Planet Plankton

K-12 Florida Education Standards

The following standards are focused by suggested grade levels and aligned to Florida Department of Education benchmarks.

• Kindergarten

  SC.K.L.14.3: Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.

  SC.K.N.1.3: Keep records as appropriate -- such as pictorial records -- of investigations conducted.

  SC.K.N.1.4: Observe and create a visual representation of an object which includes its major features.

• 1st Grade

  SC.1.L.16.1: Make observations that plants and animals closely resemble their parents, but variations exist among individuals within a population.

  SC.1.N.1.3: Keep records as appropriate - such as pictorial and written records - of investigations conducted.

  SC.1.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.

• 2nd Grade

  SC.2.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration and systematic observations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.

  SC.2.N.1.2: Compare the observations made by different groups using the same tools.

  SC.2.L.17.1: Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival.

• 3rd Grade

  SC.3.L.15.1: Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical characteristics and behaviors.

  SC.3.L.17.2: Recognize that plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their own food.

  SC.3.N.1.2: Compare the observations made by different groups using the same tools and seek reasons to explain the differences across groups.

• 4th Grade

  SC.4.L.17.2: Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them.

  SC.4.L.17.3: Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers.

  SC.4.L.17.4: Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.

• 5th Grade

  SC.5.L.14.2: Compare and contrast the function of organs and other physical structures of plants and animals, including humans, for example: some animals have skeletons for support - some with internal skeletons others with exoskeletons - while some plants have stems for support.

  SC.5.L.15.1: Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations.

  SC.5.L.17.1: Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics.

• 6th Grade

  SC.6.L.14.2: Investigate and explain the components of the scientific theory of cells (cell theory): all organisms are composed of cells (single-celled or multi-cellular), all cells come from pre-existing cells, and cells are the basic unit of life.

  SC.6.L.15.1: Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linnaean system combined with the concept of Domains.

  SC.6.N.1.5: Recognize that science involves creativity, not just in designing experiments, but also in creating explanations that fit evidence.

• 7th Grade

  SC.7.L.16.3: Compare and contrast the general processes of sexual reproduction requiring meiosis and asexual reproduction requiring mitosis.

  SC.7.L.16.4: Recognize and explore the impact of biotechnology (cloning, genetic engineering, artificial selection) on the individual, society and the environment.

  SC.7.L.17.1: Explain and illustrate the roles of and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.

• 8th Grade

  SC.8.L.18.1: Describe and investigate the process of photosynthesis, such as the roles of light, carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyll; production of food; release of oxygen.

  SC.8.N.4.1: Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.

  SC.8.N.4.2: Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.