MN Life Science Standards

The 2009 Minnesota Academic Standards in Science set the expectations for achievement in science for K-12 students in Minnesota. The standards are grounded in the belief that all students can and should be scientifically literate. Scientific literacy enables people to use scientific principles and processes to make personal decisions and to participate in discussions of scientific issues that affect society (NRC, 1996). The standards and benchmarks describe a connected body of science and engineering knowledge acquired through active participation in science experiences. These experiences include hands-on laboratory activities rooted in scientific inquiry and engineering design. The standards are placed at the grade level where mastery is expected with recognition that a progression of learning experiences in earlier grades builds the foundation for mastery later on.

The Minnesota Academic Standards in Science are organized by grade level into four content strands: 1) The Nature of Science and Engineering, 2) Physical Science, 3) Earth and Space Science, and 4) Life Science. It is important to note that the content and skills in The Nature of Science and Engineering are not intended to be taught as a stand-alone unit or an isolated course, but embedded and used in the teaching, learning and assessment of the content in the other strands. Each strand has three or four substrands. Each substrand contains two or more standards and one or more benchmarks. The benchmarks supplement the standards by specifying the academic knowledge and skills that schools must offer and students must achieve to satisfactorily complete a standard. Not all standards are found at every grade level. The strands, substrands and standards are organized as follows.

