The STANDARDS CORRELATION chart suggests which California Academic Content Standards you can cover using PASSPORT TO THE UNIVERSE 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 THE UNIVERSE.
For additional California Academic Content Standards you can cover see the STANDARDS CORRELATION chart for the following PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects:
PASSPORT TO WEATHER AND CLIMATE
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
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 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 1. The motion of objects can be observed and measured. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
a. Students know the position of an object can be described by locating it in relation
to another object or to the background.
video b. Students know an object’s motion can be described by recording the change in
position of the object over time.
video c. Students know the way to change how something is moving is by giving it a push
or a pull. The size of the change is related to the strength, or the amount of force,
of the push or pull.
video d. Students know tools and machines are used to apply pushes and pulls (forces) to
make things move.
video e. Students know objects fall to the ground unless something holds them up.
video f. Students know magnets can be used to make some objects move without being
touched.
video g. Students know sound is made by vibrating objects and can be described by its
pitch and volume.
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 2. Light has a source and travels in a direction. As a basis for understanding this
concept:
a. Students know sunlight can be blocked to create shadows.
video b. Students know light is reflected from mirrors and other surfaces.
video c. Students know the color of light striking an object affects the way the object is seen.
video d. Students know an object is seen when light traveling from the object enters the eye. video 4. Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. As a basis for under-standing
this concept:
a. Students know the patterns of stars stay the same, although they appear to move
across the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons.
video b. Students know the way in which the Moon’s appearance changes during the four-week
lunar cycle.
video c. Students know telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the
sky, including the Moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seen
through telescopes is dramatically greater than the number that can be seen by the
unaided eye.
video d. Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the
Moon orbits Earth.
video e. Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of the
day and from season to season.
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 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 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 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 (radia-tion
can travel through space).
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 1. The velocity of an object is the rate of change of its position. As a basis for under-standing
this concept:
a. Students know position is defined in relation to some choice of a standard refer-ence
point and a set of reference directions.
video b. Students know that average speed is the total distance traveled divided by the
total time elapsed and that the speed of an object along the path traveled can
vary.
video c. Students know how to solve problems involving distance, time, and average
speed.
video d. Students know the velocity of an object must be described by specifying both the
direction and the speed of the object.
video e. Students know changes in velocity may be due to changes in speed, direction, or
both. video f. Students know how to interpret graphs of position versus time and graphs of
speed versus time for motion in a single direction.
video 2. Unbalanced forces cause changes in velocity. As a basis for understanding this
concept:
a. Students know a force has both direction and magnitude.
video b. Students know when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the result is
the cumulative effect of all the forces.
video c. Students know when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object
does not change.
video d. Students know how to identify separately the two or more forces that are acting
on a single static object, including gravity, elastic forces due to tension or com-pression
in matter, and friction.
video e. Students know that when the forces on an object are unbalanced, the object will
change its velocity (that is, it will speed up, slow down, or change direction). video f. Students know the greater the mass of an object, the more force is needed to
achieve the same rate of change in motion.
video g. Students know the role of gravity in forming and maintaining the shapes of
planets, stars, and the solar system.
video 4. The structure and composition of the universe can be learned from studying stars
and galaxies and their evolution. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know galaxies are clusters of billions of stars and may have different
shapes.
video b. Students know that the Sun is one of many stars in the Milky Way galaxy and that
stars may differ in size, temperature, and color.
video c. Students know how to use astronomical units and light years as measures of
distances between the Sun, stars, and Earth.
video d. Students know that stars are the source of light for all bright objects in outer space
and that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight, not by their own light.
video e. Students know the appearance, general composition, relative position and size,
and motion of objects in the solar system, including planets, planetary satellites,
comets, and asteroids.
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 1. Newton’s laws predict the motion of most objects. As a basis for understanding this
concept:
a. Students know how to solve problems that involve constant speed and average
speed.
video b. Students know that when forces are balanced, no acceleration occurs; thus an
object continues to move at a constant speed or stays at rest (Newton’s first law).
video c. Students know how to apply the law FÊ =Ê ma to solve one-dimensional motion
problems that involve constant forces (Newton’s second law).
video d. Students know that when one object exerts a force on a second object, the second
object always exerts a force of equal magnitude and in the opposite direction
(Newton’s third law).
video e. Students know the relationship between the universal law of gravitation and the
effect of gravity on an object at the surface of Earth.
video f. Students know applying a force to an object perpendicular to the direction of its
motion causes the object to change direction but not speed (e.g., Earth’s gravita-tional
force causes a satellite in a circular orbit to change direction but not speed).
video g. Students know circular motion requires the application of a constant force directed
toward the center of the circle.
video h.* Students know Newton’s laws are not exact but provide very good approxima-tions
unless an object is moving close to the speed of light or is small enough that
quantum effects are important.
video 2. The laws of conservation of energy and momentum provide a way to predict and
describe the movement of objects. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to calculate kinetic energy by using the formula E=(1/2)mv2.
video b. Students know how to calculate changes in gravitational potential energy near
Earth by using the formula (change in potential energy) =mgh (change in the elevation). video c. Students know how to solve problems involving conservation of energy in simple
systems, such as falling objects.
