Social trade-offs

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grade 3

• Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations and build an understanding of plant growth and adaptations.
  • Objective 1.01: Observe and measure how the quantities and qualities of nutrients, light, and water in the environment affect plant growth.
  • Objective 1.02: Observe and describe how environmental conditions determine how well plants survive and grow in a particular environment.
  • Objective 1.03: Investigate and describe how plants pass through distinct stages in their life cycle including.
    • Growth.
    • Survival.
    • Reproduction.
  • Objective 1.04: Explain why the number of seeds a plant produces depends on variables such as light, water, nutrients, and pollination.
  • Objective 1.05: Observe and discuss how bees pollinate flowers.
• Goal 2: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of soil properties.
  • Objective 2.02: Investigate and observe that different soils absorb water at different rates.
  • Objective 2.03: Determine the ability of soil to support the growth of many plants, including those important to our food supply.
  • Objective 2.04: Identify the basic components of soil:
    • Sand.
    • Clay.
    • Humus.
  • Objective 2.05: Determine how composting can be used to recycle discarded plant and animal material.

Grade 4

• Goal 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of animal behavior and adaptation.
  • Objective 1.01: Observe and describe how all living and nonliving things affect the life of a particular animal including:
    • Other animals.
    • Plants.
    • Weather.
    • Climate.
  • Objective 1.02: Observe and record how animals of the same kind differ in some of their characteristics and discuss possible advantages and disadvantages of this variation.
  • Objective 1.04: Explain and discuss how humans and other animals can adapt their behavior to live in changing habitats.

Grade 5

• Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals.
  • Objective 1.01: Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment).
  • Objective 1.02: Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem:
    • Producers.
    • Consumers.
    • Decomposers.
  • Objective 1.03: Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.
  • Objective 1.04: Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature, and soil composition in an ecosystem's capacity to support life.
  • Objective 1.05: Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem.
  • Objective 1.06: Explain and evaluate some ways that humans affect ecosystems.
    • Habitat reduction due to development.
    • Pollutants.
    • Increased nutrients.
• Goal 2: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of landforms.
  • Objective 2.01: Identify and analyze forces that cause change in landforms over time including:
    • Water and Ice.
    • Wind.
    • Gravity.
  • Objective 2.02: Investigate and discuss the role of the water cycle and how movement of water over and through the landscape helps shape land forms.
  • Objective 2.03: Discuss and consider the wearing away and movement of rock and soil in erosion and its importance in forming:
    • Canyons.
    • Valleys.
    • Meanders.
    • Tributaries.
  • Objective 2.07: Discuss and analyze how humans influence erosion and deposition in local communities, including school grounds, as a result of:
    • Clearing land.
    • Planting vegetation.
    • Building dams.