Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science

Explore the Law of Gravity by investigating how objects are pulled toward the ground unless something holds them up.

Recognize the repeating pattern of day and night.

Recognize that the Sun can only be seen in the daytime.

Observe that sometimes the Moon can be seen at night and sometimes during the day.

Observe that things can be big and things can be small as seen from Earth.

Observe that some objects are far away and some are nearby as seen from Earth.

Recognize the five senses and related body parts.

Recognize that some books and other media portray animals and plants with characteristics and behaviors they do not have...

Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the thing...

Collaborate with a partner to collect information.

Make observations of the natural world and know that they are descriptors collected using the five senses.

Keep records as appropriate -- such as pictorial records -- of investigations conducted.

Observe and create a visual representation of an object which includes its major features.

Recognize that learning can come from careful observation.

Observe that things that make sound vibrate.

Investigate that things move in different ways, such as fast, slow, etc.

Observe that a push or a pull can change the way an object is moving.

Sort objects by observable properties, such as size, shape, color, temperature (hot or cold), weight (heavy or light) an...

Recognize that the shape of materials such as paper and clay can be changed by cutting, tearing, crumpling, smashing, or...

Observe and discuss that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count and that they are not scattered ev...

Explore the Law of Gravity by demonstrating that Earth's gravity pulls any object on or near Earth toward it even though...

Investigate how magnifiers make things appear bigger and help people see things they could not see without them.

Identify the beneficial and harmful properties of the Sun.

Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on Earth's surface.

Describe the need for water and how to be safe around water.

Recognize that some things in the world around us happen fast and some happen slowly.

Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses.

Identify the major parts of plants, including stem, roots, leaves, and flowers.

Differentiate between living and nonliving things.

Make observations that plants and animals closely resemble their parents, but variations exist among individuals within ...

Through observation, recognize that all plants and animals, including humans, need the basic necessities of air, water, ...

Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration, and generate appropriate ex...

Using the five senses as tools, make careful observations, describe objects in terms of number, shape, texture, size, we...

Keep records as appropriate - such as pictorial and written records - of investigations conducted.

Ask "how do you know?" in appropriate situations.

Demonstrate and describe the various ways that objects can move, such as in a straight line, zigzag, back-and-forth, rou...

Demonstrate that the way to change the motion of an object is by applying a push or a pull.

Sort objects by observable properties, such as size, shape, color, temperature (hot or cold), weight (heavy or light), t...

Recognize that Earth is made up of rocks. Rocks come in many sizes and shapes.

Describe how small pieces of rock and dead plant and animal parts can be the basis of soil and explain the process by wh...

Classify soil types based on color, texture (size of particles), the ability to retain water, and the ability to support...

Compare and describe changing patterns in nature that repeat themselves, such as weather conditions including temperatur...

Investigate by observing and measuring, that the Sun's energy directly and indirectly warms the water, land, and air.

Investigate, observe and describe how water left in an open container disappears (evaporates), but water in a closed con...

Investigate that air is all around us and that moving air is wind.

State the importance of preparing for severe weather, lightning, and other weather related events.

Distinguish human body parts (brain, heart, lungs, stomach, muscles, and skeleton) and their basic functions.

Observe and describe major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.

Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival.

Recognize and explain that living things are found all over Earth, but each is only able to live in habitats that meet i...

Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration and systematic observations,...

Compare the observations made by different groups using the same tools.

Ask "how do you know?" in appropriate situations and attempt reasonable answers when asked the same question by others.

Explain how particular scientific investigations should yield similar conclusions when repeated.

Distinguish between empirical observation (what you see, hear, feel, smell, or taste) and ideas or inferences (what you ...

Explain how scientists alone or in groups are always investigating new ways to solve problems.

Discuss that people use electricity or other forms of energy to cook their food, cool or warm their homes, and power the...

Investigate the effect of applying various pushes and pulls on different objects.

Demonstrate that magnets can be used to make some things move without touching them.

Recognize that objects are pulled toward the ground unless something holds them up.

