Elementary Education - Multiple Subject Content Standards

Demonstrate knowledge of phonological awareness skills (i.e., rhyming, segmenting sentences into words, segmenting words into syllables).

Recognize and produce phonemes in words (i.e., segment words into phonemes, recognize when words start or end with the same sound).

Understand the need to emphasize segmenting and blending when teaching phonemic awareness.

Establish relation between sounds and letters and use this relationship to further both alphabetic knowledge and phonemic awareness.

Recognize and produce common letter sounds

Apply knowledge of similarities and differences among groups of phonemes (e.g., consonants and vowels, voiced and unvoiced, continuous and noncontinuous) that vary in their placement and manner of articulation.

Recognize that acquiring phonemic awareness is a means (rather than an end) to help learners understand and use the alphabetic system to read and write.

Understand the importance of teaching students the basic meaning of phonemic awareness, i.e., the insight that every word can be conceived as a sequence of phonemes.

Know that the effectiveness of linguistic awareness activities depends on students' ability to repeat and understand the language to which they are applied.

Recognize that children will differ in the ease with which they grasp and refine their phonemic awareness and that some will need more instruction than others (e.g., regional language differences; dialects; articulation difficulties; English as a second language).

Understand how critically word study depends on solid letter knowledge; know how to foster and assess letter knowledge

Know the elements of the alphabetic principle, including letter names, grapheme-phoneme correspondences and spelling patterns, and the relationship of the letters in printed words to spoken language.

Know how to analyze spoken and written words into component phonemes, onsets and rimes, syllables, and morphemes.

Know the terminology of decoding and other word identification strategies (e.g., consonant blends, consonant digraphs, vowel patterns, syllable patterns, orthography, morphology).

Explain the roles and relationships among phonemic awareness, decoding, comprehension, word recognition, and spelling (including the complexities related to the interaction of phonology, the alphabetic principle, morphology, and etymology), in producing good readers.

Understand how morphology and etymology interact with the systematic and explicit development of vocabulary.

Understand how complementing the definitions of words with attention to their usages and shades of meaning across contexts interact with the systematic and explicit development of vocabulary.

Understand difference between sound correspondence and spelling conventions.

Understand how to use spelling to reinforce and extend phonics.

Engage children in using, extending, and generalizing phonics through word study, spelling, and reading activities.

Understand importance of teaching students basic concepts about print.(print moves left-to-right across the page and top-to-bottom, written words are separated by spaces, the difference between individual letters and printed words, spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters, spoken sentences are composed of individual words).

Understand differences between implicit and explicit phonics, analytic and synthetic phonics, and embedded and non-embedded phonics.

Understand the differences between systematic and non-systematic approaches to phonics instruction.

Recognize that phonics is one component of a complete and comprehensive reading program.

Identify common misconceptions students may develop in reading and describe ways to correct them (e.g., guesses the word from the first letter, looks at picture to guess words, confuses b and d, has trouble with vowels in the middle of words).

Select from among various reading instruction methods the most effective given student performance data.

Select and administer reading assessments to determine students' independent and instructional, levels of reading (e.g., decoding tests, fluency checks, and sight word identification checks).

Understand the importance of student ease in decoding to fluency

Understand the importance of accuracy and ease in word recognition to sentence and passage reading; understand the u-shaped relation of subjective passage difficulty to resulting growth.

Know appropriate ranges of fluency levels for each grade level (e.g., in first grade, accurately reads 60 to 80 words per minute in grade appropriate text).

Understand how fluent passage reading is related to reading comprehension and learning of text material.

Understand the importance of providing classroom practice through extensive guided oral reading to build fluency.

Know why and how to monitor and provide corrective feedback during oral reading.

Understand that fluency varies inversely with the difficulty of material.

Know that independent reading is essential for students who have acquired a basic level of fluency to maintain and extend their fluency; know ways to promote independent reading.

Know how to measure fluency (rate and accuracy) to evaluate individual students' reading progress and determine appropriate instruction.

Select materials and activities that are appropriate at different stages of reading development considering variables such as complexity and familiarity of vocabulary, text structures, syntactical structures, and length of text.

Model good reading by reading orally from texts with fluency (accuracy, expression, appropriate phrasing, and attention to capitalization and punctuation).

Use knowledge of individual words in unknown compound words to predict their meaning

Define common Greek and Latin derived roots and affixes and use this knowledge to determine the meaning of complex words

Know the meaning of prefixes (re, un, pre, bi, mis, dis) and suffixes (er, est, ful, ness, less, ly)

Infer word meanings through identification and analysis of analogies and other word relationships and clues (e.g., restatement, comparison, contrast, cause and effect) to determine the meaning of words

Use knowledge of word order (syntax) and context to confirm word meaning

Understand the importance of ensuring that children attend to and learn about the usage as well as the meaning of words

Distinguish between denotative and connotative word meanings

Understand and explain the figurative and metaphorical use of words in context,

Understand and explain the meaning of common idioms and adages

Explain the meanings of terms such as synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms, and homographs

Understand and explain common antonyms and synonyms

Demonstrate understanding of homophones and homographs

Construct analogies by identifying similarities about two objects, actions, or events from the same class

Use resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries to find pronunciations, derivations, and spellings and contextually appropriate meanings of unfamiliar words, synonyms and replacement words

Understand that high frequency and multiple, repeated exposures to vocabulary material through the use of a variety of definitional and contextual approaches distributed over time and across settings (pre-teaching of vocabulary, word classification and semantic mapping; reading in content areas) are important for student learning gains

Understand the particular importance of teaching morphology or the analysis of word roots and affixes to promote generalized use of vocabulary skills

Understand the importance of attending to parts of speech when teaching new words because children's knowledge of word meanings is often context-specific and incomplete

Explain how to assess and instruct for functional vocabulary power

Ask and respond to clarifying questions concerning essential textual elements of exposition (e.g., why, who, what, what-if, where, when, and how)

Know and use different reading strategies (e.g., skimming and scanning; finding information to support particular ideas) and the various functions of language (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain) to comprehend informational text

Identify background knowledge that readers must have in order to understand a text

Make and revise predictions about coming information

Give and follow multiple step directions

Identify and interpret the central ideas (stated or implied) and major or minor facts and details that support the ideas or arguments in text

Summarize events and ideas of text

Interpret information from diagrams, charts and graphs

Identify cause and effect

Understand and provide clear examples of expository text structures (i.e., cause/effect/ comparison/contrast, problem/solution, sequence-time, classifications, generalizations) to gain meaning from text

Distinguish among facts, supported inferences and opinions in text

Compare and contrast the treatment and scope of information on the same topic after reading several passages or articles

Describe how the author's perspective or point of view affects the text

Draw inferences, conclusions or generalizations about text and support them with textual evidence and experience (e.g., explain how writers focus ideas, provide sufficient evidence, persuade an audience to reason with them)

Identify the use of elements of persuasive argument in print, speech, videos, and in other media

Demonstrate ability to recognize spurious information and fallacious arguments in text

Recognize and analyze instances of bias and stereotyping in a text

Evaluate the coherence, logic, internal consistency and organizational patterns of text

Understand how titles, table of contents, chapter headings, glossaries, indexes, graphics, diagrams and illustrations make information accessible and usable

Describe how text features such as format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts and maps make information accessible and usable

Demonstrate understanding of various reading comprehension strategies (e.g., comprehension monitoring, paired reading, question generation and answering, use of graphic and semantic organizers, story structure, summarization) and which strategies are most effective for different students and types of content, and of how best to explicitly teach and model strategy use

Interpret both literal and figurative meanings in literature, from a range of genres, using textual support for inferences, conclusions, and generalizations they draw from each work.

Identify the literary elements and structural features of narrative texts with special attention to children's literature (plot, theme, characters, setting, mood, point of view).

Comprehend basic plots of classic fairy tales, myths, folktales, legends and fables.

Compare and contrast tales from different cultures by tracing the exploits of one character type and develop theories to account for similar tales in diverse cultures (e.g., trickster tales, fables).

Determine the underlying theme or author's message in fictional and non-fictional works (e.g., meaning of friendship).

Analyze how the qualities and actions of a character affect the plot and resolution of the conflict (e.g., courage or cowardice; ambition or laziness).

Identify the main problems or conflicts of the plot, their causes, how they influence future action, and how they are resolved.

Contrast the qualities, actions, motives, thoughts, and development of characters.

Describe the element of setting (place, historical period, time of day) and how it affects the text.

Describe how the author's perspective or point of view affects the text.

Recognize and define how mood or meaning is conveyed through literary elements and techniques, including figurative language, allusion, diction, dialogue, description, allegory and symbolism.

Define how mood or meaning is conveyed in prose and poetry (e.g., by word choice, rhyme scheme, rhythm, repetition, personification, metaphor, hyperbole, alliteration, and graphic elements).

Identify the characteristics that distinguish common forms of literature such as poetry, drama, fiction and non-fiction.

Describe the structural differences of various imaginative forms of literature, including fantasies, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales.

Identify parts of speech (e.g., nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns), and their functions, as well as the morphology contributing to their classification.

Write simple and complex sentences with correct subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement, correct tenses, correct word order, and appropriate ending punctuation.

Combine short, related sentences with appositives, participial phrases, and prepositional phrases avoiding problematic comma splices, run-on sentences, and sentence fragments.

Write compound and compound-complex sentences with effective coordination and subordination of ideas to express complete thoughts (parallel structures, major phrasal clausal constituents, modifiers).

Identify and use correct grammar and usage, including

1. present, past and future perfect and perfect progressive verb tenses

2. regular and irregular verbs in various tenses

3. consistent verb tense

4. correct subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement

5. correct word order

6. verbals (participles, gerunds, infinitives)

7. adjectives (comparative and superlative forms) and adverbs

8. prepositional phrases

9. nominative, objective, possessive, reflexive and relative pronouns

10. pronoun/antecedent agreement and clear pronoun reference

11. irregular plurals (e.g., sheep)

12. contractions with pronouns and verbs

Use correct punctuation, including

1. Appropriate ending punctuation
2. Commas in a series, greetings and closures
3. Correct internal punctuation, including commas, colons, semi-colons, and hyphens
4. Apostrophes in contractions and possessives
5. Quotation marks when appropriate

Capitalize proper nouns, geographical names, dates/holidays, historical periods, special events, magazines, newspapers, names of organizations, titles, first word in quotations, first word in a sentence, the pronoun "I".

Create paragraphs that

1. establish and support a central idea with a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the paragraph

2. include supporting sentences with simple facts, details and explanations

3. include a concluding statement that summarizes the points

4. are indented properly

Know the logical significance of different words (e.g., because, if-then, unless, only, if, including, but, and) and syntactic structures (e.g., main versus subordinate or modifying clauses).

Know the importance of expecting children to spell studied words and patterns correctly in their written compositions

Spell correctly:

1. words using regularly spelled phonogram patterns, orthographic rules, and

2. spelling patterns ("i" before "e" except after "c")

3. contractions, compounds, and homonyms (hair-hare; bear-bare; council-counsel)

4. inflectional endings, including plurals and past tense and words that drop

5. the final e when such endings as or -ableare added words that do not follow traditional phonological patterns (e.g., ought, thought, their)

Identify and demonstrate an understanding of the development and fundamental components of human language, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Understand the importance of students' ability to repeat words, syntactic structures and complex sentences for language competence.

Understand how early language interactions affect subsequent language development (e.g., Hart and Risley).

Understand that classroom instruction can increase language competencies and verbal proficiency of students (e.g., asking students to speak in full sentences, construct complete questions).

Understand the major types of structural and lexical differences between oral and literary registers.

Understand the importance of teaching instructional language to students explicitly and early such as and/or, from/to, left/right, true/false, before/ after, first/last, then/now, if/then, here/there, near/far, inside/outside, top/bottom, above/below, front/back, over/under, in front of/behind, next to/away from, in/on, up/down.

Paraphrase information shared orally by others

Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken messages and formal presentations

Identify how oral language (sayings, usages) reflects regions and cultures

Give precise directions and instructions such as in games and tasks

Identify the speaker's point of view and attitude about a subject

Distinguish between a speaker's opinions or assertions of fact and verifiable facts or logical, informational substantiation of a position

Demonstrate ability to discern topic-relevant comments from digressions during discussions

Evaluate the credibility of the speaker (e.g., hidden agendas, slanted or biased material)

Deliver focused oral presentations with a point of view, using details, examples, anecdotes or experiences to explain or clarify information

Demonstrate ability to prompt for topic-relevant clarifications, expansions, refinements, or implications

Demonstrate understanding of the rules of the English language in oral work, and select the structures and features of language appropriate to purpose, audience, and context of the work

Understand the purpose of various prewriting strategies (e.g., outlining, webbing, note-taking).

Describe the stages of the writing process (to generate and develop ideas, organize information, connect ideas and paragraphs so that intended messages are received, develop and revise drafts, and edit for grammar, spelling and punctuation).

Develop graphic or other organizers to clarify ideas for writing assignments (e.g., mapping, developing rough outlines from brainstorming notes).

Structure, set up, and delimit writing assignments to provide appropriate level of challenge with particular attention to practice for newly acquired skills.

Understand the acquisition and development of writing skills (i.e., from writing words to writing single sentences, writing more complex sentences, writing paragraphs, and writing multi-paragraph essays).

Understand the relationship between oral language skills and writing skills (e.g., given a spoken sentence, students are asked who, what, how much questions to assist them in beginning to understand parts of speech).

Know the importance of explicitly teaching students handwriting, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and categories of vocabulary from which students can draw to elaborate their writing (e.g., descriptive words, transitional words, joining words).

Identify the components that make up each genre of writing (i.e., narrative, expository, persuasive, interpretive, descriptive).

Demonstrate knowledge of principles of composition, such as paragraphing, transitional phrases, appropriate vocabulary, and context.

