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Correlations to Standards by State by Academic Discipline

Vermont Vital Results Standards for Science

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Vermont Science Standards combine all grades from PreK to 12. Beyond Books resources currently cover grades 6-12. The correlations for the lower grades are included here as a service for our users.

Inquiry, Experimentation, and Theory

Scientific Method

7.1 Students use scientific methods to describe, investigate, and explain phenomena and raise questions in order to:

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.1.a. Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events in the world around them;

    7.1.b. Use reliable information obtained from scientific knowledge, observation, and exploration;

    7.1.c. Create hypotheses for problems, design a "fair test" of their hypothesis, collect data through observation and instrumentation, and analyze data to draw conclusions; use conclusions to clarify understanding and generate new questions to be explored;

    7.1.d. Use evidence to construct an explanation, including scientific principles they already know and observations they make;

    7.1.e. Explain a variety of observations and phenomena using concepts that have been learned;

    7.1.f. Use either deductive or inductive reasoning to explain observations and phenomena, or to predict answers to questions;

    7.1.g. Recognize other points of view, and check their own and others' explanations against experiences, observations, and knowledge;

    7.1.h. Identify problems, propose and implement solutions, and evaluate products and designs; and

    7.1.i. Work individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.

Grades 5-8

Evidence PreK-4 applies, plus-

    7.1.aa. Frame questions in a way that distinguishes causes and effects; identify variables that influence the situation and can be controlled;

    7.1.bb. Seek, record, and use information from reliable sources, including scientific knowledge, observation, and experimentation;

    7.1.cc. Create hypotheses to problems, design their own experiments to test their hypothesis, collect data through observation and instrumentation, and analyze data to draw conclusions; use conclusions to clarify understanding and generate new questions to be explored;

    7.1.dd. Describe, explain, and model, using evidence that includes scientific principles and observations;

    7.1.gg. Propose, recognize, and analyze alternative explanations; and

    7.1.ii. Work individually and in teams to collect, share, and present information and ideas.

Grades 9-12

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Investigation

7.2 Students design and conduct a variety of their own investigations and projects. These should include:

  • Questions that can be studied using the resources available;

  • Procedures that are safe, humane, and ethical;

  • Data that are collected and recorded in ways that others can verify;

  • Data and results that are represented in ways that address the question at hand;

  • Recommendations, decisions, and conclusions that are based on evidence, and that acknowledge references and contributions of others;

  • Results that are communicated appropriately to audiences; and

  • Reflections and defense of conclusions and recommendations from other sources, and peer review.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.2.a. Design and conduct an experiment (a "fair test");

    7.2.b. Design and conduct a systematic observation;

    7.2.c. Complete a design of a physical structure or technological system (e.g., simple machines and measurement devices);

    7.2.d. Complete a data study;

    7.2.e. Plan and manage a schedule;

    7.2.f. Complete a pure mathematics investigation; or

    7.2.g. Complete research.

Grades 5-8

    7.2.aa. Design and conduct a controlled experiment;

    7.2.bb. Design and conduct field work;

    7.2.cc. Completely design a physical structure or technological system (e.g., spring scales, bicycle gear shifts, timing of traffic lights);

    7.2.dd. Complete a data study based on civic, economic, or social issues;

    7.2.ee. Design a resource or system management plan; or

    7.2.ff. Illustrate mathematical models of a physical phenomenon.

Grades 9-12

    7.2.fff. Complete a mathematical model of physical phenomena, employing methods of structural analysis;

    7.2.h. Study decision options in business or public planning that involve issues of optimizations, trade off, cost-benefit projections, and risks; or

    7.2.i. Complete a historical study, tracing the development of a mathematical or scientific concept and the people connected with it.

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Theory

7.3 Students understand the nature of mathematical, scientific, and technological theory.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.3.a. Show understanding that concepts form the foundation for theories;

    7.3.b. Look for evidence that explains why things happen; and

    7.3.c. Modify explanations when new observations are made or new knowledge is gained.

