New Colorado P-12 Academic Standards

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Observe, explain, and predict natural phenomena governed by Newton's laws of motion, acknowledging the limitations of their application to very small or very fast objects

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Identify and calculate the direction and magnitude of forces that act on an object, and explain the results in the object's change of motion

Inquiry Questions:

1. What relationships exists among force, mass, speed, and acceleration?
2. What evidence indicates a force has acted on a system? Is it possible for a force to act on a system without having an effect?

Relevance & Application:

1. Engineers take forces into account when designing moving objects such as car tires, roller coasters, and rockets.
2. Vehicles and their propulsion systems are designed by analyzing the forces that act on the vehicle. For example, the designs of propellers and jet engines are based on the aerodynamics of airplanes.

Nature Of:

1. Recognize that our current understanding of forces has developed over centuries of studies by many scientists, and that we will continue to refine our understanding of forces through continued scientific investigations and advances in data collection. (DOK 1)
2. Find, evaluate, and select appropriate information from reference books, journals, magazines, online references, and databases to answer scientific questions about motion and acceleration. (DOK 1-2)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Apply an understanding that energy exists in various forms, and its transformation and conservation occur in processes that are predictable and measurable

Concepts and skills students master:

2. There are different forms of energy, and those forms of energy can be changed from one form to another - but total energy is conserved

Inquiry Questions:

1. Which forms of energy can be directly observed, and which forms of energy must be inferred?
2. What evidence supports the existence of potential and kinetic energy?
3. Is there a limit to how many times energy can be transferred? Explain your answer.

Relevance & Application:

1. Photos and measurements of accident investigation provide evidence of energy transfers during such events.
2. Kinetic energy often is turned into heat such as when brakes are applied to a vehicle or when space vehicles re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
3. Energy transfers convert electricity to light, heat, or kinetic energy in motors.
4. There are ways of producing electricity using both nonrenewable resources such as such as coal or natural gas and renewable sources such as hydroelectricity or solar, wind, and nuclear power.

Nature Of:

1. Share experimental data, and respectfully discuss conflicting results. (DOK 2-3)
2. Recognize and describe the ethical traditions of science: value peer review; truthful reporting of methods and outcomes; making work public; and sharing a lens of professional skepticism when reviewing the work of others. (DOK 1)
3. Use tools to gather, view, analyze, and report results for scientific investigations designed to answer questions about energy transformations. (DOK 1-2)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Apply an understanding of atomic and molecular structure to explain the properties of matter, and predict outcomes of chemical and nuclear reactions

Concepts and skills students master:

3. Distinguish between physical and chemical changes, noting that mass is conserved during any change

Inquiry Questions:

1. What evidence can indicate whether a change is physical or chemical?
2. Is it easier to observe the conservation of mass in physical or chemical changes? Why?
3. What would happen if mass were not conserved?

Relevance & Application:

1. The freezing, thawing, and vaporization of Earth's water provide examples of physical changes.
2. An understanding of chemical changes have resulted in the design various products such as refrigerants in air conditioners and refrigerators.
3. Physical and chemical changes are involved in the collection and refinement of natural resources such as using arsenic in gold mining.
4. Living systems conserve mass when waste products from some organisms are nutrients for others.

Nature Of:

1. Evaluate the reproducibility of an experiment, and critically examine conflicts in experimental results. (DOK 2-3)
2. Share experimental data, and respectfully discuss conflicting results emulating the practice of scientists. (DOK 2-3)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Apply an understanding that energy exists in various forms, and its transformation and conservation occur in processes that are predictable and measurable

Concepts and skills students master:

4. Recognize that waves such as electromagnetic, sound, seismic, and water have common characteristics and unique properties

Inquiry Questions:

1. What are some different ways to describe waves?

Relevance & Application:

1. Different vibrations create waves with different characteristics. For example, a vibrating low-pitch guitar string feels different to the touch than a high-pitch guitar string.
2. Dealing with different types of waves presents design challenges. For example, higher frequency waves have shorter wavelengths, which affect ships, buildings, and antenna design.
3. Energy from different types of waves can affect the environment. For example, natural waves cause different beach erosion and boat wakes
4. There are many applications of light and lasers such as using fiber optics in high speed communication and lasers in surgery.
5. Living organisms collect and use light and sound waves - such as for hearing and vision - to gather information about their surroundings.

Nature Of:

1. Evaluate models used to explain and predict wave phenomena that cannot be directly measured. (DOK 2-3)
2. Understand that scientists work from the assumption that the universe is a single system in which the basic rules are the same everywhere. For example, the speed of light in a vacuum is constant across space and time. (DOK 1)
3. Select and use technology tools to gather, view, analyze, and report results for scientific investigations about the characteristics and properties of waves. (DOK 1-2)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Explain and illustrate with examples how living systems interact with the biotic and abiotic environment

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Human activities can deliberately or inadvertently alter ecosystems and their resiliency

Inquiry Questions:

1. Do humans have a unique responsibility to the ecosystems in which they live?
2. How can a young person be a steward of an ecosystem?