Compose clear, coherent, and focused writing that exhibits awareness of audience and purpose according to conventions in different genre (narrative, interpretive, descriptive, persuasive and expository writing, as well as summaries, letters, and research reports) that

1. develop a recognizable beginning that conveys a clearly stated topic

2. contain an organizing structure that is appropriate to the purpose and the specified audience

3. group related ideas and maintain a consistent focus

4. include variety in sentence structure to enhance interest, flow, rhythm and meaning

5. include well-chosen detail to develop impressions, support judgments and convey concrete images to the mind of the reader

6. employ word choices that are consistent with the document's purpose and persona

7. move through a logical sequence of steps or events, when appropriate

8. supports an interpretation through references to text, authors, experts or personal knowledge

9. use expository structures for conveying information, when appropriate (e.g., cause and effect, similarity and difference, problem and solution, posing and answering a question)

10. use narrative strategies when appropriate, including establishing a context or point of view, plot, setting, mood, dialogue and description to develop characters or relate ideas, memories, or observations

11. use descriptive strategies, including concrete details

12. use persuasive strategies when appropriate, including establishing a clear position in support of a proposition or proposal with organized and relevant evidence and specific rhetorical devices to back up assertions (e.g., via an appeal to logic through reasoning; via an appeal to emotion or ethical belief; or by personal anecdote, case study or analogy)

13. provide a sense of closure to the writing

Formulate open-ended research questions suitable for inquiry and investigation and adjust questions as necessary while research is conducted.

Narrow the focus of a research question and develop a plan for conducting research.

Demonstrate ability to use a variety of research sources, both print and electronic (e.g., reference books, almanacs, atlases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, electronic card catalogs and databases, websites, magazines, newspapers, and the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature).

Skim materials to develop a general overview of content or to locate specific information.

Use text organizers, including table of contents, chapter titles, headings, graphic features, guide words and indices to locate information.

Gather and synthesize information from observations, surveys, and interviews.

Summarize and organize information from multiple sources by taking notes, outlining ideas, paraphrasing information, and making charts, conceptual maps, learning logs, and timelines.

Interpret and use graphic sources of information such as maps, charts, graphs, timelines, tables and diagrams.

Understand the importance of citing research sources, using recognizable and accepted conventions for doing so.

Understand the importance of instructing students in the learning and study skill strategy of rehearsal (repeating material to remember it more effectively); elaboration (putting material into one's own words and relating it to prior knowledge), and outlining material to highlight its structure and remember it.

Understand the importance of instructing students in how to keep track of the strategies used to construct understandings, the degree of success achieved with them, and how to adjust strategies accordingly (meta-cognition).

Identify the importance of river valleys to the development of the early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China (the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, the Huang Rivers)

Describe the forms of government they created, including the theocracies in Egypt and the dynasties in China

Identify the intellectual contributions, artistic forms, codes of ethics and justice, and traditions, including the religious beliefs of these civilizations

Identify the sources of the ethical teachings and central beliefs of Judaism and how the ideas of the Hebrew traditions are reflected in the moral and ethical traditions of Western civilization

Describe the characteristics of the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and their enduring impact on later civilizations (basic concepts of government and citizenship; scientific and cultural advances)

Know the major figures who helped to establish these early societies and their codes of ethics and justice and their rule of law (Hammurabi, Abraham, Moses, David, Pericles, Asoka); those who extended these early empires and carried their influence into much of the ancient world (Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar); those whose ideas and teachings became enduring influences in Western and non-Western thought (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius)

Identify patterns of trade and commerce that influenced these civilizations

Describe the characteristics of the Meso-American civilizations and their contributions to later civilizations (forms of government, religious traditions, system of writing, knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, patterns of trade and commerce, system of roads and other accomplishments as architects and artisans)

Trace the decline of the Western Roman Empire and the development of feudalism as a social and economic system in Europe (growth of towns, the Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, beginnings of representative government and trial by jury, the Crusades, the Black Plague, spread of Islam and the "Holy Wars")

Describe the role of Christianity in medieval and early modern Europe, its expansion beyond Europe

Describe the role of Islam and its impact on Arabia, Africa, Europe and Asia

Describe the Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature, and science, including how the cooperation was terminated by the religious persecution of individuals and groups during the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492.

Describe how the Renaissance, Reformation, and Scientific Revolution influenced education, art, religion and government (e.g., role of Islamic scholars; new trade; Renaissance ideals and values; conflicts between science and the church; works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Shakespeare; impact of Martin Luther and John Calvin)

Analyze the political and economic changes during the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment (great voyages of discovery; origins of modern capitalism; Copernican view of the universe; Newton's natural law, scientific method advanced by Bacon and Descartes; Enlightenment thinkers John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Charles-Louis Montesquieu; development of parliamentary government and the Glorious Revolution; spread of the ideas of the American Revolution; the French Revolution; codification of law)

Describe the link between the rise of industrial economies and their quest for natural resources and 19th century imperialism and colonialism (e.g., in Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines)

Trace the causes, course and effects of World War I (rise of nationalism; rise of ethnic and ideological conflicts; major turning points and the importance of geographic factors in military outcomes; human costs of the mechanization of war; the effects of the Russian Revolution and the implementation of communist rule)

Trace the causes, course and effects of World War II (failures of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations; rise of totalitarianism; Nazi Germany's policies including its transformation into the Final Solution and the Holocaust; influence of other world conflicts; Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939 and the invasion of Poland; major turning points, including Pearl Harbor, D-Day invasion; use of the atomic bomb; role of key figures, including Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Hirohito, Hitler, Mussolini, Patton, and Rommel)

Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet Client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam , and Chile and the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of communism in Europe

Analyze the international developments after World War II (Nuremburg Trials; economic and military power shifts, including Soviet control over Eastern European nations and the economic recoveries of Germany and Japan; establishment of the state of Israel; Truman Doctrine; Marshall Plan; Mao and the Chinese Civil War, the Cold War and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, establishment of the United Nations)

Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Zedong, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square uprising)

Identify causes for the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union and Communist regimes of Eastern Europe (the uprisings in Poland (1952), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries' resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control; the role of various leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev, Vaclav Havel, Andrei Sakharov, Aleksander Sozhenitsyn, Lech Walesa)

Understand the consequences of the Soviet Union's breakup (development of market economies, political and social instability, danger of the spread of nuclear technology to rogue states and terrorist organizations)

Evaluate the ideologies and outcomes of independence movements in the developing world (Gandhi and India; Mandela and South Africa; struggle for democracy in Latin America; Mexican Revolution, including land and labor reforms)

Analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world, including the recent history, challenges, and important trends in the regions and connections among political systems, economic development, and individual rights (e.g., Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China)

Describe the challenges and major forces and events in the Middle East region over the last several decades, including the rise of terrorism, disorder and dangers in the region, and its effects on world instability (weakness and fragility of oil-rich Persian Gulf states, Iranian Revolution, Persian Gulf War, terrorist attacks against Israel and the United States, War in Afghanistan) major sources of ethnic and religious conflicts (the Balkans, Sudan, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, fight over Kashmir, Northern Ireland)

Analyze the integration of countries into the world economy and the information, technological, and communications revolutions (e.g., television, satellites, computers)

Identify the art, architecture, and science of major Pre-Columbian American settlements

Identify and describe European exploration and settlement, and the struggle for control of North America during the Colonial Era, including cooperation and conflict among American Indians and new settlers.

