North Dakota K–6 science standards

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

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.

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

Use and share 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 to meet their needs.

Represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live using a model.

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

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

Describe patterns, through observation, of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

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.

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

Use tools and materials provided to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

Describe patterns that can be predicted through observations of the sun, moon, and stars.

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

Construct an evidence-based argument with the use of a drawing or a model that illustrates how structures of plants or animals help them survive in their habitat.

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

Construct an evidence-based account, through observation, that young plants and animals are alike, but not exactly like, their parents.

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

Construct an evidence-based account, through observation, 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.

Design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.

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

Compare and contrast 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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe and predict typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

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

Evaluate the feasibility of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.

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

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

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 the environment can influence the expression of traits.

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

Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

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.

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

Make observations and metric measurements of an object's motion to prove that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of static electricity 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Form an explanation to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

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 electric currents.

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

Using the engineering design process build a device that converts energy from one form to another.

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

Construct a code to convey information by researching past and present methods of transmitting information.

Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from the Earth.

Construct a graph to reveal patterns of daily changes in length (metric) 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 and percentages of 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.

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.

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

Measure and graph metric quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total mass 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 how energy from the sun is converted into food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth).

Develop and use a model of the earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying times and spatial scales.

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of past plate motions.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

Use data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results 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.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events that necessitate the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Investigate factors that have caused changes in global temperatures over time.

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

Evaluate competing design solutions using systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are unicellular or multicellular and may have different cell types.

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

Use evidence to model how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Use evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction.

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

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as it moves through an organism.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.

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.

Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.

Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.

Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities and differences in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals' probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.

Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after an interaction has occurred to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Gather and analyze information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Design a project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.

Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan an investigation using Newton's First and Second Laws to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

Interpret data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Use evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.

Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and/or the speed of an object.

Using a model describe how the different amounts of potential energy in a system changes when the object's distance changes.

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

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

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

Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Evaluate how different forms of technology utilize different signals.