Students will:

• Identify and investigate problems scientifically and will communicate information clearly in writing, discussions, and debates. 
  • Formulate hypotheses based on direct observations and information from scientific literature and environmental research. 
  • Collect, analyze, and report data in the classroom and the field using appropriate materials and technologies. 
  • Review information for accuracy, separating fact from opinion. 
  • Form conclusions based on quantitative and qualitative data. 
  • Ask questions to critique the interpretation, relevance, or thoroughness of data or evidence, investigative design, and/or premise(s) of an explanation. 
• Investigate and understand conservation of Earth’s resources. 
  • Research the effects of natural and human-caused activities that either contribute to or challenge an ecologically sustainable environment. 
  • Suggest how individuals can alter their own behavior to reduce their environmental impact.

Students will:

• Investigate and understand the fundamentals of matter and its interactions.
  • Explain the law of conservation of energy and matter.
• Investigate and understand how matter flows in the fundamental processes of Earth systems. 
  • Describe the movement of atoms and elements through the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere as geochemical processes to include the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles.
  • Identify the components, dynamics, and processes of the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
• Investigate and understand the major processes and systems that form Earth, including how water, living things, and rock act together to shape landforms.
  • Explain the formation of distinctive landforms (the physical processes such as erosion, rock cycle).
  • Explain evidence for the distribution of the continents (plate tectonics). 
  • Compare natural and human causes of changes to Earth’s land surface.
• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems. 
• Predict effects of change in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, or anthrosphere on the biosphere.

Students will:

• Investigate and understand the fundamentals of matter and its interactions. 
  • Recognize that chemical processes involve energy. 
  • Explain the law of conservation of energy and matter. 
  • Describe the unique properties and characteristics of water (which plays a critical role in the environment).
• Investigate and understand how matter flows in the fundamental processes of Earth systems. 
  • Describe the movement of atoms and elements through the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere as geochemical processes to include the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles. 
  • Identify the components, dynamics, and processes of the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems.
  • Predict effects of change in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, or anthrosphere on the biosphere.

Students will:

• Investigate and understand the fundamentals of matter and its interactions.
  • Understand that all things are made up of atoms and elements. 
  • Model how atoms and elements can interact in different ways and can be expressed as different types of chemical reactions. 
  • Recognize that chemical processes involve energy. 
  • Explain the law of conservation of energy and matter. 
  • Explain how the distribution and movement of water across the Earth affects the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. 
• Investigate and understand how matter flows in the fundamental processes of Earth systems. 
  • Describe the movement of atoms and elements through the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere as geochemical processes to include the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles. 
  • Identify the components, dynamics, and processes of the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. 
  • Illustrate the interrelationships among the atmosphere, geosphere, anthrosphere, and the hydrosphere. 
• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems. 
  • Predict effects of change in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, or anthrosphere on the biosphere.

Students will:

• Investigate and understand that the Earth is one interconnected system to include the hierarchy and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
  • Research the characteristics and components that define each of the Earth’s terrestrial and aquatic biomes. 
  • Identify the biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem and how energy and matter move between these. 
  • Illustrate the movement of energy through the living world to include food webs, food chains, trophic levels. 
• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems.
  • Discuss that the Earth in a state of dynamic equilibrium.
  • Predict effects of change in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, or anthrosphere on the biosphere. 
  • Analyze examples of biodiversity and co-evolution in ecosystems.

Students will:

• Investigate and understand that the Earth is one interconnected system to include the hierarchy and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
  • Deduce the factors limiting population growth in a given area (carrying capacity).
• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems. 
  • Compare interactions between individuals (i.e., commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, predation, and competition). 
  • Examine the factors that determine growth rates in populations (e.g., birth, death, and migration rates). 
  • Evaluate adaptations of organisms to the environment in terms of ecological niches and natural selection. 
  • Describe the role of genetic diversity and population size in the conservation of a species.
  • Explain the natural processes of change in the environment, including examples of succession, evolution, and extinction. 
  • Research factors that influence patterns of ecological succession, including invasive species, loss of biodiversity, and catastrophic events. 
  • Analyze examples of biodiversity and co-evolution in ecosystems.

