LS-MS-4 Knows about the diversity and unity that characterize life

LS-MS-4-1 Knows ways in which living things can be classified (e.g., taxonomic groups of plants, animals, and fungi; groups based on the details of organisms' internal and external features; groups based on functions served within an ecosystem such as producers, consumers, and decomposers)

LS-MS-4-2 Knows that animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that serve specific functions for survival (e.g., digestive structures in vertebrates, invertebrates, unicellular organisms, and plants)

LS-MS-4-3 Knows that for sexually reproducing organisms, a species comprises all organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring

LS-MS-4-4 Knows evidence that supports the idea that there is unity among organisms despite the fact that some species look very different (e.g., similarity of internal structures in different organisms, similarity of chemical processes in different organisms, evidence of common ancestry)

LS-MS-5 Understands the genetic basis for the transfer of biological characteristics from one generation to the next

LS-MS-5-1 Knows that reproduction is a characteristic of all living things and is essential to the continuation of a species

LS-MS-5-2 Understands asexual and sexual reproduction (e.g., in asexual reproduction, all the genes come from a single parent; in sexual reproduction, an egg and sperm unite and half of the genes come from each parent, so the offspring is never identical to either of its parents; sexual reproduction allows for greater genetic diversity; asexual reproduction limits the spread of disadvantageous characteristics through a species)

LS-MS-5-3 Knows that the characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits; some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment

LS-MS-5-4 Knows that hereditary information is contained in genes (located in the chromosomes of each cell), each of which carries a single unit of information; an inherited trait of an individual can be determined by either one or many genes, and a single gene can influence more than one trait

LS-MS-5-5 Knows how dominant and recessive traits contribute to genetic variation within a species

LS-MS-6 Knows the general structure and functions of cells in organisms

LS-MS-6-1 Knows that all organisms are composed of cells, which are the fundamental units of life; most organisms are single cells, but other organisms (including humans) are multicellular

LS-MS-6-2 Knows that cells convert energy obtained from food to carry on the many functions needed to sustain life (e.g., cell growth and division, production of materials that the cell or organism needs)

LS-MS-6-3 Knows the levels of organization in living systems, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems, and the complementary nature of structure and function at each level

LS-MS-6-4 Knows that multicellular organisms have a variety of specialized cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems that perform specialized functions (e.g., digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, control and coordination, protection from disease)

LS-MS-6-5 Knows that disease in organisms can be caused by intrinsic failures of the system or infection by other organisms

LS-MS-7 Understands how species depend on one another and on the environment for survival

LS-MS-7-1 Knows how an organism's ability to regulate its internal environment enables the organism to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment

LS-MS-7-2 Knows that organisms can react to internal and environmental stimuli through behavioral response (e.g., plants have tissues and organs that react to light, water, and other stimuli; animals have nervous systems that process and store information from the environment), which may be determined by heredity or from past experience

LS-MS-7-3 Knows ways in which species interact and depend on one another in an ecosystem (e.g., producer/consumer, predator/prey, parasite/host, relationships that are mutually beneficial or competitive)

LS-MS-7-4 Knows that all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time make up a population, and all populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem

LS-MS-7-5 Knows factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g., available resources; abiotic factors such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition; disease; competition from other organisms within the ecosystem; predation)

LS-MS-7-6 Knows relationships that exist among organisms in food chains and food webs

LS-MS-8 Understands the cycling of matter and flow of energy through the living environment

LS-MS-8-1 Knows how energy is transferred through food webs in an ecosystem (e.g., energy enters ecosystems as sunlight, and green plants transfer this energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis; this chemical energy is passed from organism to organism; animals get energy from oxidizing their food, releasing some of this energy as heat)

LS-MS-8-2 Knows how matter is recycled within ecosystems (e.g., matter is transferred from one organism to another repeatedly, and between organisms and their physical environment; the total amount of matter remains constant, even though its form and location change)

Physical Science:

PS-MS-9 Understands basic concepts about the structure and properties of matter

PS-MS-9-1 Knows that matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms, and different arrangements of atoms into groups compose all substances

PS-MS-9-2 Knows that atoms often combine to form a molecule (or crystal), the smallest particle of a substance that retains its properties

