National Science Education Standards
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grades Kindergarten - 4)
Plan and conduct a simple investigation
Communicate investigations and explanations
Understanding about scientific inquiry (Grades Kindergarten - 4)
Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer. Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grades 5 - 8)
Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations
Design and conduct a scientific investigation
Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
Understandings about scientific inquiry (Grades 5 - 8)
Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.
Properties and changes of properties in matter (Grades 5 - 8)
A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.