Identify the leaders (William Penn, Lord Baltimore, and Roger Williams)and discuss their religious, economic and political reasons for colonization of North America.

Describe the development and institutionalization of African slavery in the western hemisphere and its consequences in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Describe the causes of the War for Independence, elements of political and military leadership, the impact of the war on Americans, the role of France, and the key people associated with the development of and ideas embodied within the Declaration of Independence.

Define the Articles of Confederation and the factors leading to the development of the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights

Know the essential provisions of the US Constitution (see Domain 3 Civics for further treatment of the Constitution)

Describe the people and events associated with the development of the United States Constitution, including the contributions and roles of major individuals (George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay)

Trace the evolution of political parties, describe their differing visions for the country, and analyze their impact on economic development policies

Identify historical, cultural, economic and geographic factors that led to the formation of distinct regional identities

Describe the successes and failures of policy and reform during the Age of Jacksonian Democracy (Indian removal, abolition movement, suffrage for women, poorhouses, public schooling, hospitals, prisons)

Describe westward exploration and expansion (early explorers such as Daniel Boone, and Lewis and Clark; pioneers; Indian resistance; Manifest Destiny; Homestead Act; railroads and immigrant labor; cowboys; Buffalo Soldiers; the closing of the American frontier)

Trace major trends in the foreign policy of the early Republic (George Washington's Farewell Address, the War of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, and involvement in the Mexican-American War

Analyze the significance of the States' Rights Doctrine, the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Wilmot Proviso (1846), the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay's role in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857), and the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858)

Identify the roles of Blacks (both slave and free), American Indians, the Irish and other immigrants, women and children in the political, cultural and economic life of the new country

Recognize the origin and the evolution of the anti-slavery movement, including the roles of free Blacks and women, and the response of those who defended slavery

Describe evidence for the economic, social and political causes of the Civil War, including the constitutional debates over the doctrine of nullification and secession

Compare the conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority as emphasized in the speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun

Describe the unique nature of the Civil War (impact of Americans fighting Americans, high casualties, widespread destruction of American property)

Identify the major battles of the Civil War and the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy

Identify the contributions and significance of key individuals (Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses Grant, Frederick Douglass)

Describe the purpose and effect of the Emancipation Proclamation

Describe the character of Reconstruction, factors leading to its abandonment, and the rise of Jim Crow practices

Describe the transformation of the American Economy (agricultural and industrial development; development of federal Indian policy; government encouraged business expansion; rise of the labor movement; role of entrepreneurs, industrialists, and bankers in politics and commerce)

Recognize the pattern of urban growth in the United States, the impact and assimilation of successive waves of immigration in the nineteenth century, and the response of renewed nativism.

Understand the impact of major inventions on the Industrial Revolution and the quality of life (Edison, Bell, Wright brothers)

Trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century (US Open Door policy, Panama Canal, Roosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy, Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, Wilson's Moral Diplomacy, US roles in World War I and II)

Analyze the major political, cultural and economic developments of the 1920s (attacks on civil liberties and the responses of organizations such as the ACLU, NAACP, ADL to those attacks; passage of the 18th and 19th Amendments and Prohibition; Harlem Renaissance; role of radio, movies, and mass production techniques)

Describe the causes and effects of the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government (investment, capital, restrictive monetary policies, unemployment and inflation, over production and under consumption and the credit structure)

Analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America (growth of service sector, white collar, and professional sector jobs; increased powers of the Presidency; computer and technological revolution, scientific and medical advances changes in communication; forms of popular culture, including popular music and professional sports; increase in education levels, development of mass media and consumerism; mayor immigration and demographic changes)

Describe US foreign policy since World War II with emphasis on the Cold War and the containment policy (McCarthyism, role of military alliances, Truman Doctrine, Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, Berlin Wall)

Analyze the origins, goals, and key events of the Civil Rights movement (Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert Kennedy, NAACP, Brown v. Board of Education, Little Rock School Crisis, 1963 March on Washington, civil rights protests in Birmingham and Selma, assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, growth of the black middle class and increased political power)

Explain the constitutional crisis originating from the Watergate scandal and its impact on attitudes about government

Describe Middle East policy, including the Persian Gulf War, September 11th attack on the US, the war on terrorism, new world disorder and dangers, and varied American responses in the new century

Recognize and describe the significance of prominent national symbols, songs, and traditions (White House, Capitol Building, Statue of Liberty, bald eagle, the American Flag, Liberty Bell, Pledge of Allegiance, songs such as the National Anthem and America the Beautiful; national holidays)

Describe the evolution of the idea of representative democracy that serve as the foundation for the US government (principle of democracy developed by the Greeks, principle of a republican form of government developed by the Romans; Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, concept of courts and justice from Henry II in England, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation)

Describe Anti-Federalists and Federalist arguments for and against the new Constitution, including those expressed in The Federalists Papers

Describe the political system of the United States and the ways that citizens participate in it through executive, legislative and judicial processes

Explain the major principles of government and political philosophy contained within the Constitution, especially separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism

Describe a citizen's fundamental constitutional rights and obligations

Describe the structure, powers and roles of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches of the United States Government

Describe the struggle to extend equal rights to all Americans, including passage of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 24th Amendments to the Constitution

Describe the role of key leaders (Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez)

Describe the tensions within our constitutional democracy (e.g., majority role/individual rights; state/national authority; civil disobedience/rule of law; freedom of press/right to a fair trial; religion/government)

Explain concepts related to power and authority and the roles and responsibilities of citizenship as they relate to monarchy, totalitarianism, republicanism, democracy, and limited government

Trace the impact of physical geography on the development of ancient civilizations (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Kush, Hebrew, Greek, Indian, Chinese, and Roman civilizations)

Describe the influence of physical geography on the development of medieval and early modern civilizations (Chinese, Japanese, African, Arabian, Meso-American, Andean Highland, and European civilizations)

Locate places based on ordinal directions, latitude and longitude, the equator, prime meridian, the tropics, the hemispheres, time zones and the international dateline

Identify the location of the fifty states in the nation

Identify the major countries and cities of the world

Identify the major physical features of the United States, including mountain ranges, regions; major rivers and other bodies of water; and major cities

Identify major geographical features of the Earth's surface including continents ; other large landmasses; major mountain ranges, forested areas, grasslands, deserts and bodies of water and rivers

Interpret information from a variety of maps, including contour, population, natural resource, historical, and map projections

Describe the cultural, historical, economic, political, and natural resource characteristics of major world regions (e.g., North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, Antarctica), including human features of the regions such as population, land use patterns and settlement patterns

Explain the effects of interactions between human and natural systems, including the changes in the meaning, use, and distribution of natural resources and connections among economic development, urbanization, population growth and environmental change

Explain how weather patterns, natural resources, seasonal patterns, and natural hazards affect activities and settlement patterns of plant and animal life within a physical system

Explain basic concepts of demography including factors associated with human migration and settlement with particular emphasis on current events (refugee camps, world population growth and shifts, major patterns of immigration/emigration)

Describe the spread of cultural traits that lead to cultural convergence and divergence, including the widespread use of English and the role of the global media

Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions

Describe the characteristics of production and exchange in an economy (use of money and barter; interdependence of consumers and producers; the manufacture, transport and marketing of goods and services)

