Literacy Standards
Reading
LITERACY STANDARDS FOR GRADES 6-12: HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS
College- and Career-Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
The Grades 6-12 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade span. They correspond to the College- and Career-Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.
College- and Career-Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
The Grades 6-12 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade span. They correspond to the College- and Career-Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.
•Key Ideas and Details (RST 1-3)
•Craft and Structure (RST 4-6)
•Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (RST 7-9)
•Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity (RST 10)
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Writing
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12
The standards below begin at Grade 6; standards for K-5 writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are integrated into the K-5 writing standards. The CCR anchor standards and high school standards in literacy work in tandem to define college- and career-readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
The standards below begin at Grade 6; standards for K-5 writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are integrated into the K-5 writing standards. The CCR anchor standards and high school standards in literacy work in tandem to define college- and career-readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
•Text Types and Purposes (WHST 1-3)
•Production and Distribution of Writing (WHST 4-6)
•Research to Build and Present Knowledge (WHST 7-9)
•Range of Writing (WHST 10)
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,rewriting, or typing a new approach.
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each souce, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Chemistry Standards
Chemistry
Chemistry is an elective course that provides students with an investigation of empirical concepts central to biology, earth science, environmental science, and physiology. Chemistry encompasses both qualitative and quantitative ideas derived using the scientific process. By its very nature, the study of chemistry encourages an inquiry-based approach to understanding the substances and processes that explain our world as well as ourselves. Using the practices of science, core ideas are explored in greater detail and refined with increased sophistication and rigor based upon knowledge acquired in earlier grades. Students use the academic language of science in context to communicate claims, evidence, and reasoning for chemical phenomena. The course provides high school students with more in-depth investigations on the properties and interactions of matter. Students acquire prerequisite skills for postsecondary studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Additional external resources, including evidence-based research found in scientific journals, should be utilized to provide students with a broad scientific experience that will adequately prepare them for college, career, and citizenship.
Content standards within this course are organized according to three of the core ideas for Physical Science. The first core idea, Matter and Its Interactions, deals with the substances and processes that encompass our universe on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. The second core idea, Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, concentrates on forces and motion, types of interactions, and stability and instability in chemical systems. The third core idea, Energy, involves the conservation of energy, energy transformations, and applications of energy to everyday life. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Chemistry are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
Content standards within this course are organized according to three of the core ideas for Physical Science. The first core idea, Matter and Its Interactions, deals with the substances and processes that encompass our universe on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. The second core idea, Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, concentrates on forces and motion, types of interactions, and stability and instability in chemical systems. The third core idea, Energy, involves the conservation of energy, energy transformations, and applications of energy to everyday life. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Chemistry are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
Obtain and communicate information from historical experiments (e.g., work by Mendeleev and Moseley, Rutherford’s gold foil experiment, Thomson’s cathode ray experiment, Millikan’s oil drop experiment, Bohr’s interpretation of bright line spectra) to determine the structure and function of an atom and to analyze the patterns represented in the periodic table.
Develop and use models of atomic nuclei to explain why the abundance-weighted average of isotopes of an element yields the published atomic mass.
Use the periodic table as a systematic representation to predict properties of elements based on their valence electron arrangement.
a. Analyze data such as physical properties to explain periodic trends of the elements, including metal/nonmetal/metalloid behavior, electrical/heat conductivity, electronegativity and electron affinity, ionization energy, and atomic-covalent/ionic radii, and how they relate to position in the periodic table.
b. Develop and use models (e.g., Lewis dot, 3-D ball-and-stick, space-filling, valence-shell electron-pair repulsion [VSEPR]) to predict the type of bonding and shape of simple compounds.
c. Use the periodic table as a model to derive formulas and names of ionic and covalent compounds.
a. Analyze data such as physical properties to explain periodic trends of the elements, including metal/nonmetal/metalloid behavior, electrical/heat conductivity, electronegativity and electron affinity, ionization energy, and atomic-covalent/ionic radii, and how they relate to position in the periodic table.
b. Develop and use models (e.g., Lewis dot, 3-D ball-and-stick, space-filling, valence-shell electron-pair repulsion [VSEPR]) to predict the type of bonding and shape of simple compounds.
c. Use the periodic table as a model to derive formulas and names of ionic and covalent compounds.
