The Nature of Science

Student Objectives

Explain what is meant by a fact

Explain the difference between a theory and a law

Identify the main branches of sciences

Describe the steps in the scientific method

Explain how a hypothesis is developed

Discuss the importance of a variable and a control in a scientific experiment

List the important safety rules you must follow in the classroom laboratory

Explain the reasons for each laboratory safety rule

Describe how to respond to possible laboratory emergencies

Explain the importance of a universal language of measurement

Identify the metric units used in scientific measurements

Describe laboratory tools used to measure length, mass, volume and temperature

Choose appropriate tools and metric units to measure given substances

Compare compound light microscopes to electron microscopes

Cite advantages and disadvantages of the compound light microscope and the electron microscope

Identify scientific tools that can provide images of the interior of living organisms

Compare reflecting telescopes and refracting telescopes

Describe the specialized telescopes that can focus images with forms of light from the electromagnetic spectrum other than visible light

Identify submersibles that have made ocean exploration possible

Describe a seismograph and its function

Explain the purpose of barometers

The following is a list of the Michigan Content Standards and Benchmarks used for this unit of study.

   Science
           Strand I Content Standard 1:1*
           Strand I Content Standard 1:2
           Strand I Content Standard 1:5
           Strand I Content Standard 1:6
           Strand I Content Standard 1:7
           Strand II Content Standard 1:1
           Strand II Content Standard 1:2
           Strand II Content Standard 1:3
           Strand II Content Standard 1:4
           Strand II Content Standard 1:5
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:1
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:2
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:6
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:7
           Strand IV Content Standard 2:1
           Strand IV Content Standard 3:3
           Strand IV Content Standard 4:4
           Strand IV Content Standard 4:5
           Strand V Content Standard 3:1
           Strand V Content Standard 4:3

*Please note that each objective may be used several times throughout the unit.

 

Ecology-Earth's Living Resources

Student Objectives

Define environment

Relate ecology to the relationships of living things with their environment

Compare ecosystems, communities and populations

Define habitat

Distinguish among producers, consumers and decomposers

Describe food chains and food webs

Trace the path of solar energy through a simple food chain that includes humans

Relate feeding levels to the available amount of energy

Describe how competition can serve as a limiting factor

Describe how predation can have a positive impact on prey

Define a symbiotic relationship

Distinguish among commensalism, mutualism and parasitism

Describe how organisms adapt to their environment

Explain why balance is important in an ecosystem

Describe how human activities can change the balance of an ecosystem

Describe how biological clocks affect organisms

Compare diurnal and nocturnal organisms

Discuss migrations as an example of annual rhythms

Describe the steps in the water cycle

Discuss the relationship between the oxygen cycle and the carbon cycle

Explain how nitrogen moves in a cycle through an ecosystem

Define ecological succession and describe its effect on an ecosystem

Describe a climax community's place in ecological succession

Identify methods of dispersal

Describe types of dispersal barriers

Define biome

Describe the climatic condition of the tundra

Identify the organisms that survive in the tundra

Define permafrost

Identify the Earth's major forest biomes

Compare climate and major types of life in the three major forest biomes

Describe the characteristics of a grassland biome

Identify three factors that limit tree growth in grasslands

Give examples of plant eaters and meat eaters in grasslands

Describe climatic conditions associated with desert biomes

Name two ways that desert plants are adapted to arid conditions

Describe several ways that desert animals are adapted to live in arid conditions

Identify the two major water biomes

List several factors that affect marine organisms

List several factors that influence organisms in freshwater biomes

Discuss the reasons for the extinction of organisms

Explain why people should try to save endangered species

Describe some conservation measures aimed at saving wildlife

The following is a list of the Michigan Content Standards and Benchmarks used for this unit of study.

