I understand that some of these standards may seem confusing, but please look them over and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I will discuss these in more detail at the Curriculum/Open House night. I encourage all parents to attend and will make any accommodations necessary to facilitate this.
NYS Science Standards
Living Environment
STANDARD 1: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
· Key Idea 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing and creative process.
§ Performance Indicator 1.1: Elaborate on basic scientific and personal explanations of natural phenomena, and develop extended visual models and mathematical formulations to represent one’s thinking.
1.1a Scientific explanations are built by combining what people
already know about the world.
1.1c Science provides knowledge, but values are also essential
making effective and ethical decisions about the application of scientific knowledge.
§ Performance Indicator 1.2: Hone ideas through reasoning, library research, and discussion with others, including experts.
1.2a Inquiry involves asking questions and locating, interpreting,
and processing information from a variety of sources.
1.2b Inquiry involves making judgments about the reliability of the
source and relevance of information.
§ Performance Indicator 1.3: Work toward reconciling competing explanations; clarify points of agreement and disagreement.
1.3a Scientific explanations are accepted when they are consistent
with experimental and observational evidence and when they
lead to accurate predictions.
· Key Idea 3: The observations made while testing proposed explanations, methods, provide new insights into natural phenomena.
§ Performance Indicator 3.4: Based on the results of the test and through public discussion, revise the explanation and contemplate additional research.
3.4c Claims should be questioned if fact and opinion are
intermingled, if adequate evidence is not cited, or if the
conclusions do not follow logically from the evidence given.
§ Performance Indicator 3.5: Develop a written report for public scrutiny that describes the proposed explanation, including a literature review, the research carried out, its result, and suggestions for further research.
3.5a One assumption of science is that other individuals could arrive
at the same explanation if they had access to similar evidence. Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they should describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.
3.5b Scientists use peer review to evaluate the results of scientific
investigations and the explanations proposed by other scientists. They analyze the experimental procedures, examine the evidence, identify faulty reasoning, point out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggest alternative explanations for the same observations.
STANDARD 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
· Key Idea 1: Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things.
§ Performance Indicator 1.1: Explain how diversity of populations within ecosystems relates to the stability of ecosystems.
1.1f Every population is linked, directly or indirectly, with many
others in an ecosystem. Disruptions in the numbers and types of species and environmental changes can upset ecosystem stability.
· Key Idea 6: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
§ Performance Indicator 6.3: Explain how the living and nonliving environments change over time and respond to disturbances.
6.3c A stable ecosystem can be altered, either rapidly or slowly,
through the activities of organisms (including humans), or through climatic changes or natural disasters. The altered ecosystem can usually recover through gradual changes back to a point of long-term stability.
· Key Idea 7: Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.
§ Performance Indicator 7.1: Describe the range of interrelationships of humans with the living and nonliving environment.
7.1c Human beings are part of the Earth’s ecosystems. Human
activities can, deliberately or inadvertently, alter the
equilibrium in ecosystems. Humans modify ecosystems as a
result of population growth, consumption, and technology.
Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting,
pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening
current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems may
be irreversibly affected.
§ Performance Indicator 7.2: Explain the impact of technological development and growth in the human population on the living and nonliving environment.
7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of
diversity of the living and nonliving environment. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space and resources available to other species, and pollution changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.