Vermont State Standards for Science: Grade 9
VT.7.1. Inquiry, Experimentation, and Theory: Scientific Method: Students use scientific methods to describe, investigate, and explain phenomena and raise questions in order to: Generate alternative explanations (hypotheses) based on observations and prior knowledge; Design inquiry that allows these explanations to be tested; Deduce the expected results; Gather and analyze data to compare the actual results to the expected outcomes; and Make and communicate conclusions, generating new questions raised by observations and readings.
S9-12:1. Scientific Questioning: Students demonstrate their understanding of scientific questioning by:
1.1. Framing testable questions showing evidence of observations and prior knowledge to illustrate cause and effect.
1.2. Developing a testable question appropriate to the scientific domain being investigated.
S9-12:2. Predicting and Hypothesizing: Students demonstrate their understanding of predicting and hypothesizing by:
2.1. Developing a testable/guiding hypothesis and predictions based upon evidence of scientific principles.
2.2. Predicting results (evidence) that supports the hypothesis.
2.3. Clearly distinguishing cause and effect within a testable/guiding hypothesis.
S9-12:3. Designing Experiments: Students demonstrate their understanding of experimental design by:
3.1. Writing a plan that includes: (a) Procedures that incorporate appropriate protection (e.g., no food in lab area); (b) Appropriate tools, units of measurement and degree of accuracy; (c) Components that reflect current scientific knowledge and available technology; (d) Use of scientific terminology that supports the identified procedures.
S9-12:4. Conducting Experiments: Students demonstrate their ability to conduct experiments by:
4.1. Collecting significant data through completing multiple trials.
4.2. Evaluating and revising procedures as investigation progresses.
S9-12:5. Representing Data and Analysis: Students demonstrate their ability to represent data by:
5.1. Representing data quantitatively to the appropriate level of precision through the use of mathematical calculations.
5.2. Developing the skill of drawing a 'best fit' curve from data.
5.3. Recording accurate data, free of bias.
5.4. Avoiding plagiarism/fabrication of other recorded research data.
S9-12:6. Representing Data and Analysis: Students demonstrate their ability to analyze data by:
6.1. Accounting for identified experimental errors.
6.2. Analyzing significance of experimental data.
6.3. Critically comparing evidence collected with that of others (e.g., classmates or scientists in the field).
S9-12:7. Representing Data and Analysis: Students demonstrate their ability to explain data by:
7.1. Proposing, synthesizing, and evaluating alternative explanations for experimental results.
7.2. Citing experimental evidence within explanation.
7.3. Including logically consistent position to explain observed phenomena.
7.4. Comparing experimental conclusion to other proposed explanations by peer review (e.g., students, scientists or local interest groups).
7.5. Conducting objective scientific analysis, free of bias.
7.6. Identifying and evaluating uncontrolled variables inherent in experimental model.
S9-12:8. Applying Results: Students demonstrate their ability to apply results by:
8.1. Using technology to communicate results effectively and appropriately to others (e.g., power point, web site, posters, etc.).
8.2. Predicting/recommending how scientific conclusions can be applied to civic, economic or social issues.
8.3. Proposing and evaluating new questions, predictions, procedures and technology for further investigations.
VT.7.2. Inquiry, Experimentation, and Theory: Investigation: Students design and conduct a variety of their own investigations and projects. These should include: Questions that can be studied using the resources available; Procedures that are safe, humane, and ethical; Data that are collected and recorded in ways that others can verify; Data and results that are represented in ways that address the question at hand; Recommendations, decisions, and conclusions that are based on evidence, and that acknowledge references and contributions of others; Results that are communicated appropriately to audiences; and Reflections and defense of conclusions and recommendations from other sources, and peer review.