video d. Students know how to calculate momentum as the product mv.
video e. Students know momentum is a separately conserved quantity different from
energy.
video f. Students know an unbalanced force on an object produces a change in its momentum.
video 3. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, although in many processes energy is trans-ferred
to the environment as heat. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know heat flow and work are two forms of energy transfer between
systems.
video b. Students know that the work done by a heat engine that is working in a cycle is
the difference between the heat flow into the engine at high temperature and the
heat flow out at a lower temperature (first law of thermodynamics) and that this
is an example of the law of conservation of energy.
video c. Students know the internal energy of an object includes the energy of random
motion of the object’s atoms and molecules, often referred to as thermal energy. The greater the temperature of the object, the greater the energy of motion of the
atoms and molecules that make up the object.
video 4. Waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of wave. As a
basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know waves carry energy from one place to another.
video b. Students know how to identify transverse and longitudinal waves in mechanical
media, such as springs and ropes, and on the earth (seismic waves).
video c. Students know how to solve problems involving wavelength, frequency, and
wave speed.
video d. Students know sound is a longitudinal wave whose speed depends on the proper-ties
of the medium in which it propagates. video e. Students know radio waves, light, and X-rays are different wavelength bands in
the spectrum of electromagnetic waves whose speed in a vacuum is approximately 3x108
m/s (186,000 miles/second).
video f. Students know how to identify the characteristic properties of waves: interference
(beats), diffraction, refraction, Doppler effect, and polarization.
video 5. Electric and magnetic phenomena are related and have many practical applications.
As a basis for understanding this concept:
e. Students know charged particles are sources of electric fields and are subject to the
forces of the electric fields from other charges. video f. Students know magnetic materials and electric currents (moving electric charges)
are sources of magnetic fields and are subject to forces arising from the magnetic
fields of other sources.
video g. Students know how to determine the direction of a magnetic field produced by a
current flowing in a straight wire or in a coil.
video h. Students know changing magnetic fields produce electric fields, thereby inducing
currents in nearby conductors.
video i. Students know plasmas, the fourth state of matter, contain ions or free electrons or
both and conduct electricity.
video 1. Astronomy and planetary exploration reveal the solar system’s structure, scale, and
change over time. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how the differences and similarities among the sun, the terrestrial
planets, and the gas planets may have been established during the formation of
the solar system.
video b. Students know the evidence from Earth and moon rocks indicates that the solar
system was formed from a nebular cloud of dust and gas approximately 4.6 bil-lion
years ago.
video d. Students know the evidence indicating that the planets are much closer to Earth
than the stars are. video e. Students know the Sun is a typical star and is powered by nuclear reactions, prima-rily
the fusion of hydrogen to form helium.
video
f. Students know the evidence for the dramatic effects that asteroid impacts have had
in shaping the surface of planets and their moons and in mass extinctions of life
on Earth.
video g.* Students know the evidence for the existence of planets orbiting other stars. video 2. Earth-based and space-based astronomy reveal the structure, scale, and changes in
stars, galaxies, and the universe over time. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the solar system is located in an outer edge of the disc-shaped
Milky Way galaxy, which spans 100,000 light years.
video b. Students know galaxies are made of billions of stars and comprise most of the
visible mass of the universe.
video c. Students know the evidence indicating that all elements with an atomic number
greater than that of lithium have been formed by nuclear fusion in stars.
video d. Students know that stars differ in their life cycles and that visual, radio, and X-ray
telescopes may be used to collect data that reveal those differences. video e.* Students know accelerators boost subatomic particles to energy levels that simulate
conditions in the stars and in the early history of the universe before stars formed.
video f.* Students know the evidence indicating that the color, brightness, and evolution of
a star are determined by a balance between gravitational collapse and nuclear
fusion.
video g.* Students know how the red-shift from distant galaxies and the cosmic background
radiation provide evidence for the "big bang" model that suggests that the uni-verse
has been expanding for 10 to 20 billion years. video 4. Energy enters the Earth system primarily as solar radiation and eventually escapes
as heat. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the relative amount of incoming solar energy compared with
Earth’s internal energy and the energy used by society.
video b. Students know the fate of incoming solar radiation in terms of reflection, absorption,
and photosynthesis.
video c. Students know the different atmospheric gases that absorb the Earth’s thermal
radiation and the mechanism and significance of the greenhouse effect.
video d.* Students know the differing greenhouse conditions on Earth, Mars, and Venus; the
origins of those conditions; and the climatic consequences of each.
video Updated September 2001Kindergarten
Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade One
Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Two
Physical Sciences
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Three
Physical Sciences
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Earth Science
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Five
Earth Science
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Six
Focus on Earth Sciences
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Science)
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Grade Eight
Focus on Physical Sciences
Motion
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Forces
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Earth in the Solar System (Earth Science)
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Investigation and Experimentation
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Grade Nine to Twelve
Physics
Motion and Forces
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Conservation of Energy and Momentum
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Heat and Thermodynamics
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Waves
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Electronic and Magnetic Phenomena
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Earth Science
Earth's Place in the Universe
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Energy in the Earth System
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