Primary Connections:

MA Science and Technology/Engineering Framework (2006)
(Massachusetts)

• Life Science (Biology) > Characteristics of Living Things (Grade: K – 2)
• Life Science (Biology) > Evolution and Biodiversity (Grade: 6 – 8)
• Life Science (Biology) > Systems in Living Things (Grade: 6 – 8)
• Life Science (Biology) > Living Things and Their Environment (Grade: K – 2)
• Biology > Human Anatomy and Physiology (Grade: 9 – 10)

National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)

• Unifying Concepts and Processes > Evidence, models, and explanation (Grade: K – 12)
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: K – 4)
• Unifying Concepts and Processes > Evolution and equilibrium (Grade: K – 12)
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: 5 – 8)

Secondary Connections:

National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)

• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > The cell (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > Regulation and behavior (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > Molecular basis of heredity (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
• Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
• Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)

Primary Connections:

MA Science and Technology/Engineering Framework (2006)
(Massachusetts)

• Life Science (Biology) > 01 Characteristics of Living Things (Grade: K – 2)
  Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water.
• Life Science (Biology) > 11 Evolution and Biodiversity (Grade: 6 – 8)
  Recognize that evidence drawn from geology, fossils, and comparative anatomy provide the basis of the theory of evolution.
• Life Science (Biology) > 06 Systems in Living Things (Grade: 6 – 8)
  Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, and movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.
• Life Science (Biology) > 06 Living Things and Their Environment (Grade: K – 2)
  Recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through their senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
• Biology > 4.0 Human Anatomy and Physiology (Grade: 9 – 10)
  Broad Concept: There is a relationship between structure and function in organ systems of humans.

National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)

• Unifying Concepts and Processes > Evidence, models, and explanation (Grade: K – 12)
  Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations. Using evidence to understand interactions allows individuals to predict changes in natural and designed systems. Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and that have explanatory power. Models help scientists and engineers understand how things work. Models take many forms, including physical objects, plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer simulations. Scientific explanations incorporate existing scientific knowledge and new evidence from observations, experiments, or models into internally consistent, logical statements.
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
  The human organism has systems for digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, control, and coordination, and for protection from disease. These systems interact with one another.
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: 9 – 12)
  Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: K – 4)
  Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
• Unifying Concepts and Processes > Evolution and equilibrium (Grade: K – 12)
  Evolution is a series of changes, some gradual and some sporadic, that accounts for the present form and function of objects, organisms, and natural and designed systems. The general idea of evolution is that the present arises from materials and forms of the past. Although evolution is most commonly associated with the biological theory explaining the process of descent with modification of organisms from common ancestors, evolution also describes changes in the universe. Equilibrium is a physical state in which forces and changes occur in opposite and off-setting directions: for example, opposite forces are of the same magnitude, or off-setting changes occur at equal rates. Steady state, balance, and homeostasis also describe equilibrium states. Interacting units of matter tend toward equilibrium states in which the energy is distributed as randomly and uniformly as possible.
• Science as Inquiry > Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.

Secondary Connections:

National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)

• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms.
• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism, but other characteristics result from an individual's interactions with the environment. Inherited characteristics include the color of flowers and the number of limbs of an animal. Other features, such as the ability to ride a bicycle, are learned through interactions with the environment and cannot be passed on to the next generation.
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
  All organisms are composed of cells--the fundamental unit of life. Most organisms are single cells; other organisms, including humans, are multicellular.
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Reproduction is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually.
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. Each gene carries a single unit of information. An inherited trait of an individual can be determined by one or by many genes, and a single gene can influence more than one trait. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes.
• Life Science > The cell (Grade: 9 – 12)
  Cells store and use information to guide their functions. The genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires.
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.
• Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
  The millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live on earth today are related by descent from common ancestors.
• Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
  Organisms have behavioral responses to internal changes and to external stimuli. Responses to external stimuli can result from interactions with the organism's own species and others, as well as environmental changes; these responses either can be innate or learned. The broad patterns of behavior exhibited by animals have evolved to ensure reproductive success. Animals often live in unpredictable environments, and so their behavior must be flexible enough to deal with uncertainty and change. Plants also respond to stimuli.
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
  The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment.
• Life Science > Structure and function in living systems (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Disease is a breakdown in structures or functions of an organism. Some diseases are the result of intrinsic failures of the system. Others are the result of damage by infection by other organisms.
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms.
• Life Science > The characteristics of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  The behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (such as hunger) and by external cues (such as a change in the environment). Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal and external cues.
• Life Science > Regulation and behavior (Grade: 5 – 8)
  An organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment. How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger are based in the species' evolutionary history.
• Life Science > Molecular basis of heredity (Grade: 9 – 12)
  In all organisms, the instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA, a large polymer formed from subunits of four kinds (A, G, C, and T). The chemical and structural properties of DNA explain how the genetic information that underlies heredity is both encoded in genes (as a string of molecular "letters") and replicated (by a templating mechanism). Each DNA molecule in a cell forms a single chromosome.
• Life Science > Life cycles of organisms (Grade: K – 4)
  Plants and animals closely resemble their parents.
• Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Millions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today. Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures, the similarity of their chemical processes, and the evidence of common ancestry.
• Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
  Behavioral biology has implications for humans, as it provides links to psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
• Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
  Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.