Demonstrate that the greater the force (push or pull) applied to an object, the greater the change in motion of the obje...

Observe and measure objects in terms of their properties, including size, shape, color, temperature, weight, texture, si...

Identify objects and materials as solid, liquid, or gas.

Recognize that solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their container.

Observe and describe water in its solid, liquid, and gaseous states.

Measure and compare temperatures taken every day at the same time.

Measure and compare the volume of liquids using containers of various shapes and sizes.

Investigate that materials can be altered to change some of their properties, but not all materials respond the same way...

Explain that stars can be different; some are smaller, some are larger, and some appear brighter than others; all except...

Identify the Sun as a star that emits energy; some of it in the form of light.

Recognize that the Sun appears large and bright because it is the closest star to Earth.

Explore the Law of Gravity by demonstrating that gravity is a force that can be overcome.

Investigate that the number of stars that can be seen through telescopes is dramatically greater than those seen by the ...

Demonstrate that radiant energy from the Sun can heat objects and when the Sun is not present, heat may be lost.

Describe structures in plants and their roles in food production, support, water and nutrient transport, and reproductio...

Investigate and describe how plants respond to stimuli (heat, light, gravity), such as the way plant stems grow toward l...

Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrate...

Classify flowering and nonflowering plants into major groups such as those that produce seeds, or those like ferns and m...

Describe how animals and plants respond to changing seasons.

Recognize that plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their own food.

Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them individually and in teams through free exploration and systema...

Compare the observations made by different groups using the same tools and seek reasons to explain the differences acros...

Keep records as appropriate, such as pictorial, written, or simple charts and graphs, of investigations conducted.

Recognize the importance of communication among scientists.

Recognize that scientists question, discuss, and check each other's evidence and explanations.

Infer based on observation.

Explain that empirical evidence is information, such as observations or measurements, that is used to help validate expl...

Recognize that words in science can have different or more specific meanings than their use in everyday language; for ex...

Recognize that scientists use models to help understand and explain how things work.

Recognize that all models are approximations of natural phenomena; as such, they do not perfectly account for all observ...

Identify some basic forms of energy such as light, heat, sound, electrical, and mechanical.

Recognize that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

Demonstrate that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object or travels from one medium to another.

Demonstrate that light can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed.

Investigate, observe, and explain that things that give off light often also give off heat.

Investigate, observe, and explain that heat is produced when one object rubs against another, such as rubbing one's hand...

Measure and compare temperatures of various samples of solids and liquids.

Measure and compare the mass and volume of solids and liquids.

Compare materials and objects according to properties such as size, shape, color, texture, and hardness.

Describe the changes water undergoes when it changes state through heating and cooling by using familiar scientific term...

Observe that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same although they appear to shift across the sky nightly, and di...

Describe the changes in the observable shape of the moon over the course of about a month.

Recognize that Earth revolves around the Sun in a year and rotates on its axis in a 24-hour day.

Relate that the rotation of Earth (day and night) and apparent movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars are connected.

Investigate and report the effects of space research and exploration on the economy and culture of Florida.

Identify the three categories of rocks: igneous, (formed from molten rock); sedimentary (pieces of other rocks and fossi...

Identify the physical properties of common earth-forming minerals, including hardness, color, luster, cleavage, and stre...

Recognize that humans need resources found on Earth and that these are either renewable or nonrenewable.

Describe the basic differences between physical weathering (breaking down of rock by wind, water, ice, temperature chang...

Investigate how technology and tools help to extend the ability of humans to observe very small things and very large th...

Identify resources available in Florida (water, phosphate, oil, limestone, silicon, wind, and solar energy).

Identify processes of sexual reproduction in flowering plants, including pollination, fertilization (seed production), s...

Explain that although characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, some characteristics can be affected by the e...

Recognize that animal behaviors may be shaped by heredity and learning.

Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incom...

Compare the seasonal changes in Florida plants and animals to those in other regions of the country.

Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, th...

Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers.

Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.

Raise questions about the natural world, use appropriate reference materials that support understanding to obtain inform...