Relevance & Application:

1. Human activities such as cutting down forests and polluting water or covering deserts with fields of solar panels are constantly changing various cycles and habitats in the natural world.
2. There are laws that preserve and protect wilderness areas such as national parks and other natural areas but such laws also limit the utilization of the natural resources in those areas.

Nature Of:

1. Critically evaluate scientific claims in popular media and peer generated explanations regarding interactions in ecosystems, and determine if the evidence presented is appropriate and sufficient to support the claims. (DOK 2-3)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Analyze how various organisms grow, develop, and differentiate during their lifetimes based on an interplay between genetics and their environment

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Organisms reproduce and transmit genetic information (genes) to offspring, which influences individuals' traits in the next generation

Inquiry Questions:

1. How are traits passed from one generation to the next?
2. What traits can be passed to the next generation and what traits cannot?
3. How can patterns in the inheritance of traits be used to predict how frequently they appear in offspring?

Relevance & Application:

1. There are benefits and risks to genetic engineering such as cloning, genetically modifying organisms, and replacing genes for therapy.
2. Genome sequencing has many potential applications to the field of medicine.

Nature Of:

1. Understand the interconnected nature of math and science by utilizing math in the prediction of future generations. (DOK 2)
2. Recognize that current understanding of genetics has developed over time and become more sophisticated as new technologies have lead to new evidence. (DOK 1)
3. Critically evaluate models used to represent deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and genes; identify strengths and weaknesses of these models for representing complex natural phenomena. (DOK 2-3)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Evaluate evidence that Earth's geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact as a complex system

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Weather is a result of complex interactions of Earth's atmosphere, land and water, that are driven by energy from the sun, and can be predicted and described through complex models

Inquiry Questions:

1. Why does weather vary from day to day?
2. What are the strengths and limitations of different types of weather models?
3. What are the variables that make predicting weather challenging?
4. How do weather patterns relate to climate?

Relevance & Application:

1. Weather stations, buoys, satellites, radar, and computer modeling are examples of technology used to help forecast weather.
2. Weather prediction is based on the interaction of many variables.
3. Weather prediction can save lives, protect property, and conserve resources.

Nature Of:

1. Evaluate of the accuracy of various tools used in forecasting weather. (DOK 2-3)
2. Use the historical context and impact of early weather research and consider the potential implications for current weather studies on science and our society. (DOK 1-3)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Evaluate evidence that Earth's geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact as a complex system

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Earth has a variety of climates defined by average temperature, precipitation, humidity, air pressure, and wind that have changed over time in a particular location

Inquiry Questions:

1. How does the climate in one area compare and contrast with another area?
2. Why are there different climates on Earth?
3. How has Earth's climate changed over time?
4. What evidence supports and/or contradicts human influence on climate change?
5. What is the difference between weather and climate?

Relevance & Application:

1. Data tables, charts, and graphs allow people to compare and contrast various climates around the globe.
2. Computer models help people understand past, present, and future climates.

Nature Of:

1. Ask testable questions and make a falsifiable hypothesis about earth's climate and use an inquiry based approach to find an answer. (DOK 1-4)
2. Describe various techniques that scientists use to study climate, and suggest ways that each technique can be used to better understand various climates and changes in climate. (DOK 1-2)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Describe and interpret how Earth's geologic history and place in space are relevant to our understanding of the processes that have shaped our planet

Concepts and skills students master:

3. The solar system is comprised of various objects that orbit the Sun and are classified based on their characteristics

Inquiry Questions:

1. How are the various bodies in the solar system similar and different?
2. How does investigating characteristics of the various bodies in the solar system provide clues to Earth's origin and evolution?
3. Why do objects such as satellites, Moons and planets stay in orbit?
4. How is the life cycle of a star such as the Sun similar to the cycle of life on Earth?

Relevance & Application:

1. Various technological methods and equipment such as telescopes are used to investigate far-away objects in the solar system and beyond.
2. By representing galaxies and solar systems, planetariums allow people to simulate the experience of outer space.

Nature Of:

1. Understand that scientists work from the assumption that the universe is a single system in which the basic rules are the same everywhere - that planets follow the same rules about forces as other objects. (DOK 1)
2. Recognize that our current understanding of the solar system has developed over centuries of studies by many scientists, and that through continued scientific investigations and advances in data collection, we will continue to refine our understanding of the solar system. (DOK 1)

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations)

• Describe and interpret how Earth's geologic history and place in space are relevant to our understanding of the processes that have shaped our planet

Concepts and skills students master:

4. The relative positions and motions of Earth, Moon, and Sun can be used to explain observable effects such as seasons, eclipses, and Moon phases

Inquiry Questions:

1. Why do we observe changes in the relative positions of Earth, Moon, and Sun from Earth over time?
2. How do the relative positions of Earth, Moon and Sun affect natural phenomenon on Earth?

Relevance & Application:

1. Different tools are used to help understand motion in the solar system.
2. Space missions can be planned because we understand planetary motion.

Nature Of:

1. Explore the global consequences of the interrelationships among science, technology and human activity. (DOK 1-4)
2. Evaluate visual and print media for scientific evidence, bias, and conjecture related to the historical ideas about relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun. (DOK 1-3)