Ohio's Academic Content Standards in Science

Grade Level Indicators

Life Sciences
Students demonstrate an understanding of how living systems function and how they interact with the physical environment. This includes an understanding of the cycling of matter and flow of energy in living systems. An understanding of the characteristics, structure, and function of cells, of organisms and of living systems are developed as well as a deeper understanding of the principles of heredity, biological evolution, and the diversity and interdependence of life. Students also demonstrate an understanding of different historical perspectives, scientific approaches and emerging scientific issues associated with the life sciences.

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Prekindergarten
1.  Identify common needs (e.g., food, air, water) of familiar living things. (ORC Resources) 2.  Begin to differentiate between real and pretend through stories, illustrations, play and other media (e.g., talking flowers or animals). (ORC Resources) 3.  Observe and begin to recognize the ways that environments support life by meeting the unique needs of each organism (e.g., plant/soil, birds/air, fish/water). (ORC Resources) 4.  Match familiar adult family members, plants and animals with their young (e.g., horse/colt, cow/calf). (ORC Resources) 5.  Recognize physical differences among the same class of people, plants or animals (e.g., dogs come in many sizes and colors). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Kindergarten
1.  Explore differences between living and non-living things (e.g., plant-rock). (ORC Resources) 2.  Discover that stories (e.g., cartoons, movies, comics) sometimes give plants and animals characteristics they really do not have (e.g., talking flowers). (ORC Resources) 3.  Describe how plants and animals usually resemble their parents. (ORC Resources) 4.  Investigate variations that exist among individuals of the same kind of plant or animal. (ORC Resources) 5.  Investigate observable features of plants and animals that help them live in different kinds of places. (ORC Resources) 6.  Investigate the habitats of many different kinds of local plants and animals and some of the ways in which animals depend on plants and each other in our community (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 1
1.  Explore that organisms, including people, have basic needs which include air, water, food, living space and shelter. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that food comes from sources other than grocery stores (e.g., farm crops, farm animals, oceans, lakes and forests). (ORC Resources) 3.  Explore that humans and other animals have body parts that help to seek, find and take in food when they are hungry (e.g., sharp teeth, flat teeth, good nose, sharp vision). (ORC Resources) 4.  Investigate that animals eat plants and/or other animals for food and may also use plants or other animals for shelter and nesting. (ORC Resources) 5.  Recognize that seasonal changes can influence the health, survival or activities of organisms. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 2
1.  Explain that animals, including people, need air, water, food, living space and shelter, and plants need air, water, nutrients (e.g., minerals), living space and light to survive. (ORC Resources) 2.  Identify that there are many distinct environments that support different kinds of organisms. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain why organisms can survive only in environments that meet their needs (e.g., organisms that once lived on Earth have disappeared for different reasons such as natural forces or human-caused effects). (ORC Resources) 4.  Compare similarities and differences among individuals of the same kind of plants and animals, including people. (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain that food is a basic need of plants and animals (e.g., plants need sunlight to make food and to grow, animals eat plants and/or other animals for food, food chain) and is important because it is a source of energy (e.g., energy used to play, ride bicycles, read, etc.). (ORC Resources) 6.  Investigate the different structures of plants and animals that help them live in different environments (e.g., lungs, gills, leaves and roots). (ORC Resources) 7.  Compare the habitats of many different kinds of Ohio plants and animals and some of the ways animals depend on plants and each other. (ORC Resources) 8.  Compare the activities of Ohio's common animals (e.g., squirrels, chipmunks, deer, butterflies, bees, ants, bats and frogs) during the different seasons by describing changes in their behaviors and body covering. (ORC Resources) 9.  Compare Ohio plants during the different seasons by describing changes in their appearance. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 3
1.  Compare the life cycles of different animals including birth to adulthood, reproduction and death (e.g., egg-tadpole-frog, egg-caterpillar-chrysalis-butterfly). (ORC Resources) 2.  Relate animal structures to their specific survival functions (e.g., obtaining food, escaping or hiding from enemies). (ORC Resources) 3.  Classify animals according to their characteristics (e.g., body coverings and body structure). (ORC Resources) 4.  Use examples to explain that extinct organisms may resemble organisms that are alive today. (ORC Resources) 5.  Observe and explore how fossils provide evidence about animals that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time. (ORC Resources) 6.  Describe how changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 4
