“There can be no doubt that scientific literacy . . .is now more important than ever before.‖—“A Nation at Risk Revisited‖ToGlenn Theodore SeaborgBorn: April 19, 1912, Ishpeming, MichiganDied: February 25, 1999, Lafayette, CaliforniaGlenn Theodore Seaborg was instrumental in thedesign and development of the Science ContentStandards. Dr. Seaborg was one of the foremost scien-tific minds of the twentieth century, and his legacy iswithout parallel:•Research scientist, discoverer of countless atomicisotopes and ten elements, including plutoniumand the element that bears his name, seaborgium,and formulator of the ―actinide concept‖ of heavyelement electronic structure, one of the most sig-nificant changes in the periodic table of elementssince Mendeleev’s nineteenth-century design•Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commissionunder presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon•Cofounder of the Lawrence Hall of Science,Berkeley•Recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry•Member of President Reagan’s National Commis­sion on Excellence in Education•Recipient of the National Medal of Science•Chairman, Science Committee, California Commis­sion for the Establishment of Academic Contentand Performance StandardsThe vitality of a democracy assumes a certain“core of knowledge‖ shared by everyone whichserves as a unifying force. It is fundamental to theeffectiveness of our democratic system that ourcitizens be able to make informed judgments onthe more and more complex issues of scientificand technological public policy.—“A Nation at Risk Revisited‖iii California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009ContentsA Message from the State Board of Education and the State Superintendentof Public Instruction (vi)Introduction (vii)Kindergarten (1)Grade One (3)Grade Two (5)Grade Three (8)Grade Four (11)Grade Five (14)Grade Six (18)Grade Seven (22)Grade Eight (26)Grades Nine Through Twelve (31)v California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009A Message from the State Board of Education and theState Superintendent of Public InstructionIn 1998 California adopted academically rigorouscontent standards in science. The adoption of stan-dards in each core subject area marked a turning pointin the education reform movement that began in 1983with the report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative forEducational Reform, by the National Commission onExcellence in Education. Until then, the reformmovement had focused on important but largelystructural improvements, such as more instructionaltime, minimum course requirements for high schooldiplomas, and an emphasis on local planning efforts topromote efficiency and effectiveness. The desire toimprove student achievement was there, but the focuson content—that is, a comprehensive, specific visionof�what students actually needed to know and be ableto do—was lacking.Standards are a bold initiative.Through content standards in the core subjects,California began to redefine the state’s role in publiceducation. For the first time, the knowledge and skillsthat students needed to acquire were explicitly statedfor the most part by grade level, although sciencestandards at the high school level were organized bydiscipline. The standards are rigorous. Students whomaster this content are on a par with those in the besteducational systems in other states and nations. Thecontent is attainable by all students, given sufficienttime, except for those few who have severe disabilities.We continue to regard the standards as firm but notunyielding; they will be modified in future years toreflect new research and scholarship.Standards describe what to teach,not how to teach it.Standards-based education maintains California’stradition of respect for local control of schools. To helpstudents achieve at high levels, local educators—withthe full support and cooperation of families, busi-nesses, and community partners—have taken thesestandards and designed the specific curricular andinstructional strategies that best deliver the content totheir students. Their efforts have been admirable.Standards are here to stay.Since the science content standards were adopted,much has been done to align all of the state’s effortsin curriculum, instruction, assessment, teacherpreparation, and professional development to thestandards. Educators now see these science contentstandards as the foundation for their work, not as anadditional layer.Standards are a continuing commitmentto excellence.The adoption of science content standards andthe work to align the whole of the educational systemto them have placed our state on the path to successin science education. The standards have broughtcertainty of knowledge and purpose to all. They arecomprehensive and specific. They reflect our continu-ing commitment to excellence.REED HASTINGSPresident, State Board of EducationJACK O’CONNELLState Superintendent of Public InstructionJUNE 2003vi California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009Introduction The Science Content Standards for CaliforniaPublic Schools, Kindergarten Through GradeTwelve represents the content of scienceeducation and includes the essential skillsand knowledge students will need to bescientifically literate citizens in the twentyfirst century. By adopting these standards, the State Board of Education affirms itscommitment to provide a world-class scienceeducation for all California students. Thesestandards reflect the diligent work andcommitment of the Commission for theEstablishment of Academic Content andPerformance Standards (Academic StandardsCommission) and the commission’s ScienceCommittee to define the common academiccontent of science education at every gradelevel.Glenn T. Seaborg, one of the great scien-tific minds of this time and of all times,chaired the Academic Standards Commis-sion’s Science Committee. In ―A Letter to aYoung Scientist,‖ Dr. Seaborg said, ―Scienceis an organized body of knowledge and amethod of proceeding to an extension of thisknowledge by hypothesis and experiment.