Standards for the lesson plan
Life Science: Learning About Tadpoles

• Systems, order, and organization
  • Living systems have different levels of organization--for example, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, populations, and communities.
• Evidence, models, and explanations
  • Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations.
• Change, constancy, and measurement
  • Changes might occur in form and function of systems.
  • Changes very in rate, scale, and pattern, including trends and cycles.
  • Evidence for interactions and subsequent change and the formulation of scientific explanations are often clarified through quantitative distinctions--measurement.
  • Mathematics is essential for accurately measuring change.
• Form and function
  • Form and function are complementary aspects of objects, organisms, and systems in the natural and designated world. Function frequently relies on form.
  • Students should be able to explain function by referring to form, and to explain form by referring to function.

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
  • Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
  • Plan and conduct a simple investigation.
  • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
  • Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
  • Communicate investigations and explanations.
• Understandings about scientific inquiry
  • Asking and answering a question and comparing the answer with what scientists already know about the world.
  • Observing and describing organisms.
  • Using simple instruments such as magnifiers and rulers.
  • Developing explanations using observations.
  • Communicating results.

• The characteristics of organisms
  • Organisms have basic needs--animals need air, water, and food.
• Life cycles of organisms
  • 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.
  • Animals closely resemble their parents.
  • Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism.
• Organisms and environments
  • Experimenting.
  • An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment.