Standards Glossary
The purpose of this glossary is to help the user better understand the terminology used in the Colorado Academic Standards. It is intended to assist educational practitioners and pre-service educators in understanding the standards. It is not intended as a study guide for students nor does it represent a comprehensive list of all academic terms.
Use the alphabetical list to view glossary terms by first letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
B -
- background
1 (character) Information that is essential to understanding a character's situation or problem. 2 (set) The part of a scene that lies behind objects in the foreground.
Content Area: Drama and Theatre Arts
- balance
The way in which the elements in visual arts are arranged to create a feeling of equilibrium in a work of art. The three types of balance are symmetry, asymmetry, and radial.
Content Area: Visual Arts
- balance
The ability to hold a position while remaining still.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- balance
1 Arrangement (symmetrical or asymmetrical) of proportionate parts so that equilibrium exists. 2 Manipulation of floor pattern, movements, and dancers in relation to each other.
Content Area: Dance
- ballet
Classical theatrical dancing based on the danse d'ecole, the rules, and vocabulary that were codified around 1700 in France.
Content Area: Dance
- barter
The direct trading of goods and services between people without using money as an intermediate step.
Content Area: Social Studies
- basic movement
A characteristic figure that remains constant.
Content Area: Dance
- beat
A regular rhythmic pulse in music.
Content Area: Music
- bend
To bring two body parts closer together.
Content Area: Dance
- Benesh
A notation system for capturing and communicating dance movement through writing. See also: Laban.
Content Area: Dance
- bias
When a point of view prevents impartial judgment on issues relating to the subject of that point of view.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- bias
A preference or an inclination that inhibits impartial judgment.
Content Area: Science
- bias
A preference or inclination that inhibits impartial judgment; a prejudice.
Content Area: Reading, Writing, and Communicating
- bioengineering
The use of biological processes and organisms in service to humans such as to produce drugs and foodstuffs or to recycle waste.
Content Area: Science
- biogeography
The relationship between organisms and the geography of the region where the organisms occur.
Content Area: Science
- biomechanics
The study of movement, including force and the laws of motion, to improve physical performance and reduce injuries.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- biomolecules
Any organic molecule that is produced by a living organism: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids.
Content Area: Science
- biotic
The living portion of the environment.
Content Area: Science
- bivariate data
Pairs of linked numerical observations: a list of heights and weights for each player on a football team.
Content Area: Mathematics
- blocking
Actor’s traffic pattern on stage.
Content Area: Drama and Theatre Arts
- body alignment
Typical ways to refer to aligning the body including vertical, off center, center, and non vertical.
Content Area: Dance
- body composition
The proportion of fat-free mass (muscle, bone, vital organs, and tissues) to fat mass in the body.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- body image
The mental picture a person has of his/her body as well as the individual’s associated thoughts, feelings, judgments, sensations, awareness, and behavior.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- body language
The unconscious or conscious gestures and movements through which a person's attitudes, feelings, needs, or state of mind are revealed.
Content Area: World Languages
- body percussion
Sounds produced by use of the body: clap, snap, slap, tap, stamp.
Content Area: Music
- boiling point
The temperature at which a liquid boils at a fixed pressure, usually under standard atmospheric conditions.
Content Area: Science
- bond
Attractive force between two atoms through the sharing, or exchanging, of electrons -or electrostatic forces.
Content Area: Science
- boundaries
Each individual's physical, emotional, and sexual guidelines that inform his/her interactions with other individuals to create a safe and comfortable space for everyone.
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
- boundaries
Lines, real or imagined, that separate places.
Content Area: Social Studies
- box plot
A method of visually displaying a distribution of data values by using the median, quartiles, and extremes of the data set. A box shows the middle 50% of the data.
Content Area: Mathematics
- bullying
Any written or verbal expression, or physical or electronic or gesture, or pattern thereof, that is intended to coerce, intimidate, or cause any physical, mental, or emotional harm to any student. Behaviors include but are not limited to those discriminating on the basis of academic performance, disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services. Also see harassment
Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
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