Plan and conduct an investigation to classify properties of matter as intensive (e.g., density, viscosity, specific heat, melting point, boiling point) or extensive (e.g., mass, volume, heat) and demonstrate how intensive properties can be used to identify a compound.
Plan and conduct investigations to demonstrate different types of simple chemical reactions based on valence electron arrangements of the reactants and determine the quantity of products and reactants.
a. Use mathematics and computational thinking to represent the ratio of reactants and products in terms of masses, molecules, and moles.
b. Use mathematics and computational thinking to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
a. Use mathematics and computational thinking to represent the ratio of reactants and products in terms of masses, molecules, and moles.
b. Use mathematics and computational thinking to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
Use mathematics and computational thinking to express the concentrations of solutions quantitatively using molarity.
a. Develop and use models to explain how solutes are dissolved in solvents.
b. Analyze and interpret data to explain effects of temperature on the solubility of solid, liquid, and gaseous solutes in a solvent and the effects of pressure on the solubility of gaseous solutes.
c. Design and conduct experiments to test the conductivity of common ionic and covalent substances in a solution.
d. Use the concept of pH as a model to predict the relative properties of strong, weak, concentrated, and dilute acids and bases (e.g., Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry acids and bases).
a. Develop and use models to explain how solutes are dissolved in solvents.
b. Analyze and interpret data to explain effects of temperature on the solubility of solid, liquid, and gaseous solutes in a solvent and the effects of pressure on the solubility of gaseous solutes.
c. Design and conduct experiments to test the conductivity of common ionic and covalent substances in a solution.
d. Use the concept of pH as a model to predict the relative properties of strong, weak, concentrated, and dilute acids and bases (e.g., Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry acids and bases).
Plan and carry out investigations to explain the behavior of ideal gases in terms of pressure, volume, temperature, and number of particles.
a. Use mathematics to describe the relationships among pressure, temperature, and volume of an enclosed gas when only the amount of gas is constant.
b. Use mathematical and computational thinking based on the ideal gas law to determine molar quantities.
a. Use mathematics to describe the relationships among pressure, temperature, and volume of an enclosed gas when only the amount of gas is constant.
b. Use mathematical and computational thinking based on the ideal gas law to determine molar quantities.
Refine the design of a given chemical system to illustrate how LeChâtelier’s principle affects a dynamic chemical equilibrium when subjected to an outside stress (e.g., heating and cooling a saturated sugar-water solution).
Analyze and interpret data (e.g., melting point, boiling point, solubility, phase-change diagrams) to compare the strength of intermolecular forces and how these forces affect physical properties and changes.
Plan and conduct experiments that demonstrate how changes in a system (e.g., phase changes, pressure of a gas) validate the kinetic molecular theory.
a. Develop a model to explain the relationship between the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance and the temperature of the substance (e.g., no kinetic energy equaling absolute zero [0K or -273.15oC]).
a. Develop a model to explain the relationship between the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance and the temperature of the substance (e.g., no kinetic energy equaling absolute zero [0K or -273.15oC]).
Construct an explanation that describes how the release or absorption of energy from a system depends upon changes in the components of the system.
a. Develop a model to illustrate how the changes in total bond energy determine whether a chemical reaction is endothermic or exothermic.
b. Plan and conduct an investigation that demonstrates the transfer of thermal energy in a closed system (e.g., using heat capacities of two components of differing temperatures).
a. Develop a model to illustrate how the changes in total bond energy determine whether a chemical reaction is endothermic or exothermic.
b. Plan and conduct an investigation that demonstrates the transfer of thermal energy in a closed system (e.g., using heat capacities of two components of differing temperatures).
Earth and Space Science
The Earth and Space Science course is highly recommended for all high school students. Content focuses on a comprehensive application of all disciplines of science, based on the biologically active nature of our ever-changing planet and the integration of systems that constant evolve. In an effort to encourage students to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), this course incorporates the scientific and engineering practices that reflect the scientific practices used by scientists. The scientific and engineering practices are implemented through a student-centered, laboratory-intensive, collaborative classroom environment.
The Earth and Space Science standards provide a depth of conceptual understanding to adequately prepare students for college, career, and citizenship with an appropriate level of scientific literacy. Resources specific to the local area as well as external resources, including evidence-based literature found within scientific journals, should be used to extend and increase the complexity of the core ideas.
The foundation of the course is taken from two disciplinary core ideas in the Earth and Space Science domain. The first core idea, Earth's Place in the Universe, addresses the concepts of the universe and its stars, Earth and the solar system, and the history of planet Earth. The second core idea, Earth's Systems, examines Earth's materials and systems, plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions, the roles of water in Earth's surface processes, weather and climate, and biogeology. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Earth and Space Science are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas, which are denoted with an asterisk. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools and materials to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
The Earth and Space Science standards provide a depth of conceptual understanding to adequately prepare students for college, career, and citizenship with an appropriate level of scientific literacy. Resources specific to the local area as well as external resources, including evidence-based literature found within scientific journals, should be used to extend and increase the complexity of the core ideas.
The foundation of the course is taken from two disciplinary core ideas in the Earth and Space Science domain. The first core idea, Earth's Place in the Universe, addresses the concepts of the universe and its stars, Earth and the solar system, and the history of planet Earth. The second core idea, Earth's Systems, examines Earth's materials and systems, plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions, the roles of water in Earth's surface processes, weather and climate, and biogeology. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Earth and Space Science are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas, which are denoted with an asterisk. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools and materials to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
Develop and use models to illustrate the lifespan of the sun, including energy released during nuclear fusion that eventually reaches Earth through radiation.
Engage in argument from evidence to compare various theories fort he formation and changing nature of the universe and our solar system (e.g., Big Bang Theory, Hubble's law, steady state theory, light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, composition of matter in the universe).
Evaluate and communicate scientific information (e.g., Hertzsprung-Russell diagram) in reference to the life cycle of stars using data of both atomic emission and absorption spectra of stars to make inferences about the presence of certain elements.
Apply mathematics and computational thinking is reference to Kepler's laws, Newton's law of motion, and Newton's gravitational laws to predict the orbital motion of natural and man-made objects in the solar system.
Use mathematics to explain the relationship of the seasons to the tilt of the Earth's axis (e.g., zenith angle, solar angle, surface area) and its revolution about the sun, addressing the intensity and distribution of sunlight on Earth's surface.
Obtain and evaluate information about Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Einstein to communicate how their findings challenged thinking and allowed for academic advancements and space exploration.
Analyze and interpret evidence regarding the theory of plate tectonics, including geologic activity along plate boundaries and magnetic patterns in undersea rocks, to explain the ages and movement of continental and oceanic crusts.
Develop a time scale model of earth's biological and geological history to establish relative and absolute age of major events in Earth's history (e.g., radiometric dating, models of geologic cross sections, sedimentary layering, fossilization, early lie forms, folding, faulting, igneous intrusions).
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain how constructive and destructive processes (e.g., weathering, erosion, volcanism, orogeny, plate tectonics, tectonic uplift) shape Earth's land features (e.g., mountains, valleys, plateaus) and sea features (e.g., trenches, ridges, seamounts).
Construct an explanation from evidence for the processes that generate the transformation of rocks in Earth's crust, including chemical composition of minerals and characteristics of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks.
Obtain and communicate information about significant geologic characteristics (e.g., types of rocks and geologic ages, earthquakes zones, sinkholes, caves, abundant fossil fauna, mineral and energy resources) that impact life in Alabama and the southeastern United States.
Develop a model of earth's layers using available evidence to explain the role of thermal convection in the movement of Earth's materials (e.g., seismic waves, movement of tectonic plates).
Analyze and interpret data of intersections between the hydrologic and rock cycles to explain the mechanical impacts (e.g., stream transportation and deposition, erosion, frost-wedging) and chemical impacts (e.g., oxidation, hydrolysis, carbonation) of Earth's materials by water's properties.
Construct explanations from evidence to describe how changes in the flow of energy through Earth's systems (e.g., volcanic eruptions, solar output, ocean circulation, surface temperatures, precipitation patterns, glacial ice volumes, sea levels, Coriolis effect) impact the climate.
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to verify that weather (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, dew point, adiabatic cooling, condensation, precipitation, winds, ocean currents, barometric pressure, wind velocity) is influenced by energy transfer within and among the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere.
•15 a. Analyze patterns in weather data to predict various systems, including fronts and severe storms.
•15 b. Use maps and other visualizations to analyze large data sets that illustrate the frequency, magnitude, and resulting damage from severe weather events in order to predict the likelihood and severity of future events.
Environmental Science
2015 ACOS Environmental Science Standards
Investigate and analyze the use of nonrenewable energy sources (e.g., fossil fuels, nuclear, natural gas) and renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal) and propose solutions for their impact on the environment.
Use models to illustrate and communicate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration as carbon cycles through the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
Use mathematics and graphic models to compare factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems.
Engage in argument from evidence to evaluate how biological or physical changes within ecosystems (e.g., ecological succession, seasonal flooding, volcanic eruptions) affect the number and types of organisms, and that changing conditions may result in a new or altered ecosystem.
Engage in argument from evidence to compare how individual versus group behavior (e.g., flocking; cooperative behaviors such as hunting, migrating, and swarming) may affect a species’ chance to survive and reproduce over time.
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe how human activity may affect biodiversity and genetic variation of organisms, including threatened and endangered species.
Analyze and interpret data to investigate how a single change on Earth’s surface may cause changes to other Earth systems (e.g., loss of ground vegetation causing an increase in water runoff and soil erosion).
Engage in an evidence-based argument to explain how over time Earth’s systems affect the biosphere and the biosphere affects Earth’s systems (e.g., microbial life increasing the formation of soil; corals creating reefs that alter patterns of erosion and deposition along coastlines).
Develop and use models to trace the flow of water, nitrogen, and phosphorus through the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere
Design solutions for protection of natural water resources (e.g., bioassessment, methods of water treatment and conservation) considering properties, uses, and pollutants (e.g., eutrophication, industrial effluents, agricultural runoffs, point and nonpoint pollution resources).
Engage in argument from evidence to defend how coastal, marine, and freshwater sources
(e.g., estuaries, marshes, tidal pools, wetlands, beaches, inlets, rivers, lakes, oceans, coral reefs) support biodiversity, economic stability, and human recreation.
(e.g., estuaries, marshes, tidal pools, wetlands, beaches, inlets, rivers, lakes, oceans, coral reefs) support biodiversity, economic stability, and human recreation.
Analyze and interpret data and climate models to predict how global or regional climate change can affect Earth’s systems (e.g., precipitation and temperature and their associated impacts on sea level, glacial ice volumes, and atmosphere and ocean composition).
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information based on evidence to explain how key natural resources (e.g., water sources, fertile soils, concentrations of minerals and fossil fuels), natural hazards, and climate changes influence human activity (e.g., mass migrations).
Analyze cost-benefit ratios of competing solutions for developing, conserving, managing, recycling, and reusing energy and mineral resources to minimize impacts in natural systems (e.g., determining best practices for agricultural soil use, mining for coal, and exploring for petroleum and natural gas sources).
Construct an explanation based on evidence to determine the relationships among management of natural resources, human sustainability, and biodiversity (e.g., resources, waste management, per capita consumption, agricultural efficiency, urban planning).
Obtain and evaluate information from published results of scientific computational models to illustrate the relationships among Earth’s systems and how these relationships may be impacted by human activity (e.g., effects of an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide on photosynthetic biomass, effect of ocean acidification on marine populations).
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate geological and biological information to determine the types of organisms that live in major biomes.
•17.a. Analyze and interpret data collected through geographic research and field investigations (e.g., relief, topographic, and physiographic maps; rivers; forest types; watersheds) to describe the biodiversity by region for the state of Alabama (e.g., terrestrial, freshwater, marine, endangered, invasive).
Physical Science
Physical Science is a conceptual, inquiry-based course that provides students with an investigation of the basic concepts of chemistry and physics. Students use evidence from their own investigations as well as the investigations of others to develop and refine knowledge of core ideas. Increased sophistication, both of their model-based explanations and the argumentation by which evidence and explanation are linked, is developed through language and mathematical skills appropriate to the individual student’s cognitive ability level. The standards provide a depth of conceptual understanding that will adequately prepare them for college, career, and citizenship with an appropriate level of scientific literacy. Resources specific to the local area as well as external resources, including evidence-based literature found within scientific journals, should be used to extend and increase the complexity of the core ideas.
Content standards are organized according to the disciplinary core ideas for the Physical Science domain. The core idea, Matter and Its Interactions, deals with the substances and processes that encompass our universe on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. The second core idea, Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, includes the components of forces and motion, types of interactions, and stability/instability in physical systems. The third core idea, Energy, involves the conservation of energy, energy transformations, and applications of energy to everyday life. The fourth core idea, Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer, examines wave properties, electromagnetic radiation, and information technologies and instrumentation. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Physical Science are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools and materials to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
Content standards are organized according to the disciplinary core ideas for the Physical Science domain. The core idea, Matter and Its Interactions, deals with the substances and processes that encompass our universe on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. The second core idea, Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, includes the components of forces and motion, types of interactions, and stability/instability in physical systems. The third core idea, Energy, involves the conservation of energy, energy transformations, and applications of energy to everyday life. The fourth core idea, Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer, examines wave properties, electromagnetic radiation, and information technologies and instrumentation. Integrated within the disciplinary core ideas of Physical Science are the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) core ideas. The ETS core ideas require students to use tools and materials to solve simple problems and to use representations to convey design solutions to a problem and determine which is most appropriate.
Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties and trends (e.g., reactivity of metals; types of bonds formed, including ionic, covalent, and polar covalent; numbers of bonds formed; reactions with oxygen) of main group elements based on the patterns of valence electrons in atoms.
Plan and carry out investigations (e.g., squeezing a balloon, placing a balloon on ice) to identify the relationships that exist among the pressure, volume, density, and temperature of a confined gas.
Analyze and interpret data from a simple chemical reaction or combustion reaction involving main group elements.
Analyze and interpret data using acid-base indicators (e.g., color-changing markers, pH paper) to distinguish between acids and bases, including comparisons between strong and weak acids and bases.
Use mathematical representations to support and verify the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a simple chemical reaction.
Develop models to illustrate the concept of half-life for radioactive decay.
a. Research and communicate information about types of naturally occurring radiation and their properties.
b. Develop arguments for and against nuclear power generation compared to other types of power generation.
a. Research and communicate information about types of naturally occurring radiation and their properties.
b. Develop arguments for and against nuclear power generation compared to other types of power generation.
Analyze and interpret data for one- and two-dimensional motion applying basic concepts of distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration (e.g., velocity versus time graphs, displacement versus time graphs, acceleration versus time graphs).
Apply Newton’s laws to predict the motion of a system by constructing force diagrams that identify the external forces acting on the system, including friction (e.g., a book on a table, an object being pushed across a floor, an accelerating car).
Use mathematical equations (e.g., (m1v1 + m2v2) before = (m1v1 + m2v2) after) and diagrams to explain that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net external force on the system.
a. Use the laws of conservation of mechanical energy and momentum to predict the result of one-dimensional elastic collisions.
a. Use the laws of conservation of mechanical energy and momentum to predict the result of one-dimensional elastic collisions.
Construct simple series and parallel circuits containing resistors and batteries and apply Ohm’s law to solve typical problems demonstrating the effect of changing values of resistors and voltages.
Design and conduct investigations to verify the law of conservation of energy, including transformations of potential energy, kinetic energy, thermal energy, and the effect of any work performed on or by the system.
Design, build, and test the ability of a device (e.g., Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens) to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
Use mathematical representations to demonstrate the relationships among wavelength, frequency, and speed of waves (e.g., the relation v = λ f) traveling in various media (e.g., electromagnetic radiation traveling in a vacuum and glass, sound waves traveling through air and water, seismic waves traveling through Earth).
Propose and defend a hypothesis based on information gathered from published materials (e.g., trade books, magazines, Internet resources, videos) for and against various claims for the safety of electromagnetic radiation.
Obtain and communicate information from published materials to explain how transmitting and receiving devices (e.g., cellular telephones, medical-imaging technology, solar cells, wireless Internet, scanners, Sound Navigation and Ranging [SONAR]) use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.