1.  Compare the life cycles of different plants including germination, maturity, reproduction and death. (ORC Resources) 2.  Relate plant structures to their specific functions (e.g., growth, survival and reproduction). (ORC Resources) 3.  Classify common plants according to their characteristics (e.g., tree leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, stems). (ORC Resources) 4.  Observe and explore that fossils provide evidence about plants that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time. (ORC Resources) 5.  Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 5
1.  Describe the role of producers in the transfer of energy entering ecosystems as sunlight to chemical energy through photosynthesis. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain how almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants. (ORC Resources) 3.  Trace the organization of simple food chains and food webs (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers). (ORC Resources) 4.  Summarize that organisms can survive only in ecosystems in which their needs can be met (e.g., food, water, shelter, air, carrying capacity and waste disposal). The world has different ecosystems and distinct ecosystems support the lives of different types of organisms. (ORC Resources) 5.  Support how an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's ecosystem, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the changing physical characteristics of the ecosystem. (ORC Resources) 6.  Analyze how all organisms, including humans, cause changes in their ecosystems and how these changes can be beneficial, neutral or detrimental (e.g., beaver ponds, earthworm burrows, grasshoppers eating plants, people planting and cutting trees, and people introducing a new species). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 6
1.  Explain that many of the basic functions of organisms are carried out by or within cells and are similar in all organisms. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain that multicellular organisms have a variety of specialized cells, tissues, organs and organ systems that perform specialized functions. (ORC Resources) 3.  Identify how plant cells differ from animal cells (e.g., cell wall, chloroplasts). (ORC Resources) 4.  Recognize that an individual organism does not live forever; therefore reproduction is necessary for the continuation of every species and traits are passed on to the next generation through reproduction. (ORC Resources) 5.  Describe that in asexual reproduction all the inherited traits come from a single parent. (ORC Resources) 6.  Describe that in sexual reproduction an egg and sperm unite and some traits come from each parent, so the offspring is never identical to either of its parents. (ORC Resources) 7.  Recognize that likenesses between parents and offspring (e.g., eye color, flower color) are inherited. Other likenesses, such as table manners are learned. (ORC Resources) 8.  Describe how organisms may interact with one another. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 7
1.  Investigate the great variety of body plans and internal structures found in multicellular organisms. (ORC Resources) 2.  Investigate how organisms or populations may interact with one another through symbiotic relationships and how some species have become so adapted to each other that neither could survive without the other (e.g., predator-prey, parasitism, mutualistism, commensalism). (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain how the number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on adequate biotic (living) resources (e.g., plants, animals) and abiotic (non-living) resources (e.g., light, water, soil). (ORC Resources) 4.  Investigate how overpopulation impacts an ecosystem. (ORC Resources) 5.  Explain that some environmental changes occur slowly while others occur rapidly (e.g., forest and pond succession, fires and decomposition). (ORC Resources) 6.  Summarize the ways that natural occurrences and human activity affect the transfer of energy in Earth's ecosystems (e.g., fire, hurricanes, roads, oil spills). (ORC Resources) 7.  Explain that photosynthetic cells convert solar energy into chemical energy that is used to carry on life functions or is transferred to consumers and used to carry on their life functions. (ORC Resources) 8.  Investigate the great diversity among organisms. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 8
1.  Describe that asexual reproduction limits the spread of detrimental characteristics through a species and allows for genetic continuity. (ORC Resources) 2.  Recognize that in sexual reproduction new combinations of traits are produced which may increase or decrease an organism's chances for survival. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain how variations in structure, behavior or physiology allow some organisms to enhance their reproductive success and survival in a particular environment. (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain that diversity of species is developed through gradual processes over many generations (e.g., fossil record). (ORC Resources) 5.  Investigate how an organism adapted to a particular environment may become extinct if the environment, as shown by the fossil record, changes. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 10