Compare the observations made by different groups using multiple tools and seek reasons to explain the differences acros...

Explain that science does not always follow a rigidly defined method ("the scientific method") but that science does inv...

Attempt reasonable answers to scientific questions and cite evidence in support.

Compare the methods and results of investigations done by other classmates.

Keep records that describe observations made, carefully distinguishing actual observations from ideas and inferences abo...

Recognize and explain that scientists base their explanations on evidence.

Recognize that science involves creativity in designing experiments.

Explain that science focuses solely on the natural world.

Explain that models can be three dimensional, two dimensional, an explanation in your mind, or a computer model.

Observe and describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, electrical, and the energy of motion.

Investigate and describe that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

Investigate and explain that sound is produced by vibrating objects and that pitch depends on how fast or slow the objec...

Describe how moving water and air are sources of energy and can be used to move things.

Recognize that heat flows from a hot object to a cold object and that heat flow may cause materials to change temperatur...

Identify common materials that conduct heat well or poorly.

Recognize that an object in motion always changes its position and may change its direction.

Investigate and describe that the speed of an object is determined by the distance it travels in a unit of time and that...

Measure and compare objects and materials based on their physical properties including: mass, shape, volume, color, hard...

Identify properties and common uses of water in each of its states.

Explore the Law of Conservation of Mass by demonstrating that the mass of a whole object is always the same as the sum o...

Investigate and describe that magnets can attract magnetic materials and attract and repel other magnets.

Identify some familiar changes in materials that result in other materials with different characteristics, such as decay...

Recognize that a galaxy consists of gas, dust, and many stars, including any objects orbiting the stars. Identify our ho...

Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets...

Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Ea...

Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and for...

Recognize that the ocean is an integral part of the water cycle and is connected to all of Earth's water reservoirs via ...

Recognize how air temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and precipitation determine the ...

Distinguish among the various forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and hail), making connections to the weather in...

Recognize that some of the weather-related differences, such as temperature and humidity, are found among different envi...

Describe characteristics (temperature and precipitation) of different climate zones as they relate to latitude, elevatio...

Design a family preparedness plan for natural disasters and identify the reasons for having such a plan.

Identify the organs in the human body and describe their functions, including the skin, brain, heart, lungs, stomach, li...

Compare and contrast the function of organs and other physical structures of plants and animals, including humans, for e...

Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and...

Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments s...

Define a problem, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific...

Explain the difference between an experiment and other types of scientific investigation.

Recognize and explain the need for repeated experimental trials.

Identify a control group and explain its importance in an experiment.

Recognize and explain that authentic scientific investigation frequently does not parallel the steps of "the scientific ...

Recognize and explain the difference between personal opinion/interpretation and verified observation.

Recognize and explain that science is grounded in empirical observations that are testable; explanation must always be l...

Recognize and explain that when scientific investigations are carried out, the evidence produced by those investigations...

Investigate and describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, electrical, chemical, and mechanical.

Investigate and explain that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

Investigate and explain that an electrically-charged object can attract an uncharged object and can either attract or re...

Investigate and explain that electrical energy can be transformed into heat, light, and sound energy, as well as the ene...

Investigate and illustrate the fact that the flow of electricity requires a closed circuit (a complete loop).

Identify and classify materials that conduct electricity and materials that do not.

Identify familiar forces that cause objects to move, such as pushes or pulls, including gravity acting on falling object...

Investigate and describe that the greater the force applied to it, the greater the change in motion of a given object.

Investigate and describe that the more mass an object has, the less effect a given force will have on the object's motio...

Investigate and explain that when a force is applied to an object but it does not move, it is because another opposing f...

Compare and contrast the basic properties of solids, liquids, and gases, such as mass, volume, color, texture, and tempe...

Investigate and identify materials that will dissolve in water and those that will not and identify the conditions that ...

Demonstrate and explain that mixtures of solids can be separated based on observable properties of their parts such as p...

Explore the scientific theory of atoms (also called atomic theory) by recognizing that all matter is composed of parts t...

Investigate and describe that many physical and chemical changes are affected by temperature.

Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth's surface is built up and torn down by physical and chemical weatherin...

Recognize that there are a variety of different landforms on Earth's surface such as coastlines, dunes, rivers, mountain...

Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through Ear...

Investigate and apply how the cycling of water between the atmosphere and hydrosphere has an effect on weather patterns ...

Describe how global patterns such as the jet stream and ocean currents influence local weather in measurable terms such ...

Differentiate and show interactions among the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.

Explain how energy provided by the sun influences global patterns of atmospheric movement and the temperature difference...

Differentiate between weather and climate.

Investigate how natural disasters have affected human life in Florida.

Describe ways human beings protect themselves from hazardous weather and sun exposure.

Describe how the composition and structure of the atmosphere protects life and insulates the planet.

Describe and identify patterns in the hierarchical organization of organisms from atoms to molecules and cells to tissue...

Investigate and explain the components of the scientific theory of cells (cell theory): all organisms are composed of ce...

Recognize and explore how cells of all organisms undergo similar processes to maintain homeostasis, including extracting...

Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells, including cell wall, cell...

Identify and investigate the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestive, respiratory, circulato...

Compare and contrast types of infectious agents that may infect the human body, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and ...

Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linna...

Define a problem from the sixth grade curriculum, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understandin...

Explain why scientific investigations should be replicable.

Explain the difference between an experiment and other types of scientific investigation, and explain the relative benef...

Discuss, compare, and negotiate methods used, results obtained, and explanations among groups of students conducting the...

Recognize that science involves creativity, not just in designing experiments, but also in creating explanations that fi...

Distinguish science from other activities involving thought.

Explain that scientific knowledge is durable because it is open to change as new evidence or interpretations are encount...

Recognize that scientists who make contributions to scientific knowledge come from all kinds of backgrounds and possess ...

Recognize and explain that a scientific theory is a well-supported and widely accepted explanation of nature and is not ...

Recognize and explain that a scientific law is a description of a specific relationship under given conditions in the na...

Give several examples of scientific laws.

Identify the role of models in the context of the sixth grade science benchmarks.

Explore the Law of Conservation of Energy by differentiating between potential and kinetic energy. Identify situations w...

Measure and graph distance versus time for an object moving at a constant speed. Interpret this relationship.

Investigate and describe types of forces including contact forces and forces acting at a distance, such as electrical, m...

Explore the Law of Gravity by recognizing that every object exerts gravitational force on every other object and that th...

Investigate and describe that an unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed, or direction of motion, or both...

Describe the layers of the solid Earth, including the lithosphere, the hot convecting mantle, and the dense metallic liq...

Identify the patterns within the rock cycle and relate them to surface events (weathering and erosion) and sub-surface e...

Identify current methods for measuring the age of Earth and its parts, including the law of superposition and radioactiv...

Explain and give examples of how physical evidence supports scientific theories that Earth has evolved over geologic tim...

Explore the scientific theory of plate tectonics by describing how the movement of Earth's crustal plates causes both sl...

Identify the impact that humans have had on Earth, such as deforestation, urbanization, desertification, erosion, air an...

Recognize that heat flow and movement of material within Earth causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and creates mo...

Recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the scientific theory of evolution that living things evolved from ear...

Explore the scientific theory of evolution by recognizing and explaining ways in which genetic variation and environment...

Explore the scientific theory of evolution by relating how the inability of a species to adapt within a changing environ...

Understand and explain that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits, that this hereditar...

Determine the probabilities for genotype and phenotype combinations using Punnett Squares and pedigrees.

Compare and contrast the general processes of sexual reproduction requiring meiosis and asexual reproduction requiring m...

Recognize and explore the impact of biotechnology (cloning, genetic engineering, artificial selection) on the individual...

Explain and illustrate the roles of and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of ener...

Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms such as mutualism, predation, parasitism, competition, and commen...

Describe and investigate various limiting factors in the local ecosystem and their impact on native populations, includi...

Define a problem from the seventh grade curriculum, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understand...

Differentiate replication (by others) from repetition (multiple trials).