STRAND 4: LIFE SCIENCE

Substrand 1. Structure and Function in Living Systems

Standard 1. Levels of organization

Standard 2. Cells

Substrand 2. Interdependence Among Living Systems

Standard 1. Ecosystems

Standard 2. Flow of energy and matter

Substrand 3. Evolution in Living Systems

Standard 1. Reproduction

Standard 2. Variation

Standard 3. Biological evolution

Substrand 4. Human Interactions with Living Systems

Standard 1. Interaction with the environment

Standard 2. Health and disease

9 10 11 12	4. Life Science	1. Structure and Function in Living Systems	1. Organisms use the interaction of cellular processes as well as tissues and organ systems to maintain homeostasis.	9.4.1.1.1	Explain how cell processes are influenced by internal and external factors, such as pH and temperature, and how cells and organisms respond to changes in their environment to maintain homeostasis.
				9.4.1.1.2	Describe how the functions of individual organ systems are integrated to maintain homeostasis in an organism.
			2. Cells and cell structures have specific functions that allow an organism to grow, survive and reproduce.	9.4.1.2.1	Recognize that cells are composed primarily of a few elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur), and describe the basic molecular structures and the primary functions of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
				9.4.1.2.2	Recognize that the work of the cell is carried out primarily by proteins, most of which are enzymes, and that protein function depends on the amino acid sequence and the shape it takes as a consequence of the interactions between those amino acids.
				9.4.1.2.3	Describe how viruses, prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells differ in relative size, complexity and general structure.
9 10 11 12	4. Life Science	1. Structure and Function in Living Systems	2. Cells and cell structures have specific functions that allow an organism to grow, survive and reproduce.	9.4.1.2.4	Explain the function and importance of cell organelles for prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic cells as related to the basic cell processes of respiration, photosynthesis, protein synthesis and cell reproduction.
				9.4.1.2.5	Compare and contrast passive transport (including osmosis and facilitated transport) with active transport, such as endocytosis and exocytosis.
				9.4.1.2.6	Explain the process of mitosis in the formation of identical new cells and maintaining chromosome number during asexual reproduction.
		2. Interdepen-dence Among Living Systems	1. The interrelationship and interdependence of organisms generate dynamic biological communities in ecosystems.	9.4.2.1.1	Describe factors that affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem and relate these to population growth.
				9.4.2.1.2	Explain how ecosystems can change as a result of the introduction of one or more new species. For example: The effect of migration, localized evolution or disease organisms.
			2. Matter cycles and energy flows through different levels of organization of living systems and the physical environment, as chemical elements are combined in different ways.	9.4.2.2.1	Use words and equations to differentiate between the processes of photosynthesis and respiration in terms of energy flow, beginning reactants and end products.
				9.4.2.2.2	Explain how matter and energy is transformed and transferred among organisms in an ecosystem, and how energy is dissipated as heat into the environment.
		3. Evolution in Living Systems	1. Genetic information found in the cell provides information for assembling proteins, which dictate the expression of traits in an individual.	9.4.3.1.1	Explain the relationships among DNA, genes and chromosomes.
				9.4.3.1.2	In the context of a monohybrid cross, apply the terms phenotype, genotype, allele, homozygous and heterozygous.
				9.4.3.1.3	Describe the process of DNA replication and the role of DNA and RNA in assembling protein molecules.
9 10 11 12	4. Life Science	3. Evolution in Living Systems	2. Variation within a species is the natural result of new inheritable characteristics occurring from new combinations of existing genes or from mutations of genes in reproductive cells.	9.4.3.2.1	Use concepts from Mendel’s Laws of Segregation and Independent Assortment to explain how sorting and recombination (crossing over) of genes during sexual reproduction (meiosis) increases the occurrence of variation in a species.
				9.4.3.2.2	Use the processes of mitosis and meiosis to explain the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction.
				9.4.3.2.3	Explain how mutations like deletions, insertions, rearrangements or substitutions of DNA segments in gametes may have no effect, may harm, or rarely may be beneficial, and can result in genetic variation within a species.
			3. Evolution by natural selection is a scientific explanation for the history and diversity of life on Earth.	9.4.3.3.1	Describe how evidence led Darwin to develop the theory of natural selection and common descent to explain evolution.
				9.4.3.3.2	Use scientific evidence, including the fossil record, homologous structures, and genetic and/or biochemical similarities, to show evolutionary relationships among species.
				9.4.3.3.3	Recognize that artificial selection has led to offspring through successive generations that can be very different in appearance and behavior from their distant ancestors.
				9.4.3.3.4	Explain why genetic variation within a population is essential for evolution to occur.
				9.4.3.3.5	Explain how competition for finite resources and the changing environment promotes natural selection on offspring survival, depending on whether the offspring have characteristics that are advantageous or disadvantageous in the new environment.
				9.4.3.3.6	Explain how genetic variation between two populations of a given species is due, in part, to different selective pressures acting independently on each population and how, over time, these differences can lead to the development of new species.
9 10 11 12	4. Life Science	4. Human Interactions with Living Systems	1. Human activity has consequences on living organisms and ecosystems.	9.4.4.1.1	Describe the social, economic and ecological risks and benefits of biotechnology in agriculture and medicine. For example: Selective breeding, genetic engineering, and antibiotic development and use.
				9.4.4.1.2	Describe the social, economic and ecological risks and benefits of changing a natural ecosystem as a result of human activity. For example: Changing the temperature or composition of water, air or soil; altering populations and communities; developing artificial ecosystems; or changing the use of land or water.
				9.4.4.1.3	Describe contributions from diverse cultures, including Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities, to the understanding of interactions among humans and living systems. For example: American Indian understanding of sustainable land use practices.
			2.  Personal and community health can be affected by the environment, body functions and human behavior.	9.4.4.2.1	Describe how some diseases can sometimes be predicted by genetic testing and how this affects parental and community decisions.
				9.4.4.2.2	Explain how the body produces antibodies to fight disease and how vaccines assist this process.
				9.4.4.2.3	Describe how the immune system sometimes attacks some of the body’s own cells and how some allergic reactions are caused by the body’s immune responses to usually harmless environmental substances.
				9.4.4.2.4	Explain how environmental factors and personal decisions, such as water quality, air quality and smoking affect personal and community health.
				9.4.4.2.5	Recognize that a gene mutation in a cell can result in uncontrolled cell division called cancer, and how exposure of cells to certain chemicals and radiation increases mutations and thus increases the chance of cancer.