‖1The National Science Education Standardsreflects this view of science and the balancebetween the ―body of knowledge‖ and the“method‖ of scientific inquiry.2The stan-1Gifted Young in Science: Potential Through Performance.Edited by Paul Brandwein and others. Arlington, Va.:National Science Teachers Association, 1989.2National Academy of Sciences, National Science EducationStandards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences,1995.dards provide the opportunity to makesubstantial and significant improvements inCalifornia’s education system.The standards include grade-level specificcontent for kindergarten through grade eight.A significant feature is the focus on earthsciences in the sixth grade, life sciences in theseventh grade, and physical sciences in theeighth grade. The standards for grades ninethrough twelve are divided into four contentstrands: physics, chemistry, biology/lifesciences, and earth sciences. An Investigationand Experimentation strand describes aprogressive set of expectations for each gradefrom kindergarten through grade eight, andone set of Investigation and Experimentationstandards is given for grades nine throughtwelve.The elementary and middle school stan-dards provide the foundational skills andknowledge for students to learn core con-cepts, principles, and theories of science atthe high school level. The standards areorganized in sets under broad concepts. Thisorganization is intended to help the readermove between topics and follow them as thecontent systematically increases in depth,breadth, and complexity through the gradelevels.The Science Content Standards serves as thebasis of statewide student assessments, thescience curriculum framework, and theevaluation of instructional materials. TheScience Framework for California Public Schoolsvii California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009INTRODUCTION aligns with the standards. The frameworksuggests ways in which to use the standardsand make connections within and acrossgrades; it also provides guidance for instruc-tional planning. However, the standards donot prescribe the methods of instruction.Students should have the opportunity tolearn science by receiving direct instruction,by reading textbooks and supplementalmaterials, by solving standards-based prob-lems, and by doing laboratory investigationsand experiments. The Investigation andExperimentation standards should be inte-gral to, and directly and specifically support,the teaching of the content strands anddisciplines.Development of the StandardsThe California State Board of Educationand the Academic Standards Commissionreviewed the National Science EducationStandards, the Benchmarks for Science Literacy,3and science standards and frameworks fromnumerous local school districts in California,from around the country, and from othernations with successful science educationprograms. In addition, hundreds of pages ofwritten recommendations and hundreds ofhours of testimony were considered. TheAcademic Standards Commission hostednine community meetings, and the StateBoard of Education held five public hearingsthroughout California. Families, educators,and business and community leaders partici-pated and helped define key issues. Expertreviewers around the nation submittedformal comments on the drafts and alsoparticipated in invited public testimony.3American Association for the Advancement of Sciencestaff, Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1994.Their ideas contributed substantively to thefinal standards adopted by the State Boardof�Education.Highlights of the StandardsThese science standards challenge not onlyCalifornia’s studen ts but also the entire K–12education system. The elementary schoolstandards call for early introduction ofscience facts and terms and ask the multiplesubject teacher to find time in the school day for science education. Quality textbooks andreading materials in science are now avail-able to support students in mastering thesestandards as they develop their reading skillsand vocabulary. The Investigation andExperimentation standards allow students tomake a concrete association between scienceand the study of nature as well as providethem with many opportunities to take mea-surements and use their basic mathematicalskills.The middle school science standards, withemphasis on the disciplines at each gradelevel, raise the bar substantially for students.Many teachers, schools, and districts haverestructured their curriculum to meet thesestandards. The Science Content Standardsmake the middle school curriculum morerigorous in response to a national call forexcellence and prepare students for in-depthstudy of science at the high school level.The high school science standards requiremore than two years of science courses forstudents to achieve the breadth and depthdescribed. Schools and districts havestrengthened the science curriculum, provid-ing students the maximum opportunity tolearn the standards while encouragingstudents to study further in science. In gradesnine through twelve, standards that allviii California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009INTRODUCTION students are expected to achieve in their sciencecourses are unmarked; standards that allstudents should have the opportunity to learnin those courses are marked with an aster-isk�(*). Those opportunities should be offeredat every high school.The Science Content Standards reflects thedesired content of science curriculum inCalifornia public schools. This content shouldbe taught so that students have the opportu-nity to build connections that link science totechnology and societal impacts. Science,technology, and societal issues are stronglyconnected to community health, population,natural resources, environmental quality,natural and human-induced hazards, andother global challenges. The standardsshould be viewed as the foundation forunderstanding these issues.Time and considerable resources continueto be needed to implement the Science Content Standards fully. But the goal remainsclear, and these standards are the foundationfor increasing the scientific literacy of allstudents.ix California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009KindergartenPhysical Sciences1.Properties of materials can be observed, measured, and predicted. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know objects can be described in terms of the materials they are made of (e.g., clay, cloth, paper) and their physical properties (e.g., color, size, shape,weight, texture, flexibility, attraction to magnets, floating, sinking).b.Students know water can be a liquid or a solid and can be made to change back and forth from one form to the other.c.Students know water left in an open container evaporates (goes into the air) but water in a closed container does not.Life Sciences2.Different types of plants and animals inhabit the earth. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know how to observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals (e.g., seed-bearing plants, birds,fish, insects).b.Students know stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes they do not really have.c.Students know how to identify major structures of common plants and animals (e.g., stems, leaves, roots, arms, wings, legs).California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009 1 KINDERGARTENEarth Sciences3. Earth is composed of land, air, and water. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know characteristics of mountains, rivers, oceans, valleys, deserts, and local landforms.b.Students know changes in weather occur from day to day and across seasons, affecting Earth and its inhabitants.c.Students know how to identify resources from Earth that are used in everyday life and understand that many resources can be conserved.Investigation and Experimentation4.Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the contentin the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:a. Observe common objects by using the five senses.b. Describe the properties of common objects.c.Describe the relative position of objects by using one reference (e.g., above or below).pare and sort common objects by one physical attribute (e.g., color, shape,texture, size, weight).e. Communicate observations orally and through drawings.California 2 Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009Grade OnePhysical Sciences1.Materials come in different forms (states), including solids, liquids, and gases.As a basis for understanding this concept:a. Students know solids, liquids, and gases have different properties.b.Students know the properties of substances can change when the substancesare mixed, cooled, or heated.Life Sciences2.Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environ­ments and have external features that help them thrive in different kinds ofplaces.b.Students know both plants and animals need water, animals need food, and plants need light.c.Students know animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants or even other animals for shelter and nesting.d.Students know how to infer what animals eat from the shapes of their teeth(e.g., sharp teeth: eats meat; flat teeth: eats plants).e.Students know roots are associated with the intake of water and soil nutrients and green leaves are associated with making food from sunlight.California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009 3 GRADE ONEEarth Sciences3.Weather can be observed, measured, and described. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know how to use simple tools (e.g., thermometer, wind vane) to measure weather conditions and record changes from day to day and across the seasons.b.Students know that the weather changes from day to day but that trends in tem­perature or of rain (or snow) tend to be predictable during a season.c. Students know the sun warms the land, air, and water.Investigation and Experimentation4.Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the contentin the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:a. Draw pictures that portray some features of the thing being described.b. Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.c. Record observations on a bar graph.d.Describe the relative position of objects by using two references (e.g., above and next to, below and left of).e.Make new observations when discrepancies exist between two descriptions ofthe same object or phenomenon.California 4 Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009Grade TwoPhysical Sciences1.The motion of objects can be observed and measured. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know the position of an object can be described by locating it in relation to another object or to the background.b.Students know an object’s motion can be described by recording the change in position of the object over time.c.Students know the way to change how something is moving is by giving it a push or a pull. The size of the change is related to the strength, or the amount of force,of the push or pull.d.Students know tools and machines are used to apply pushes and pulls (forces) to make things move.e. Students know objects fall to the ground unless something holds them up.f.Students know magnets can be used to make some objects move without being touched.g.Students know sound is made by vibrating objects and can be described by its pitch and volume.Life Sciences2.Plants and animals have predictable life cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know that organisms reproduce offspring of their own kind and that the offspring resemble their parents and one another.b.Students know the sequential stages of life cycles are different for different ani­mals, such as butterflies, frogs, and mice.California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009 5 GRADE TWOc.Students know many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents. Some characteristics are caused or influenced by the environment.d.Students know there is variation among individuals of one kind within a popula­tion.e.Students know light, gravity, touch, or environmental stress can affect the germi­nation, growth, and development of plants.f. Students know flowers and fruits are associated with reproduction in plants.Earth Sciences3.Earth is made of materials that have distinct properties and provide resources for human activities. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know how to compare the physical properties of different kinds of rocks and know that rock is composed of different combinations of minerals.b.Students know smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of larger rocks.c.Students know that soil is made partly from weathered rock and partly from organic materials and that soils differ in their color, texture, capacity to retainwater, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants.d.Students know that fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago and that scientists learn about the past history of Earth by study-ing fossils.e.Students know rock, water, plants, and soil provide many resources, including food, fuel, and building materials, that humans use.Investigation and Experimentation4.Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the contentin the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:a. Make predictions based on observed patterns and not random guessing.b.Measure length, weight, temperature, and liquid volume with appropriate tools and express those measurements in standard metric system units.California 6 Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009GRADE TWOpare and sort common objects according to two or more physical attributes (e.g., color, shape, texture, size, weight).d. Write or draw descriptions of a sequence of steps, events, and observations.e. Construct bar graphs to record data, using appropriately labeled axes.e magnifiers or microscopes to observe and draw descriptions of small objects or small features of objects.g. Follow oral instructions for a scientific investigation.California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009 7 Grade ThreePhysical Sciences1.Energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another. As a basis for understanding this concept:a. Students know energy comes from the Sun to Earth in the form of light.b.Students know sources of stored energy take many forms, such as food, fuel, and batteries.c.Students know machines and living things convert stored energy to motion and heat.d.Students know energy can be carried from one place to another by waves, such as water waves and sound waves, by electric current, and by moving objects.e. Students know matter has three forms: solid, liquid, and gas.f.Students know evaporation and melting are changes that occur when the objects are heated.g.Students know that when two or more substances are combined, a new substance may be formed with properties that are different from those of the original mate-rials.h.Students know all matter is made of small particles called atoms, too small to see with the naked eye.i.Students know people once thought that earth, wind, fire, and water were the basic elements that made up all matter. Science experiments show that there aremore than 100 different types of atoms, which are presented on the periodic tableof the elements.2.Light has a source and travels in a direction. As a basis for understanding thisconcept:a. Students know sunlight can be blocked to create shadows.b. Students know light is reflected from mirrors and other surfaces.California 8 Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009GRADE THREEc. Students know the color of light striking an object affects the way the object is seen.d. Students know an object is seen when light traveling from the object enters the eye.Life Sciences3.Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:a.Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.b.Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.c.Students know living things cause changes in the environment in which they live:some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, andsome are beneficial.d.Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals surviveand reproduce; others die or move to new locations.e.Students know that some kinds of organisms that once lived on Earth have com­pletely disappeared and that some of those resembled others that are alive today.Earth Sciences4.Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. As a basis for under­standing this concept:a.Students know the patterns of stars stay the same, although they appear to moveacross the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons.b.Students know the way in which the Moon’s appearance changes during the fourweek lunar cycle.c.Students know telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in thesky, including the Moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seenthrough telescopes is dramatically greater than the number that can be seen by theunaided eye.d.Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that theMoon orbits Earth.e.Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of theday and from season to season. California Department of Education Reposted June 11, 2009 9 GRADE THREEInvestigation and Experimentation5.Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the contentin the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:a.Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same because of differencesin the things being investigated, methods being used, or uncertainty in the observation.b.Differentiate evidence from opinion and know that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed.e numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measure­ments.d.Predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the prediction.e.Collect data in an investigation and analyze those data to develop a logical con­clusion.。