Explain how the economic concepts of scarcity, opportunity costs, and trade-offs influence decision-making of governments, businesses, and individuals

Describe the costs and benefits of personal spending, saving, investing, and credit choices

Apply the concepts of supply and demand to factors of production and determination of wages

Describe the economic benefits of specialization and exchange

Describe the functions of the major institutions in the US economy (role of private business, banks, stock market, government agencies, labor unions)

Explain the effects of monetary and fiscal policies on inflation, unemployment, and economic growth

Demonstrate understanding of the basic tools for measuring macroeconomic performance, including gross domestic product, price indexes, and unemployment rates

Describe the operation of a market economy (Adam Smith's ideas; interaction between buyers and sellers; affect of competition)

Describe the role of domestic and international competition in a market economy in terms of resource availability, goods and services produced, and the quality, quantity, and price of those products

Describe foreign exchange, how exchange rates are determined, and the effects of the dollar gaining (or losing) value relative to other currencies

Place key events in chronological sequence

Interpret timelines, tables, graphs, maps and charts

Know and use common terminology of history, geography, civics, and economics

Interpret primary and secondary sources, including written documents, narratives, photographs, art and artifacts revealed through archeology

Assess sources in the context of confirmed research and contrast differing points of view on historic and current events, including hypothesizing reasons for differences and similarities, authors' use of evidence, and author's philosophical assumptions, beliefs, or biases about a subject

Identify multiple causes and effects of historical events

Recognize the different ramifications of historical and current events for people of varying ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds (e.g. legacy of genocide from totalitarian regimes, including Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot; how cultural norms influence different economic activities and rights of men and women in different regions; the varied immediate and long-term responses by people under colonial rule; the effect of WWII on bringing women and minorities into the US workforce)

Describe connections between historical events and current events

Know how to organize history/social science curriculum around a limited number of powerful ideas (basic understandings, key principles and core concepts) and emphasize the relationship or connections between these ideas

Understand the structure of the real number system (including whole numbers, integers, rational and irrationals) and be able to perform operations within the Real Number system.

Understand base ten place value and identify the place value for each digit in whole numbers and decimals

Compare and order real numbers, (including irrationals and rationals, in fraction and decimal form) using the appropriate symbols, =, <, >.

Identify and represent on a number line whole numbers, fractions, decimals, mixed numbers, and positive and negative integers.

Understand the difference between rote and rational counting (one-to-one correspondence).

Understand the relationship between number lines, counting and measurement.

Round off whole numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand, ten thousand, or hundred thousand and round off decimals to the nearest tenth, hundredth, or thousandth.

Make reasonable estimates when comparing larger or smaller numbers e.g., by working with orders of magnitude.

Estimate and round very large (e.g., millions) and very small (e.g., thousandths) numbers.

Understand number theory concepts of primes, factors, multiples, and divisibility rules and understand relationships among the concepts (e.g., perform a prime factorization on a number less than 100.)

Recognize, name, and compare unit fractions.

Reduce fractions.

Convert mixed number and improper fractions.

Know and understand that fractions and decimals are two different representations of the same number and know common fraction and decimal equivalents, be able to convert from fractions to the decimal equivalent, and vice-versa.

Interpret percents as a part of a hundred, find decimal and percent equivalents for common fractions and explain why they represent the same value.

Represent equivalent forms of the same number through the use of physical models, diagrams and number expressions.

Know the elements of the exponent laws. (e.g.., use such operations as finding the reciprocal, taking a root, and raising to a fractional power).

Understand how addition, subtraction, multiplication and division relate to each other and to counting.

Know how to use repeated addition, arrays, and counting by multiples to do multiplication.

Know how to use repeated subtraction, equal sharing, and forming equal groups with remainders to do division.

Understand the relationship of counting on, counting back, and skip counting (by 2s, 5s, 10s) to mathematical operations.

Read price lists and menus and understand how unit pricing works.

Represent numbers in exponential and scientific notation (a shorthand way of writing very large or very small numbers, e.g., 7000 = 7 x10 to the power of 3; .0000019 = 1.9 x 10-6;; note that scientific notation is a way of indicating orders of magnitude.)

Describe the relationships between the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Understand properties of number systems and their relationship to the algorithms [e.g., 1 is the multiplicative identity; 37 + 24 = 3 X 10 + 7 + 2 X 10 + 4 = (3 + 2) X 10 + (7 + 4)].

Use properties of the number system to judge the validity of results, to justify each step of a procedure, and to prove or disprove mathematical statements.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Show the meaning of addition (putting together, increasing) and subtraction (taking away, finding the difference).

Demonstrate fluency in basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).

Solve addition and subtraction problems by using data from simple charts, picture graphs, and number sentences.

Demonstrate fluency in standard algorithms for computation with multi-digit numbers.

Understand that fluency of math facts plays an important role in problem solving and specify ways to promote fluency in students.

Demonstrate proficiency with division including division with positive decimals and long division with multi-digit divisors.

Use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction to solve problems and check solutions.

Use the relationship between multiplication and division to simplify computations and to check results.

Add with negative integers; subtract positive integers from negative integers.

Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers (like and unlike denominators) and express answers in the simplest form.

Add, subtract, multiply, and divide with decimals.

Compute a given percent of a whole number.

Demonstrate an understanding of the order of steps involved in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of multi-digit numbers.

Demonstrate understanding of the associative, distributive and commutative properties and use them to simplify mental calculations.

Perform operations with positive, negative, and fractional exponents, as they apply to whole numbers and fractions.

Solve word problems involving fractions, ratios, proportions, and percentages.

Know that every natural number is either a prime or can be factored as a product of primes.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Describe, extend, and explain ways to get to a next element in repeating patterns; be able to distinguish between an ill-defined and a well-defined pattern.

Solve problems involving a functional relationship between two quantities.

Extend and recognize a linear pattern (e.g., the number of legs on a given number of horses).

Use and interpret formulas to answer questions about quantities and their relationships (e.g., area = length x width).

Represent patterns, including relations and functions, through tables, graphs, verbal rules, or symbolic rules.

Understand the concepts of relations and functions and determine whether a given relation defines a function.

Use proportional reasoning such as ratios, equivalent fractions, and similar triangles, to solve numerical, algebraic, and geometric problems.

Solve problems involving linear functions with integer values; write the equation; and graph the resulting ordered pairs of integers on a grid.

Graph linear and quadratic functions and determine the maxima, minima, and zeros of the quadratic function.

Solve problems involving functional concepts, such as defining the inverse function and performing arithmetic operations on functions.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Create problem situations that might lead to given number sentences involving addition and subtraction.

Represent relationships of quantities in the form of mathematical expressions, equations, or inequalities.

Interpret and evaluate mathematical expressions that use parentheses.

Write and evaluate simple algebraic expressions in one variable by substitution.

Identify and graph ordered pairs in the four quadrants of the coordinate plane.

Find equivalent expressions for equalities and inequalities, explain the meaning of symbolic expressions (e.g., relating an expression to a situation and vice versa), find the solutions, and represent them on graphs.

Recognize and create equivalent algebraic expressions (e.g., 2(a+3) = 2a + 6).

