Environmental Education - Academic Standards

GRADE 1

IV. Life Science F. Flow of Matter and Energy: Benchmark 1: The student will know that animals need air, water and food and that plants require air water, nutrients and light. (Build-A-Tree; Forest Habitat Hideout; Incredible Journey; Owls, Mice and Seeds; Reach For The Sun)

GRADE 2

IV. Life Science B. Diversity of Organisms: Benchmark 1: The student will describe life cycles of plants and animals. (Reach For The Sun; Run For Your Life Cycle)

IV. Life Science C. Interdependence of Life: Benchmark 1: The student will observe and describe features of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Hayride – Critters In The Forest; Hayride – Succession of A Forest; MN Fish ID and Fish Families)

IV. Life Science F. Flow of Matter and Energy: Benchmark 1: The student will observe predator and prey relationships. (Food Chain Tag; Owls, Mice and Seeds) Benchmark 2: The student will compare and contrast plant eaters and meat eaters. (Nature Center Sleuths)

GRADE 3

I. History and Nature of Science A. Scientific World View: Benchmark 1: The student will explore the use of science as a tool that can help investigate and answer questions about the environment. (MN Fish ID and Fish Families; Survivor)

III. Earth and Space Science C. The Universe: Benchmark 3: The student will observe that the sun supplies heat and light to the Earth. (ABC Chant; Everybody Needs Plants; Food Chain Tag; Hayride – Critters In The Forest; Incredible Journey; Reach For The Sun;

IV. Life Science B. Diversity of Organisms: Benchmark 1: The student will describe the structures that serve different functions in growth, survival and reproduction for plants and animals. (Build-A-Tree; Everybody Needs Plants; Reach For The Sun) Benchmark 2: The student will know that plants have different structures from animals that serve the same necessary functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. (Build-A-Tree; Everybody Needs Plants; Reach For The Sun)

IV. Life Science C. Interdependence of Life: Benchmark 1: The student will know that organisms interact with one another in various ways besides providing food. (Forest Succession; Hayride – Critters In The Forest; Hayride – Forest Succession; Reach For The Sun; Run For Your Life Cycle; Worm Factory; Benchmark 2: The student will know that changes in a habitat can be beneficial or harmful to an organism. (Food Chain Tag; Forest Habitat Hideout; Hayride – Critters In the Forest; Hayride – Forest Succession; Incredible Journey; Owls, Mice and Seeds; Reach For The Sun; Run For Your Life Cycle; Survivor)

GRADE 4

I. History and Nature of Science A. Scientific World View: Benchmark 1: The student will explore the uses and effects of science in our interaction with the natural world. (MN Fish ID and Fish Families)

II. Physical Science A. Structure of Matter: Benchmark1: The student will observe that heating and cooling can cause changes in state. (Incredible Journey) Benchmark 2: The student will describe the changes in the properties of a substance when it is cooled or heated. (Incredible Journey)

III. Earth and Space Science B. Benchmark 1: The student will describe the water cycle involving the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. (Incredible Journey) Benchmark 2: The student will identify where water exists on Earth. (Incredible Journey)

IV. Life Science B. Diversity of Organisms: Benchmark 1: The student will classify plants and animals according to their physical characteristics. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Hayride – Succession of A Forest; MN Fish ID and Fish Families; Survivor) Benchmark 2: The student will learn that the characteristics used for grouping depend on the purpose of the grouping. (Forest Habitat Hideout; MN Fish ID and Fish Families; Survivor)

GRADE 5

IV. Life Science E. Biological Populations Change Over Time: Benchmark 1: The student will recognize that individuals of the same species differ in their characteristics and that sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing. (Hayride – Succession Of A Forest; Survivor;

IV. Life Science F. Flow of Matter and Energy: Benchmark 1: The student will recognize that organisms need energy to stay alive and grow, and that this energy originates from the sun. (ABC Chant; Everybody Needs Plants; Food Chain Tag; Nature Center Sleuths; Reach For The Sun;) Benchmark 2: The student will use food webs to describe relationships among producers, consumers, decomposers in an ecosystem in Minnesota. (ABC Chant; Food Chain Tag; Nature Center Sleuths; Owls, Mice and Seeds) Benchmark 3: The student will recognize that organisms are growing, dying, and decaying, and that their matter is recycled. (ABC Chant; Food Chain Tag; Nature Center Sleuths; Worm Factory)

GRADE 7

IV. Life Science C. Interdependence of Life: Benchmark 1: The student will provide examples of the potentially irreversible effects of human activity on ecosystems. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Owls, Mice and Seeds) Benchmark 2: The student will define a population as all individuals of a species that exist together at a given place and time. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Owls, Mice and Seeds) Benchmark 3: The student will define an ecosystem as all populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Owls, Mice and Seeds) Benchmark 4: The student will explain the factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support, including available resources, abiotic, and biotic factors and disease. (Forest Habitat Hideout; Owls, Mice and Seeds)

IV. Life Science E. Biological Populations Change Over Time: Benchmark 3: The student will explain how biological adaptations in structure, function and behavior enhance the reproductive success and survival of a species in a particular environment. (MN Fish ID and Fish Families; Run For Your Life Cycle)

IV. Life Science F. Flow of Matter and Energy: Benchmark 1: The student will know that plants use the energy in light to make sugars out of carbon dioxide and water. (Everybody Needs Plants; Reach For The Sun) Benchmark 2: The student will explain how energy is transferred through food chains and food webs in an ecosystem. (Nature Center Sleuths; Worm Factory) Benchmark 4: The student will know that the total amount of matter in a closed system remains the same as it is transferred between organisms and the physical environment even though its location or form changes. (Worm Factory) Benchmark 5: The student will compare and contrast predator/prey, parasite/host and producer, consumer, decomposer relationships. (Food Chain Tag; Nature Center Sleuths; Worm Factory)