Students will investigate and understand:

• Earth’s resources: 
  • Explain why certain resources are nonrenewable. 
  • Assess the benefits and drawbacks of fossil fuels. 
  • Research advantages and disadvantages of renewable resources, including solar, hydrogen fuel cells, biomass, wind, and geothermal energy.
  • Appraise the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear power. 
  • Appraise the benefits and drawbacks of hydroelectric power.
• Conservation of Earth’s resources: 
  • Predict future availability of nonrenewable resources considering the trend of human consumption of energy. 
  • Research the effects of natural and human-caused activities that either contribute to or challenge an ecologically sustainable environment.
  • Suggest how individuals can alter their own behavior to reduce their environmental impact.
  • Forecast how changes in the availability of energy will affect society and human activities, such as transportation, agricultural systems, and manufacturing.

Students will investigate and understand

• The fundamentals of matter and its interactions:
  • Model how atoms and elements can interact in different ways and can be expressed as different types of chemical reactions. 
• Conservation of Earth’s resources: 
  • Research the effects of natural and human-caused activities that either contribute to or challenge an ecologically sustainable environment. 
  • Suggest how individuals can alter their own behavior to reduce their environmental impact. 
• Pollution and waste management:
  • Explore the effects and potential implications of pollution and resource depletion on the environment at the local and global levels to include air and water pollution, solid waste disposal, depletion of the stratospheric ozone, global warming, and land uses.
  • Explain the mechanisms of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. 
  • Investigate pest management.
  • Compare methods used for remediation of land, air, and water pollution.
• Civic responsibility and environmental policies: 
  • Analyze how consumer choices in Virginia impact jobs, resources, pollution, and waste here and around the world.

Students will investigate and understand

• Conservation of Earth’s resources:
  • Predict future availability of nonrenewable resources considering the trend of human consumption of energy. 
  • Research the effects of natural and human-caused activities that either contribute to or challenge an ecologically sustainable environment. 
  • Suggest how individuals can alter their own behavior to reduce their environmental impact. 
  • Forecast how changes in the availability of energy will affect society and human activities, such as transportation, agricultural systems, and manufacturing. 
• The human impact on our environment: 
  • Analyze how human populations impact their environment through the use of natural resources to include how agriculture, forestry, ranching, mining, urbanization, transportation, and fishing impact the land, water, air, and organisms. 
• Pollution and waste management:
  • Explore the effects and potential implications of pollution and resource depletion on the environment at the local and global levels to include air and water pollution, solid waste disposal, depletion of the stratospheric ozone, global warming, and land uses.

Students will:

• Describe stability and change as it relates to both populations and ecosystems.
  • Discuss that the Earth is in a state of dynamic equilibrium. 
  • Examine the factors that determine growth rates in populations (e.g., birth, death, and migration rates). 
  • Describe the role of genetic diversity and population size in the conservation of a species. 
• Investigate and understand conservation of Earth’s resources.
  • Predict future availability of nonrenewable resources considering the trend of human consumption of energy.
  • Research the effects of natural and human-caused activities that either contribute to or challenge an ecologically sustainable environment.
  • Suggest how individuals can alter their own behavior to reduce their environmental impact. 
  • Forecast how changes in the availability of energy will affect society and human activities, such as transportation, agricultural systems, and manufacturing.
• Investigate and understand the human impact on our environment.
  • Discuss population ecology, carrying capacity, human population dynamics, and the impacts of population growth.
  • Debate the advantages and disadvantages of balancing short term interests (e.g., economic) with long term welfare of society (e.g., environmental sustainability). 
  • Provide examples of how individual activities and decisions can have an impact on the environment. 
  • Analyze how human populations impact their environment through the use of natural resources to include how agriculture, forestry, ranching, mining, urbanization, transportation, and fishing impact the land, water, air, and organisms. 
  • Explore the allocation of state and federal lands.
• Investigate and understand global climate change. 
  • Outline the use of scientific evidence in reporting changes in average global temperature, greenhouse gasses, quantities of arctic and land, ice, ocean temperature, ocean acidification, and sea level rise. 
  • Examine actual and potential effects of habitat destruction, erosion, and depletion of soil fertility associated with human activities.
• Investigate and understand civic responsibility and environmental policies. 
  • Analyze how consumer choices in Virginia impact jobs, resources, pollution, and waste here and around the world.

Students will identify and investigate problems scientifically and will communicate information clearly in writing, discussions, and debates.

• Research and discuss ethical issues in the environmental field from multiple viewpoints.