1.  Explain that living cells a. are composed of a small number of key chemical elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur) b. are the basic unit of structure and function of all living things c. come from pre-existing cells after life originated, and d. are different from viruses (ORC Resources) 2.  Compare the structure, function and interrelatedness of cell organelles in eukaryotic cells (e.g., nucleus, chromosome, mitochondria, cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplast, cilia, flagella) and prokaryotic cells. (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain the characteristics of life as indicated by cellular processes including a. homeostasis b. energy transfers and transformation c. transportation of molecules d. disposal of wastes e. synthesis of new molecules (ORC Resources) 4.  Summarize the general processes of cell division and differentiation, and explain why specialized cells are useful to organisms and explain that complex multicellular organisms are formed as highly organized arrangements of differentiated cells. (ORC Resources) 5.  Illustrate the relationship of the structure and function of DNA to protein synthesis and the characteristics of an organism. (ORC Resources) 6.  Explain that a unit of hereditary information is called a gene, and genes may occur in different forms called alleles (e.g., gene for pea plant height has two alleles, tall and short). (ORC Resources) 7.  Describe that spontaneous changes in DNA are mutations, which are a source of genetic variation. When mutations occur in sex cells, they may be passed on to future generations; mutations that occur in body cells may affect the functioning of that cell or the organism in which that cell is found. (ORC Resources) 8.  Use the concepts of Mendelian and non-Mendelian genetics (e.g., segregation, independent assortment, dominant and recessive traits, sex-linked traits, jumping genes) to explain inheritance. (ORC Resources) 9.  Describe how matter cycles and energy flows through different levels of organization in living systems and between living systems and the physical environment. Explain how some energy is stored and much is dissipated into the environment as thermal energy (e.g., food webs and energy pyramids). (ORC Resources) 10.  Describe how cells and organisms acquire and release energy (photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, cellular respiration and fermentation). (ORC Resources) 11.  Explain that living organisms use matter and energy to synthesize a variety of organic molecules (e.g., proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids) and to drive life processes (e.g., growth, reacting to the environment, reproduction and movement). (ORC Resources) 12.  Describe that biological classification represents how organisms are related with species being the most fundamental unit of the classification system. Relate how biologists arrange organisms into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities and differences that reflect their evolutionary relationships. (ORC Resources) 13.  Explain that the variation of organisms within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of a species will survive under gradually changing environmental conditions. (ORC Resources) 14.  Relate diversity and adaptation to structures and their functions in living organisms (e.g., adaptive radiation). (ORC Resources) 15.  Explain how living things interact with biotic and abiotic components of the environment (e.g., predation, competition, natural disasters and weather). (ORC Resources) 16.  Relate how distribution and abundance of organisms and populations in ecosystems are limited by the ability of the ecosystem to recycle materials and the availability of matter, space and energy. (ORC Resources) 17.  Conclude that ecosystems tend to have cyclic fluctuations around a state of approximate equilibrium that can change when climate changes, when one or more new species appear as a result of immigration or when one or more species disappear. (ORC Resources) 18.  Describe ways that human activities can deliberately or inadvertently alter the equilibrium in ecosystems. Explain how changes in technology/biotechnology can cause significant changes, either positive or negative, in environmental quality and carrying capacity. (ORC Resources) 19.  Illustrate how uses of resources at local, state, regional, national, and global levels have affected the quality of life (e.g., energy production, sustainable vs. nonsustainable agriculture). (ORC Resources) 20.  Recognize that a change in gene frequency (genetic composition) in a population over time is a foundation of biological evolution. (ORC Resources) 21.  Explain that natural selection provides the following mechanism for evolution; undirected variation in inherited characteristics exist within every species. These characteristics may give individuals an advantage or disadvantage compared to others in surviving and reproducing. The advantaged offspring are more likely to survive and reproduce. Therefore, the proportion of individuals that have advantageous characteristics will increase. When an environment changes, the survival value of some inherited characteristics may change. (ORC Resources) 22.  Describe historical scientific developments that occurred in evolutionary thought (e.g., Lamarck and Darwin, Mendelian Genetics and modern synthesis). (ORC Resources) 23.  Deleted from the Academic Content Standards. (2/2006) (ORC Resources) 24.  Analyze how natural selection and other evolutionary mechanisms (e.g. genetic drift, immigration, emigration, mutation) and their consequences provide a scientific explanation for the diversity and unity of past life forms, as depicted in the fossil record, and present life forms. (ORC Resources) 25.  Explain that life on Earth is thought to have begun as simple, one celled organisms approximately 4 billion years ago. During most of the history of Earth only single celled microorganisms existed, but once cells with nuclei developed about a billion years ago, increasingly complex multicellular organisms evolved. (ORC Resources) 26.  Use historical examples to explain how new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived. These ideas are often rejected by the scientific establishment; sometimes spring from unexpected findings; and usually grow slowly through contributions from many different investigators (e.g., biological evolution, germ theory, biotechnology, discovering germs). (ORC Resources) 27.  Describe advances in life sciences that have important long-lasting effects on science and society (e.g., biological evolution, germ theory, biotechnology, discovering germs). (ORC Resources) 28.  Analyze and investigate emerging scientific issues (e.g., genetically modified food, stem cell research, genetic research, cloning). (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 11