Represent geometric problems algebraically (e.g., the area of a triangle).

Understand, in basic terms, linear equations and their properties (e.g., slope, perpendicularity, the x & y intercepts, lines parallel to the x and y axes.)

Understand in basic terms, the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and factoring of polynomials.

Solve equations and inequalities involving absolute value.

Interpret graphs of linear equations and inequalities, including solutions to systems of equations.

Apply algebraic techniques to solve rate problems, work problems, and percent mixture problems.

Know and use simple aspects of a logical argument, and identify errors in logic in simple syllogisms.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Classify familiar plane and solid objects and see relationships among them according to their geometric attributes (e.g., position, shape, size, roundness, number of corners, number and shape of faces, edges, and vertices).

Identify lines that are parallel and perpendicular.

Identify congruent figures and be able to prove that two triangles are congruent through SAS and ASA theorems.

Identify and define right angle, acute angle, and obtuse angle.

Know that the sum of the angles of any triangle is 180 degrees and the sum of the angles of any quadrilateral is 360 degrees and use this information to solve problems.

Identify and define different triangles (e.g., equilateral, isosceles, scalene) and identify their attributes.

Identify and define different quadrilaterals (e.g., rhombus, square, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid).

Know the names and basic definition of the regular polygons up to the decagon (10-sides).

Construct formal, logical arguments and proofs and draw conclusions based on the congruence, similarity, or lack thereof, of two figures .

Identify different forms of transformations (bilateral and rotational), translations, rotations, and reflections.

Understand and use the Pythagorean theorem and its converse to solve problems.

Use properties of complementary, supplementary, vertical, and exterior angles to solve problems.

Define basic trigonometric functions and use elementary relationships among them to solve problems.

Work with properties of parallel lines, including, use the parallel axiom in a proof.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities prove the following theorems: Base angles of an isosceles triangle are congruent. Sides opposite two congruent angles in a triangle are congruent. (This is the converse of the above.) The sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. Two triangles are congruent if in one triangle the two angles and the included side are congruent to the corresponding angles and side in the other triangle.

Using a straight edge and compass, demonstrates the constructions of the following: the perpendicular bisector to a given line segment; the bisection of a given angle; the equilateral triangle; a line parallel to a given line through a point not on the given line; a triangle from three given line segments.

Use concrete representations, such as manipulatives and drawings to represent geometric objects.

Measure, identify, and draw angles, perpendicular and parallel lines, rectangles, and triangles by using appropriate tools.

Construct basic geometric figures and their elements (altitudes, mid-points, diagonals, angle bisectors and perpendicular bisectors, central angles, radii, diameters, and chords of circles) using a compass and straightedge, and represent three-dimensional objects through two-dimensional drawings.

Graph a linear equation on the coordinate plane.

Combine and dissect two- and three-dimensional figures into familiar shapes, such as dissecting a parallelogram and rearranging the pieces to form a rectangle of equal area.

Understand that the length of a horizontal line segment equals the difference of the x-coordinates; understand that the length of a vertical line segment equals the difference of the y-coordinates.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Estimate and measure time, length, angles, perimeter, area, surface area, volume, weight/mass, and temperature through appropriate units and scales.

Identify relationships between different measures within the metric or customary systems of measurements and estimate an equivalent measurement across the two systems

1. length-part of an inch (1/2, 1/4, and 1/8), inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers

2. weight/mass-ounces, pounds, tons, grams, and kilograms

3. liquid volume-cups, pints, quarts, gallons, milliliters, and liters

4. area-square units

5. temperature-Celsius and Fahrenheit

Calculate perimeters and areas of two-dimensional objects and surface areas and volumes of three-dimensional objects .

Determine how changes in dimensions affect the perimeter, area, and volume of common geometric figures and solids.

Relate proportional reasoning to the construction of scale drawings or models.

Use measures such as miles per hour to analyze and solve problems; distinguish between simple and derived units.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Represent a collection of data through a range of graphs, tables, or charts (standard line and bar graphs, stem-and-leaf displays, scatter plots, box- and whisker plots, frequency tables, and histograms).

Ask and answer questions related to data representations.

Define mean, median, mode, and range; given a collection of data, compute each of these.

Understand the design of surveys, including the role of a random sample.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Interpret a graph, table, or chart representing a data set.

Use fractions and percentages to compare data sets of different sizes.

Explain how characteristics about populations can be inferred from sample characteristics.

Reason precisely with the data, including seeking out assumptions and questioning them even if assumptions are hidden.

Identify potential sources of correlation between sample elements that introduce bias into the sample.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Conduct probability experiments by recording the outcomes for a simple event that is repeated, display the results of probability experiments in clear and organized ways and use the results to predict future events (e.g., record temperatures, construct a line plot that displays temperatures over a period of days or weeks, use the line plot to predict temperatures for the next few days or weeks).

Use understanding of complementary, mutually exclusive, dependent, and independent events to calculate probabilities of simple events.

Use fundamental counting principles to compute combinations and permutations.

Know the attributes of normal distributions and use that knowledge to solve problems.

Express probabilities in a variety of ways, including ratios, proportions, decimals, and percents.

Apply the mathematical concepts and skills listed above (and use the relationships among them) to solve problem situations of varying types and complexities.

Know when an estimation will do and when only an exact answer will suffice.

Make and test conjectures by using inductive and deductive reasoning.

Apply logical reasoning and techniques from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and probability/statistics to solve mathematical problems.

Analyze problems to identify alternative solution strategies.

Evaluate the truth of mathematical statements (i.e., whether a given statement is always, sometimes, or never true), and be able to locate an error in reasoning.

Explain mathematical reasoning through a variety of methods, such as words, numbers, symbols, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, and concrete models.

Use appropriate mathematical notation with clear and accurate mathematical terminology when solving problems and working in the areas of number sense and computation, algebra and functions, geometry and measurement, and statistics and probability.

Defend reasoning used and justify procedures selected.

Develop generalizations of the results obtained and apply them in other circumstances.

Explain how to derive a result based on previously developed ideas, and explain how a result is related to other ideas.

Identify the logical and procedural interrelationships between component knowledge and skills (e.g., importance of fluency of math facts to numerical reasoning).

Systematically sequence mathematics instruction to teach essential skills, concepts, and operations.

Understand that problem solving involves the application of skills, strategies, concepts, and processes within the other domains of mathematics and know that problem solving activities should be integrated into instruction in each of the domains of mathematics from the earliest levels of instruction through the most advanced levels of instruction.

Identify and construct sequences of problems/tasks in mathematics appropriate for different skill levels.

Recognize procedural errors and misconceptions that students commonly develop (e.g., starting with the left column when adding and/or subtracting multi-digit numbers; subtracting the top number from the bottom number, etc.) and specify procedures for correcting misconceptions reflected in the error patterns.

Given sets of student responses to math problems, identify error patterns and identify ways to reteach the component concept and skills.

Point out some of the practical uses of new math skills and knowledge by linking them to other subject matter, to careers and to personal situations.

Understand how and why we classify living things (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, variety).

Know that fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that are carried out in specialized areas of the organism's cells (role of semi-permeable membranes, nucleus, cytoplasm, enzymes, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, chloroplast).

