Ohio's Academic Content Standards in Science

Earth and Space Sciences
Students demonstrate an understanding about how Earth systems and processes interact in the geosphere resulting in the habitability of Earth. This includes demonstrating an understanding of the composition of the Universe, the Solar System and Earth. In addition, it includes understanding the properties and the interconnected nature of Earth's systems, processes that shape Earth and Earth's history. Students also demonstrate an understanding of how the concepts and principles of energy, matter, motion and forces explain Earth systems, the Solar System, and the Universe. Finally, they grasp an understanding of the historical perspectives, scientific approaches and emerging scientific issues associated with Earth and space sciences.

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Prekindergarten
1.  Begin to use terms such as night and day, sun and moon to describe personal observations. (ORC Resources) 2.  Observe and represent the pattern of day and night through play, art materials or conversation. (ORC Resources) 3.  Observe, explore, and compare changes that animals and plants contribute to in their surroundings (e.g., falling leaves, holes left by worms or squirrels). (ORC Resources) 4.  Explore and compare changes in the environment over time (e.g., leaves changing colors, outdoor temperature, plants growing). (ORC Resources) 5.  Explore how their actions may cause changes in the environment that are sometimes reversible (e.g., hand in flowing water changes the current) and sometimes irreversible (e.g., picked flowers wilt and die). (ORC Resources) 6.  Demonstrate understanding of fast and slow relative to time, motion and phenomena (e.g., ice melting, plant growth). (ORC Resources) 7.  Observe and use language or drawings to describe changes in the weather (e.g., sunny to cloudy day). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Kindergarten
1.  Observe that the Sun can be seen only in the daytime, but the Moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explore that animals and plants cause changes to their surroundings. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explore that sometimes change is too fast to see and sometimes change is too slow to see. (ORC Resources) 4.  Observe and describe day-to-day weather changes (e.g., today is hot, yesterday we had rain). (ORC Resources) 5.  Observe and describe seasonal changes in weather. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 1
1.  Identify that resources are things that we get from the living (e.g., forests) and nonliving (e.g., minerals, water) environment and that resources are necessary to meet the needs and wants of a population. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that the supply of many resources is limited but the supply can be extended through careful use, decreased use, reusing and/or recycling. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain that all organisms cause changes in the environment where they live; the changes can be very noticeable or slightly noticeable, fast or slow. (e.g., spread of grass cover slowing soil erosion, tree roots slowly breaking sidewalks). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 2
1.  Recognize that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count. (ORC Resources) 2.  Observe and describe how the Sun, Moon and stars all appear to move slowly across the sky. (ORC Resources) 3.  Observe and describe how the Moon appears a little different every day but looks nearly the same again about every four weeks. (ORC Resources) 4.  Observe and describe that some weather changes occur throughout the day and some changes occur in a repeating seasonal pattern. (ORC Resources) 5.  Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature and precipitation. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 3
1.  Compare distinct properties of rocks (e.g., color, layering, texture). (ORC Resources) 2.  Observe and investigate that rocks are often found in layers. (ORC Resources) 3.  Describe that smaller rocks come from the breakdown of larger rocks through the actions of plants and weather. (ORC Resources) 4.  Observe and describe the composition of soil (e.g., small pieces of rock and decomposed pieces of plants and animals, and products of plants and animals). (ORC Resources) 5.  Investigate the properties of soil (e.g., color, texture, capacity to retain water, ability to support plant growth). (ORC Resources) 6.  Investigate that soils are often found in layers and can be different from place to place. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 4
1.  Explain that air surrounds us, takes up space, moves around us as wind, and may be measured using barometric pressure. (ORC Resources) 2.  Identify how water exists in the air in different forms (e.g., in clouds, fog, rain, snow and hail). (ORC Resources) 3.  Investigate how water changes from one state to another (e.g., freezing, melting, condensation, evaporation). (ORC Resources) 4.  Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation, and barometric pressure. (ORC Resources) 5.  Record local weather information on a calendar or map and describe changes over a period of time (e.g., barometric pressure, temperature, precipitation symbols, cloud conditions). (ORC Resources) 6.  Trace how weather patterns generally move from west to east in the United States. (ORC Resources) 7.  Describe the weather which accompanies cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus and stratus clouds. (ORC Resources) 8.  Describe how wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas producing characteristic landforms (e.g., dunes, deltas, glacial moraines). (ORC Resources) 9.  Identify and describe how freezing, thawing and plant growth reshape the land surface by causing the weathering of rock. (ORC Resources) 10.  Describe evidence of changes on Earth's surface in terms of slow processes (e.g., erosion, weathering, mountain building, deposition) and rapid processes (e.g. volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 5
