life. As a basis for understanding this concept:
d. Students know the role of electromagnets in the construction of electric motors,
electric generators, and simple devices, such as doorbells and earphones.
video e. Students know electrically charged objects attract or repel each other.
video f. Students know that magnets have two poles (north and south) and that like poles
repel each other while unlike poles attract each other.
video g. Students know electrical energy can be converted to heat, light, and motion. video 6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’
explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how
they interpret their observations.
video b. Measure and estimate the weight, length, or volume of objects. video c. Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
video d. Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the
relationships between predictions and results.
video e. Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.
video f. Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.
video 3. Water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evapo-ration
and condensation. As a basis for understanding this concept:
b. Students know when liquid water evaporates, it turns into water vapor in the air
and can reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid if cooled below the freez-ing
point of water.
video c. Students know water vapor in the air moves from one place to another and can
form fog or clouds, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can fall to Earth
as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
video 4. Energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in
changing weather patterns. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know uneven heating of Earth causes air movements (convection currents).
video b. Students know the influence that the ocean has on the weather and the role that
the water cycle plays in weather patterns.
video c. Students know the causes and effects of different types of severe weather.
video d. Students know how to use weather maps and data to predict local weather and
know that weather forecasts depend on many variables.
video e. Students know that the Earth’s atmosphere exerts a pressure that decreases with
distance above Earth’s surface and that at any point it exerts this pressure
equally in all directions.
video 5. The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predict-able
paths. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the Sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar
system and is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.
video b. Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the Moon, the Sun,
eight other planets and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and
comets.
video c. Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the gravitational
attraction between the Sun and the planet.
video 6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with appropriate
criteria.
video b. Develop a testable question.
video c. Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question
and write instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
video d. Identify the dependent and controlled variables in an investigation.
video e. Identify a single independent variable in a scientific investigation and explain
how this variable can be used to collect information to answer a question about
the results of the experiment.
video f. Select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks, balances, and gradu-ated
cylinders) and make quantitative observations.
video g. Record data by using appropriate graphic representations (including charts,
graphs, and labeled diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.
video h. Draw conclusions from scientific evidence and indicate whether further informa-tion
is needed to support a specific conclusion.
video i. Write a report of an investigation that includes conducting tests, collecting data
or examining evidence, and drawing conclusions.
video 3. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the
objects are at the same temperature. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow or by
waves, including water, light and sound waves, or by moving objects.
video b. Students know that when fuel is consumed, most of the energy released becomes
heat energy.
video c. Students know heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of
matter) and in fluids by conduction and by convection (which involves flow of
matter).
video d. Students know heat energy is also transferred between objects by radiation (radiation
can travel through space).
video 4. Many phenomena on Earth’s surface are affected by the transfer of energy through
radiation and convection currents. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on Earth’s
surface; it powers winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
video b. Students know solar energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the form of
visible light.
video c. Students know heat from Earth’s interior reaches the surface primarily through
convection.
video d. Students know convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.
video e. Students know differences in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity result in
changes of weather.
video 7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Develop a hypothesis.
video b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, comput-ers,
balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect
data, and display data.
video c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements
about the relationships between variables.
video d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and
oral presentations.
video e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.
video f. Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps
and construct and interpret a simple scale map.
video g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative
ages of rocks and intrusions).
video h. Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the
phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a grove of trees, a stream, a hillslope).
video 9. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.
video b. Evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data.
video c. Distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test.
video d. Recognize the slope of the linear graph as the constant in the relationship yÊ =Ê kx
and apply this principle in interpreting graphs constructed from data.
video e. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop quantitative statements
about the relationships between variables.
video f. Apply simple mathematic relationships to determine a missing quantity in a
mathematic expression, given the two remaining terms (including speed = dis-tance/
time, density = mass/volume, force = pressure ´ area, volume = area ´
height).
video g. Distinguish between linear and nonlinear relationships on a graph of data. video 5. Heating of Earth’s surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the
atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
a. Students know how differential heating of Earth results in circulation patterns in
the atmosphere and oceans that globally distribute the heat.
video b. Students know the relationship between the rotation of Earth and the circular
motions of ocean currents and air in pressure centers.
video c. Students know the origin and effects of temperature inversions.
video f.* Students know the interaction of wind patterns, ocean currents, and mountain
ranges results in the global pattern of latitudinal bands of rain forests and deserts.
video g.* Students know features of the ENSO (El Niño southern oscillation) cycle in terms of
sea-surface and air temperature variations across the Pacific and some climatic
results of this cycle.
video 7. Each element on Earth moves among reservoirs, which exist in the solid earth, in
oceans, in the atmosphere, and within and among organisms as part of biogeochemical
cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the carbon cycle of photosynthesis and respiration and the nitrogen
cycle.
video b. Students know the global carbon cycle: the different physical and chemical forms
of carbon in the atmosphere, oceans, biomass, fossil fuels, and the movement of
carbon among these reservoirs.
video c. Students know the movement of matter among reservoirs is driven by Earth’s
internal and external sources of energy.
video d.* Students know the relative residence times and flow characteristics of carbon in
and out of its different reservoirs.
video 8. Life has changed Earth’s atmosphere, and changes in the atmosphere affect conditions
for life. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the thermal structure and chemical composition of the atmosphere.
video b. Students know how the composition of Earth’s atmosphere has evolved over
geologic time and know the effect of outgassing, the variations of carbon dioxide
concentration, and the origin of atmospheric oxygen.
video c. Students know the location of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, its role in
absorbing ultraviolet radiation, and the way in which this layer varies both
naturally and in response to human activities.
video Updated September 2001Kindergarten
Earth Science
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Grade One
Earth Science
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Three
Physical Sciences
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Grade Four
Physical Sciences
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Grade Five
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Grade Six
Focus on Earth Sciences
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Science)
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Energy in the Earth System
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Eight
Focus on Physical Sciences
Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Nine to Twelve
Earth Science
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Biogeochemical cycles
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Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere
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