PS-MS-9-3 Knows that atoms are in constant, random motion (atoms in solids are close together and don't move about easily; atoms in liquids are close together and stick to each other, but move about easily; atoms in gas are quite far apart and move about freely)

PS-MS-9-4 Knows that substances that contain only one kind of atom are pure elements, and over 100 different kinds of elements exist; elements do not break down by normal laboratory reactions (e.g., heating, exposure to electric current, reaction with acids)

PS-MS-9-5 Knows that many elements can be grouped according to similar properties (e.g., highly reactive metals, less-reactive metals, highly reactive nonmetals, almost completely nonreactive gases)

PS-MS-9-6 Knows that substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form new substances (compounds) with different characteristic properties

PS-MS-9-7 Understands the conservation of matter in physical and chemical change (e.g., no matter how substances within a closed system interact with one another, or how they combine or break apart, the total weight of the system remains the same; the same number of atoms weighs the same, no matter how the atoms are arranged)

PS-MS-9-8 Knows methods used to separate mixtures into their component parts (boiling, filtering, chromatography, screening)

PS-MS-9-9 Knows factors that influence reaction rates (e.g., types of substances involved, temperature, concentration, surface area)

PS-MS-9-10 Knows that oxidation involves the combining of oxygen with another substance (e.g., burning, rusting)

PS-MS-10 Understands energy types, sources, and conversions, and their relationship to heat and temperature

PS-MS-10-1 Knows that energy is a property of many substances (e.g., heat energy is in the disorderly motion of molecules and in radiation; chemical energy is in the arrangement of atoms; mechanical energy is in moving bodies or in elastically distorted shapes; electrical energy is in the attraction or repulsion between charges)

PS-MS-10-2 Understands that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only changed from one form to another

PS-MS-10-3 Knows how the Sun acts as a major source of energy for changes on the Earth's surface (i.e., the Sun loses energy by emitting light; some of this light is transferred to the Earth in a range of wavelengths including visible light, infrared radiation, and ultraviolet radiation)

PS-MS-10-4 Knows that heat can be transferred through conduction, convection, and radiation; heat flows from warmer objects to cooler ones until both objects reach the same temperature

PS-MS-10-5 Knows that electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy to produce heat, light, sound, and chemical changes

PS-MS-10-6 Knows that most chemical and nuclear reactions involve a transfer of energy (e.g., heat, light, mechanical motion, electricity)

PS-MS-11 Understands motion and the principles that explain it

PS-MS-11-1 Knows that vibrations (e.g., sounds, earthquakes) move at different speeds in different materials, have different wavelengths, and set up wave-like disturbances that spread away from the source

PS-MS-11-2 Knows ways in which light interacts with matter (e.g., transmission, including refraction; absorption; scattering, including reflection)

PS-MS-11-3 Knows that only a narrow range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation can be seen by the human eye; differences of wavelength within that range of visible light are perceived as differences in color

PS-MS-11-4 Knows that an object's motion can be described and represented graphically according to its position, direction of motion, and speed

PS-MS-11-5 Understands effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on an object's motion (e.g., if more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude; unbalanced forces such as friction will cause changes in the speed or direction on an object's motion)

PS-MS-11-6 Knows that an object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line

PS-MS-12 Knows the kinds of forces that exist between objects and within atoms

PS-MS-12-1 Knows that just as electric currents can produce magnetic forces, magnets can cause electric currents

PS-MS-12-2 Understands general concepts related to gravitational force (e.g., every object exerts gravitational force on every other object; this force depends on the mass of the objects and their distance from one another; gravitational force is hard to detect unless at least one of the objects, such as the Earth, has a lot of mass)

PS-MS-13 Understands the nature of scientific inquiry

PS-MS-13-1 Knows that an experiment must be repeated many times and yield consistent results before the results are accepted as correct

PS-MS-13-2 Knows that all scientific ideas are tentative and subject to change and improvement in principle, but for most core ideas in science, there is much experimental and observational confirmation

PS-MS-13-3 Understands that questioning, response to criticism, and open communication are integral to the process of science (e.g., scientists often differ with one another about the interpretation of evidence or theory in areas where there is not a great deal of understanding; scientists acknowledge conflicting interpretations and work towards finding evidence that will resolve the disagreement)