Alabama K–6 science standards

Plan and carry out investigations to determine the effects of forces of different strengths and directions on the motion of an object, including speed, direction, and distance traveled.

Analyze data from investigations to determine whether a design solution provides sufficient force to change the speed or direction of an object.

Use data from observations to distinguish characteristics of living and nonliving things.

Use observations to determine patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive, including light, water, and nutrients.

Gather information from observations and media to explain how plants and animals can provide for their needs by changing their environment.

Use models of natural habitats to represent the interdependence among plants and animals native to their community.

Make observations and describe the effects of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

Design, construct, and test a device to reduce the effects of sunlight.

Observe, record, and communicate local weather patterns over a period of time.

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about using weather forecasts to make plans and prepare for severe weather.

Identify a problem and design possible solutions that lessen the human impact on the local environment.

Carry out investigations to provide evidence that the vibrations of matter can make sound and sound can make matter vibrate.

Use evidence from observations to explain that light is necessary in order for an object to be seen.

Plan and carry out investigations to determine how light is affected when it interacts with various types of materials.

Design and construct a device that uses light or sound waves to send a communication signal over a distance.

Use information from observations to explain how various external features help living things survive, grow, and meet their needs.

Obtain information from text and other media to provide evidence that parents and their offspring engage in patterns of behavior that help the offspring survive.

Make observations to identify the similarities and differences between offspring and their parents.

Observe, describe, and predict patterns of the sun, moon, and stars as they appear in the sky.

Use observations of seasonal sunrise and sunset patterns to describe the relationship between the number of hours of daylight and the time of year.

Plan and carry out investigations to compare, contrast, and classify various solid and liquid materials according to physical properties, including color and texture.

Conduct investigations to determine suitable uses of natural and manufactured materials based on their observable properties, including strength, flexibility, hardness, absorbency, and texture.

Demonstrate and explain how structures made from a small set of pieces can be disassembled and then reassembled as new and different structures.

Provide evidence that some changes in matter caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some changes are irreversible.

Plan and carry out an investigation, using one variable at a time, to determine how each variable affects plant growth.

Design and construct models to simulate how animals disperse seeds or pollinate plants.

Obtain information to explain that there are many different kinds of living things that exist in habitats on land and in water.

Use models to distinguish between the shapes and kinds of land and water on Earth.

Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and determine whether it is a solid or a liquid.

Use a variety of sources to provide evidence that Earth’s events can occur slowly or rapidly. Examples: erosion, melting of glaciers; earthquakes, volcanic eruptions

Evaluate multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of Earth’s surface.

Conduct investigations to explain the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces exerted on an object, varying the size, number, and direction of the forces.

Observe and measure an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern of motion can be used to predict future motion.

Conduct investigations to determine cause and effect relationships between objects not in contact with one another, including magnetic and electrostatic forces.

Apply scientific ideas about magnetic interactions to solve a problem using the engineering design process.

Develop and use models to compare the diverse life cycles of organisms other than humans, including birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

Use data to provide evidence that plants and animals have observable traits inherited from parents and that variations of these traits exist in groups of similar organisms.

Use evidence to support a claim that traits can be influenced by the environment.

Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the existence of organisms and information about the environments in which they lived.

Construct an explanation from evidence of how variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

Make a claim from evidence that an organism's likelihood of survival depends upon access to sufficient resources in its habitat, including sunlight, air, water, food, and shelter.

Construct explanations of how forming groups helps some organisms survive.

Obtain and communicate information regarding the impact of existing solutions on plant and animal populations when environmental changes occur.

Represent data in tables or graphical displays to reveal typical weather patterns during a particular season.

Use information from a variety of sources to describe climates in different regions of the world.

Obtain and communicate information on the effectiveness of existing solutions designed to reduce the impact of weather-related hazards.

Use evidence to explain the relationship between the speed of an object and its energy.

Plan and carry out investigations to answer questions regarding changes in energy when objects collide, and predict reasonable outcomes based on observed patterns.

Construct an explanation using evidence to support the claim that heat can be produced in many ways.

Construct an explanation with evidence supporting the claim that different objects can absorb, reflect, and/or conduct energy.

Design, construct, and test a device that changes energy from one form to another.

Develop and use models to describe amplitude and wavelength patterns and how waves can cause objects to move.

Construct an explanation of how light, sound, and digitized information are transferred by waves.