Understand the structures and functions of vascular and non-vascular plants.

Understand how respiration drives the physiological processes of living cells.

Understand how photosynthesis drives the physiological processes of living plant cells.

Understand the processes of mitosis and meiosis.

Know that plans and animals have levels of organization for structure and function, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and the whole organism.

Identify a variety of mechanism to combat disease (skin, antibodies, vaccinations, antibiotics), differences between bacteria and viruses, and why an individual with a compromised immune system (e.g., AIDS) may be unable to fight off infections.

Understand that in complex organisms groups of cells form tissues, tissues with similar functions form organs, and that organs work together in a system.

Know structures and related functions of systems in plans and animals, such as reproductive, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and waste disposal systems and concept of homeostasis.

Identify the characteristics that distinguish plant cells from animal cells, including chloroplasts and cell walls.

Understand principles of chemistry underlying the functioning of biological systems, including carbon's central role in living organisms, water and salt, DNA, pH, catalysis (enzymes), equilibrium, and the energetics of photosynthesis/respiration.

Compare joints in the body (wrist, shoulder, thigh) with structures used in machines and simple devices (hinge, ball-and-socket, and sliding joints).

Know how levers confer mechanical advantage and how the application of this principle applies to the muscular-skeletal system.

Identify the characteristics of most living organisms (e.g., growth, reproductions, and stimulus response).

Understand the basic needs of all living organisms to live and grow (e.g., food, water and space) and examples of diverse life forms in different environments (oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands).

Describe the importance of cycles in nature (life cycles, water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle, nutrient cycle, energy cycle, seasonal cycles).

Know the external characteristics and adaptations of plants and animals, some of the fundamental principles of physiology, and how adaptation and accommodation relate to the survival and fitness of the organism, including the concept of extinction.

Identify the biotic and abiotic components of various biomes.

Know that stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.

Describe the relationship between the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support and relationships among members of a species and across species.

Know that biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds of organisms and is affected by alterations of habitats.

Know how to analyze changes in an ecosystem as a result of changes in climate, human activity, or introduction of non-native species.

Illustrate the flow of energy and matter through an ecosystem from sunlight to photosynthesis to food chains and food webs on land and in water (including primary producers, consumers, and decomposers).

Determine fluctuations in population (rates of birth, immigration, emigration, and death) and describe the effects that changes in population size have on ecological balance.

Demonstrate understanding that sources of energy and materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and know the time required for their formation (air, soil, rocks, minerals, petroleum, fresh water, forests).

Identify the resources available in an ecosystem, whether they are renewable or nonrenewable and the environmental factors that support or degrade the ecosystem, including human impacts.

Diagram the sequential stages of life cycles of familiar sexual and asexual organisms.

Explain the factors that affect the growth and development of plants, such as light, gravity, and stress.

Distinguish between sexual and asexual reproduction, and understand the process of cell division (mitosis), the types of cells and their functions, and the replication of plants and animals.

Know the basis of inheritance, including the reason for similarity and variation within a species.

Know that an inherited trait can be determined by one or by many genes.

Know that plant and animal cells contain many thousands of different genes and typically have two copies (or alleles) of the gene that may or may not be identical and one may be dominant in determining the phenotype while the other is recessive.

Distinguish between environmental and genetic sources of variation, and understand the principles of natural and artificial selection.

Know how evidence from the fossil record, comparative anatomy, and DNA sequences can be used to support the theory that life gradually evolved on Earth over billions of years.

Explain how genetic variation and environmental forces act to cause evolution and diversity of organisms in a population.

Understand the basis of Darwin's theory, that species evolve by a process of natural selection.

Understand extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival.

Know how different kinds of telescopes and other technology are used to explore the universe.

Know the “big bang” theory for the origin of the universe.

Describe the appearance, composition, and relative position of objects in the solar system (sun, moon, terrestrial, and gas giant planets and their moons, comets and asteroids).

Further describe the planets and other bodies (e.g., comets and asteroids) in terms of their patterns of motion around the sun, and know the causes of solar and lunar eclipses.

Explain time zones in terms of longitude and the rotation of the Earth, and understand the reasons for changes in the observed position of the sun and moon in the sky during the course of the day and from season to season.

Name and describe bodies in the universe including the sun, stars, planets, supernovae, black holes, nebulae, quasars, and galaxies, and the differences and similarities amongst them.

Understand Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation, and how they determine planetary orbits.

Understand that the sun is a major source of energy for many phenomena on the Earth's surface, such as powering winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.

Describe the observable physical characteristics of minerals (e.g., quartz, calcite, hornblende, mica, and common ore minerals), different types of soils, and rocks (e.g., sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic).

Understand the concept of “geologic time” and the methods used by geologists for relative age dating (including the role of fossils), and absolute dating using radioactive decay rates.

Know the basic characteristics (length, major climate swings, dominant life) of the four major eras of geologic time (Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic).

Identify characteristics of landforms, such as mountains, rivers, deserts, and oceans.

Explain how waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape the Earth's land surface.

Explain chemical and physical weathering, erosion, deposition, and other sedimentary rock forming and soil changing processes.

Know that igneous rocks are formed by melting and recrystallization of other rocks and metamorphic rocks form when pre-existing rocks are subjected to increases in temperature (short of melting) and pressure for significant periods of time.

Describe layers of the Earth (crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mantle, and core) and plate tectonics, including its convective source, the relative motions and typical structures found at the plate boundaries.

Explain how mountains are created and where and why volcanic activity (including geysers and hot springs) and earthquakes usually occur, and describe their mechanisms (e.g., the kinds of waves generated by earthquakes, the difference between explosive and “quiet” volcanoes) and their efforts, and the methods and scales used to study them (e.g., the magnitude and intensity scales for earthquakes).

Know the commonly cited evidence supporting the theory of plate tectonics.

Describe the effects of plate tectonic motion over time on climate, geography, and distribution evolution of organisms, as well as more general changes on the Earth over geologic time as evidenced in landforms (uplift) and the rock and fossil records.

Understand the relationship between chemical and physical weathering and soil formation and the importance of soil on the growth and survival of plants.

Identify the composition (nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and trace gases) and thermal layering of the atmosphere [troposphere, stratosphere (and the ozone layer), mesosphere, ionosphere].

Know how barometers, weather maps, the observation of clouds, and weather satellites are used to forecast weather.

Know the difference between weather and climate (daily changes versus weather trends that are longer than the cycle of the seasons) and that climate has changed many times in the earth's history, from times warmer than today to recurrent ice ages.

Explain the influence and role of the sun and wind (esp. global air circulation) in weather and climate (trade winds, monsoons, El Niño, and the dependence of climate on latitude-e.g., the large deserts which occur at 30 degrees north and south latitudes).

Explain the regional climate effects of secondary (non-latitude) factors such as proximity to large bodies of water, elevation changes, and rain shadow effects.

Explain the role of the water cycle in weather (evaporation, condensation, clouds, precipitation).

Describe causes and effects of air movements and shallow and deep ocean currents (based on convection of air and water and apparent deflection caused by rotation of the Earth) on daily and seasonal weather and on climate.

