Nebraska K–6 science standards

Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.

Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.

Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

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

Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.

Communicate solutions that will increase the positive impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

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

Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.

Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

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

Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

Make observations to construct an evidence-based explanation that objects can be seen only when illuminated.

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.

Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.

Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.

Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Read grade appropriate texts and use media to determine patterns in a behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.

Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.

Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.

Make observations at different times of the year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.

Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.

Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

Analyze data from tests of two objects, designed to solve the same problem, to compare the strengths and weaknesses based on the properties.

Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object.

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

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.

Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.

Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.

Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electrical or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.

Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.

Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.

Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and environments in which they lived long ago.

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

Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.

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

Represent data in table, pictograph, and bar graph displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.

Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.

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

Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electrical currents.

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

Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.

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

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

Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information.

Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.

Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.

Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.

Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, and motion and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down toward Earth’s center.

Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.

Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in the length and direction of shadows, length of day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.

Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.

Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about the conservation of fresh water on Earth.

Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principle and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, type of matter, mass, and change in average kinetic energy of particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many varied cells.

Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of a cell contribute to the function.

Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or stored as memories.

Construct an argument based on evidence for how plant and animal adaptations affect the probability of successful reproduction.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the change in global temperatures over thousands of years.

Analyze and interpret data on weather and climate to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effect.

Develop a model to describe how the water cycle is driven by the sun’s energy and the force of gravity.