Develop a model to demonstrate that light reflecting from objects and entering the eyes allow objects to be seen.

Make a claim, using evidence, that the functions of both internal and external structures of plants and animals (including humans) support growth, survival, and behavior.

Carry out investigations to support a claim that different animals receive information through their senses, process that information, and respond in various ways.

Develop and use a model to describe how water moves through Earth’s systems by the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Construct explanations of Earth's changes over time through slow and rapid processes, citing evidence found in rock formations and fossils in rock layers.

Plan and carry out investigations to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, and vegetation, investigating a single form of weathering or erosion at a time.

Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features on land and in the ocean.

Gather information to describe how the use of energy derived from renewable and nonrenewable resources affects the environment.

Design, test, and evaluate a solution that will protect humans from the effects of natural Earth processes.

Plan and carry out investigations to provide evidence that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Analyze data collected through observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties, including color, hardness, and reflectivity.

Conduct investigations to provide evidence that the total weight of matter is conserved during phase changes when substances are heated, cooled, or mixed.

Analyze data from tests to determine whether a new substance is formed after two or more substances are combined.

Make a claim, supported by evidence, that the gravitational force exerted by Earth pulls objects towards the center of Earth.

Design and conduct a test to modify the speed of an object falling due to gravity.

Support an argument from evidence that plants primarily use air and water to process matter needed for growth.

Use evidence to explain that energy from the sun is present in animals’ food and is used for body repair, growth, motion, and maintenance of body warmth.

Create and use a model to explain the transfer of matter and energy between the environment and organisms within it.

Obtain and communicate information to explain why the sun appears to be larger and brighter than other stars.

Analyze data that reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, phases of the moon, and seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.

Use a model to represent how any two of Earth's systems (atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere) interact and support life.

Construct a model to represent the distribution of freshwater and saltwater on Earth.

Obtain and evaluate information to communicate how science-based solutions are being used to protect Earth’s natural resources and its environment.

Design, test, and revise solutions to clean a polluted environment.

Manipulate models to demonstrate the patterns of motion of the sun, Earth, and moon.

Construct an evidence-based explanation of how the relative positions of the sun and Earth result in observable phenomena, including day and night cycles, length of year, and seasons.

Construct an evidence-based explanation of how the relative positions of the sun, moon, and Earth result in observable phenomena, including lunar cycles, eclipses, and tidal cycles.

Evaluate information to compare and contrast past and current views about the structure of the universe and show how these views have changed over time.

Construct an evidence-based explanation of the role of gravity on the movement of natural and manmade objects within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and use data to determine scale properties and characteristics of objects in the solar system including sizes, distances, orbital periods, basic composition, and ability to support life.

Develop and use models to demonstrate the processes that form rocks and cycle Earth’s materials.

Construct an evidence-based explanation of how rocks are classified as metamorphic, igneous, or sedimentary based on their characteristics and the process of the rock cycle.

Develop and use models to demonstrate types of weathering, effects of agents of erosion and transportation, and the formation of environments of deposition.

Use research-based evidence to propose a scientific explanation of how the distribution of Earth’s resources, including minerals, fossil fuels, and groundwater, results from ongoing geoscience processes.

Construct an evidence-based explanation of how Earth's internal energy flows between its surface and its interior.

Construct a scientific explanation of how the movement of lithospheric plates can cause major geologic events and form Earth’s surface features, including convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries; earthquakes; and volcanoes.

Provide evidence of past plate movements, using data regarding the distribution of fossils, rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures.

Analyze data from rock strata and the fossil record to construct a chronology of occurrences in Earth’s history.

Plan and carry out an investigation to determine the differences in rates of energy transfer from the sun to air, to land, and to water via conduction, convection, and radiation.

Develop and use a model that illustrates how differences in heat and pressure affect density and the relationship between density and convection.

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate data that describes characteristics of air masses, including temperature, pressure, and humidity.

Construct an explanation of how air pressure, weather fronts, and air masses are related to weather events.

Design solutions to mitigate the impact of severe weather.

Develop models demonstrating how unequal heating and the rotation of the Earth cause local and global wind systems and oceanic currents.

Construct explanations of how the tilt and curvature of the Earth cause unequal heating of its surface, resulting in regional climates based on patterns of latitude.

Construct an explanation of how altitude, geothermal activity, and oceanic distribution of heat produce typical regional climate patterns.

Define problems and design solutions to monitor and mitigate human impact on the environment.