| PEs
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State Grade Level Overview
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| Kindergarten |
In kindergarten, students begin their scientific inquiry. They understand that scientists observe carefully and ask questions. Students develop the skills of observing, sorting, and identifying parts and begin using scientific tools to understand the natural world.
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| 1st Grade |
In first grade, students learn to find patterns and ask their own questions about their natural world, both living and non-living. For example, students may learn to ask, "What do plant and animals need to live?"; "Why does weather change?"; and "How is weather measured?" Students develop skills with sorting, describing, comparing, and recording their observations.
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| 2nd Grade |
In second grade, students expand their investigation skills. They use their prior knowledge to begin making predictions and finding patterns based on careful observation. A second grade student will look at and examine more closely the natural world by classifying based on properties and describing characteristics of living and nonliving things. They begin to look for patterns in the natural world.
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| 3rd Grade |
In third grade, students begin to explore more complex systems and make inferences about their observations. Students are developing an understanding of systems and are able to identify individual parts and how they work together. In order to understand how the connections between the parts interact, students begin to manipulate one part and look for a change in the system. For example, students may study a system of plant growth by observing what happens to plant growth under different light conditions.
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| 4th Grade |
In fourth grade, students use their developing investigative skills to begin to compare systems. They examine cause and effect and ask what is a fact and what is an opinion. They are primarily exploring more complex systems in a more complex manner, such as the changes of earth systems over time.
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| 5th Grade |
In fifth grade, students become more sophisticated in their analysis of the interconnections within systems. When investigating, students use data to support their conclusions and logical arguments. They begin to determine factors that contribute to scientific bias.
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| 6th Grade |
In sixth grade, students become more like scientists in their thinking and their investigations. They learn how to identify the problems and generate questions that can be answered scientifically. They learn the importance of sound investigative practices. Students begin to apply their understandings to designing solutions to real world problems.
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| 7th Grade |
In seventh grade, students become more proficient with both field and controlled investigative skills. When investigating they learn to make judgments about data and determine multiple criteria to support valid conclusions. They examine micro to macro systems with the use of models. Seventh grade students take the ability to investigate the immediate world and apply this to new situations that may be more difficult to experience directly.
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| 8th Grade |
In eighth grade, students begin to use concrete evidence to develop a new, more abstract, level of understanding about matter, energy, and systems. Students will begin to develop models to describe complex systems and learn how investigation can provide evidence to test models. Students will begin to differentiate between questions that can be scientifically investigated and those that cannot.
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