1.  Describe how the maintenance of a relatively stable internal environment is required for the continuation of life, and explain how stability is challenged by changing physical, chemical and environmental conditions as well as the presence of pathogens. (ORC Resources) 2.  Recognize that chemical bonds of food molecules contain energy. Energy is released when the bonds of food molecules are broken and new compounds with lower energy bonds are formed. Some of this energy is released as thermal energy. (ORC Resources) 3.  Relate how birth rates, fertility rates and death rates are affected by various environmental factors. (ORC Resources) 4.  Examine the contributing factors of human population growth that impact natural systems such as levels of education, children in the labor force, education and employment of women, infant mortality rates, costs of raising children, birth control methods, and cultural norms. (ORC Resources) 5.  Investigate the impact on the structure and stability of ecosystems due to changes in their biotic and abiotic components as a result of human activity. (ORC Resources) 6.  Predict some possible impacts on an ecosystem with the introduction of a non-native species. (ORC Resources) 7.  Show how populations can increase through linear or exponential growth with corresponding effects on resource use and environmental pollution. (ORC Resources) 8.  Recognize that populations can reach or temporarily exceed the carrying capacity of a given environment. Show that the limitation is not just the availability of space but the number of organisms in relation to resources and the capacity of earth systems to support life. (ORC Resources) 9.  Give examples of how human activity can accelerate rates of natural change and can have unforeseen consequences. (ORC Resources) 10.  Explain how environmental factors can influence heredity or development of organisms. (ORC Resources) 11.  Investigate issues of environmental quality at local, regional, national and global levels such as population growth, resource use, population distribution, over-consumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economics, politics and different ways humans view Earth. (ORC Resources) 12.  Recognize that ecosystems change when significant climate changes occur or when one or more new species appear as a result of immigration or speciation. (ORC Resources) 13.  Describe how the process of evolution has changed the physical world over geologic time. (ORC Resources) 14.  Describe how geologic time can be estimated by observing rock sequences and using fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations. Recognize that current methods include using the known decay rates of radioactive isotopes present in rocks to measure the time since the rock was formed. (ORC Resources)

PreK | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Grade 12
1.  Recognize that information stored in DNA provides the instructions for assembling protein molecules used by the cells that determine the characteristics of the organism. (ORC Resources) 2.  Explain why specialized cells/structures are useful to plants and animals (e.g., stoma, phloem, xylem, blood, nerve, muscle, egg and sperm). (ORC Resources) 3.  Explain that the Sun is essentially the primary source of energy for life. Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between the atoms of carbon-containing (organic) molecules. (ORC Resources) 4.  Explain that carbon-containing molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, sugars and fats). In addition, the energy stored in bonds between the atoms (chemical energy) can be used as sources of energy for life processes. (ORC Resources) 5.  Examine the inheritance of traits through one or more genes and how a single gene can influence more than one trait. (ORC Resources) 6.  Explain how developmental differentiation is regulated through the expression of different genes. (ORC Resources) 7.  Relate diversity and adaptation to structures and functions of living organisms at various levels of organization. (ORC Resources) 8.  Based on the structure and stability of ecosystems and their nonliving components, predict the biotic and abiotic changes in such systems when disturbed (e.g. introduction of non-native species, climatic change, etc.). (ORC Resources) 9.  Explain why and how living systems require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical organization. Explain that with death and the cessation of energy input, living systems rapidly disintegrate toward more disorganized states. (ORC Resources) 10.  Explain additional components of the evolution theory, including genetic drift, immigration, emigration and mutation. (ORC Resources) 11.  Trace the historical development of a biological theory or idea (e.g., genetics, cytology and germ theory). (ORC Resources) 12.  Describe advances in life sciences that have important, long-lasting effects on science and society (e.g., biotechnology). (ORC Resources)

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