S9-12:1. Scientific Questioning: Students demonstrate their understanding of scientific questioning by:
1.1. Framing testable questions showing evidence of observations and prior knowledge to illustrate cause and effect.
1.2. Developing a testable question appropriate to the scientific domain being investigated.
S9-12:2. Predicting and Hypothesizing: Students demonstrate their understanding of predicting and hypothesizing by:
2.1. Developing a testable/guiding hypothesis and predictions based upon evidence of scientific principles.
2.2. Predicting results (evidence) that supports the hypothesis.
2.3. Clearly distinguishing cause and effect within a testable/guiding hypothesis.
S9-12:3. Designing Experiments: Students demonstrate their understanding of experimental design by:
3.1. Writing a plan that includes: (a) Procedures that incorporate appropriate protection (e.g., no food in lab area); (b) Appropriate tools, units of measurement and degree of accuracy; (c) Components that reflect current scientific knowledge and available technology; (d) Use of scientific terminology that supports the identified procedures.
S9-12:4. Conducting Experiments: Students demonstrate their ability to conduct experiments by:
4.1. Collecting significant data through completing multiple trials.
4.2. Evaluating and revising procedures as investigation progresses.
S9-12:5. Representing Data and Analysis: Students demonstrate their ability to represent data by:
5.1. Representing data quantitatively to the appropriate level of precision through the use of mathematical calculations.
5.2. Developing the skill of drawing a 'best fit' curve from data.
5.3. Recording accurate data, free of bias.
5.4. Avoiding plagiarism/fabrication of other recorded research data.
VT.7.9. Mathematical Understanding: Statistics and Probability Concepts: Students use statistics and probability concepts.
S9-12:34. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Energy Flow in an Ecosystem by:
34.1. Developing a model that compares the energy at different trophic levels in a given ecosystem.
S9-12:35. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Food Webs in an Ecosystem by:
35.1. Designing (and implementing) an investigation that demonstrates the chemical relationship between carbon compounds of the organisms in a food web (e.g., dyed yeast - Paramecium - roundworm).
VT.7.11. Systems: Analysis: Students analyze and understand living and non-living systems (e.g., biological, chemical, electrical, mechanical, optical) as collections of interrelated parts and interconnected systems.
S9-12:34. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Energy Flow in an Ecosystem by:
34.1. Developing a model that compares the energy at different trophic levels in a given ecosystem.
S9-12:35. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Food Webs in an Ecosystem by:
35.1. Designing (and implementing) an investigation that demonstrates the chemical relationship between carbon compounds of the organisms in a food web (e.g., dyed yeast - Paramecium - roundworm).
S9-12:36. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Equilibrium in an Ecosystem by:
36.1. Designing an investigation to compare a natural system with one altered by human activities (e.g., acid rain, eutrophication through agricultural runoff, fertilizer, pollution, solid waste, clear cutting, toxic emissions or conservation and habitat reclamation).
S9-12:37. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Recycling in an Ecosystem by:
37.1. Developing and explaining a model that shows the recycling of inorganic compounds within a natural ecosystem (e.g., Compare worm compost with commercial fertilizer.).
S9-12:41. Body Systems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Human Body (biochemical) Systems by:
41.1. Diagramming a feedback loop that illustrates how several human body systems work together to restore homeostasis in response to an external stimulus (environmental/.behavioral) (e.g., exercise, fight/flight, stress, drugs, normal cellular metabolism, any nervous system response).
41.2. Explaining examples of how the human body may be affected by the state of the internal environment and by heredity and by life experience (e.g., effects of malnutrition).
41.3. Predicting and explaining how the effect of various physiological factors influences the continuation of the human species (reproductive success) (e.g., anorexia and/or steroid use, radiation/toxic wastes/drug use, mutagenic agents and/or improper diet/obesity).
VT.7.12. Space, Time, and Matter: Matter, Motion, Forces, and Energy: Students understand forces and motion, the properties and composition of matter, and energy sources and transformations.
S9-12:9. Properties of Matter: Students demonstrate their understanding of Properties of Matter by:
9.1. Distinguishing one substance from another through examination of physical properties (such as density, melting point, conductivity), chemical properties (such as reactivity with O2 or acid or water), and nuclear properties (such as changes in atomic mass, isotopes and half-life).
9.2. Explaining the states of a substance in terms of the particulate nature of matter and the forces of interaction between particles.
10.1. Comparing the characteristics of three major components of all atoms (protons, electrons, neutrons) their location within an atom, their relative size and their charge.
