Curriculum Index Curriculum Objectives Curriculum Outline Student Pages Virginia SOLs Lesson 1: Preparing For Your Journey Lesson 2: Meet Your Ship Lesson 3: Plotting The Course Lesson 4: Adding It Up Lesson 5: Environmental Impact Bibliography

VIRGINIA SCIENCE SOLS COVERED

Resources

  • 3.10 The student will investigate and understand that natural events and human influences can affect the survival of species. Key concepts include
    • a) the interdependency of plants and animals;
    • b) the effects of human activity on the quality of air, water, and habitat;
    • c) the effects of fire, flood, disease, and erosion on organisms; and
    • d) conservation and resource renewal.
  • 4.8 The student will investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources. Key concepts include
    • a) watershed and water resources; and
    • b) animals and plants.
  • 6.9 The student will investigate and understand public policy decisions relating to the environment. Key concepts include
    • c) the mitigation of land-use and environmental hazards through preventive measures.

Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic

  • 4.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • a) distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictions;
    • b) hypotheses are formulated based on cause-and-effect relationships;
    • f) data are displayed using bar and basic line graphs;
    • g) numerical data that are contradictory or unusual in experimental results are recognized; and
    • h) predictions are made based on data from picture graphs, bar graphs, and basic line graphs.
  • 5.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • e) data are collected, recorded, and reported using the appropriate graphical representation (graphs, charts, diagrams); and
    • f) predictions are made using patterns, and simple graphical data are extrapolated.
  • 6.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • c) precise and approximate measurements are recorded; and
    • i) data are organized and communicated through graphical representation (graphs, charts, and diagrams).

Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems

  • 4.6 The student will investigate and understand how weather conditions and phenomena occur and can be predicted. Key concepts include
    • a) weather measurements and meteorological tools (air pressure – barometer, wind speed – anemometer, rainfall – rain gauge, and temperature – thermometer); and
    • b) weather phenomena (fronts, clouds, and storms).

Matter

  • 6.5 The student will investigate and understand the unique properties and characteristics of water and its roles in the natural and human-made environment. Key concepts include
    • d) the ability of large bodies of water to store heat and moderate climate.
  • 6.6 The student will investigate and understand the properties of air and the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere. Key concepts include
    • b) air pressure, temperature, and humidity;
    • d) natural and human-caused changes to the atmosphere;
    • e) the relationship of atmospheric measures and weather conditions; and
    • f) basic information from weather maps including fronts, systems, and basic measurements.

Living Systems

  • 3.5 The student will investigate and understand relationships among organisms in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Key concepts include
    • c) predator and prey.
  • 4.5 The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals in an ecosystem interact with one another and the nonliving environment. Key concepts include
    • f) influence of human activity on ecosystems.
  • 6.7 The student will investigate and understand the natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems. Key concepts include
    • a) the health of ecosystems and the abiotic factors of a watershed;
    • b) the location and structure of Virginia’s regional watershed systems;
    • c) divides, tributaries, river systems, and river and stream processes;
    • d) wetlands;
    • e) estuaries; and
    • f) major conservation, health, and safety issues associated with watersheds.

Life Science

  • LS.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • h) continuous line graphs are constructed, interpreted, and used to make predictions.
  • LS.7 The student will investigate and understand that organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on one another and on nonliving components of the environment. Key concepts include
    • c) complex relationships within terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
  • LS.8 The student will investigate and understand that interactions exist among members of a population. Key concepts include
    • a) competition, cooperation, social hierarchy, territorial imperative; and
    • b) influence of behavior on a population.
  • LS.9 The student will investigate and understand interactions among populations in a biological community. Key concepts include
    • b) the relationship between predators and prey;
    • c) competition and cooperation; and
    • d) symbiotic relationships.
  • LS.11 The student will investigate and understand that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic and change over time (daily, seasonal, and long term). Key concepts include
    • b) factors that increase or decrease population size; and
    • c) eutrophication, climate changes, and catastrophic disturbances.
  • LS.12 The student will investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Key concepts include
    • b) change in habitat size, quality, or structure;
    • c) change in species competition;
    • d) population disturbances and factors that threaten or enhance species survival; and
    • e) environmental issues (water supply, air quality, energy production, and waste management).

Physical Science

  • PS.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • k) valid conclusions are made after analyzing data;
    • l) research methods are used to investigate practical problems and questions; and
    • m) experimental results are presented in appropriate written form.

Earth Science

  • ES.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • b) technologies including computers, probeware, and global positioning systems (GPS), are used to collect, analyze, and report data and to demonstrate concepts and simulate experimental conditions; and
    • c) scales, diagrams, maps, charts, graphs, tables, and profiles are constructed and interpreted.
  • ES.3 The student will investigate and understand how to read and interpret maps, globes, models, charts, and imagery. Key concepts include
    • a) maps (bathymetric, geologic, topographic, and weather) and star charts;
    • b) imagery (aerial photography and satellite images);
    • c) direction and measurements of distance on any map or globe; and
    • d) location by latitude and longitude and topographic profiles.
  • ES.11 The student will investigate and understand that oceans are complex, interactive physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to long- and short-term variations. Key concepts include
    • a) physical and chemical changes (tides, waves, currents, sea level and ice cap variations, upwelling, and salinity variations);
    • c) systems interactions (density differences, energy transfer, weather, and climate); and
    • e) economic and public policy issues concerning the oceans and the coastal zone including the Chesapeake Bay.
  • ES.13 The student will investigate and understand that energy transfer between the sun and the Earth and its atmosphere drives weather and climate on Earth. Key concepts include
    • a) observation and collection of weather data;
    • b) prediction of weather patterns;
    • c) severe weather occurrences, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and major storms; and
    • d) weather phenomena and the factors that affect climate including radiation and convection.

Biology

  • BIO.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
    • b) hypotheses are formulated based on direct observations and information from scientific literature;
    • d) graphing and arithmetic calculations are used as tools in data analysis;
    • e) conclusions are formed based on recorded quantitative and qualitative data;
    • g) validity of data is determined; and
    • i) appropriate technology including computers, graphing calculators, and probeware, is used for gathering and analyzing data and communicating results.
  • BIO.8 The student will investigate and understand how populations change through time. Key concepts include
    • b) how genetic variation, reproductive strategies, and environmental pressures impact the
    • survival of populations;
    • c) how natural selection leads to adaptations;
    • d) emergence of new species; and
    • e) scientific explanations for biological evolution.
  • BIO.9 The student will investigate and understand dynamic equilibria within populations, communities, and ecosystems. Key concepts include
    • a) interactions within and among populations including carrying capacities, limiting factors, and growth curves;
    • d) the effects of natural events and human activities on ecosystems; and
    • e) analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems including the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

Curriculum Index Curriculum Objectives Curriculum Outline Student Pages Virginia SOLs Lesson 1: Preparing For Your Journey Lesson 2: Meet Your Ship Lesson 3: Plotting The Course Lesson 4: Adding It Up Lesson 5: Environmental Impact Bibliography


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