Massachusetts K–6 science standards

Use and share quantitative observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment.

Obtain and use information about weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, different types of local weather.

Communicate solutions to reduce the amount of natural resources an individual uses.

Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water, and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Plants make their own food and need light to live and grow.

Recognize that all plants and animals grow and change over time.

Investigate and communicate the idea that different kinds of materials can be solid or liquid depending on temperature.

Compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.

Make observations to determine that sunlight warms materials on Earth's surface.

Use tools and materials to design and build a model of a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.

Technology/Engineering

Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe that each appears to rise in one part of the sky, appears to move across the sky, and appears to set.

Analyze provided data to identify relationships among seasonal patterns of change, including relative sunrise and sunset time changes, seasonal temperature and rainfall or snowfall patterns, and seasonal changes to the environment.

Use evidence to explain that (a) different animals use their body parts and senses in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water, and air, and (b) plants have roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits that are used to take in water, air, and other nutrients, and produce food for the plant.

Obtain information to compare ways in which the behavior of different animal parents and their offspring help the offspring to survive.

Use information from observations (first-hand and from media) to identify similarities and differences among individual plants or animals of the same kind.

Demonstrate that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

Conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing materials that allow light to pass through them, allow only some light through them, block all the light, or redirect light when put in the path of a beam of light.

Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to send a signal over a distance.

Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change that can be solved by developing or improving an object or tool.

Generate multiple solutions to a design problem and make a drawing (plan) to represent one or more of the solutions.

Investigate and compare the effectiveness of multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.

Map the shapes and types of landforms and bodies of water in an area.

Use examples obtained from informational sources to explain that water is found in the ocean, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, and may be solid or liquid.

Observe how blowing wind and flowing water can move Earth materials from one place to another and change the shape of a landform.

Develop and use models to compare how plants and animals depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in the places they live.

Use texts, media, or local environments to observe and compare (a) different kinds of living things in an area, and (b) differences in the kinds of living things living in different types of areas.

Describe and classify different kinds of materials by observable properties of color, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.

Test different materials and analyze the data obtained to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

Analyze a variety of evidence to conclude that when a chunk of material is cut or broken into pieces, each piece is still the same material and, however small each piece is, has weight. Show that the material properties of a small set of pieces do not change when the pieces are used to build larger objects.

Construct an argument with evidence that some changes to materials caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.

Design and conduct an experiment to show the effects of friction on the relative temperature and speed of objects that rub against each other.

Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same design problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each object performs.

Use graphs and tables of local weather data to describe and predict typical weather during a particular season in an area.

Obtain and summarize information about the climate of different regions of the world to illustrate that typical weather conditions over a year vary by region.

Evaluate the merit of a design solution that reduces the damage caused by weather.

Use simple graphical representations to show that different types of organisms have unique and diverse life cycles. Describe that all organisms have birth, growth, reproduction, and death in common but there are a variety of ways in which these happen.

Provide evidence, including through the analysis of data, that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exist in a group of similar organisms.

Distinguish between inherited characteristics and those characteristics that result from a direct interaction with the environment. Give examples of characteristics of living organisms that are influenced by both inheritance and the environment.

Use fossils to describe types of organisms and their environments that existed long ago and compare those to living organisms and their environments. Recognize that most kinds of plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found anywhere.

Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals within the same species may provide advantages to these individuals in their survival and reproduction.

Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular environment some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive.

Analyze and interpret given data about changes in a habitat and describe how the changes may affect the ability of organisms that live in that habitat to survive and reproduce.

Provide evidence to support a claim that the survival of a population is dependent upon reproduction.

Provide evidence to explain the effect of multiple forces, including friction, on an object. Include balanced forces that do not change the motion of the object and unbalanced forces that do change the motion of the object.

Conduct an investigation to determine the nature of the forces between two magnets based on their orientations and distance relative to each other.

Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying the use of the interactions between magnets.

Define a simple design problem that reflects a need or a want. Include criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost that a potential solution must meet.

Generate several possible solutions to a given design problem. Compare each solution based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem.

Gather information using various informational resources on possible solutions to a design problem. Present different representations of a design solution.

Use evidence from a given landscape that includes simple landforms and rock layers to support a claim about the role of erosion or deposition in the formation of the landscape over long periods of time.

Make observations and collect data to provide evidence that rocks, soils, and sediments are broken into smaller pieces through mechanical weathering and moved around through erosion by water, ice, wind, and vegetation.

Analyze and interpret maps of Earth's mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, volcanoes, and earthquake epicenters to describe patterns of these features and their locations relative to boundaries between continents and oceans.

Obtain information to describe that energy and fuels humans use are derived from natural resources and that some energy and fuel sources are renewable and some are not.

Evaluate different solutions to reduce the impacts of a natural event such as an earthquake, blizzard, or flood on humans.

Construct an argument that animals and plants have internal and external structures that support their survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

Make observations to show that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.

Apply scientific principles of energy and motion to test and refine a device that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy or uses stored energy to cause motion or produce light or sound.