10.2. Writing formulae for compounds and developing models using electron structure (e.g., Lewis dot).
S9-12:11. Properties of Matter: Students demonstrate their understanding of the Properties of Matter by:
11.1. Identifying and explaining the basis for the arrangement of elements within the Periodic Table (e.g., trends, valence, reactivity, electro negativity, ionization).
11.2. Determining valence electrons of selected elements.
11.3. Predicting the relative physical and chemical properties of an element based on its location within the Periodic Table.
S9-12:12. Properties of Matter: Students demonstrate their understanding of the States of Matter by:
12.1. Investigating the interactions between atoms or molecules within a system (e.g., hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, fluorescent light, stars).
S9-12:13. Properties of Matter: Students demonstrate their understanding of the Properties of a Gas by:
13.1. Quantitatively determining how volume, pressure, temperature and amount of gas affect each other (PV=nRT) in a system.
S9-12:14. Physical Change: Students demonstrate their understanding of Physical Change by:
14.1. Investigating and graphing the effect of heat energy on the phase changes of water from a solid state to a liquid state to a gaseous state and comparing that data to other substances.
S9-12:15. Chemical Change: Students demonstrate their understanding of Chemical Change by:
15.1. Writing simple balanced chemical equations to represent chemical reactions and illustrate the conservation of atoms.
15.2. Qualitatively predicting reactants and products in a prescribed investigation (e.g. oxidation, reduction, acid/base reactions).
S9-12:16. Chemical Change: Students demonstrate their understanding of Chemical Change by:
16.1. Investigating, and explaining the increase or decrease in temperature of the substances in a chemical reaction caused by a transfer of heat energy from that reaction. (e.g., exothermic and endothermic reactions).
S9-12:17. Nuclear Change: Students demonstrate their understanding of Nuclear Change by:
17.1. Explaining how alpha and beta emissions create changes in the nucleus of an atom, resulting in a completely different element.
17.2. Distinguishing between the reactants and products of a chemical reaction and those of a nuclear decay reaction.
17.3. Comparing the relative energies produced by each.
17.4. Explaining the organization of an atomic nucleus and identifying the universal forces from strongest to weakest.
S9-12:18. Nuclear Change: Students demonstrate their understanding of Nuclear Change by:
18.1. Explaining the concept of half-life and using the half-life principle to predict the approximate age of a material.
S9-12:19. Motion: Students demonstrate their understanding of Motion by:
19.1. Predicting the path of an object in different reference planes and explaining how and why this occurs.
19.2. Using modeling, illustrating and explaining of how distance and velocity change over time for a free falling object.
19.3. Modeling, illustrating and explaining the path of an object which has horizontal and free fall motion (i.e., football, bullet).
20.1. Qualitatively analyzing how inertia affects the outcome in each of a series of situations (i.e., kicking a sand-filled football, moving a bowl of soup quickly across the table).
S9-12:21. Force: Students demonstrate their understanding of Force by:
21.1. Investigating quantitatively the acceleration as either the mass of the system or the force accelerating the mass is changed (e.g., cart with variable weights on horizontal table attached to a string with weights).
21.2. Investigating whether acceleration is greater or less as either the mass of the system or the force accelerating the mass is changed (e.g., cart with variable weights on horizontal table attached to a string with weights).
21.3. Demonstrating action force/reaction force in one of three different ways; describing in words, demonstrating physically, and modeling the occurrence of opposing actions.
S9-12:22. Force: Students demonstrate their understanding of Gravitational Force by:
22.1. Determining quantitatively how gravitational force changes when mass changes; or when distance changes.
S9-12:23. Energy and Energy Transformation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Heat Energy by:
23.1. Comparing and contrasting characteristics of the different forms of energy, particularly within chemical reactions.
23.2. Describing or diagramming the changes in energy (transformation) that occur in different situations (e.g., chemical, biological, physical) through analysis of the input and output energies in a system (e.g., calorimetry, specific heat of water, heat of fusion of water).
23.3. Investigating examples of entropy in discrete systems (e.g., electrical systems, the effectiveness of insulating materials, the human thermostat - hypothermia/homeostasis).
