General Skills
1. Follow safety procedures in the classroom and laboratory.
2. Safely and accurately use the following measurement tools:
Metric ruler
Balance
Stopwatch
Graduated cylinder
Thermometer
3. Use appropriate units for measured or calculated values.
Living Environment Skills
1. Manipulate a compound microscope to view microscopic objects.
2. Determine the size of a microscopic object, using a compound microscope.
3. Prepare a wet mount slide.
4. Use appropriate staining techniques.
General Skills
1. Recognize and analyze patterns and trends.
2. Sequence events.
3. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
4. Use indicators and interpret results.
CHARACTERISTICS AND NEEDS OF LIVING THINGS
Performance Indicator
1. Living things are composed of cells. Cells provide structure and carry on major
functions to sustain life. Cells are usually microscopic in size.
2. The way in which cells function is similar in all living things. Cells grow and divide,
producing more cells. Cells take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for
the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or an organism needs.
3. Some organisms are single
cells; others, including humans, are multicellular.
4. Each system is composed of organs and tissues which perform specific
functions
and interact with each other, e.g., digestion, gas exchange, excretion, circulation,
locomotion, control, coordination, reproduction, and protection for disease.
5. In all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another
for resources.
6. Various body structures and functions change as an organism goes through its life
cycle.
7. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually. Some
organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
8. As an individual organism ages, various body structures and functions change.
9. An organism’s overall body plan and its environment determine the way that the
organism carries out the life processes.
10. All organisms require energy to survive. The amount of energy needed and the
method for obtaining this energy vary among cells. Some cells use oxygen to
release the energy stored in food.
11. The survival of an organism depends on its ability to sense and respond to its
external environment.
12. Food provides molecules that serve as fuel and building material for all organisms.
All living things, including plants, must release energy for their food, using it to
carry on their life process.
13. Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions in an organism. Metabolism can be
influenced by hormones, exercise, diet, and aging.
14. Regulation of an organism’s internal environment involves sensing the internal
environment and changing physiological activities to keep conditions within the
range required for survival. Regulation includes a variety of nervous and hormonal
feedback systems.
General Skills
1. Sequence Events.
2. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Living Environment Skills
1. Interpret and / or illustrate the energy flow in a food chain, energy pyramid, or food
web.
2. Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms
with a particular trait. Small differences between parents and offspring can
accumulate in successive generations so that descendants are very different from
their ancestors. Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive
and have offspring than individuals without those traits.
2. In all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another
for resources.
3. Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive
characteristics of a species are insufficient to permit its survival. Extinction of
species is common. Fossils are evidence that a great variety of species existed in
the past.
4. Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that
contribute to their ability to maintain a balanced condition.
5. An organism’s overall body plan and its environment determine the way that
the organism carries out the life processes.
6. The methods for obtaining nutrients vary among organisms. Producers, such as
green plants, use light energy to make their food. Consumers, such as animals,
take in energy-rich goods.
7. Herbivores obtain energy from plants. Carnivores obtain energy from animals.
Omnivores obtain energy form both plants and animals. Decomposers, such as
bacteria and fungi, obtain energy by consuming wastes and / or dead organisms.
8. The survival of an organism depends on its ability to sense and respond to its
external environment.
9. Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, usually from the Sun, through
producers to consumers and then to decomposers. This process may be visualized
with food chains or energy pyramids.
10. Food webs identify feeding relationships among producers, consumers, and
decomposers in an ecosystem.
11. Matter is transferred from an organism to another and between organisms and
their physical environment. Water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen are
examples of substances cycled between the living and nonliving environment.
12. Green plants are the producers of food, which is used directly or indirectly by
consumers.
13. A population consists of all individuals of a species that are found together at a
given place and time. Populations living in one place form a community. The
community and the physical factors with which it interacts compose an
ecosystem.
14. Given adequate resources and no disease or predators, populations (including
humans) increase. Lack of resources, habitat destruction, and other factors such
as predation and climate limit the growth of certain populations in the ecosystem.
15. In all environments, organisms interact with one another in many ways.
Relationships among organisms may be competitive, harmful, or beneficial. Some
species have adapted to be dependent upon each other with the result that neither
could survive without the other.
16. Some microorganisms are essential to the survival of other living things.
17. The environment may contain dangerous levels of substances (pollutants) that
are harmful to organisms. Therefore, the good health of environments and
individuals requires the monitoring of soil, air, and water, and taking steps to keep
them safe.
18. In Ecosystems, balance is the result of interacti9ons between community
members and their environment.
19. The environment may be altered through the activities of organisms. Alterations
are sometimes abrupt. Some species may replace others over time, resulting in
long-term gradual changes (ecological succession).
20. Overpopulation by a species impacts the environment due to the increased use of
resources. Human activities can bring about environmental degradation through
resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, waste disposal, etc.
21. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have resulted in major pollution
of air, water, and soil. Pollution has cumulative ecological effects such as acid rain,
global warming, or ozone depletion. The survival of living things on our planet
depends on the conservation and protection of Earth’s resources.
Performance Indicator
1. Living things are composed of cells. Cells provide structure and carry on major
functions to sustain life. Cells are usually microscopic in size.
2. The way in which cells function is similar in all living things. Cells grow and divide,
producing more cells. Cells take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for
the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or an organism needs.
3. Most cells have cell membranes, genetic material, and cytoplasm. Some cells have
a cell wall and / or chloroplasts. Many cells have a nucleus.
4. Some organisms are single celled; other, including humans, are multicellular.
5. Cells are organized for more effective functioning in multicellular organisms. Levels
of organization for structure and function of multicellular organism include cells,
tissues, organs, and organ systems.
6. Multicellular animals often have similar organs and specialized systems for carrying
out major life activities.
7. Tissues, organs, and organ systems help to provide all cells with nutrients, oxygen,
and waste removal.
8. During respiration, cells use oxygen to release the energy stored in food. The
respiratory system supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide (gas exchange).
9. Hereditary information is contained in genes. Genes are composed of DNA that
makes up the chromosomes of cells.
10. In multicellular organisms, cell division is responsible for growth, maintenance,
and repair. In some one-celled organisms, cell division is a method of asexual
reproduction.
11. In one type of cell division, chromosomes are duplicated and then separated into
two identical and complete sets to be passed to each of the two resulting cells. In
this type of cell division, the hereditary information is identical in all the cells that
result.
12. Cancers are a result of abnormal cell division.
General Skills
1. Classify objects according to an established scheme and a student-generated
scheme.
2. Develop and use a dichotomous key.
Living Environment Skills
1. Classify living things according to a student-generated scheme and an established.
2. Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Living things are classified by shared characteristics on the cellular and organism
level. In classifying organisms, biologists consider details of internal and external
structures. Biological classification systems are arranged from general (kingdom)
to specific (species).
Living Environment Skills
1. Classify living things according to a student-generated scheme and an established
scheme.
2. Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Living things are classified by shared characteristics on the cellular and organism
level. In classifying organisms, biologists consider details of internal and external
structures. Biological classification systems are arranged from general (kingdom)
to specific (species).
2. Although the time needed for change in a species is usually great, some species of
insect and bacteria have undergone significant change in just a few years.
3. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually.
4. Some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
5. There are many methods of asexual reproduction, including division of a cell into
two cells, or separation of part of an animal or plant from the parent, resulting in
growth of another individual.
6. Various body structures and functions change as an organism goes through its life
cycle.
7. An organism’s overall body plan and its environment determine the way that the
organism carries out the life process.
8. All organisms require energy to survive. The amount of energy needed and the
method for obtaining this energy vary among cells. Some cells use oxygen to
release the energy stored in food.
9. The methods for obtaining nutrients vary among organisms. Producers, such as
green plant, use light energy to make food. Consumers, such as animals, take in
energy-rich foods.
10.Photosynthesis is carried on by green plants and other organisms containing
chlorophyll. In this process, the Sun’s energy is converted into and stored as
chemical energy in the form of sugar. The quantity of sugar molecules increases in
green plants during photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight.
11.In all environments, organisms interact with one another in many ways.
Relationships among organisms may be competitive, harmful, or beneficial. Some
species have adapted to be dependent upon each other with the result that neither
could survive without the other.
12.Some microorganisms are essential to the survival of other living things.
General Skills
1. Classify objects according to an established scheme and a student-generated
scheme.
2. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Living Environment Skills
Classify living things according to a student-generated scheme and an established scheme.
Interpret and / or illustrate the energy flow in a food chain, energy pyramid, or food web.
Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Many plants have roots, stems, leaves, and reproductive structures. These organized
groups of tissues are responsible for a plant’s life activities.
2. In asexual reproduction, all the genes come for a single parent. Asexually produced
offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
3. In sexual reproduction typically half of the genes com form each parent. Sexually
produced offspring are not identical to either parent.
4. In all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for
resources.
5. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually and
asexually.
6. There are many methods of asexual reproduction, including division of a cell into two
cells, or separation of part of an animal or plant from the parent, resulting in the
growth of another individual.
7. The male sex cell is the sperm. The female sex cell is the egg. The fertilization of an
egg by a sperm results in a fertilized egg.
8. In sexual reproduction, sperm and egg each carry one-half of the genetic information
for the new individual. Therefore, the fertilized egg contains genetic information from
each parent.
9. Patterns of development vary among plants. In seed-bearing plants, seeds contain
stored food for early development. Their later development into adulthood is
characterized by varying patterns of growth from species to species.
10. Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that
contribute to their ability to maintain a balanced condition.
11. An organism’s overall body plan and its environment determine the way that the
organism carries out the life processes.
12. All organisms require energy to survive. The amount of energy needed and the method
for obtaining this energy vary among cells. Some cells use oxygen to release the energy
stored in food.
13. The methods for obtaining nutrients vary among organisms. Producers, such as green
plant, use light energy to make their food. Consumers, such as animals, take in energy-
rich foods.
14. The survival of an organism depends on its ability to sense and respond to its external
environment.
15. Photosynthesis is carried on by green plants and other organisms containing
chlorophyll. In this process, the Sun’s energy is converted into and stored as chemical
energy in the form of sugar. The quantity of sugar molecules increases in green plants
during photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight.
16. Green plants are the producers of food, which is used directly or indirectly by
consumers.
General Skills
1. Classify objects according to an established scheme and a student-generated scheme.
2. Develop and use a dichotomous key.
Living Environment Skills
Classify living things according to a student-generated scheme and an established scheme.
Interpret and / or illustrate the energy flow in a food chain, energy pyramid, or food web.
Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. The male and female reproductive systems are responsible for producing sex cells
necessary for the production of offspring.
2. In asexual reproduction, all the genes come from a single parent. Asexually produced
offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
3. In sexual reproduction typically half of the genes come from each parent. Sexually
produced offspring are not identical either parent.
4. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms
with a particular trait. Small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate
in successive generations so that descendants are very different from their ancestors.
Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring
than individuals without those traits.
5. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually. Some
organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
6. There are many methods of asexual reproduction, including division of a cell into two
cells, or separation of part of an animal or plant from the parent, resulting in the
growth of another individual.
7. Fertilization and / or development in organisms may be internal or external.
8. Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that
contribute to their ability to maintain a balanced condition.
9. An organism’s overall body plan and its environment determine the way that the
organism carries out the life processes.
10. The methods for obtaining nutrients vary among organisms. Producers, such as green
plant, use light energy to make their food. Consumers, such as animals, take in energy-
rich foods.
General Skills
1. Recognize and analyze patterns and trends.
2. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Living Environment Skills
Design and use a Punnett square or a pedigree chart to predict the probability of certain traits.
Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Most cells have cell membranes, genetic material, and cytoplasm. Some cells have a cell
wall and / or chloroplasts. Many cells have a nucleus.
2. The male and the female reproductive systems are responsible for producing sex cells
necessary for the production of offspring.
3. Disease breaks down the structures of functions of an organism. Some diseases are the
result of failures of the system. Other diseases are the result of damage by infection
from other organisms (germ theory). Specialized cells protect the body for infectious
disease. The chemicals they produce identify and destroy microbes that enter the body.
4. Hereditary information is contained in genes. Genes are composed of DNA that makes up
the chromosomes of cells.
5. Each gene carries a single unity of information. A single inherited trait of an individual
can be determined by one pair or by many pairs of genes. A human cell contains
thousands of different genes.
6. Each human cell contains a copy of all the genes needed to produce a human being.
7. In asexual reproduction, all the genes come for a single parent. Asexual produced
offspring are identical to the parent.
8. In sexual reproduction typically half of the genes come from each parent. Sexually
produced offspring are not identical to either parent.
9. In all organisms, genetic traits are passed on from generation to generation.
10. Some genes are dominant and some are recessive. Some traits are inherited by
mechanisms other than dominance and recessiveness.
11. The probability of traits being expressed can be determined using models of genetic
inheritance. Some models of prediction are pedigree charts and Punnett squares.
12. The processes of sexual reproduction and mutation have given rise to a variety of traits
within a species.
13. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms
with a particular trait. Small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate
in successive generations so that descendants are very different from their ancestors.
Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring
than individuals without those traits.
14. Human activities such as selective breeding and advances in genetic engineering may
affect the variations of species.
15. Methods of sexual reproduction depend upon the species. All methods involve the
merging of sex cells to begin the development of a new individual. In many species,
including plants and humans, eggs and sperm are produced.
16. The male sex cell is the sperm. The female sex cell is the egg. The fertilization of an egg
by a sperm results in a fertilized egg.
17. In sexual reproduction, sperm and egg each carry one-half of the genetic information for
the new individual. Therefore, the fertilized egg contains genetic information from each
parent.
18. In one type of cell division, chromosomes are duplicated and then separated into two
identical and complete sets to be passed to each of the two resulting cells. In this type
of cell division contain one-half of the hereditary information.
19. Another type of cell division accounts for the production of egg and sperm cells in
sexually reproducing organisms. The eggs and sperm resulting from this type of cell
division contain one-half of the hereditary information.