1.  Describe how night and day are caused by Earth's rotation. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that Earth is one of several planets to orbit the Sun, and that the Moon orbits Earth. (ORC Resources) 3.  Describe the characteristics of Earth and its orbit about the Sun (e.g., three-fourths of Earth's surface covered by a layer of water [some of it frozen], the entire planet surrounded by a thin blanket of air, elliptical orbit, tilted axis, spherical planet). (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain that stars are like the Sun, some being smaller and some larger, but so far away that they look like points of light. (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain how the supply of many non-renewable resources is limited and can be extended through reducing, reusing and recycling but cannot be extended indefinitely. (ORC Resources) 6.  Investigate ways Earth's renewable resources (e.g., fresh water, air, wildlife and trees) can be maintained. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 6
1.  Describe the rock cycle and explain that there are sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks that have distinct properties (e.g., color, texture) and are formed in different ways. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that rocks are made of one or more minerals. (ORC Resources) 3.  Identify minerals by their characteristic properties. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 7
1.  Explain the biogeochemical cycles which move materials between the lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water) and atmosphere (air). (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that Earth's capacity to absorb and recycle materials naturally (e.g., smoke, smog, sewage) can change the environmental quality depending on the length of time involved (e.g. global warming). (ORC Resources) 3.  Describe the water cycle and explain the transfer of energy between the atmosphere and hydrosphere. (ORC Resources) 4.  Analyze data on the availability of fresh water that is essential for life and for most industrial and agricultural processes. Describe how rivers, lakes and groundwater can be depleted or polluted becoming less hospitable to life and even becoming unavailable or unsuitable for life. (ORC Resources) 5.  Make simple weather predictions based on the changing cloud types associated with frontal systems. (ORC Resources) 6.  Determine how weather observations and measurements are combined to produce weather maps and that data for a specific location at one point in time can be displayed in a station model. (ORC Resources) 7.  Read a weather map to interpret local, regional and national weather. (ORC Resources) 8.  Describe how temperature and precipitation determine climatic zones (biomes) (e.g., desert, grasslands, forests, tundra, alpine). (ORC Resources) 9.  Describe the connection between the water cycle and weather-related phenomenon (e.g., tornadoes, floods, droughts, hurricanes). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 8
1.  Describe how objects in the Solar System are in regular and predictable motions that explain such phenomena as days, years, seasons, eclipses, tides and moon cycles. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that gravitational force is the dominant force determining motions in the Solar System and in particular keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun. (ORC Resources) 3.  Compare the orbits and composition of comets and asteroids with that of Earth. (ORC Resources) 4.  Describe the effect that asteroids or meteoroids have when moving through space and sometimes entering planetary atmospheres (e.g., meteor-"shooting star" and meteorite). (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain that the universe consists of billions of galaxies that are classified by shape. (ORC Resources) 6.  Explain interstellar distances are measured in light years (e.g., the nearest star beyond the sun is 4.3 light years away). (ORC Resources) 7.  Examine the life cycle of a star and predict the next likely stage of a star. (ORC Resources) 8.  Name and describe tools used to study the universe (e.g., telescopes, probes, satellites and spacecraft). (ORC Resources) 9.  Describe the interior structure of Earth and Earth's crust as divided into tectonic plates riding on top of the slow moving currents of magma in the mantle. (ORC Resources) 10.  Explain that most major geological events (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hot spots and mountain building) result from plate motion. (ORC Resources) 11.  Use models to analyze the size and shape of Earth, its surface and its interior (e.g., globes, topographic maps, satellite images). (ORC Resources) 12.  Explain that some processes involved in the rock cycle are directly related to thermal energy and forces in the mantle that drive plate motions. (ORC Resources) 13.  Describe how landforms are created through a combination of destructive (e.g., weathering and erosion) and constructive processes (e.g., crustal deformation, volcanic eruptions and deposition of sediment). (ORC Resources) 14.  Explain that folding, faulting and uplifting can rearrange the rock layers so the youngest is not always found on top. (ORC Resources) 15.  Illustrate how the three primary types of plate boundaries (transform, divergent and convergent) cause different landforms (e.g., mountains, volcanoes, ocean trenches). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 9
1.  Describe that stars produce energy from nuclear reactions and that processes in stars have led to the formation of all elements beyond hydrogen and helium. (ORC Resources) 2.  Describe the current scientific evidence that supports the theory of the explosive expansion of the universe, the Big Bang, over 10 billion years ago. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain that gravitational forces govern the characteristics and movement patterns of the planets, comets and asteroids in the Solar System. (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain the relationships of the oceans to the lithosphere and atmosphere (e.g., transfer of energy, ocean currents, landforms). (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain how the slow movement of material within Earth results from a. thermal energy transfer (conduction and convection) from the deep interior b. the action of gravitational forces on regions of different density (ORC Resources) 6.  Explain the results of plate tectonic activity (e.g., magma generation, igneous intrusion, metamorphism, volcanic action, earthquakes, faulting and folding). (ORC Resources) 7.  Explain sea-floor spreading and continental drift using scientific evidence (e.g., fossil distributions, magnetic reversals and radiometric dating). (ORC Resources) 8.  Use historical examples to explain how new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived; are often initially rejected by the scientific establishment; sometimes spring from unexpected findings; and usually grow slowly through contributions from many different investigators (e.g., heliocentric theory and plate tectonics theory). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 10