S9-12:24. Energy and Energy Transformation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Electrical Energy by:
24.1. Explaining through words, diagrams, models or electrostatic demonstrations the principle that like charges repel and unlike charges attract.
24.2. Explaining (through words, charts, diagrams, models or mathematical examples) the effects of distance and the amount of charge on the strength of the electrical force present.
24.3. Describing how friction and other mechanical forces are the result of electromagnetic forces.
S9-12:26. Energy and Energy Transformation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Electromagnetic Forces by:
26.1. Giving examples and explaining the wave nature of electromagnetic energy (refraction, diffraction, etc.) and describing and explaining the particle nature of electromagnetic energy (photoelectric effect, Compton effect).
26.2. Relating the particle nature of electromagnetic waves to their frequencies and to discrete changes in energy levels within atoms.
S9-12:27. Energy and Energy Transformation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Electromagnetic Forces by:
27.1. Describing through words, models, or diagrams the presence of electromagnetic forces in an atom.
27.2. Comparing and contrasting the electromagnetic and gravitational forces between the particles that make up an atom.
27.3. Explaining in words, models or diagrams how electric currents produce magnetic fields and how moving fields and how moving magnets produce electric currents.
S9-12:28. Energy and Energy Transformation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Light Energy by:
28.1. Investigating examples of wave phenomena (e.g., ripples in water, sound waves, seismic waves).
28.2. Comparing and contrasting electromagnetic waves to mechanical waves.
VT.7.13. The Living World: Organisms, Evolution, and Interdependence: Students understand the characteristics of organisms, see patterns of similarity and differences among living organisms, understand the role of evolution, and recognize the interdependence of all systems that support life.
S9-12:30. Survival of Organisms: Students demonstrate their understanding of Cell Structure and Function - Survival Requirements by:
30.1. Predicting the direction of movement of substances across a membrane.
30.2. Developing a model that illustrates the interdependence of cellular organelles (mitochondria, ribosomes, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm) in biochemical pathways within the cell (e.g. mitochondria and chloroplasts : cellular respiration and photosynthesis; nucleus and ribosomes : DNA transcription and protein synthesis).
30.3. Identifying how the basic (general) shape and structure of each of the four types of organic molecules determine its role in maintaining cell survival (i.e., simple carbohydrates [monosaccharides] can be an energy source as a single molecule and a storage/structural molecule when multiple units are chemically combined - [starch, cellulose, chitin].).
30.4. Explaining that a specific sequence of amino acids determines the shape of a protein (i.e., sickle cell hemoglobin).
S9-12:31. Life Cycles and Reproduction: Students demonstrate their understanding of Reproduction by:
31.1. Developing a model which illustrates how the DNA of all cells/tissues in an organism is produced from a single fertilized egg cell (mitosis).
31.2. Explaining how the nucleotide sequence in DNA (gene) directs the synthesis of specific proteins needed by a cell (e.g., protein synthesis).
S9-12:32. Cell and Tissue Differentiation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Differentiation by:
32.1. Predicting the change in an embryo, caused by disruption of the ectoderm or mesoderm or endoderm during embryonic development (e.g., Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, drugs, injury).
32.2. Comparing the role of various sub-cellular units in unicellular organisms to comparable structures in multicellular organisms (i.e., oral groove, gullet, food vacuole in Paramecium compared to digestive systems in multicellular organisms).
S9-12:33. Chemical Reactions within Cells: Students demonstrate their understanding of how Energy Flow Within Cells Supports an Organism's Survival by:
33.1. Comparing and contrasting the structure of mitochondria and chloroplasts as cell organelles, the interrelatedness of their functions, and their importance to the survival of all cells.
33.2. Describing a possible flow of energy from the environment through an organism to the cellular level, and through the cell from assimilation through storage in ATP.