    7.3.aa. Explain theories based upon observations, concepts, principles, and historical perspective;

    7.3.bb. Determine the validity of a theory by examining the principles on which it was founded, the constraints that apply to its application, and the body of physical evidence that supports it; and

    7.3.cc. Show understanding that new theories develop when phenomena are observed that are not fully explained by old theories.

Grades 5-8

Evidence bb. and cc. applies, plus-

    7.3.aaa. Use principles and observations to formulate theory and to explain or predict phenomena.

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History of Science, Mathematics, and Technology

7.4 Students understand the history of science, mathematics, and technology.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.4.a. Investigate contributions made to science, technology, and mathematics by many different kinds of people, and explain their importance.

Grades 5-8

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Roles and Responsibilities

7.5 Students analyze the roles and responsibilities of scientists, mathematicians, and technologists in social, economic, cultural, and political systems.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.5.a. Explain how discoveries or inventions can help or hurt people (e.g., the environmental impact of energy consumption).

Grades 5-8

    7.5.aa. Analyze the roles and responsibilities of scientists, mathematicians, and technologists in relation to ongoing research and discoveries that impact society (e.g., the dangers and benefits of nuclear energy).

Grades 9-12

    7.5.aaa. Analyze the impact of scientific, mathematical, and technological investigations into and findings about human society, including the ethical issues involved (e.g., the dangers and benefits of genetic engineering).

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Systems


Analysis

7.11 Students analyze and understand living and non-living systems (e.g., biological, chemical, electrical, mechanical, optical) as collections of interrelated parts and interconnected systems. This is evident when students:

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.11.a. Demonstrate understanding that systems are made of interrelated parts that influence one another;

    7.11.b. Demonstrate understanding that systems include inputs, processes and outputs; and

    7.11.c. Use physical and mathematical models to show how, in a system, inputs affect outputs.

Grades 5-8

    7.11.aa. Demonstrate understanding that systems are connected to other systems, and that one system affects how others work;

    7.11.bb. Demonstrate understanding that systems are effectively designed when specifications and constraints are understood; and

    7.11.cc. Use physical and mathematical models to express how systems behave given a set of inputs or outputs.

Grades 9-12

Evidence PreK-8 applies, plus-

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Space, Time, and Matter


Matter, Motion, Forces, and Energy

7.12 Students understand forces and motion, the properties and composition of matter, and energy sources and transformations.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.12.a. Sort objects and materials according to observations of similarities and differences of properties (e.g., size, weight, color, shape, temperature);

    7.12.b. Observe and describe changes of states of matter (e.g., in water);

    7.12.c. Observe and describe the behavior of gases in containers (e.g., pumps, balloons);

    7.12.d. Apply forces to objects (e.g., inertia, gravity, friction, push and pull), and observe the objects in motion;

    7.12.e. Identify and describe several common forms of energy (e.g., light, heat, and sound) and provide examples of sources, as well as some characteristics of the transmission (e.g., light travels in straight lines until it is reflected, refracted, or absorbed);

    7.12.f. Observe and record the effects of electric charge (e.g., charges repel, batteries); investigate magnetic and non-magnetic materials, and materials that are conductors and non-conductors of electricity.

    7.12.a. Observe and measure characteristic properties of matter (e.g., boiling point, melting point, density, buoyancy, simple chemical reactions), and use them to distinguish one substance from another;

Grades 5-8

    7.12.bb. Provide examples of substances reacting chemically to form new substances with different characteristics, and describe and model the phenomenon with reference to elements and compounds;

    7.12.cc. Explain the relationships between pressure, volume, and the amount of gas (e.g., soda bottles, auto tires);

    7.12.dd. Observe and demonstrate a qualitative understanding of the relationship between mass, the magnitude of an applied net force, and the resulting change in speed and direction;

    7.12.ee. Identify and describe commons forms of energy (e.g., light, heat, sound, electricity, electromagnetic waves) and their attributes, sources, and transmission characteristics (e.g., radiation, convection, conduction of heat); and

    7.12.ff. Investigate the relationship between electricity and magnetism (e.g., in electric motors).

