Delaware State Standards for Science: Grade 12

DE.1. Nature and Application of Science and Technology

1.1. Enduring Understanding: Scientific inquiry involves asking scientifically-oriented questions, collecting evidence, forming explanations, connecting explanations to scientific knowledge and theory, and communicating and justifying the explanation.

1.1.1. Identify and form questions that generate a specific testable hypothesis that guide the design and breadth of the scientific investigation.

1.1.2. Design and conduct valid scientific investigations to control all but the testable variable in order to test a specific hypothesis.

1.1.3. Collect accurate and precise data through the selection and use of tools and technologies appropriate to the investigations. Display and organize data through the use of tables, diagrams, graphs, and other organizers that allow analysis and comparison with known information and allow for replication of results.

1.1.4. Construct logical scientific explanations and present arguments which defend proposed explanations through the use of closely examined evidence.

1.1.5. Communicate and defend the results of scientific investigations using logical arguments and connections with the known body of scientific information.

1.1.6. Use mathematics, reading, writing and technology when conducting scientific inquiries.

1.1.7. Explain that the quantity of radiant energy delivered to a surface every second can be viewed in two different ways. Use the concept of waves to describe that the energy delivered by electromagnetic radiation depends on the amplitude and frequency of the electromagnetic waves. Use the particle model of electromagnetic radiation (energy is carried by packets of electromagnetic energy called photons) to explain that the radiant energy delivered depends on the frequency of the radiation and the number of packets striking the surface per second.

1.1.8. Use the model of discrete electronic energy states in an atom to describe how the atom can emit or absorb packets of electromagnetic energy (photons) having specific energies.

1.1.9. Demonstrate how prisms, diffraction gratings or other optical devices can be used to analyze the light coming from different substances and how this analysis can be useful in the identification of elements and compounds.

1.1.10. Use diagrams to show how concave reflecting devices and convex lenses can be used to collect and focus EM waves. Recognize that the characteristics of these devices are different for different groups of EM waves (radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible waves, etc.).

1.1.11. Create light ray diagrams to illustrate how converging devices are used to collect and focus waves in scientific devices (for example, telescopes and microscopes).

1.1.12. Describe how nuclear fusion reactions change over time and lead to the creation of elements (and the evolution of stars).

1.1.13. Compare and contrast the age, temperature, and size of our Sun to other stars.

1.1.14. Discuss the many ways in which the Sun influences Earth including the role of gravity, coronal mass ejections, and electromagnetic radiation including gamma photons.

1.1.15. Describe the relative size differences and distances between planetary systems, stars, multiple-star galaxies, star clusters, galaxies, and galactic groups in the Universe.

1.1.16. Describe how our knowledge of the history of the Universe is based on electromagnetic energy that has traveled vast distances and takes a long period of time to reach us.

1.1.17. Explain the life history of stars in terms of luminosity, size and temperature using the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. Compare and contrast stellar evolution based on mass (black hole, neutron star, white dwarf).

1.1.18. Describe how the composition of stars can be determined by analysis of their spectra. Compare the elements that compose stars to those that compose Earth.

1.1.19. Identify and measure biological, chemical and physical indicators within a given ecosystem (pH, dissolved oxygen, macro invertebrate and other indicator species, salinity).

1.1.20. Using models, computer simulations, or graphic representations, demonstrate how, changes in these indicators may affect interactions within ecosystems. Evaluate the current health of the ecosystem and suggest possible interventions for mitigation.

1.1.21. Using graphs of population data of a predator and its prey, describe the patterns observed. Explain how the interactions of predator and prey generate these patterns, and predict possible future trends in these populations.

1.1.22. Analyze and explain the short-term impact of a natural disaster on the biological, chemical, and physical components of the affected ecosystem and their associated interrelationships, including geochemical cycles and food webs.

1.1.23. Based on knowledge of populations and interactions in an ecosystem, predict the possible long-term outcomes (e.g., extinction, adaptation, succession) of a natural disaster on populations in the ecosystem.

1.1.24. Explain the significance of the introduction of non-native and invasive species to a stable ecosystem and describe the consequent harm to the native species and the environment (e.g., zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, phragmites, Japanese Beetles).

1.1.25. Describe how the biotic and abiotic factors can act as selective pressures on a population and can alter the diversity of the ecosystem over time.