33.3. Investigating and describing enzyme action under a variety of chemical and physical conditions.
S9-12:34. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Energy Flow in an Ecosystem by:
34.1. Developing a model that compares the energy at different trophic levels in a given ecosystem.
S9-12:35. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Food Webs in an Ecosystem by:
35.1. Designing (and implementing) an investigation that demonstrates the chemical relationship between carbon compounds of the organisms in a food web (e.g., dyed yeast - Paramecium - roundworm).
S9-12:36. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Equilibrium in an Ecosystem by:
36.1. Designing an investigation to compare a natural system with one altered by human activities (e.g., acid rain, eutrophication through agricultural runoff, fertilizer, pollution, solid waste, clear cutting, toxic emissions or conservation and habitat reclamation).
S9-12:37. Interdependence within Ecosystems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Recycling in an Ecosystem by:
37.1. Developing and explaining a model that shows the recycling of inorganic compounds within a natural ecosystem (e.g., Compare worm compost with commercial fertilizer.).
S9-12:38. Classification of Living Things: Students demonstrate their understanding of Classification of Organisms by:
38.1. Developing a graphic representation that illustrates and compares the degree of molecular similarity among several species (e.g., DNA or amino acid sequences).
S9-12:39. Natural Selection/Evolution: Students demonstrate their understanding of Evolution/Natural Selection by:
39.1. Applying the theory of Natural Selection to a scenario depicting change within a given population over time (through many generations) (e.g., bacterial resistance to antibiotics, neck of the giraffe, animal camouflage).
VT.7.14. The Living World: The Human Body: Students demonstrate understanding of the human body heredity, body systems, and individual development and understand the impact of the environment on the human body.
S9-12:40. Heredity: Students demonstrate their understanding of Human Heredity by:
40.1. Modeling and explaining how the structure of DNA is maintained and relates to genes and chromosomes, which code for specific protein molecules within a cell.
40.2. Modeling or diagramming new gene combinations that result from sexual reproduction (e.g., dominant/recessive traits).
40.3. Explaining how alteration of a DNA sequence may affect physical/chemical characteristics of the human body (e.g., sickle-cell anemia, cancer).
40.4. Comparing and contrasting the chromosome content of somatic cells and that of sex cells (gametes).
S9-12:41. Body Systems: Students demonstrate their understanding of Human Body (biochemical) Systems by:
41.1. Diagramming a feedback loop that illustrates how several human body systems work together to restore homeostasis in response to an external stimulus (environmental/.behavioral) (e.g., exercise, fight/flight, stress, drugs, normal cellular metabolism, any nervous system response).
41.2. Explaining examples of how the human body may be affected by the state of the internal environment and by heredity and by life experience (e.g., effects of malnutrition).
41.3. Predicting and explaining how the effect of various physiological factors influences the continuation of the human species (reproductive success) (e.g., anorexia and/or steroid use, radiation/toxic wastes/drug use, mutagenic agents and/or improper diet/obesity).
S9-12:42. Human Disease: Students demonstrate their understanding of the Patterns of Human Health/Disease by:
42.1. Identifying a variety of nonspecific means of protection for the human body and explaining how these maintain human health (i.e., prevent disease).
42.2. Describing the general process of the human immune response to foreign substances and organisms (e.g., phagocyte action and antibody production and maintenance).
42.3. Showing through models/diagrams/graphic organizers how specific biological abnormalities alter the normal functioning of human systems (e.g., feedback diagram).
S9-12:43. Patterns of Human Development: Students demonstrate their understanding of the Patterns of Human Development by:
43.1. Tracing the development of the human embryo from fertilization to gastrula stage, comparing its progress to that of other vertebrate organisms (e.g., amphibians and reptiles and birds and mammals).
43.2. Comparing the gestation of humans and the period of dependency after birth to that of other vertebrates.
43.3. Identifying the important events that occur in each stage (trimester) of human development (e.g., First trimester - embryonic organ systems established, Second trimester - fetal development/organ maturation, Third trimester - overall growth).
43.4. Justifying a position on the use of technology to influence human embryonic or fetal life.
VT.7.15. The Universe, Earth, and The Environment: Theories, Systems, and Forces: Students demonstrate understanding of the earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe in terms of the systems that characterize them, the forces that affect and shape them over time, and the theories that currently explain their evolution.
S9-12:44. Solar System: Students demonstrate their understanding of Characteristics of the Solar System by:
44.1. Comparing the nature and composition of the atmosphere of inner and outer planets.
44.2. Explaining the effect of distance from the sun on the nature of the planets (e.g., inner vs. outer planets).
S9-12:45. Scale, Distances, Star Formation, Theories, Instrumentation: Students demonstrate their understanding of Processes and Change over Time within Systems of the Universe by:
45.1. Describing the process of star formation (i.e. our sun) in relation to its size, including the interaction of the force of gravity, fusion and energy release.
45.2. Explaining the process of the Big Bang Theory and its effect on the Universe today, citing evidence to support its occurrence (Doppler effect/red shift).
45.3. Explaining how technology through time has influenced our understanding of the vastness (i.e., light years) and the nature of the universe (e.g., Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Einstein).
S9-12:46. Earth Materials and the Rock Cycle: Students demonstrate their understanding of Processes and Change over Time within Earth Systems by:
46.1. Investigating and explaining evidence illustrating that despite changes in form, conservation in the amount of earth materials occurs during the Rock Cycle.
46.2. Explaining how the heat (energy) produced by radioactive decay and pressure affects the Rock Cycle.
46.3. Explaining the processes by which elements (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, oxygen atoms) move through the earth's reservoirs (soil, atmosphere, bodies of water, organisms).
S9-12:47. Forces and Changes on the Earth's Surface: Students demonstrate their understanding of Processes and Change over Time within Earth Systems by:
47.1. Creating a model, diagram or computer simulation to demonstrate how convection circulation of the mantle initiates the movement of crustal plates which then causes earthquake and volcanic activity (e.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridge, North American and European plate collisions producing the Green Mountains).
47.2. Analyzing samples of rock sequences to determine the relative age of the rock structure.
47.3. Comparing the usefulness of various methods of determining the age of different rock structures (e.g. relative dating vs. C-dating vs. K-Ar dating. If rock structure is less than 500,000 years old, K-Ar dating cannot be used and Cdating can only be used for tens of thousands of years).
S9-12:48. Atmosphere, Water Cycle, Weather, Seasons: Students demonstrate their understanding of Processes and Change over Time within Earth Systems by:
48.1. Explaining the uniqueness of the earth's characteristics (e.g., solar intensity, gravity related to size of earth, makeup of atmosphere).
48.2. Explaining how water as a molecule is also unique in its ability to retain heat, compared to land and air on earth.
48.3. Diagramming and explaining local and large scale wind systems (e.g., land and sea breezes and global wind patterns, Coriolis effect).
48.4. Predicting weather for a particular location, using weather map data (barometric pressure, frontal systems, isobars, isotherms, mountain effects, lake/ocean effects, ocean currents, temperature/humidity) and examining world weather maps and identifying the most likely locations where extreme weather might occur (e.g., blizzards thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes).
S9-12:49. Natural Resources: Students demonstrate their understanding of Processes and Change within Natural Resources by:
49.1. Comparing the availability of natural resources and the impact of different management plans (e.g., management of forests depends upon use, lumber production, sugarbush, deer habitat, mining, recreation) within the management area (forest, farmland, rivers, streams).
49.2. Choosing a Vermont ecosystem and tracing its succession before and after a damaging event, showing how the ecosystem has been restored through the maintenance of atmosphere quality, generation of soils, control of the water cycle, disposal of wastes and recycling of nutrients (e.g., flooding, former mining sites, glacial impact, deforestation, recovery of rivers from sewage/chemical dumping, burning of fossil fuels).
49.3. Explaining a natural chemical cycle that has been disrupted by human activity and predict what the long term effect will be on organisms (e.g., acid precipitation, global warming. ozone depletion, pollution of water by phosphates, mercury, PCBs, etc.).
49.4. Tracing the processes that are necessary to produce a common, everyday object from the original raw materials to its final destination after human use, considering alternate routes - including extraction of raw material, production and transportation, energy use and waste disposal throughout, packaging and recycling and/or disposal (e.g., aluminum can, steel).