The student understands how human activities impact aquatic environments. The student is expected to:

establish the appropriateness of the product for the intended audience;

make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;

analyze the cumulative impact of human population growth on an aquatic ecosystem;

implement the plan for product completion; and

evaluate details read to determine key ideas;

synthesize information to create new understanding; and

predict effects of chemical, organic, physical, and thermal changes due to humans on the living and nonliving components of an aquatic ecosystem;

maintain a journal to document all phases of the implementation of the plan and reflections on learning experiences and processes.

The student will demonstrate an understanding of the selected problem, issue, or concern by explaining or justifying findings to an appropriate audience for public comment or professional response. The student is expected to:

monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.

investigate the role of humans in unbalanced systems involving phenomena such as invasive species, fish farming, cultural eutrophication, or red tides;

analyze and discuss how human activities such as fishing, transportation, dams, and recreation influence aquatic environments;

review and revise the plan to present the findings;

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed. The student is expected to:

describe the impact such as costs and benefits of various laws and policies such as The Endangered Species Act, right of capture laws, or Clean Water Act on aquatic systems; and

make arrangements for the presentation of findings to an appropriate audience;

describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts;

analyze the purpose and effectiveness of human efforts to restore aquatic ecosystems affected by human activities.

present findings, simulating the skills used by professionals;

write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing sources within and across genres;

consider feedback received from the audience;

use text evidence to support an appropriate response;

reflect on the study and its potential for impact on the field; and

paraphrase and summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order;

reflect on personal learning experiences of the study.

interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating;

respond using newly acquired vocabulary as appropriate;

discuss and write about the explicit or implicit meanings of text;

Astronomy. In Astronomy, students focus on patterns, processes, and relationships among astronomical objects in our universe. Students acquire basic astronomical knowledge and supporting evidence about sun-Earth-Moon relationships, the solar system, the Milky Way, the size and scale of the universe, and the benefits and limitations of exploration. Students conduct laboratory and field investigations to support their developing conceptual framework of our place in space and time. By the end of Grade 12, students are expected to gain sufficient knowledge of the scientific and engineering practices across the disciplines of science to make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving.

respond orally or in writing with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice; and

Nature of science. Science, as defined by the National Academy of Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because they deal with phenomena that are not scientifically testable.

reflect on and adjust responses as new evidence is presented.

Scientific hypotheses and theories. Students are expected to know that:

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts. The student is expected to:

infer multiple themes within and across texts using text evidence;

Scientific inquiry. Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural world using scientific and engineering practices. Scientific methods of investigation are descriptive, comparative, or experimental. The method chosen should be appropriate to the question being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations include descriptive investigations, which involve collecting data and recording observations without making comparisons; comparative investigations, which involve collecting data with variables that are manipulated to compare results; and experimental investigations, which involve processes similar to comparative investigations but in which a control is identified.

analyze how characters' qualities influence events and resolution of the conflict;

analyze plot elements, including the use of foreshadowing and suspense, to advance the plot; and

analyze how the setting influences character and plot development.

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to:

Science and social ethics. Scientific decision making is a way of answering questions about the natural world involving its own set of ethical standards about how the process of science should be carried out. Students should be able to distinguish between scientific decision-making methods (scientific methods) and ethical and social decisions that involve science (the application of scientific information).

Science consists of recurring themes and making connections between overarching concepts. Recurring themes include systems, models, and patterns. All systems have basic properties that can be described in space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled. These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically tested, while models allow for boundary specification and provide tools for understanding the ideas presented. Students should analyze a system in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other, to the whole, and to the external environment.

demonstrate knowledge of literary genres such as realistic fiction, adventure stories, historical fiction, mysteries, humor, myths, fantasy, and science fiction;

Statements containing the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

analyze the effect of rhyme scheme, meter, and graphical elements such as punctuation and capitalization in poems across a variety of poetic forms;

Scientific and engineering practices. The student, for at least 40% of instructional time, asks questions, identifies problems, and plans and safely conducts classroom, laboratory, and field investigations to explain phenomena or design solutions using appropriate tools and models. The student is expected to:

analyze how playwrights develop characters through dialogue and staging;

ask questions and define problems based on observations or information from text, phenomena, models, or investigations;

analyze characteristics and structural elements of informational text, including: