Mission, Vision, Competencies, Standards, and Benchmarks

‣ Describe collisions of objects as elastic or inelastic. Know that energy and momentum
are conserved in elastic collisions, but only momentum is conserved in inelastic
collisions.
‣ Classify all the various forms of energy as either kinetic or potential.
‣ Explain how energy may change form or be redistributed but the total quantity of
energy is conserved.
‣ Demonstrate that waves such as light, (e.g., sound, seismic, and water have energy
and that waves can transfer energy when they interact with matter.
‣ Apply the measureable properties of waves, such as wavelength, frequency, velocity,
and amplitude, to describe mathematically the properties of materials, such as the
index of refraction, reflectivity, diffraction patterns.
‣ Calculate the wavelength of a wave as a function of the relative motion of the source
and the observer.
‣ Explain how Doppler Effect applies to the current understanding of the
universe, redshift.
‣ Summarize the historical development of scientific theories and ideas within the study
of physical sciences.
Life Science
‣ Describe the composition, diversity, complexity, and interconnectedness of life
on Earth.
‣ Apply classification systems to describe the vast diversity of organisms and their
degree of relatedness between them.
‣ Apply fundamental concepts of heredity and evolution to understand the living world,
the physical environment, and the interactions within and between them.
‣ Explain that cells are the basic unit of structure and function of living organisms, that
once life originated all cells come from pre-existing cells, and there are a variety of
cell types.
‣ Know that all cells: (a) are covered by a cell membrane that controls which materials
can enter/leave the cell, (b) are composed of a small number of chemical elements—
mainly carbon, but also hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
‣ Describe the structure, function, and interrelatedness of cell organelles.
‣ Understand that the cell is a system that conducts a variety of functions associated
with life as materials enter and leave the cell through the cell membrane.
‣ Explain the characteristics of life as regulated by cellular processes, such as
photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, cellular respiration, and describe the process of cell
division and differentiation.
‣ Relate the chemical basis of life to heredity, genetics, diversity, species survival, adapt
ations, and extinction.
‣ Describe the mechanisms for biological evolution such as natural selection, genetic
drift, immigration, emigration and mutation.
‣ Relate the diversity of species to the theory of evolution, and the kinship between
organisms or species to the similarity in their DNA sequences.
‣ Know and apply the structure and function of DNA and RNA in cells to explain the gen
etic mechanisms for cellular genetics, inheritance, and gene mutations. Students will
know that:
o genetic information is coded in DNA molecules, passed from parents to
offspring, and provides instructions for assembling protein molecules;
o
o
the genetic code is virtually the same for all life forms;
genes are segments of DNA molecules which can be altered via insertions,
deletions, or substitutions of DNA segments.
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