Alabama State Course of Study Science

Kindergarten 6.) Compare size, shape, structure, and basic needs of living things. • Identifying similarities of offspring and their parents 9.)Identify seasons of the year. • Describing seasonal changes in the weather

1st Grade 1.) Describe effects of forces on objects, including change of speed, direction, and position. 4.) Describe survival traits of living things, including color, shape, size, texture, and covering. • Describing a variety of habitats and natural homes of animals 6.)Recognize evidence of animals that no longer exist 9.) Identify ways to conserve Earth's resources

2nd Grade 4.) Describe observable effects of forces, including buoyancy, gravity, and magnetism. Examples: - buoyancy-boat floating on water, 6.) Identify characteristics of animals, including behavior, size, and body covering • Comparing existing animals to extinct animals Examples: iguana to stegosaurus, elephant to wooly mammoth • Identifying migration and hibernation as survival strategies

3rd Grade 8.) Identify how organisms are classified in the Animalia and Plantae kingdoms. 13.)Describe ways to sustain natural resources, including recycling, reusing, conserving, and protecting the environment

4th Grade 5.) Describe the interdependence of plants and animals. • Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular habitats Examples: - behaviors-migration, hibernation, mimicry; - body structures-quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet • Describing life cycles of various animals to include incomplete and complete metamorphosis Examples: damsel fly, mealworms 6.) Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms. • Describing the grouping of organisms into populations, communities, and ecosystems

5th Grade 9.) Describe the relationship of populations within a habitat to various communities and ecosystems. • Describing the relationship between food chains and food webs • Describing symbiotic relationships

7th Grade 7.) Describe biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. Examples: - biotic-plants, animals; - abiotic-climate, water, soil • Classifying organisms as autotrophs or heterotrophs • Arranging the sequence of energy flow in an ecosystem through food webs, food chains, and energy pyramids 

Biology (Grades 9-12) 5.) Identify cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems as levels of organization in the biosphere. 11.) Classify animals according to type of skeletal structure, method of fertilization and reproduction, body symmetry, body coverings, and locomotion. Examples: - skeletal structure-vertebrates, invertebrates; - fertilization-external, internal; - reproduction-sexual, asexual; - body symmetry-bilateral, radial, asymmetrical; - body coverings-feathers, scales, fur; - locomotion-cilia, flagella, pseudopodia 12.) Describe protective adaptations of animals, including mimicry, camouflage, beak type, migration, and hibernation. • Identifying ways in which the theory of evolution explains the nature and diversity of organisms • Describing natural selection, survival of the fittest, geographic isolation, and fossil record 13.) Trace the flow of energy as it decreases through the trophic levels from producers to the quaternary level in food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids. 14.) Trace biogeochemical cycles through the environment, including water, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. • Relating natural disasters, climate changes, nonnative species, and human activity to the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems 15.) Identify biomes based on environmental factors and native organisms. Example: tundra-permafrost, low humidity, lichens, polar bears 16.) Identify density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors that affect populations in an ecosystem. Examples: - density-dependent-disease, predator-prey relationships, availability of food and water; - density-independent-natural disasters, climate • Discriminating among symbiotic relationships, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism 

Environmental Science (Grades 9-12) 7.) Identify reasons coastal waters serve as an important resource. Examples: economic stability, biodiversity, recreation • Classifying biota of estuaries, marshes, tidal pools, wetlands, beaches, and inlets • Comparing components of marine water to components of inland bodies of water 8. ) Identify major contaminants in water resulting from natural phenomena, homes, industry, and agriculture. • Describing the eutrophication of water by industrial effluents and agricultural runoffs • Classifying sources of water pollution as point and nonpoint 12.) Identify positive and negative effects of human activities on biodiversity. • Identifying endangered and extinct species locally, regionally, and worldwide • Identifying causes for species extinction locally, regionally, and worldwide

Zoology (Grades 9-12) 7.) Explain how species adapt to changing environments to enhance survival and reproductive success, including changes in structure, behavior, or physiology. Examples: aestivation, thicker fur, diurnal activity 8.)Differentiate among organisms that are threatened, endangered, and extinct. Examples: - threatened-bald eagle, - endangered-California condor, - extinct-dodo • Identifying causative factors of decreasing population size Examples: overcrowding resulting in greater incidence of disease, fire destroying habitat and food sources Marine Biology 6.) Describe components of major marine ecosystems, including estuaries, coral reefs, benthic communities, and open-ocean communities. 9.) Arrange various forms of marine life from most simple to most complex. • Identifying characteristics of marine vertebrates Examples: fishes, reptiles, birds, mammals

STANDARD VI: The student will understand concepts of interdependence. OBJECTIVE 1.) Demonstrate an understanding of factors that affect the dynamic equilibrium of populations and ecosystems · Identify species that are competing for resources and predict outcomes of that competition. · Identify and define biotic and abiotic components of different environments. · Identify human activities that affect the dynamic equilibrium of populations and ecosystems. · Identify factors and relationships— such as predator/prey— that affect population dynamics and ecosystems. · Explain why diversity within a species is important and how heritable traits ensure survival.