Develop a model of a simple mechanical wave (including sound) to communicate that waves (a) are regular patterns of motion along which energy travels, and (b) can cause objects to move.

Develop a model to describe that light must reflect off an object and enter the eye for the object to be seen.

Develop and compare multiple ways to transfer information through encoding, sending, receiving, and decoding a pattern.

Plan and carry out tests of one or more design features of a given model or prototype in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify which features need to be improved. Apply the results of tests to redesign a model or prototype.

Evaluate relevant design features that must be considered in building a model or prototype of a solution to a given design problem.

Use observations, first-hand and from various media, to argue that the Sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer to Earth.

Use a model to communicate Earth's relationship to the Sun, Moon, and other stars that explain (a) why people on Earth experience day and night, (b) patterns in daily changes in length and direction of shadows over a day, and (c) changes in the apparent position of the Sun, Moon, and stars at different times during a day, over a month, and over a year.

Use a model to describe the cycling of water through a watershed through evaporation, precipitation, absorption, surface runoff, and condensation.

Describe and graph the relative amounts of salt water in the ocean; fresh water in lakes, rivers, and ground water; and fresh water frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps to provide evidence about the availability of fresh water in Earth's biosphere.

Obtain and combine information about ways communities reduce human impact on the Earth's resources and environment by changing an agricultural, industrial, or community practice or process.

Test a simple system designed to filter particulates out of water and propose one change to the design to improve it.

Ask testable questions about the process by which plants use air, water, and energy from sunlight to produce sugars and plant materials needed for growth and reproduction.

Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among producers, consumers, decomposers, and the air, water, and soil in the environment to (a) show that plants produce sugars and plant materials, (b) show that animals can eat plants and/or other animals for food, and (c) show that some organisms, including fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms and recycle some materials back to the air and soil.

Compare at least two designs for a composter to determine which is most likely to encourage decomposition of materials.

Use a particle model of matter to explain common phenomena involving gases, and phase changes between gas and liquid and between liquid and solid.

Measure and graph the weights (masses) of substances before and after a reaction or phase change to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or combining substances, the total weight (mass) of matter is conserved.

Make observations and measurements of substances to describe characteristic properties of each, including color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility.

Conduct an experiment to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances with new properties (a chemical reaction) or not (a mixture).

Support an argument with evidence that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed toward Earth's center.

Use a model to describe that the food animals digest (a) contains energy that was once energy from the sun, and (b) provides energy and nutrients for life processes, including body repair, growth, motion, body warmth, and reproduction.

Use informational text to provide examples of improvements to existing technologies (innovations) and the development of new technologies (inventions). Recognize that technology is any modification of the natural or designed world done to fulfill human needs or wants.

Use sketches or drawings to show how each part of a product or device relates to other parts in the product or device.

Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to explain the causes of lunar phases and eclipses of the sun and moon.

Analyze and interpret rock layers and index fossils to determine the relative ages of rock formations that result from processes occurring over long periods of time.

Use graphical displays to illustrate that Earth and its solar system are one of many in of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of billions of galaxies in the universe.

Analyze and interpret maps showing the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence that Earth's plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart.

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution. Include potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Create visual representations of solutions to a design problem. Accurately interpret and apply scale and proportion to visual representations.

Communicate a design solution to an intended user, including design features and limitations of the solution.

Analyze and compare properties of metals, plastics, wood, and ceramics, including flexibility, ductility, hardness, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and melting point.

Given a design task, select appropriate materials based on specific properties needed in the construction of a solution.

Choose and safely use appropriate measuring tools, hand tools, fasteners, and common hand-held power tools used to construct a prototype.

Provide evidence that all organisms (unicellular and multicellular) are made of cells.

Develop and use a model to describe how parts of cells contribute to the cellular functions of obtaining food, water, and other nutrients from its environment, disposing of wastes, and providing energy for cellular processes.

Construct an argument supported by evidence that the body systems interact to carry out essential functions of life.

Analyze and interpret evidence from the fossil record to describe organisms and their environment, extinctions, and changes to life forms throughout the history of Earth.

Construct an argument using anatomical structures to support evolutionary relationships among and between fossil organisms and modern organisms.

Plan and conduct an experiment involving exothermic and endothermic chemical reactions to measure and describe the release or absorption of thermal energy.

Use a particulate model of matter to explain that density is the amount of matter (mass) in a given volume. Apply proportional reasoning to describe, calculate, and compare relative densities of different materials.

Conduct an experiment to show that many materials are mixtures of pure substances that can be separated by physical means into their component pure substances.

Use evidence to support the claim that gravitational forces between objects are attractive and are only noticeable when one or both of the objects have a very large mass.

Use diagrams of a simple wave to explain that (a) a wave has a repeating pattern with a specific amplitude, frequency, and wavelength, and (b) the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy of the wave.

Use diagrams and other models to show that both light rays and mechanical waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Present qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals (sent as wave pulses representing 0s and 1s) can be used to encode and transmit information.