Science Content Standards
1
Kindergarten
Physical Sciences
1. Properties of materials can be observed, measured, and predicted.
As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know objects can be described in terms of the materials
they are made of (e.g., clay, cloth, paper) and their physical
properties (e.g., color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility,
attraction to magnets, floating, sinking).
b. Students know water can be a liquid or a solid and can be made to
change back and forth from one form to the other.
c. Students know water left in an open container evaporates (goes
into the air) but water in a closed container does not.
Life Sciences
2. Different types of plants and animals inhabit the earth. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to observe and describe similarities and
differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals
(e.g., seed-bearing plants, birds, fish, insects).
b. Students know stories sometimes give plants and animals
attributes they do not really have.
c. Students know how to identify major structures of common plants
and animals (e.g., stems, leaves, roots, arms, wings, legs).
Earth Sciences
3. Earth is composed of land, air, and water. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
a. Students know characteristics of mountains, rivers, oceans,
valleys, deserts, and local landforms.
b. Students know changes in weather occur from day to day and
across seasons, affecting Earth and its inhabitants.
c. Students know how to identify resources from Earth that are used
in everyday life and understand that many resources can be
conserved.
Investigation and Experimentation
4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and
conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this
concept and addressing the content in the other three strands,
students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Observe common objects by using the five senses.
b. Describe the properties of common objects.
c. Describe the relative position of objects by using one reference
(e.g., above or below).
Grade One
Physical Sciences
1. Materials come in different forms (states), including solids,
liquids, and gases. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know solids, liquids, and gases have different properties.
b. Students know the properties of substances can change when the
substances are mixed, cooled, or heated.
Life Sciences
2. Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
a. Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds
of environ-ments and have external features that help them thrive in
different kinds of places.
b. Students know both plants and animals need water, animals need
food, and plants need light.
c. Students know animals eat plants or other animals for food and
may also use plants or even other animals for shelter and nesting.
d. Students know how to infer what animals eat from the shapes of
their teeth (e.g., sharp teeth: eats meat; flat teeth: eats plants).
e. Students know roots are associated with the intake of water and
soil nutrients and green leaves are associated with making food
from sunlight.
Earth Sciences
3. Weather can be observed, measured, and described. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to use simple tools (e. g., thermometer, wind
vane) to measure weather conditions and record changes from day
to day and across the seasons.
b. Students know that the weather changes from day to day but that
trends in tem-perature or of rain (or snow) tend to be predictable
during a season.
c. Students know the sun warms the land, air, and water.
Investigation and Experimentation
4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and
conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this
concept and addressing the content in the other three strands,
students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Draw pictures that portray some features of the thing being
described.
b. Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written
statements.
Grade Two
Physical Sciences
1. The motion of objects can be observed and measured. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the position of an object can be described by
locating it in relation to another object or to the background.
b. Students know an object's motion can be described by recording
the change in position of the object over time.
c. Students know the way to change how something is moving is by
giving it a push or a pull. The size of the change is related to the
strength, or the amount of force, of the push or pull.
d. Students know tools and machines are used to apply pushes and
pulls (forces) to make things move.
e. Students know objects fall to the ground unless something holds
them up.
f. Students know magnets can be used to make some objects move
without being touched.
g. Students know sound is made by vibrating objects and can be
described by its pitch and volume.
Life Sciences
2. Plants and animals have predictable life cycles. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
a. Students know that organisms reproduce offspring of their own
kind and that the offspring resemble their parents and one another.
b. Students know the sequential stages of life cycles are different
for different animals, such as butterflies, frogs, and mice.
c. Students know many characteristics of an organism are inherited
from the parents. Some characteristics are caused or influenced by
the environment.
d. Students know there is variation among individuals of one kind
within a population.
e. Students know light, gravity, touch, or environmental stress can
affect the germination, growth, and development of plants.
f. Students know flowers and fruits are associated with reproduction
in plants.
Earth Sciences
3. Earth is made of materials that have distinct properties and
provide resources for human activities. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
a. Students know how to compare the physical properties of
different kinds of rocks and know that rock is composed of different
combinations of minerals.
b. Students know smaller rocks come from the breakage and
weathering of larger rocks.
c. Students know that soil is made partly from weathered rock and
