PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Updated 5/02
Grade 9
MC/GF = Multicultual Gender Fair Approaches; CE=Career Education; GE=Global Education
ITBS/ITED
Standard 1: Understands the nature of scientific inquiry
MC/GF CE
Knows that scientific explanations must meet certain criteria;
they must be consistent with experimental and observational
evidence about nature; and they must include a logical
structure, rules of evidence, openness to criticism, reporting
methods and procedures, and a commitment to making
knowledge public
Knows that because all scientific ideas depend on
experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific
knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence
becomes available; in areas where data, information, or
understanding is incomplete, it is normal for scientific ideas to
be incomplete
Knows that in science, the testing, revising, and occasional
discarding of theories, new and old, never ends; this ongoing
process leads to an increasingly better understanding of how
things work in the world, but not to absolute truth
Knows that hypotheses are widely used in science for
choosing what data to pay attention to and what additional
data to seek, and for guiding the interpretation of the data
(both new and previously available)
Formulates a testable hypothesis
Designs and conducts scientific investigations by identifying
and clarifying the questions, method, controls and variables;
organizing and displaying data; revising methods and
explanation; presenting the results; and receiving critical
response from others
Knows that scientists conduct investigations for a variety of
reasons, such as exploration of new areas, discovery of new
aspects of the natural world, confirmation of prior
investigations, predictions of current theories, and
comparison of models and theories
Knows that results of scientific inquiry--new knowledge and
methods--emerge from different types of investigations and
GE
public communication among scientists; the nature of
communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry
is guided by criteria of being logical and empirical and by
connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and
the historical body of scientific knowledge
Knows that progress in science and technology can relate to
social issues and challenges (e.g., funding priorities, health
problems)
Knows that individuals and teams have contributed and will
continue to contribute to all scientific enterprise; doing science
or engineering can be as simple as as individual conducting
field studies or as complex as hundreds of people working on
a major scientific question or technological problem
Knows that scientists have ethical traditions, including
commitment to peer review, truthful reporting of the methods
and outcomes of investigations, and publication of the results
of work; violations of ethical traditions such as these rarely
occur, but if violations do occur, the scientists responsible are
strongly condemned
Knows that scientists in different disciplines ask different
questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept
different types of evidence to support their explanations;
many scientific investigations require the contributions of
individuals from different disciplines (including engineering)
and new disciplines of science often emerge at the interface of
two older disciplines (e.g., geophysics, biochemistry)
Knows that creativity, imagination, and a good knowledge
base are all required in the work of science and engineering
Standard 2: Understands features and processes of the Earth/universe
Not Applicable
Standard 3: Understands diversity and unity that characterize life
Not Applicable
Standard 4: Understands basic concepts about the structure and properties of matter
MC/GF CE
Knows that an element is composed of single type of atom;
when elements are listed in order according to the number of
protons (called the atomic number); repeating patterns of
physical and chemical properties identify families of
GE
elements with similar properties (as seen in the periodic
table)
Knows that atoms interact with one another by transferring
or sharing electrons that are furthest from the nucleus; these
outer electrons govern the chemical properties of the element
Knows that atoms may be bonded together into molecules or
crystalline solids; when two or more kinds of atoms bind
together chemically, a compound is formed
Knows that atoms consist of negative electrons, which
occupy most of the space in the atom, any very tiny nuclei
consisting of neutrons and positive protons, each almost two
thousand times heavier than an electron; the electric force
between the nucleus and electrons hold the atom together
Knows that the number of electrons usually will equal the
number of protons, and the neutron has no electric charge, so
the atom, overall, is electrically neutral; but an atom may
acquire an unbalanced charge by gaining or losing electrons
Knows that when an element has atoms that differ in the
number of neutrons, these atoms are called different isotopes
of the element; although neutrons have little effect on how an
atom interacts with others, they do affect the mass and
stability of the nucleus
Knows that a large number of important reactions involve
the transfer of either electrons or between reacting ions,
molecules or atoms; in other reactions, chemical bonds are
broken by heat or light to form new bonds
Standard 5: Understands energy, motion and forces
MC/GF
Knows that heat energy consists of random motion; the
higher the temperature, the greater the atomic or molecular
motion
Knows that objects change their motion only when a net
force is applied; whenever one object exerts force on another,
an equal amount of force is exerted back on the first object
Knows that materials contain almost exactly equal
proportions of positive and negative charges, making the
materials as a whole electrically neutral; a very small excess
or deficit of negative charges in a material produces
noticeable electric forces
CE
GE
Knows that at the atomic level, electric forces between
oppositely charged electrons and protons hold atoms and
molecules together and thus are involved in all chemical
reactions; on a larger scale, electric forces hold solid and
liquid materials together and act between objects when they
are in contact
Knows that gravity is a universal force that each mass exerts
on any other mass; the strength of the gravitational attractive
force between two masses is proportional to the masses and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
them
Standard 6: Understands the relationships of science, technology, and social perspectives
MC/GF CE
GE
Knows that science and technology are pursued for
different purposes; scientific inquiry is driven by the
desire to understand the natural world and seeks to
answer questions that may or may not directly
influence humans; technological design is driven by
the need to meet human needs and solve human
problems and has a more direct effect on society than
science because its purpose is to solve human
problems, help humans adapt, and fulfill human
aspirations