| Standard/Description | Grades 3-5 | Grades 6-8 | Grades 9-12 |
| 10/The Cell | Students understand that all living things are made up of one or more cells and that multicellular things have tissue, organs, and organ systems. | Students understand that living things are made of structural and functional units called cells. Every cell is able to conduct necessary life processes, including the processing of food, growth, and cell reproduction. In multicellular organisms, cells become specialized to function within tissues providing specific functions for an organism. | Students understand that cells are the fundamental unit of life and contain organelles that carry out life processes through a multitude of chemical reactions. |
| 11/Structure and Function | Students understand the relationship of structure to function in all organisms that enables them to survive in their environment. | Students understand that living things in similar environments have structures which function to make survival in their environment possible. | Students understand that different species of living things have analogous structures that carry out similar functions that contribute to the continued viability of organisms in their specific environments. |
| 12/Diversity | Students understand that living things have similar needs that can be met in diverse ways and that different kinds of living things with similar characteristics can be sorted into groups. | Students understand that each species shows variation among its members and differs from other species. | Students understand that the variation of organisms within a species increases the likelihood that at least some of the members of the species will survive under changed environmental condition, and the great diversity in species increases the chance that at least some living things will survive in the face of large changes in the environment. |
| 13/Heredity | Students understand that all traits are inherited from the biological parents. Students also understand that the expression of traits can be influenced by environmental factors. | Students understand that some living things reproduce asexually and/or sexually. Sexual reproduction results in a variety of individuals because the genetic material from each parent combines to form variations within offspring. | Students understand that DNA is the genetic material of all living things. Inserting, deleting, or substituting DNA segments can alter the expression of genes. |
| 14/Interdependence | Students understand that living things interact with one another and their physical environment in a mutual relationship that supports all members of the ecosystem. | Students understand that all parts of the ecosystem are connected, either directly or indirectly. Changes in one part of an ecosystem affect other parts of the ecosystem. | Students understand that the maintenance of ecosystems depends upon biotic and abiotic factors, including the effects of water, nitrogen and carbon cycles on the system. |
| 15/Evolution | Students understand that fossils can be compared to one another and to living things according to their similarities and differences and that these characteristics can be used to group organisms to show how they are related. | Students understand that the fossil record documents the appearance, diversification, relationships, and extinction of many living things in relation to changes through earth's history and that living things are classified by considering their evolutionary relationships. | Students understand that natural selection provides the mechanism for most evolutionary change and that shared-derived characteristics are found in the anatomy, behavior, fossil record, and biochemistry of living things. Students should describe the geological time scale connecting higher taxonomic groups and discuss the extinction of organisms, with an emphasis on natural selection. |
| 16/Energy Flow | Students understand that energy (i.e., food) is needed for all living things to stay alive and grow, and that food chains cycle material from plants to animals and back to plants. | Students understand that food provides fuel and building materials for all organisms. Plants make their own food by using energy directly from the sun, while animals ingest other organisms to obtain energy. | Students understand that energy and matter are transferred among organisms and that matter is constantly cycled within ecosystems. In this process, some energy is lost as heat and must be constantly renewed by photosynthesis. |
10/15/99