20. Cancers are a result of abnormal cell division.
General Skills
1. Sequence events.
2. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Living Environment Skills
1. Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. The processes of sexual reproduction and mutation have given rise to a variety of traits
within a species.
2. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms with
a particular trait. Small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate in
successive generations so that descendants are very different from their ancestors.
Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring
than individuals without those traits.
3. In all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for
resources.
4. Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive
characteristics of a species are insufficient to permit its survival. Extinction of species is
common. Fossils are evidence that a great variety of species existed in the past.
5. Although the time needed for change in a species in usually great, some species of
insects and bacteria have undergone significant change in just a few years.
6. Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that
contribute to their ability to maintain a balanced condition.
7. The survival of an organism depends on its ability to sense and respond to its external
environment.
8. Given adequate resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans)
increase. Lack of resources, habitat destruction, and other factors such as predation and
climate limit the growth of certain populations in the ecosystem.
9. In all environments, organisms interact with one another in many ways. Relationships
among organisms may be competitive, harmful, or beneficial. Some species have
adapted to be dependent upon each other with the result that neither could survive
without the other.
General Skills
1. Sequence events.
2. Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Living Environment Skills
1. Identify pulse points and pulse rates.
2. Identify structure and function relationships in organisms.
Performance Indicator
1. Cells are organized for more effective functioning in multicellular organisms. Levels of
organization for structure and function of a multicellular organism include cells, tissues,
organs, and organ systems.
2. Each system is composed of organs and tissues which perform specific functions and
interact with each other, e.g., digestion, gas exchange, excretion, circulation, locomotion,
control, coordination, reproduction, and protection for disease.
3. Tissues, organs, and organ systems help to provide all cells with nutrients, oxygen, and
waste removal.
4. The digestive system consists or organs that are responsible for the mechanical and
chemical breakdown of food. The breakdown process results in molecules that can be
absorbed and transported to cells.
5. During respiration, cells use oxygen to release the energy stored in food. The respiratory
system supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide (gas exchange).
6. The excretory system functions in the disposal of dissolved waste molecules, the
elimination of liquid and gaseous wastes, and the removal of excess heat energy.
7. The circulatory system moves substances to and from cells, where they are needed or
produced, responding to changing demands.
8. Locomotion, necessary to escape danger, obtain food and shelter, and reproduce, is
accomplished by the interaction of the skeletal and muscular systems, and coordinated
by the nervous system.
9. The nervous and endocrine systems interact to control and coordinate the body’s
responses to changes in the environment, and to regulate growth. Development, and
reproduction. Hormones are chemicals produces by the endocrine system; hormones
regulate many body functions.
10.The male and female reproductive systems are responsible for producing sex cells
necessary for the production of offspring.
11.Disease breaks down the structures or functions of an organism. Some diseases are the
result of failures of the system. Other diseases are the result of damage by infection
from other organisms (germ theory). Specialized cells protect the body from infectious
disease. The chemicals they produce identify and destroy microbes that enter the body.
12.Each human cell contains a copy of all the genes needed to produce a human being.
13.In sexual reproduction typically half of the genes come from each parent. Sexually
produced offspring are not identical to either parent.
14.The male sex cell is the sperm. The female sex cell is the egg. The fertilization of an egg
by a sperm results in a fertilized egg.
15.In sexual reproduction, sperm and egg each carry one-half of the genetic information for
the new individual. Therefore, the fertilized egg contains genetic information from each
parent.
16.Multicellular organisms exhibit complex changes in development, which begin after
fertilization. The fertilized egg undergoes numerous cellular divisions that will result in a
multicellular organism, with each cell having identical genetic information.
17.In humans, the fertilized egg grows into tissue, which develops into organs and organ
systems before birth.
18.Various body structures and functions change as an organism goes through its life cycle.
19.Food provides molecules that serve as fuel and building material for all organisms. All
living things, including plants, must release energy from their food, using it to carry on
their life processes.
20.Foods contain a variety of substances, which include carbohydrates, fats, vitamins,
proteins, minerals, and water. Each substance is vital to the survival of the organism.
21.Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions in an organism. Metabolism can be
influenced by hormones, exercise, diet, and aging.
22.Energy in foods is measured in calories. The total caloric value of each type of food
varies. The number of calories a person requires varies from person to person.
23.In order to maintain a balanced state, all organisms have a minimum daily intake of each
type of nutrient based on species, size, age, sex, activity, etc. An imbalance in any of
nutrients might result in weight gain, weight loss, or a diseased state.
24.Contraction of infectious disease, and personal behaviors such as use of toxic
substances and some dietary habits may interfere with one’s dynamic equilibrium.
During pregnancy these conditions may also affect the development of the child. Some
effects of these conditions are immediate; others, may not appear for many years.
Middle School Science Homepage
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