   Science
           Strand I Content Standard 1:1*
           Strand I Content Standard 1:2
           Strand I Content Standard 1:5
           Strand I Content Standard 1:6
           Strand I Content Standard 1:7
           Strand II Content Standard 1:1
           Strand II Content Standard 1:2
           Strand II Content Standard 1:3
           Strand II Content Standard 1:4
           Strand II Content Standard 1:5
           Strand II Content Standard 2:3
           Strand II Content Standard 3:2
           Strand III Content Standard 2:3
           Strand III Content Standard 5:1
           Strand III Content Standard 5:2
           Strand III Content Standard 5:3
           Strand III Content Standard 5:4
           Strand III Content Standard 5:5
           Strand III Content Standard 5:6
           Strand V Content Standard 1:5
           Strand V Content Standard 2:1
                Strand V Content Standard 2:2
                Strand V Content Standard 2:3

*Please note that each objective may be used several times throughout the unit.

Ecology-Earth's Natural Resources

Student Objectives

Define fossil fuels

Identify the three primary fossil fuels

Discuss the need to conserve fossil fuels

Distinguish between active and passive solar heating systems

Explain why scientists are looking at solar energy as an energy source for the future

Describe the role of wind and water power throughout history

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of wind as a source of energy

Explain how water power can be used to make electricity

Name the materials that are used to produce a fission reaction

Distinguish between a fission reaction and a fusion reaction

Describe three potential problems associated with fission power plants

Discuss the need for the alternative energy resources

Describe three alternative sources of energy

List several ways in which energy can be conserved

Define natural resources

Identify resources as renewable or nonrenewable

Describe how land is used

Discuss the ways that land and soil can be conserved and reclaimed

Describe water as a renewable, though limited, natural resource

State the amounts of water used by people and industry in the United States

Trace the cycle of water replacement on the Earth

Identify sources of fresh water

Cite examples of metallic and nonmetallic minerals

Explain that minerals are not renewable resources

Identify the steps in mining and processing ores

Describe ways environmental balance can be upset

Compare renewable and nonrenewable resources

Explain the relationship between getting and using energy and pollution

Compare the effect of using renewable energy sources with the effect of using nonrenewable sources

Describe ways in which obtaining coal damages the environment

Explain how hazardous wastes can pollute the land

Identify the source of most nuclear wastes

Explain the dangers of solid wastes

Describe how a temperature inversion affects air quality

Explain the formation of acid rain

Describe indoor air pollution

Explain how burning fossil fuels pollutes air, water and land

Give an example of how the production of nuclear energy causes pollution

Identify the causes and effects of thermal pollution

Describe the effects of chemical run-off on aquatic organisms

Define and give examples of conservation

Explain how conservation can save energy resources and reduce pollution

Identify some common materials that can be recycled

Give examples of how technology can reduce pollution

Describe the goal of energy conservation

List some ways that energy can be conserved at home

Describe two ways to make mineral resources last longer

Name two ways that pollution can be prevented

Describe how scrubbers and catalytic converters help to prevent air pollution

Compare point and non-point sources of water pollution

 

The following is a list of the Michigan Content Standards and Benchmarks used for this unit of study.

   Science
           Strand I Content Standard 1:1*
           Strand I Content Standard 1:2
           Strand I Content Standard 1:5
           Strand I Content Standard 1:6
               Strand I Content Standard 1:7
           Strand II Content Standard 1:1
           Strand II Content Standard 1:2
           Strand II Content Standard 1:3
           Strand II Content Standard 1:4
           Strand II Content Standard 1:5
           Strand II Content Standard 2:1
           Strand II Content Standard 2:3
           Strand III Content Standard 5:2
               Strand III Content Standard 5:3
           Strand III Content Standard 5:4
               Strand III Content Standard 5:5
           Strand III Content Standard 5:6
           Strand III Content Standard 5:7
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:1
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:4
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:6
           Strand IV Content Standard 1:7
           Strand IV Content Standard 2:1
           Strand IV Content Standard 2:3
           Strand IV Content Standard 2:4
           Strand IV Content Standard 3:3
           Strand V Content Standard 1:4
           Strand V Content Standard 1:5
           Strand V Content Standard 2:1
           Strand V Content Standard 2:2
           Strand V Content Standard 2:3
           Strand V Content Standard 3:1
           Strand V Content Standard 3:4

*Please note that each objective may be used several times throughout the unit.