12.1.1 Students will develop an understanding of systems, order, and organization. (Predict and evaluate how change within a system affects that system; use system analysis to understand how things work and to design solutions to problems)

    12.1.2 Students will develop an understanding of evidence, models, and explanation. (Create a physical, mental, or mathematical model to show how objects and processes are connected; test the usefulness of a model by comparing its predictions to actual observations; understand that the way data are displayed affects interpretation; evaluate the reasonableness of answers to problems by reviewing the process used to find answers and checking against typical values; understand that larger well-chosen population samples produce better estimates of population summary statistics; use some random process to avoid sample bias; understand that a believable correlation between two variables doesn’t mean that either one causes the other.)

    12.1.3 Students will develop an understanding of change, constancy, and , measurement. (Use powers of ten to represent large numbers and to compare things that are greatly different; compare data for two groups by representing averages and ranges of values; understand that measurement errors may affect calculations; use estimates of magnitude of error to analyze disparities between estimates and calculated answers when making measurements; describe rate of change by comparing one measured quantity to another measured quantity; investigate and describe how different characteristics, properties, or relationships within a system change as their dimensions increase or decrease; investigate and understand that as the number of pats within a system change, the number of possible internal interactions varies with the square of the number of parts.)

    12.1.4 Students will develop an understanding of form and function. (Demonstrate the reciprocal aspect of form and function, explaining function by referring to form and explaining form by referring to function.)

    12.1.5 Students will develop an understanding of change over a period of time. (Identify the series of changes that occur in objects, organisms, and natural and human designed systems; explain equilibrium in terms of changes in opposite and off-setting directions.)

    12.2.1 Students will develop the abilities needed to do scientific inquiry. (Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations; design and conduct scientific investigations; use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications; formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence; recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models; communicate and defend a scientific argument.)

    12.3.1 Students will develop an understanding of the structure of the atom. (Investigate and describe the components and properties of atoms. Investigate and explain the decay of radioactive isotopes; investigate and describe the effect of electrical and nuclear forces which hold atoms together.)

    12.3.2 Students will develop an understanding of the structures and properties of matter. ( Investigate and understand that an element is composed of a single type of atom; investigate and explain the periodic table of elements in terms of repeating patterns; investigate and describe how the structure of an atom determines the chemical properties of an element; investigate and explain how the interactions among the molecules of a compound determine physical and chemical properties; use differences in molecular energy to explain the differences among the states of matter; investigate and describe how carbon atoms bond together in chains, rings, and other structures to produce large molecules essential to life.)

    12.3.3 Students will develop an understanding of chemical reactions. (Investigate and describe common chemical reactions; investigate and explain how chemical reactions release or absorb energy; investigate and discuss chemical reactions in terms of bond formation by electron transfers; investigate and describe the factors influencing the rates of chemical reactions; investigate and describe how the use of catalysts accelerates chemical reactions.)

    12.3.4 Students will develop an understanding of motions and forces. (Calculate the effect of forces on the motion of objects; investigate and understand gravity as a universal force that each mass exerts on any other mass; investigate and understand electrical force as a universal force that exists between any two charged objects; describe an electric field and a magnetic field, and compare the interaction between them.)

    12.3.5 Students will develop an understanding of the conservation of energy and increase in disorder. (Investigate and understand that the total energy in the universe is constant and can never be destroyed; investigate and distinguish among kinetic energy, potential energy, and energy contained in a field; investigate and describe heat in terms of conduction, convection, and radiation; investigate and demonstrate how systems tend to become less organized and more disorderly over time.)
 
    12.3.6 Students will develop an understanding of the interactions of energy and matter. (Investigate and understand all waves have energy and transfer energy; investigate and demonstrate how electromagnetic waves result when a charged object accelerates; investigate and illustrate how wavelength and frequency of waves are inversely related; investigate and understand that the energy of waves can be changed into other forms of energy, just as other forms of energy can be transformed into wave energy; investigate and identify atoms or molecules by spectral analysis; investigate and describe how the composition and temperature of a material affects electron flow.)

    12.4.1 Students will develop an understanding of the cell. (Investigate and describe sub cellular structures that underlie cell functions; investigate and describe how cell functions involve chemical reactions; investigate and describe how DNA regulates cell functions; investigate and understand that plant cells and many microorganisms use solar energy to combine molecules of carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds; investigate and understand that complex multi cellular organisms are formed as highly organized arrangements of differentiated cells.)

     12.4.2 Students will develop an understanding of the molecular basis of heredity. (Investigate and understand that genetic variation occurs when genetic information is transmitted to an offspring through the union of an egg and a sperm cell which contain one representative of each chromosome pair; investigate and explain how some mutations make no difference to organisms, whereas others can alter cells; investigate and explain how only mutations in germ cells create the variations that change an organism’s offspring.)

    12.4.3 Students will develop an understanding of the theory of biological evolution. ( Understand the concept of biological evolution is a theory which explains the consequence of the interactions of: (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers: (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes: (3) a finite supply of the resources of life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring; investigate and use the theory of biological evolution to explain diversity of life; investigate whether natural selection provides a scientific explanation of the fossil record and the molecular similarities among the diverse species of living organisms; investigate and use biological classifications based on similarities.)

    12.4.4 Students will develop an understanding of the interdependence of organisms. (Investigate and understand that atoms and molecules cycle among living and nonliving components of the biosphere; investigate and describe the flow of energy through ecosystems, in one direction, from producers to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers; investigate and cite examples of organisms cooperating and competing in ecosystems; investigate and understand that interactions among organisms are affected by the conflict between an organism’s capacity to produce infinite populations and the finite amount  of resources; investigate and describe how humans modify the ecosystem as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption.)

