High School Science Benchmarks

1

Ask questions that can be investigated empirically. (SCI.I.1.HS.1)

2

Design and conduct scientific investigations. (SCI.I.1.HS.2)

3

Recognize and explain the limitations of measuring devices. (SCI.I.1.HS.3)

4

Gather and synthesize information from books and other sources of information. (SCI.I.1.HS.4)

5

Justify plans or explanations on a theoretical or empirical basis. (SCI.II.1.HS.1)

6

Describe some general limitations of scientific knowledge. (SCI.II.1.HS.2)

7

Show how common themes of science, mathematics, and technology apply in real-world contexts. (SCI.II.1.HS.3)

8

Discuss the historical development of key scientific concepts and principles. (SCI.II.1.HS.4)

9

Explain the social and economic advantages and risks of new technology. (SCI.II.1.HS.5)

10

Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world. (SCI.II.1.HS.6)

11

Describe the historical, political, and social factors affecting the developments in science. (SCI.II.1.HS.7)

12

Explain how multi-cellular organisms grow, based on how cells grow and reproduce (SCI.III.1.HS.1).

13

Compare and contrast ways in which selected cells are specialized to carry out particular life functions (SCI.III.1.HS.2).

14

Classify major groups of organisms to the kingdom level (SCI.III.2.HS.1).

15

Describe the life cycle of an organism associated with human disease (SCI.III.2.HS.2).

16

Explain the process of food storage and food use in organisms (SCI.III.2.HS.3).

17

Explain how living things maintain a stable internal environment (SCI.III.2.HS.4).

18

Describe technology used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and explain its function in terms of human body processes (SCI.III.2.HS.5).

19

Explain how characteristics of living things are passed on from generation to generation (SCI.III.3.HS.1).

20

Describe how genetic material is passed from parent to young during sexual and asexual reproduction (SCI.III.3.HS.2).

21

Explain how new traits may be established in individuals/populations through changes in genetic material (DNA) (SCI.III.3.HS.3).

22

Describe what biologists consider to be evidence for human evolutionary relationships to selected animal groups (SCI.III.4.HS.1).

23

Explain how a new species or variety may originate through the evolutionary process of natural selection (SCI.III.4.HS.2).

24

Describe common ecological relationships between and among species and their environments (SCI.III.5.HS.1).

25

Explain how energy flows through familiar ecosystems (SCI.III.5.HS.2).

26

Describe general factors regulating population size in ecosystems (SCI.III.5.HS.3).

27

Describe responses of an ecosystem to events that cause it to change (SCI.III.5.HS.4).

28

Describe how carbon and soil nutrients cycle through selected ecosystems (SCI.III.5.HS.5).

29

Explain the effects of agriculture and urban development on selected ecosystems (SCI.III.5.HS.6).

30

Analyze properties of common household and agricultural materials in terms of risk/benefit balance (SCI.IV.1.HS.1).

31

Identify properties of common families of elements (SCI.IV.1.HS.2).

32

Explain how elements differ in terms of the structural parts and electrical charges of atoms (SCI.IV.1.HS.3).

33

Explain how current is controlled in simple series and parallel circuits (SCI.IV.1.HS.4).

34

Describe how electric currents can be produced by interacting wires and magnets, and explain applications of this principle (SCI.IV.1.HS.5).

35

Explain chemical changes in terms of the breaking of bonds and the rearrangement of atoms to form new substances. (SCI.IV.2.HS.1).

36

Explain why mass is conserved in physical and chemical changes (SCI.IV.2.HS.2).

37

Contrast nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and natural radioactivity (SCI.IV.2.HS.3).

38

Describe energy transformations involved in physical, chemical, and nuclear changes, and contrast their relative magnitudes (SCI.IV.2.HS.4).

39

Explain changes in matter and energy involving heat transfer (SCI.IV.2.HS.5).

40

Analyze patterns of force in the operation of complex machines (SCI.IV.3.HS.1).

41

Explain energy conversions in moving objects and machines (SCI.IV.3.HS.2).

42

Relate characteristics of sounds that we hear to properties of sound waves (SCI.IV.4.HS.1).

43

Explain how we see colors of objects. (SCI.IV.4.HS.2).

44

Describe waves in terms of their properties (SCI.IV.4.HS.3).

45

Describe different types of waves and their technological applications (SCI.IV.4.HS.4).

46

Explain the surface features of the Great Lakes region using the Ice Age theory (SCI.V.1.HS.1).

47

Use the plate tectonics theory to explain features of the Earth’s surface and geological phenomena and describe evidence for the plate tectonics theory (SCI.V.1.HS.2).

48

Explain how common objects are made from Earth materials and why Earth materials are conserved and recycled (SCI.V.1.HS.3).

49

Evaluate alternative long-range plans for resource use and by-product disposal in terms of environmental and economic impact (SCI.V.1.HS.4).

50

Identify and describe regional watersheds (SCI.V.2.HS.1).

51

Describe how human activities affect the quality of water in the hydrosphere (SCI.V.2.HS.2).

52

Explain how interactions of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere create climates and how climates change over time (SCI.V.3.HS.1).

53

Describe patterns of air movement in the atmosphere and how they affect weather conditions (SCI.V.3.HS.2).

54

Explain general weather patterns and predict storms (SCI.V.3.HS.3).

55

Explain the impact of human activities on the atmosphere and explain ways that individuals and society can reduce pollution (SCI.V.3.HS.4).

56

Compare our sun to other stars (SCI.V.4.HS.1).

57

Describe the position and motion of our solar system in our galaxy and the overall scale, structure, and age of the universe (SCI.V.4.HS.2).

58

Explain how stars and planetary systems form and how stars produce energy (SCI.V.4.HS.3).

59

Explain how technology and scientific inquiry have helped us learn about the universe (SCI.V.4.HS.4).