Level I Primary Grades K-2:

*Knows that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that distinct environments support the life of different types of plants and animals.

Level II Upper Elementary Grade 3-5:

*Knows that an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment.

*Knows that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms.

*Knows that all organisms (including humans) cause changes in their environments and these changes can be beneficial or detrimental.

Level III Middle School/Jr. High Grades 6-8

*Knows that all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time make up a population and all populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.

*Knows factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support.

*Knows ways in which species interact and depend on one another in an ecosystem.

Level 1: Primary (Grades K-2)*Knows that scientific investigations generally work the same way in different places and normally produce results that can be duplicated

Level II: Upper Elementary (Grades 3-5)

*Knows that although the same scientific investigation may give slightly different results when it is carried out by different persons, or at different times or places, the general evidence collected from the investigation should be replicable by others

Level III: Middle School/Jr. High (Grades 6-8)

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

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

Level IV: High School (Grades 9-12)

*Understands how scientific knowledge changes and accumulates over time (e.g., all scientific knowledge is subject to change as new evidence becomes available; some scientific ideas are incomplete and opportunity exists in these areas for new advances; theories are

continually tested, revised, and occasionally discarded)

Level I: Primary (Grades K-2)*Knows that learning can come from careful observations and simple experiments

* Knows that tools (e.g., thermometers, magnifiers, rulers, balances) can be used to gather information and extend the senses

Level II: Upper Elementary (Grades 3-5)

*Knows that scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer to what scientists already know about the world

*Plans and conducts simple investigations (e.g., makes systematic observations)

*Uses simple equipment and tools to gather scientific data and extend the senses (e.g., rulers, thermometers, magnifiers, microscopes, calculators)

*Knows that good scientific explanations are based on evidence (observations) and scientific knowledge

*Knows that scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations

*Knows that scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists' work

*Knows that different people may interpret the same set of observations differently

Level III: Middle School/Jr. High (Grades 6-8)

*Knows that there is no fixed procedure called "the scientific method," but that investigations involve systematic observations, carefully collected, relevant evidence, logical reasoning, and some imagination in developing hypotheses and explanations

*Designs and conducts a scientific investigation (e.g., formulates questions, designs and executes investigations, interprets data, synthesizes evidence into explanations, proposes alternative explanations for observations, critiques explanations and procedures)

*Establishes relationships based on evidence and logical argument (e.g., provides causes for effects)

*Knows that a wide range of natural occurrences may be observed to discern patterns when conditions of an investigation cannot be controlled.