Georgia Performance Standards for the Bio-Bus Sampler Module

Kindergarten

SKP1. Students will describe objects in terms of the materials they are made of and their

physical properties.

a. Compare and sort materials of different composition (common materials include clay,

cloth, paper, plastic, etc.).

b. Use senses to classify common materials, such as buttons or swatches of cloth,

according to their physical attributes (color, size, shape, weight, texture, buoyancy,

flexibility).

SKL1. Students will sort living organisms and non-living materials into groups by observable

physical attributes.

a. Recognize the difference between living organisms and nonliving materials.

b. Group animals according to their observable features such as appearance, size, motion,

where it lives, etc. (Example: A green frog has four legs and hops. A rabbit also

hops.)

c. Group plants according to their observable features such as appearance, size, etc.

SKL2. Students will compare the similarities and differences in groups of organisms.

a. Explain the similarities and differences in animals. (color, size, appearance, etc.)

b. Explain the similarities and differences in plants. (color, size, appearance, etc.)

c. Recognize the similarities and differences between a parent and a baby.

d. Match pictures of animal parents and their offspring explaining your reasoning.

(Example: dog/puppy; cat/kitten; cow/calf; duck/ducklings, etc.)

e. Recognize that you are similar and different from other students. (senses, appearance)

1^st

S1P1. Students will investigate light and sound.

a. Recognize sources of light.

b. Explain how shadows are made.

c. Investigate how vibrations produce sound.

Weight of water in bag Weight of water when frozen Weight of water when melted

d. Differentiate between various sounds in terms of (pitch) high or low and (volume) loud

or soft.

e. Identify emergency sounds and sounds that help us stay safe.

S1P2. Students will demonstrate effects of magnets on other magnets and other objects.

a. Demonstrate how magnets attract and repel.

b. Identify common objects that are attracted to a magnet.

c. Identify objects and materials (air, water, wood, paper, your hand, etc.) that do not

block magnetic force.

S1L1. Students will investigate the characteristics and basic needs of plants and animals.

a. Identify the basic needs of a plant.

• Air

• Water

• Light

• Nutrients

b. Identify the basic needs of an animal.

• Air

• Water

• Food

• Shelter

c. Identify the parts of a plant—root, stem, leaf, and flower.

d. Compare and describe various animals—appearance, motion, growth, basic needs.

2^nd

S2P1. Students will investigate the properties of matter and changes that occur in objects.

a. Identify the three common states of matter as solid, liquid, or gas.

b. Investigate changes in objects by tearing, dissolving, melting, squeezing, etc.

S2P2. Students will identify sources of energy and how the energy is used.

a. Identify sources of light energy, heat energy, and energy of motion.

b. Describe how light, heat, and motion energy are used.

S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal

such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a

frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.

b. Relate seasonal changes to observations of how a tree changes throughout a school

year.

c. Investigate the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed and by recording

changes over a period of time.

d. Identify fungi (mushroom) as a living organism.

3^rd

S3P1. Students will investigate how heat is produced and the effects of heating and cooling,

and will understand a change in temperature indicates a change in heat.

a. Categorize ways to produce heat energy such as burning, rubbing (friction), and mixing

one thing with another.

b. Investigate how insulation affects heating and cooling.

c. Investigate the transfer of heat energy from the sun to various materials.

d. Use thermometers to measure the changes in temperatures of water samples (hot,

warm, cold) over time.

S3P2. Students will investigate magnets and how they affect other magnets and common

objects.

a. Investigate to find common objects that are attracted to magnets.

b. Investigate how magnets attract and repel each other.

S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of

organisms on their habitat.

a. Differentiate between habitats of Georgia (mountains, marsh/swamp, coast, Piedmont,

Atlantic Ocean) and the organisms that live there.

b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions

of Georgia.

c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of

Georgia.

d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

4^th

S4E3. Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water

cycle and weather.

a. Demonstrate how water changes states from solid (ice) to liquid (water) to gas (water

vapor/steam) and changes from gas to liquid to solid.

b. Identify the temperatures at which water becomes a solid and at which water becomes

a gas.

S4L1. Students will describe the roles of organisms and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.

a. Identify the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community.

b. Demonstrate the flow of energy through a food web/food chain beginning with

sunlight and including producers, consumers, and decomposers.

c. Predict how changes in the environment would affect a community (ecosystem) of

organisms.

d. Predict effects on a population if some of the plants or animals in the community are

scarce or if there are too many.