Compare the characteristics of bodies of water, such as rivers, lakes, oceans, and in terms of size, location, salinity and movement of water.

Understand the basic mechanics of streams, how they flow downhill, branch, maintain their profiles, change their courses, flood, and erode their banks.

Describe the diversity of ocean life (from planktons to whales) and dangers to ocean life (overfishing, pollution, oil spills).

Describe tides and explain the mechanisms causing and modifying them, the gravitational attraction of the moon, sun, and coastal topography.

Understand how water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation and that the amount of fresh water is limited and its availability can be extended through recycling and decreased use.

Understand the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases, such as color, melting and boiling points, density, hardness, and electrical and thermal conductivity.

Know that matter can undergo physical changes (e.g., changes in state such as the melting, boiling, evaporation and freezing of substances) and chemical changes (i.e., atoms in reactants rearrange to form products with new physical and chemical properties).

Know that changes of state always involve a transfer of energy at constant temperature (i.e. the ice water doesn't warm up until all the ice is melted).

Know the differences between molecules and atoms and that matter consists of atoms and molecules in various arrangements.

Know the charges and relative masses of electrons, protons and neutrons.

Know the Bohr model of the atom and that this model is useful only for understanding simple reactions.

Know that the Bohr model has been superceded by a quantum mechanical model, which expresses the probability that an electron is within a volume called an orbital or “electron cloud.”

Describe the constituents of molecules and compounds, naming and describing the properties of common elements (e.g., hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron) and common compounds (e.g. water, salt, carbon dioxide.

Know that there are three important categories of elements: metals, nonmetals, and metalloids (e.g. silicon and germanium).

Explain how elements are organized on the Periodic Table on the basis of their atomic and chemical properties.

Describe characteristics of solutions (such as acidic, basic, and neutral solutions) and know examples with different pH levels (soft drinks, liquid detergents, and water) as well as suspensions and other mixtures such as colloids.

Know that in chemical reactions, atoms and the electrons in elements and compounds are rearranged to form chemical bonds.

Know that ionic, metallic or covalent bonds are electrostatic attractions between atoms, formed when their electrons are exchanged or shared.

Balance simple chemical reactions.

In simple cases, predict the product of a given reaction (e.g. 2H2 +O2→2H2O).

Know that chemical equilibrium is a dynamic process at the molecular level and that equilibrium is established when forward and reverse reaction rates are equal.

Know that mixtures may often be separated based on physical or chemical properties.

Describe and graph an object's motion based on position, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration.

Know that forces (pushes and pulls), such as gravity, magnetism, and friction act on objects and may change their motion (speed up, slow down, or change direction) if these forces are not in balance.

Define the concept of pressure, and know how pressure increases downward in a fluid such as air or water

Solve problems involving distance, time, and average speed.

Know that "like" electrical charges or magnetic poles produce repulsive forces and "unlike" charges or poles produce attractive forces.

Know that Earth behaves as if it were a large but weak bar magnet, and this explains how a compass works.

Know that a moving charge (current) generates a magnetic field, and that a conductor in a changing magnetic field (or moving through an unchanging magnetic field) has a voltage induced on it.

Design and build simple series and parallel electrical circuits and work with components such as wires, batteries and bulbs.

Describe simple machines in which small forces are exerted over long distances to accomplish difficult tasks (e.g., using levers or pulleys to move or lift heavy objects, ways to reduce friction through lubricants and rollers) and solve simple problems about levers and pulleys.

Identify forms of kinetic and potential energy including solar, mechanical, chemical, electrical, magnetic, nuclear, heat, light and other electromagnetic wavelengths.

Give examples of energy conversions is everyday life, e.g. a motor changes electrical energy to kinetic energy, or a gasoline-powered generator changes chemical energy to electrical energy.

Know that total energy in a closed system is conserved but may be changed from one form to another and that in many processes energy is lost to the environment as heat.

Understand the difference between heat, (thermal energy) and temperature, and understand temperature measurement scales (Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin).

Know that energy can be stored in a variety of ways and that both living organisms and machines convert stored energy into heat and motion.

Know how heat may be transferred by conduction, convection, and radiation (e.g., involving a stove, the Earth's mantle, or the sun) and that the direction of heat flow is always from warmer objects to cooler ones.

Describe how light is emitted from excited atoms and has both wave and particle properties.

Know the speed of light in a vacuum, c, Einstein's formula e=mc2, and its implications for nuclear energy.

Know that light may be reflected or absorbed by different materials, and that its speed may be different in each material.

Know how light may be reflected, refracted, diffracted, or scattered when it interacts with matter.

Know that white light is a mixture of colors and can be separated into its constituents (a spectrum) by a prism or diffraction grating.

Know that matter waves, such as sound waves (including seismic waves) and water waves, which need a medium to propagate, can also be reflected, refracted, diffracted or scattered.

Know the general properties used to describe waves, including wavelength, frequency, and velocity, and that waves may be either compressional or transverse.

Explain conservation of energy resources in terms of renewable and non-renewable natural resources and their use in society.

Know that the scientific method, which is based on observation and replication of results, is a process for logically predicting, on the basis of a few scientific principles, what will happen next in a natural sequence of events {Adapted from Science Framework for California Public Schools, 2003}.

Use different techniques for gaining scientific knowledge (e.g., reading about prior results, , making qualitative and quantitative (measurement)observations, hypothesis testing, communicating ideas with other workers.

Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.

Apply principles of experimental design, including formulation of testable questions and hypotheses, sampling, and evaluation of the accuracy and reproducibility of data.

Distinguish between dependent and independent variables and controlled parameters, and between linear and nonlinear relationships on a graph of data.

Know and use scientific vocabulary that pertains to scientific investigations (e.g., observation, organization, experimentation, inference, prediction, evidence, opinion, hypothesis, theory, and law).

Use a variety of scientific tools (e.g., microscopes, metric ruler scales, graduated cylinders, and balances) and know how to record length, mass, and volume measurements using the metric system.

Interpret results of experiments and interpret events by sequence and time (e.g., relative age of rocks, phases of the moon) from evidence of natural phenomena.

Communicate the steps in an investigation, record data, and interpret and analyze numerical and non-numerical results using charts, maps, tables, models, graphs, and labeled diagrams.

Communicate the logical connections among hypothesis, science concepts, tests conducted, data collected and conclusions drawn from the scientific evidence.

Understand procedures for the appropriate and safe storage, handling, use, disposal, care, and maintenance of chemicals, materials, specimens, and equipment.

Demonstrate knowledge of the concepts of precision, accuracy, and error with regard to reading and recording numerical data from a scientific instrument.

Know and use the basic findings of Galileo and Copernicus (astronomy), Linnaeus (classifying living things), Just (cells), Julian (endocrine system), Einstein (Theory of Relativity), Curie and Pasteur (medical treatment, germs), Mendel (genetics), Newton (gravity), Darwin (natural selection), Mendeleev (periodic table), Dalton and Bohr (theory and model of the atom), Carson (habitat destruction), and Muir (ecology).

Identify everyday situations that require students to apply and synthesize the skills and concepts they have learned (e.g., why if I shake a soda pop can does it fizz?) and explain them.