    12.4.5 Students will develop an understanding of matter, energy, and organization in living systems. (Investigate and understand that living systems require a constant input of energy; investigate and explain how the energy for life is derived from the sun; investigate and explain how distribution and abundance of organisms in ecosystems are limited by the availability of matter and energy and the ability of the ecosystem to recycle materials.)

    12.4.6 Students will develop an understanding of the behavior of organisms. (Investigate and describe how nervous systems function in multi cellular animals; investigate and describe how organisms respond to internal changes and external stimuli; investigate and explain how the behavioral patterns of organisms have evolved through natural selection; investigate and understand that behavioral biology relates to humans since it provides links to psychology, sociology, and anthropology, such as the population dynamics demonstrated by the increased aggressiveness of laboratory rats in overcrowded cages.)

    12.5.1 Students will develop an understanding of energy in the earth system. ( Investigate and distinguish between internal sources of energy, such as radioactive decay and gravitational energy, and external sources of energy, such as the sun, explaining that both create heat in earth systems; investigate and explain how the outward transfer of earth’s internal heat drives convection in the mantle that propels the plates comprising the earth’s surface; investigate and explain how global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun and is influenced by dynamic processes, such as cloud formation and the earth’s rotation and static conditions, such as the position of mountain ranges and oceans.)

    12.5.2 Students will develop an understanding of geochemical cycles. (Investigate and diagram how elements and compounds on earth move among reservoirs in the solid earth, oceans, atmosphere, and organisms as part of geochemical cycles.)

    12.5.3 Students will develop an understanding of the origin of the earth system. (Investigate and understand that the early earth was very different from the planet we live on today; investigate and estimate geological time by observing rock sequences and using fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations; investigate and use known decay rates of radioactive isotopes in rocks to determine when the rock was formed; investigate and relate the effects of interactions among the solid earth, oceans, atmosphere, and organisms to the ongoing evolution of the earth.)

    12.5.4 Students will develop a scientific understanding of the origin of the universe. (Investigate and analyze various theories on the origin of the universe; investigate and understand the effects of gravity and nuclear reactions upon stars; research and describe the life cycle of a star.)

    12.6.1 Students will develop an understanding of technological design. ( Identify a problem; propose designs and choose between alternative solutions; implement a proposed solution; evaluate the solution and its consequences; communicate the problem, process, and solution.)

    12.6.2 Students will develop an understanding about science and technology. (State an example of how science advanced with the introduction of technology; understand creativity, imagination, and a good knowledge base are all needed to advance the work of science and engineering; contrast the reasons fro the pursuit of science and the pursuit of technology; contrast the reporting of scientific knowledge and the reporting of technical knowledge.)

    12.7.1 Students will develop an understanding of personal and community health. (Investigate and describe the effect of nutritional balance on growth, development , and personal well-being; investigate and explain how diseases are prevented, controlled, and cured; investigate and explain how genetics affect a person’s health; investigate and analyze risk versus benefit assessments to facilitate personal and community health.)

    12.7.2 Students will develop an understanding of the effects of population change. (Investigate and state causes of population growth or decline; investigate and explain how various factors influence birth rates and death rates; investigate and describe how population changes impacts resource use and environments.)

    12.7.3 Students will develop an understanding of natural resources. (Investigate and explain how human populations use environmental resources to maintain and improve their existence; investigate and understand that the earth has renewable and finite resources; investigate and understand the limitations of natural systems to renew and recycle resources.)

    12.7.4 Students will develop an understanding of environmental quality. (Investigate and describe how the positive and negative consequences of human intervention or nonintervention impacts the ecosystem; investigate and discuss factors which may influence environmental quality: factors to consider may include population distribution and consumption.)

    12.7.5 Students will develop an understanding of natural and human-induced hazards. (Investigate and describe how human activities increase or reduce the potential for hazards; investigate and distinguish between slow occurring hazards, such as coastal erosion, and rapid occurring hazards, such as tornadoes, and discuss their impact on the environment; investigate and assess potential dangers and risks of a hazard.)

    12.7.6 Students will develop an understanding of the role of science and technology in local, national, and global challenges. (Understand the knowledge of basic concepts about scientific and technological challenges should precede active debate; investigate and understand that social issues and challenges may affect advancements in science and technology; understand that science and technology are essential social enterprises that indicate what could happen, but not what should happen.)
 
    12.8.1 Students will develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor. (Practice the ethical traditions of scientists, such as peer review, truthful reporting, and public disclosure of work; examine and understand the societal, cultural, and personal beliefs that influence scientists.)

    12.8.2 Students will develop an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge. (Demonstrate the use of empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism in science; create scientific explanations consistent with experimental and observational evidence: make accurate predictions: strive to be logical: respect the rules of evidence: accept criticism: report methods and procedures: and make knowledge public; understand that all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence becomes available.)

    12.8.3 Students will develop an understanding of the history of science. (Investigate and describe the contributions to scientific knowledge and technological inventions by diverse cultures; research and understand that changes in scientific knowledge evolve over time and almost always build in earlier knowledge; research and relate the long-lasting societal effects of science and technology advancements. Examples of such advances include: germ theory, protein synthesis, Newtonian mechanics, quantum theory, geological time scale, and plate tectonics.)