| National
Science Education Standards
Life Science Content Standard C:
As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all
students should develop understanding of structure and function
in living systems. Principles
that underlie this standard include structure and functions
of cells, tissues, organs, systems for movement, control,
and coordination. A
behavioral response requires coordination and communication
at many levels, including cells, organ systems, and whole
organisms. (pp. 155-157).
AAAS
Benchmarks
Human Organism Basic Functions Grades 3-5: At this level,
children can begin to view the body as a system, in which
parts do things for other parts and for the organism as a
whole. Models
help children to see and touch the internal organs and to
know where they are located in the body. They can begin to
understand that each organ affects and is affected by others.
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that
the brain gets signals from all parts of the body telling
what is going on there.
The brain also sends signals to parts of the body to
influence what they do. (p. 136)
Human Identity Grades 6-8: By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that human
beings have body systems for providing coordination of body
systems. (p. 129) Students
can now develop more sophisticated understandings of how organs
and organ systems work together.
This includes circulation of and transportation by
blood, and the carrying of messages by nerves to help the
organism respond to its environment. Asking What if? questions
such as What might happen if some other parts weren’t there
or weren’t working? can stimulate students to reflection connections
among organs. (p. 137)
By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that
interactions among the senses, nerves, and brain make possible
the learning that enables human beings to cope with changes
in their environment.
National
Science Teachers Association
Scope Sequence and Coordination
At the 6-8 grade level, the curriculum should emphasize the
human organism. (p. 48)
Students should explore the different systems. From activities they should see a correlation between healthful
living and system maintenance.
Designers and teachers must avoid a mindless march
through the body systems. Coordination with topics from other
disciplines results in more dynamic experiments.
For example, activities could relate circulation to
principles of pressure, muscles and skeletal structures to
machines and gas exchange. (p. 49)
Nebraska
Science Standards
Grades 5-8 At the middle school level, students expand their
scientific inquiry skills through knowledge, observations,
ideas, and questions. Middle school students will begin to
recognize the relationships between explanation and evidence.
They understand that background knowledge and theories
guide the design of investigations, the types of observations
made, and the interpretation of data.
Student investigations will shape and modify students
background knowledge. (p. 24) |
