A student expectation is directly related to the knowledge and skills statement, is more specific about how students demonstrate their learning, and always begins with a verb. Student expectations are further broken down into their component parts, often referred to as “breakouts.”
Vertical alignment shows student expectations in the same subject area at different grade levels that are related to or build upon one another.
Breakouts are the component parts that make up a student expectation. A breakout shows a distinct concept a student should know or a distinct skill that a student should be able to demonstrate.
A system is a whole made of parts that work together. It has components and boundaries. It can interact with or be part of other systems.
The cell (system) contains various organelles (parts) that work together to carry out the processes necessary for the organism to function.
Matter and energy are conserved, changing forms but maintaining quantities. Energy flows within a system or between systems through transfers and transformations. Matter is cycled within systems through physical and chemical processes.
Energy flows from the Sun through the chloroplasts, converting carbon dioxide into food (matter), which is eaten and metabolized in the mitochondria, releasing the energy for use by the cell.
A structure is an organized arrangement of particles, parts, or elements in a substance, body, or entity. A function is the purpose or reason for something to exist in a system. The function of a structure depends on the shapes of and relationships among its essential parts.
Each organelle is a structure that performs a specific function in the cell. For example, the chloroplast (structure) is the location for photosynthesis (function) in a plant.