Distinguish between an experiment (which must involve the identification and control of variables) and other forms of sc...

Identify test variables (independent variables) and outcome variables (dependent variables) in an experiment.

Describe the methods used in the pursuit of a scientific explanation as seen in different fields of science such as biol...

Explain that empirical evidence is the cumulative body of observations of a natural phenomenon on which scientific expla...

Explain that scientific knowledge is the result of a great deal of debate and confirmation within the science community.

Identify an instance from the history of science in which scientific knowledge has changed when new evidence or new inte...

Recognize and explain the difference between theories and laws and give several examples of scientific theories and the ...

Identify the benefits and limitations of the use of scientific models.

Illustrate that the sun's energy arrives as radiation with a wide range of wavelengths, including infrared, visible, and...

Observe and explain that light can be reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed.

Recognize that light waves, sound waves, and other waves move at different speeds in different materials.

Recognize that adding heat to or removing heat from a system may result in a temperature change and possibly a change of...

Investigate and describe the transformation of energy from one form to another.

Cite evidence to explain that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another.

Observe and describe that heat flows in predictable ways, moving from warmer objects to cooler ones until they reach the...

Recognize that there are enormous distances between objects in space and apply our knowledge of light and space travel t...

Assess how technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sam...

Identify and compare characteristics of the electromagnetic spectrum such as wavelength, frequency, use, and hazards and...

Summarize the effects of space exploration on the economy and culture of Florida.

Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.

Distinguish the hierarchical relationships between planets and other astronomical bodies relative to solar system, galax...

Explore the Law of Universal Gravitation by explaining the role that gravity plays in the formation of planets, stars, a...

Describe and classify specific physical properties of stars: apparent magnitude (brightness), temperature (color), size,...

Create models of solar properties including: rotation, structure of the Sun, convection, sunspots, solar flares, and pro...

Compare and contrast the properties of objects in the Solar System including the Sun, planets, and moons to those of Ear...

Compare various historical models of the Solar System, including geocentric and heliocentric.

Explain the impact of objects in space on each other including: • the Sun on the Earth including seasons and gravitation...

Describe and investigate the process of photosynthesis, such as the roles of light, carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyl...

Describe and investigate how cellular respiration breaks down food to provide energy and releases carbon dioxide.

Construct a scientific model of the carbon cycle to show how matter and energy are continuously transferred within and b...

Cite evidence that living systems follow the Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy.

Define a problem from the eighth grade curriculum using appropriate reference materials to support scientific understand...

Design and conduct a study using repeated trials and replication.

Use phrases such as "results support" or "fail to support" in science, understanding that science does not offer conclus...

Explain how hypotheses are valuable if they lead to further investigations, even if they turn out not to be supported by...

Analyze the methods used to develop a scientific explanation as seen in different fields of science.

Understand that scientific investigations involve the collection of relevant empirical evidence, the use of logical reas...

Distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific ideas.

Discuss what characterizes science and its methods.

Select models useful in relating the results of their own investigations.

Explain why theories may be modified but are rarely discarded.

Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform decision making at the community, state, nationa...

Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.

Explore the scientific theory of atoms (also known as atomic theory) by using models to explain the motion of particles ...

Differentiate between weight and mass recognizing that weight is the amount of gravitational pull on an object and is di...

Explore and describe the densities of various materials through measurement of their masses and volumes.

Classify and compare substances on the basis of characteristic physical properties that can be demonstrated or measured;...

Recognize that there are a finite number of elements and that their atoms combine in a multitude of ways to produce comp...

Recognize that elements are grouped in the periodic table according to similarities of their properties.

Explore the scientific theory of atoms (also known as atomic theory) by recognizing that atoms are the smallest unit of ...

Identify basic examples of and compare and classify the properties of compounds, including acids, bases, and salts.

Distinguish among mixtures (including solutions) and pure substances.

Explore the Law of Conservation of Mass by demonstrating and concluding that mass is conserved when substances undergo p...

Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.

Investigate and describe how temperature influences chemical changes.