Career Connections

NGSS- Next Generation Science Standards

• Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

• Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

• Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

• Systems of specialized cells within organisms help them perform the essential functions of life.

• All cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the instructions that code for the formation of proteins, which carry out most of the work of cells.

• Multicellular organisms have a hierarchical structural organization, in which any one system is made up of numerous parts and is itself a component of the next level.

• The sugar molecules thus formed contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen: their hydrocarbon backbones are used to make amino acids and other carbon-based molecules that can be assembled into larger molecules (such as proteins or DNA), used for example to form new cells.

• Each chromosome consists of a single very long DNA molecule, and each gene on the chromosome is a particular segment of that DNA. The instructions for forming species’ characteristics are carried in DNA . All cells in an organism have the same genetic content, but the genes used (expressed) by the cell may be regulated in different ways. Not all DNA codes for a protein; some segments of DNA are involved in regulatory or structural functions, and some have no as-yet known function.

• Ask questions ⦁ that arise from careful observation of phenomena, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information. ⦁ that arise from examining models or a theory, to clarify and/or seek additional information and relationships. ⦁ to determine relationships, including quantitative relationships, between independent and dependent variables. ⦁ to clarify and refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.

• Evaluate a question to determine if it is testable and relevant.

• Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the school laboratory, research facilities, or field (e.g., outdoor environment) with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on a model or theory.

• Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems.

• Plan an investigation or test a design individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence as part of building and revising models, supporting explanations for phenomena, or testing solutions to problems. Consider possible confounding variables or effects and evaluate the investigation’s design to ensure variables are controlled.

• Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly.

• Plan and conduct an investigation or test a design solution in a safe and ethical manner including considerations of environmental, social, and personal impacts.

• Select appropriate tools to collect, record, analyze, and evaluate data. Make directional hypotheses that specify what happens to a dependent variable when an independent variable is manipulated.

• Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.

• Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.

• Compare and contrast various types of data sets (e.g., self-generated, archival) to examine consistency of measurements and observations.

• Evaluate the impact of new data on a working explanation and/or model of a proposed process or system.

• Analyze data to identify design features or characteristics of the components of a proposed process or system to optimize it relative to criteria for success.

• Apply techniques of algebra and functions to represent and solve scientific and engineering problems.

• Make a quantitative and/or qualitative claim regarding the relationship between dependent and independent variables.

• Construct and revise an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

• Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.

• Apply scientific reasoning, theory, and/or models to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion.

• Evaluate the claims, evidence, and/or reasoning behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments.

• Respectfully provide and/or receive critiques on scientific arguments by probing reasoning and evidence, challenging ideas and conclusions, responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, and determining additional information required to resolve contradictions.

• Evaluate the validity and reliability of and/or synthesize multiple claims, methods, and/or designs that appear in scientific and technical texts or media reports, verifying the data when possible. Communicate scientific and/or technical information or ideas (e.g., about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (i.e., orally, graphically, textually, mathematically).

Common Core Standards ELA

• Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

• Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

• Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.

• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

• Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

• Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.

• Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

• By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Common Core Standards Mathematics

• Reason Quantitatively and Use Units to Solve Problems HSN.Q.A.1

• Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities HSN.Q.A.3

• Interpret expressions that represent a quantity in terms of its context HSA.SSE.A.1

• Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems. Include equations arising from linear and quadratic functions, and simple rational and exponential functions HSA.CED.A.1

• Solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable, including equations with coefficients represented by letters HSA.REI.B.3

• Understand that the graph of an equation in two variables is the set of all its solutions plotted in the coordinate plane, often forming a curve (which could be a line) HSA.REI.D.10

• Recognize situations in which one quantity changes at a constant rate per unit interval relative to another HSF.LE.A.1.B

• Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots) HSS.ID.A.1

Student Learning Standards (Career Technical Education):