1.  Summarize the relationship between the climatic zone and the resultant biomes. (This includes explaining the nature of the rainfall and temperature of the mid-latitude climatic zone that supports the deciduous forest.) (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain climate and weather patterns associated with certain geographic locations and features (e.g., tornado alley, tropical hurricanes and lake effect snow). (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain how geologic time can be estimated by multiple methods (e.g., rock sequences, fossil correlation, radiometric dating). (ORC Resources) 4.  Describe how organisms on Earth contributed to the dramatic change in oxygen content of Earth's early atmosphere. (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain how the acquisition and use of resources, urban growth and waste disposal can accelerate natural change and impact the quality of life. (ORC Resources) 6.  Describe ways that human activity can alter biogeochemical cycles (e.g., carbon and nitrogen cycles) as well as food webs and energy pyramids (e.g., pest control, legume rotation crops vs. chemical fertilizers). (ORC Resources) 7.  Describe advances and issues in Earth and space science that have important long-lasting effects on science and society (e.g., geologic time scales, global warming, depletion of resources, exponential population growth). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 11
1.  Describe how the early Earth was different from the planet we live on today, and explain the formation of the Sun, Earth and the rest of the Solar System from a nebular cloud of dust and gas approximately 4.5 billion years ago. (ORC Resources) 2.  Analyze how the regular and predictable motions of Earth, Sun and Moon explain phenomena on Earth (e.g., seasons, tides, eclipses and phases of the Moon). (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain heat and energy transfers in and out of the atmosphere and its involvement in weather and climate (radiation, conduction, convection and advection). (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain the impact of oceanic and atmospheric currents on weather and climate. (ORC Resources) 5.  Use appropriate data to analyze and predict upcoming trends in global weather patterns (e.g., el Nino and la Nina, melting glaciers and icecaps, changes in ocean surface temperatures). (ORC Resources) 6.  Explain how interactions among Earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere have resulted in the ongoing changes of Earth's system. (ORC Resources) 7.  Describe the effects of particulates and gases in the atmosphere including those originating from volcanic activity. (ORC Resources) 8.  Describe the normal adjustments of Earth, which may be hazardous for humans. Recognize that humans live at the interface between the atmosphere driven by solar energy and the upper mantle where convection creates changes in Earth's solid crust. Realize that as societies have grown, become stable and come to value aspects of the environment, vulnerability to natural processes of change has increased. (ORC Resources) 9.  Explain the effects of biomass and human activity on climate (e.g., climatic change, global warming). (ORC Resources) 10.  Interpret weather maps and their symbols to predict changing weather conditions worldwide (e.g., monsoons, hurricanes and cyclones). (ORC Resources) 11.  Analyze how materials from human societies (e.g., radioactive waste, air pollution) affect both physical and chemical cycles of Earth. (ORC Resources) 12.  Explain ways in which humans have had a major effect on other species (e.g., the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use, which decreases space available to other species and pollution, which changes the chemical composition of air, soil and water). (ORC Resources) 13.  Explain how human behavior affects the basic processes of natural ecosystems and the quality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. (ORC Resources) 14.  Conclude that Earth has finite resources and explain that humans deplete some resources faster than they can be renewed. (ORC Resources) 15.  Use historical examples to show how new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived; are often rejected by the social establishment; sometimes spring from unexpected findings; and usually grow slowly through contributions from many different investigators (e.g., global warming, Heliocentric Theory, Theory of Continental Drift). (ORC Resources) 16.  Describe advances in Earth and space science that have important long-lasting effects on science and society (e.g., global warming, heliocentric theory, plate tectonics theory). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 12
1.  Explain how scientists obtain information about the universe by using technology to detect electromagnetic radiation that is emitted, reflected or absorbed by stars and other objects. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain how the large-scale motion of objects in the universe is governed by gravitational forces and detected by observing electromagnetic radiation. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain how information about the universe is inferred by understanding that stars and other objects in space emit, reflect or absorb electromagnetic radiation, which we then detect. (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain how astronomers infer that the whole universe is expanding by understanding how light seen from distant galaxies has longer apparent wavelengths than comparable light sources close to Earth. (ORC Resources) 5.  Investigate how thermal energy transfers in the world's oceans impact physical features (e.g., ice caps, oceanic and atmospheric currents) and weather patterns. (ORC Resources) 6.  Describe how scientists estimate how much of a given resource is available on Earth. (ORC Resources)