Grades 9-12

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The Living World


Organisms, Evolution, and Interdependence

7.13 Students understand the characteristics of organisms, see patterns of similarity and differences among living organisms, understand the role of evolution, and recognize the interdependence of all systems that support life.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.13.a. Identify characteristics of organisms (e.g., needs, environments that meet them; structures, especially senses; variation and behaviors, inherited and learned);

    7.13.b. Categorize living organisms (e.g., plants; fruits, vegetables);

    7.13.c. Describe and show examples of the interdependence of all systems that support life (e.g., family, community, food chains, populations, life cycles, effects on the environment), and apply them to local systems; and

    7.13.d. Provide examples of change over time (e.g., extinction, changes in organisms).

Grades 5-8

    7.13.aa. Identify, model, and explain the structure and function (e.g., cells, tissues, organs, systems) of organisms (e.g. plants, animals, microbes), both as individual entities and as components of larger systems;

    7.13.bb. Identify and use anatomical structures to classify organisms (e.g., plants, animals, fungi);

    7.13.cc. Describe, model, and explain the principles of the interdependence of all systems that support life (e.g., food chains, webs, life cycles, energy levels, populations, oxygen-carbon dioxide cycles), and apply them to local, regional, and global systems; an

    7.13.dd. Describe evolution in terms of diversity and adaptation, variation, extinction, and natural selection.

Grades 9-12

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The Human Body


7.14 Students demonstrate understanding of the human body heredity, body systems, and individual development and understand the impact of the environment on the human body.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.14.a. Recognize that there are many similarities between parents and their children, some inherited and some learned;

    7.14.b. Identify the parts of the human body, and demonstrate understanding of how the parts work together to perform functions that satisfy common needs;

    7.14.c. Identify and describe environmental factors that can influence human health (e.g., exposure to microbes, pollution); and

    7.14.d. Identify the pattern of human development.

Grades 5-8

    7.14.aa. Describe how genetic information is passed through reproduction (e.g., genes, traits, chromosomes);

    7.14.bb. Demonstrate an understanding of the human body systems for obtaining and providing energy, defense, reproduction, hormones, immunity, and coordination of physical functions;

    7.14.cc. Provide examples of how the health of human beings is affected by their genetic makeup and environmental factors (e.g., exposure to microbes, pollution); and

    7.14.dd. Identify and explain the human body's pattern of development.

Grades 9-12

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The Universe, Earth, and The Environment


Theories, Systems, and Forces

7.15 Students demonstrate understanding of the earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe in terms of the systems that characterize them, the forces that affect and shape them over time, and the theories that currently explain their evolution.

This is evident when students:

Grades PreK-4

    7.15.a. Identify and record evidence of change over time (e.g., erosion, weathering, fossilization);

    7.15.b. Identify and record patterns and forces that shape the earth (e.g., geological, atmospheric);

    7.15.c. Identify and record the interrelated parts of earth systems (seasons, time, weather, etc.);

    7.15.d. Identify and record characteristics of our solar system (e.g., nine planets, order from sun, and movement of planets in relationship to the sun and moon; calendar); and

    7.15.e. Analyze and explain natural resource management (e.g., properties and uses of earth materials: rocks, soils, water, fish, wildlife, plants, trees, and gases).

Grades 5-8

Grades 9-12

    7.15.f. Explain how modern views of the universe emerged (e.g., scientific theories, improved instrumentation).

    7.15.aaa. Identify, record, model, and explain evidence of change over time (e.g., origin and evolution of the earth's biological, ecological, geological systems);

    7.15.bbb. Identify evidence of, model, and explain the patterns and forces that shape the earth (e.g., geological and meteorological processes);

    7.15.ccc. Identify, model, explain, and analyze the interrelated parts and connections between earth systems (e.g., sun, radioactive decay, and gravitational energy; weather and climate);

    7.15.ddd. Identify, model, and explain the position of our solar system in the universe relative to distance and time (stars and star systems, fusion, instrumentation, and simulations; the universe as a hierarchy of interrelated systems);

    7.15.eee. Analyze and explain natural resource management and demonstrate an understanding of the ecological interactions and interdependence between humans and their resource demands on environmental systems (e.g., production, consumption); and

    7.15.ff. Explain the emergence of modern views of the universe (past, present, and future scientific theories).

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