S4L2. Students will identify factors that affect the survival or extinction of organisms such as

adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation) and external features (camouflage and

protection).

a. Identify external features of organisms that allow them to survive or reproduce better

than organisms that do not have these features. (e.g. camouflage, use of hibernation,

protection, etc.)

b. Identify factors that may have led to the extinction of some organisms.

5^th

S5P2. Students will explain the difference between a physical change and a chemical change.

a. Investigate physical changes by separating mixtures and manipulating (cutting, tearing,

folding) paper to demonstrate examples of physical change.

b. Recognize that the changes in state of water (water vapor/steam, liquid, ice) are due to

temperature differences and are examples of physical change.

c. Investigate the properties of a substance before, during, and after a chemical reaction to

find evidence of change.

S5L1. Students will classify organisms into groups and relate how they determined the groups

with how and why scientists use classification.

a. Demonstrate how animals are sorted into groups (vertebrate and invertebrate) and how

vertebrates are sorted into groups (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal).

b. Demonstrate how plants are sorted into groups.

S5L2. Students will recognize that offspring can resemble parents in inherited traits and

learned behaviors.

a. Compare and contrast the characteristics of learned behaviors and of inherited traits.

b. Discuss what a gene is and the role genes play in the transfer of traits.

S5L3. Students will diagram and label parts of various cells (plant, animal, single-celled,

multi-celled).

a. Use magnifiers such as microscopes or hand lenses to observe cells and their structure.

b. Identify parts of a plant cell (membrane, wall, cytoplasm, nucleus, chloroplasts) and of

an animal cell (membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus) and determine the function of the

parts.

c. Explain how cells in multi-celled organisms are similar and different in structure and

function to single-celled organisms.

S5L4. Students will relate how microorganisms benefit or harm larger organisms.

a. Identify beneficial microorganisms and explain why they are beneficial.

b. Identify harmful microorganisms and explain why they are harmful.

7^th

S7L1. Students will investigate the diversity of living organisms and how they can be

compared scientifically.

a. Demonstrate the process for the development of a dichotomous key.

b. Classify organisms based on a six-kingdom system and a dichotomous key.

S7L2. Students will describe the structure and function of cells, tissues, organs, and organ

systems.

a. Explain that cells take in nutrients in order to grow and divide and to make needed

materials.

b. Relate cell structures (cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria)

to basic cell functions.

c. Explain that cells are organized into tissues, tissues into organs, organs into systems,

and systems into organisms.

d. Explain that tissues, organs, and organ systems serve the needs cells have for oxygen,

food, and waste removal.

e. Explain the role of the major organ systems in the human body.

S7L3. Students will recognize how biological traits are passed on to successive generations.

a. Explain the role of genes and chromosomes in the process of inheriting a specific trait.

b. Compare and contrast sexual and asexual reproduction in organisms (bacteria, protists,

fungi, plants & animals).

c. Recognize that selective breeding can produce plants or animals with desired traits.

S7L4. Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and their

environments.

a. Demonstrate in a food web that matter is transferred from one organism to another and

can recycle between organisms and their environments.

b. Explain in a food web that sunlight is the source of energy and that this energy moves

from organism to organism.

c. Recognize that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of both

individuals and entire species.

d. Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually

beneficial.

S7L5. Students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited

characteristics that promote survival of organisms and the survival of successive

generations of their offspring.

a. Explain how physical characteristics of organisms have changed over successive

generations (e.g. Darwin’s finches and peppered moths of Manchester).

b. Describe ways in which species on earth have evolved due to natural selection.

c. Explain how the fossil record found in sedimentary rock provides evidence for the long

history of changing life forms.

8^th

S8P1. Students will examine the scientific view of the nature of matter.

a. Distinguish between atoms and molecules.

b. Describe the difference between pure substances (elements and compounds) and

mixtures.

c. Describe the movement of particles in solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas states.

d. Distinguish between physical and chemical properties of matter as physical (i.e., density,

melting point, boiling point) or chemical (i.e., reactivity, combustibility).

e. Distinguish between changes in matter as physical (i.e., physical change) or chemical

(development of a gas, formation of precipitate, and change in color).

f. Recognize that there are more than 100 elements and some have similar properties as

shown on the Periodic Table of Elements.

g. Identify and demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Matter.

S8P2. Students will be familiar with the forms and transformations of energy.

a. Explain energy transformation in terms of the Law of Conservation of Energy.

b. Explain the relationship between potential and kinetic energy.

c. Compare and contrast the different forms of energy (heat, light, electricity, mechanical

motion, sound) and their characteristics.

d. Describe how heat can be transferred through matter by the collisions of atoms

(conduction) or through space (radiation). In a liquid or gas, currents will facilitate the

transfer of heat (convection).