1.1.26. Identify limiting factors in an ecosystem and explain why these factors prevent populations from reaching biotic potential.

1.1.27. Predict the effects on a population if these limiting factors were removed. Explain why a population reaching unlimited biotic potential can be detrimental to the ecosystem.

1.1.28. Determine the carrying capacity for a population in an ecosystem using graphical representations of population data.

1.1.29. Describe how birth rate, death rate, emigration, and immigration contribute to a population's growth rate.

1.1.30. Illustrate how elements on Earth cycle among the biotic and abiotic components of the biosphere.

1.1.31. Analyze how an understanding of biomagnification has led to the regulation of chemical use and disposal.

1.2. Enduring Understanding: The development of technology and advancement in science influence and drive each other forward.

1.2.1. Use library and internet resources to identify characteristics of the Earth which permit it to support life, and compare those characteristics to properties of other planets. Based on the research, debate the possibility of life on other planets.

1.2.2. Discuss how technology (i.e., telescopes, computers, space probes, radio observatories) assists astronomers in discovering and investigating celestial bodies beyond the limits of our Solar System.

1.2.3. Examine and describe how social and biological factors influence the exponential growth of the human population (e.g., economic, cultural, age at reproduction, fertility rate, birth/death rate, and environmental factors).

1.2.4. Examine and describe how the exponential growth of the human population has affected the consumption of renewable and nonrenewable resources.

1.2.5. Evaluate decisions about the use of resources in one country and how these decisions can impact the diversity and stability of ecosystems globally.

1.2.6. Analyze ways in which human activity (i.e., producing food, transporting materials, generating energy, disposing of waste, obtaining fresh water, or extracting natural resources) can affect ecosystems and the organisms within.

1.2.7. Research and discuss ways in which humans use technology to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the environment. (e.g., phytoremediation, smokestack scrubbers).

1.2.8. Describe how advances in technology can increase the carrying capacity of an ecosystem (i.e., advances in agricultural technology have led to increases in crop yields per acre).

1.3. Enduring Understanding: Understanding past processes and contributions is essential in building scientific knowledge.

1.3.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.2. Materials and Their Properties

2.1. Enduring Understanding: The structures of materials determine their properties.

2.1.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

2.2. Enduring Understanding: The properties of the mixture are based on the properties of its components.

2.2.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

2.3. Enduring Understanding: When materials interact within a closed system, the total mass of the system remains the same.

2.3.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

2.4. Enduring Understanding: There are several ways in which elements and/or compounds react to form new substances and each reaction involves energy.

2.4.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

2.5. Enduring Understanding: People develop new materials as a response to the needs of society and the pursuit of knowledge. This development may have risks and benefits to humans and the environment.

2.5.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.3. Energy and Its Effects

3.1. Enduring Understanding: Energy takes many forms. These forms can be grouped into types of energy that are associated with the motion of mass (kinetic energy) and types of energy associated with the position of mass and energy fields (potential energy).

3.1.1. Explain that the quantity of radiant energy delivered to a surface every second can be viewed in two different ways. Use the concept of waves to describe that the energy delivered by electromagnetic radiation depends on the amplitude and frequency of the electromagnetic waves. Use the particle model of electromagnetic radiation (energy is carried by packets of electromagnetic energy called photons) to explain that the radiant energy delivered depends on the frequency of the radiation and the number of packets striking the surface per second.

3.2. Enduring Understanding: Changes take place because of the transfer of energy. Energy is transferred to matter through the action of forces. Different forces are responsible for the different forms of energy.

3.2.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

3.3. Enduring Understanding: Energy readily transforms from one form to another, but these transformations are not always reversible. The details of these transformations depend upon the initial form of the energy and the properties of the materials involved. Energy may transfer into or out of a system and it may change forms, but the total energy cannot change.

3.3.1. Use the model of discrete electronic energy states in an atom to describe how the atom can emit or absorb packets of electromagnetic energy (photons) having specific energies. Demonstrate how prisms, diffraction gratings or other optical devices can be used to analyze the light coming from different substances, and how this analysis can be useful in the identification of elements and compounds.

3.3.2. Use diagrams to show how concave reflecting devices and convex lenses can be used to collect and focus EM waves.

3.3.3. Recognize that the characteristics of these devices are different for different groups of EM waves (radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible waves, etc.).

3.3.4. Create light ray diagrams to illustrate how converging devices are used to collect and focus waves in scientific devices (e.g., telescopes and microscopes).

3.4. Enduring Understanding: People utilize a variety of resources to meet the basic and specific needs of life. Some of these resources cannot be replaced. Other resources can be replenished or exist in such vast quantities they are in no danger of becoming depleted. Often the energy stored in resources must be transformed into more useful forms and transported over great distances before it can be helpful to us.

3.4.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.4. Earth in Space

4.1. Enduring Understanding: Observable, predictable patterns of movement in the Sun, Earth, Moon system are caused by gravitational interaction and powered by energy from the Sun.

4.1.1. Describe how nuclear fusion reactions change over time and lead to the creation of elements (and the evolution of stars).

4.1.2. Explain how the process of nuclear fusion in our Sun consumes mass and releases, over billions of years, enormous amounts of energy.

4.1.3. Compare and contrast the age, temperature, and size of our Sun to other stars.

4.1.4. Discuss the many ways in which the Sun influences Earth including the role of gravity, coronal mass ejections, and electromagnetic radiation including gamma photons.

4.2. Enduring Understanding: Most objects in the Solar System orbit the Sun and have distinctive physical characteristics and orderly motion which are a result of their formation and changes over time.

4.2.1. Use library and internet resources to identify characteristics of the Earth which permit it to support life, and compare those characteristics to properties of other planets. Based on the research, debate the possibility of life on other planets.

4.3. Enduring Understanding: The Universe is composed of galaxies, which are composed of solar systems, all of which are composed of the same elements and governed by the same laws.

4.3.1. Describe the relative size differences and distances between planetary systems, stars, multiple-star galaxies, star clusters, galaxies, and galactic groups in the Universe.

4.3.2. Explain why the force of gravity is responsible for many phenomena in the Universe including the formation and life cycle of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems. Explain how gravity influences the motion of bodies in the Universe including tides and maintaining orbits of planets.

4.3.3. Describe how our knowledge of the history of the Universe is based on electromagnetic energy that has traveled vast distances and takes a long period of time to reach us.

4.3.4. Explain the life history of stars in terms of luminosity, size and temperature using the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. Compare and contrast stellar evolution based on mass (black hole, neutron star, white dwarf).

4.3.5. Explain the Big Bang Theory and how it is supported by evidence that includes microwave background radiation and red shift. Cite research supporting the Big Bang Theory as the most scientifically accepted theory explaining the formation of the Universe.

4.4. Enduring Understanding: Technology expands our knowledge of the Universe.

4.4.1. Describe how the composition of stars can be determined by analysis of their spectra. Compare the elements that compose stars to those that compose Earth.

4.4.2. Discuss how technology (i.e., telescopes, computers, space probes, radio observatories) assists astronomers in discovering and investigating celestial bodies beyond the limits of our Solar System.

DE.5. Earth's Dynamic Systems

5.1. Enduring Understanding: Earth's systems can be broken down into individual components which have observable measurable properties.

5.1.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

5.2. Enduring Understanding: Earth's components form systems. These systems continually interact at different rates of time, affecting the Earth locally and globally.

5.2.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

5.3. Enduring Understanding: Technology enables us to better understand Earth's systems. It also allows us to analyze the impact of human activities on Earth's systems and the impact of Earth's systems on human activity.

5.3.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.6. Life Processes

6.1. Enduring Understanding: Living systems, from the organismic to the cellular level, demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function.

6.1.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

6.2. Enduring Understanding: All organisms transfer matter and convert energy from one form to another. Both matter and energy are necessary to build and maintain structures within the organism.

6.2.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

6.3. Enduring Understanding: The health of humans and other organisms is affected by their interactions with each other and their environment, and may be altered by human manipulation.

6.3.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.7. Diversity and Continuity of Living Things

7.1. Enduring Understanding: Organisms reproduce, develop, have predictable life cycles, and pass on heritable traits to their offspring.

7.1.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

7.2. Enduring Understanding: The diversity and changing of life forms over many generations is the result of natural selection, in which organisms with advantageous traits survive, reproduce, and pass those traits to offspring.

7.2.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

7.3. Enduring Understanding: The development of technology has allowed us to apply our knowledge of genetics, reproduction, development and evolution to meet human needs and wants.

