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| AAA's Benchmark for Scientific Literacy | Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Science and Technology and Engineering Education | Pennsylvania Assessment Anchors | |
Elementary School (Grades 1-5) | Students learn that for offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a reliable way to transfer information from one generation to the next | (PA) 3.2.4.B: Describe objects in the world using the five senses. (PA) 3.2.4.C: Recognize and use the elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems. (PA) 3.2.4.D: Recognize and use the technological design process to solve problems. | S4.A.1.3.1 Observe and record change by using time and measurement. S4.A.1.3.3 Observe and describe the change to objects caused by temperature change or light. S4.A.2.1.1 Generate questions about objects, organisms, or events that can be answered through scientific investigations. S4.A.2.1.2 Design and describe an investigation (a fair test) to test one variable. S4.A.2.1.3 Observe a natural phenomenon (e.g., weather changes, length of daylight/night, movement of shadows, animal migrations, growth of plants), record observations, and then make a prediction based on those observations. S4.A.2.1.4 State a conclusion that is consistent with the information/data. S4.A.2.2.1 Identify appropriate tools or instruments for specific tasks and describe the information they can provide S4.B.2.2.1 Identify physical characteristics (e.g., height, hair color, eye color, attached earlobes, ability to roll tongue) that appear in both parents and could be passed on to offspring. |
Middle School (Grades 6-8) | Students learn that the same genetic information is copied in each cell of the new organism. | (PA) 3.1.7.A5: Explain how the cell is the basic structural and functional unit of living things (PA) 3.1.7.B1: Explain how genetic instructions influence inherited traits (PA) 3.2.7.A: Explain and apply scientific and technological knowledge. (PA) 3.2.7.B: Apply process knowledge to make and interpret observations. (PA) 3.2.7.C: Identify and use the elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems. (PA) 3.2.7.D: Know and use the technological design process to solve problems. (PA) 3.4.7.B2: Know that the sun is a major source of energy that emits wavelengths of visible light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation. (PA) 3.4.7.C5: Explain how sound and light travel in waves of differing speeds, sizes and frequencies.
| S8.A.2.1.1 Use evidence, observations, or a variety of scales (e.g., mass, distance, volume, temperature) to describe relationships. S8.A.2.1.2 Use space/time relationships, define concepts operationally, raise testable questions, or formulate hypotheses. S8.A.2.1.3 Design a controlled experiment by specifying how the independent variables will be manipulated, how the dependent variable will be measured, and which variables will be held constant. S8.A.2.1.4 Interpret data/observations; develop relationships among variables based on data/observations to design models as solutions. S8.A.2.1.5 Use evidence from investigations to clearly communicate and support conclusions. S8.A.2.2.2 Apply appropriate measurement systems (e.g., time, mass, distance, volume, temperature) to record and interpret observations under varying conditions. S8.A.2.2.3 Describe ways technology (e.g., microscope, telescope, micrometer, hydraulics, barometer) extends and enhances human abilities for specific purposes. S8.B.2.2.2 Recognize that the gene is the basic unit of inheritance, that there are dominant and recessive genes, and that traits are inherited. |
High School (Grades (9-12) |
Students learn that the information passed from parents to offspring is coded in DNA molecules, long chains linking just four kinds of smaller molecules, whose precise sequence encodes genetic information. | (PA) 3.1.10.A7: Describe the relationship between the structure of organic molecules and the function they serve in living organisms (PA) 3.1.B.A7: Compare and contrast the functions and structures of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids (PA) 3.1.B.B1: Explain that the information passed from parents to offspring is transmitted by means of genes which are coded in DNA molecules (PA) 3.1.10.B3: Describe the basic structure of DNA and its function in genetic inheritance (PA) 3.1.B.B3: Describe the basic structure of DNA, including the role of hydrogen bonding (PA) 3.1.10.B4: Explain how genetic technologies have impacted the fields of medicine, forensics, and agriculture (PA) 3.1.12 B5: Relate the monomer structure of biomacromolecules to their functional roles (PA) 3.2.10.B: Apply process knowledge and organize scientific and technological phenomena in varied ways. (PA) 3.2.10.C: Apply the elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems (PA) 3.2.10.D: Identify and apply the technological design process to solve problems. (PA) 3.2.12.B: Evaluate experimental information for appropriateness and adherence to relevant science processes. (PA) 3.2.12.C: Apply the elements of scientific inquiry to solve multi-step problems (PA) 3.2.12.D: Analyze and use the technological design process to solve problems. (PA) 3.3.10.B1: Describe the relationship between the structure of organic molecules and the function they serve in living organisms | S11.A.2.1.1 Critique the elements of an experimental design (e.g., raising questions, formulating hypotheses, developing procedures, identifying variables, manipulating variables, interpreting data, and drawing conclusions) applicable to a specific experimental design. S11.A.2.1.2 Critique the elements of the design process (e.g. identify the problem, understand criteria, create solutions, select solution, test/evaluate and communicate results) applicable to a specific technological design. S11.A.2.1.3 Use data to make inferences and predictions, or to draw conclusions, demonstrating understanding of experimental limits. S11.A.2.1.4 Critique the results and conclusions of scientific inquiry for consistency and logic. S11.A.2.1.5 Communicate results of investigations using multiple representations. S11.A.2.2.1 Evaluate appropriate methods, instruments, and scale for precise quantitative and qualitative observations (e.g., to compare properties of materials, water quality). S11.A.2.2.2 Explain how technology is used to extend human abilities and precision. S11.B.2.2.1 Describe how genetic information is expressed (i.e., DNA, genes, chromosomes, transcription, translation, and replication). |