7.3.1. There are no grade level expectations for this understanding.

DE.8. Ecology

8.1. Enduring Understanding: Organisms and their environments are interconnected. Changes in one part of the system will affect other parts of the system.

8.1.1. Identify and measure biological, chemical and physical indicators within a given ecosystem (pH, dissolved oxygen, macroinvertebrate and other indicator species, salinity).

8.1.2. Using models, computer simulations, or graphic representations, demonstrate how, changes in these indicators may affect interactions within ecosystems. Evaluate the current health of the ecosystem and suggest possible interventions for mitigation.

8.1.3. Explain how feedback loops keep an ecosystem (at the local and global level) in a state of dynamic equilibrium (e.g., positive and negative feedback loops associated with global climate).

8.1.4. Explain how niches help to increase the diversity within an ecosystem and maximize the number of populations that can live in the same habitat.

8.1.5. Using graphs of population data of a predator and its prey, describe the patterns observed. Explain how the interactions of predator and prey generate these patterns, and predict possible future trends in these populations.

8.1.6. Analyze and explain the short-term impact of a natural disaster on the biological, chemical, and physical components of the affected ecosystem and their associated interrelationships, including geochemical cycles and food webs.

8.1.7. Based on knowledge of populations and interactions in an ecosystem, predict the possible long-term outcomes (e.g., extinction, adaptation, succession) of a natural disaster on populations in the ecosystem.

8.1.8. Explain the significance of the introduction of non-native and invasive species to a stable ecosystem and describe the consequent harm to the native species and the environment (e.g., zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, phragmites, Japanese Beetles).

8.1.9. Describe how the biotic and abiotic factors can act as selective pressures on a population and can alter the diversity of the ecosystem over time.

8.1.10. Identify limiting factors in an ecosystem and explain why these factors prevent populations from reaching biotic potential. Predict the effects on a population if these limiting factors were removed. Explain why a population reaching unlimited biotic potential can be detrimental to the ecosystem.

8.1.11. Determine the carrying capacity for a population in an ecosystem using graphical representations of population data.

8.1.12. Describe how birth rate, death rate, emigration, and immigration contribute to a population's growth rate.

8.2. Enduring Understanding: Matter needed to sustain life is continually recycled among and between organisms and the environment. Energy from the sun flows irreversibly through ecosystems and is conserved as organisms use and transform it.

8.2.1. Illustrate how elements on Earth cycle among the biotic and abiotic components of the biosphere.

8.2.2. Recognize that the amount of matter in a closed ecosystem will remain constant.

8.2.3. Relate an ecosystem's requirement for the continual input of energy to the inefficiency of energy transfer.

8.2.4. Explain how ecosystems that do not rely on radiant energy obtain energy to maintain life.

8.2.5. Explain how the inefficiency of energy transfer determines the number of trophic levels and affects the relative number of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

8.2.6. Relate a chemical's properties to its accumulation within organisms, such as PCBs in the fatty tissues of fish.

8.2.7. Relate the accumulation of a chemical in an organism to the organism's trophic level. Explain why bioaccumulation is a greater problem for organisms at higher trophic levels.

8.2.8. Explain how biomagnification has led to unsafe food supplies, such as mercury accumulation in tuna.

8.2.9. Analyze how an understanding of biomagnification has led to the regulation of chemical use and disposal.

8.3. Enduring Understanding: Humans can alter the living and non-living factors within an ecosystem, thereby creating changes to the overall system.

8.3.1. Examine and describe how social and biological factors influence the exponential growth of the human population (e.g., economic, cultural, age at reproduction, fertility rate, birth/death rate, and environmental factors).

8.3.2. Examine and describe how the exponential growth of the human population has affected the consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources.

8.3.3. Evaluate decisions about the use of resources in one country and how these decisions can impact the diversity and stability of ecosystems globally.

8.3.4. Analyze ways in which human activity (i.e., producing food, transporting materials, generating energy, disposing of waste, obtaining fresh water, or extracting natural resources) can affect ecosystems and the organisms within.

8.3.5. Research and discuss ways in which humans use technology to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the environment. (e.g., phytoremediation, smokestack scrubbers).

8.3.6. Describe how advances in technology can increase the carrying capacity of an ecosystem (i.e., advances in agricultural technology have led to increases in crop yields per acre).