Standard 1 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe how cell structures, cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems interact as an intelligently designed system to maintain the basic needs of organisms. a. Develop a model and construct an explanation of how cell structures (specifically the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplasts, lysosome, and mitochondria) contribute to the function of the cell as a system in obtaining nutrients in order to grow, reproduce, make needed materials, and process waste. The intent is for students to witness how the known structures of the cell and the cell as a whole is irreducibly complex due to how the organelle interacts are all essential to carry out various processes. b. Develop and use a conceptual model of how cells are organized into tissues, tissues into organs, organs into systems, and systems into organisms. c. Construct an argument that systems of the body (Cardiovascular, Excretory, Digestive, Respiratory, Muscular, Nervous, and Immune) interact with one another to carry out life processes. (Clarification statement: The emphasis is on how these complex systems interact to support life processes in an irreducibly complex fashion similar to cells and their organelles.)
Standard 2
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to investigate the complexity of intelligent design and the diversity of created organisms.
a. Develop and defend a model that categorizes organisms based on common characteristics.
b. Evaluate historical models of how organisms were classified based on physical characteristics and how that led to the six kingdom system (currently archaea, bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals). This includes common examples and characteristics such as prokaryotic, eukaryotic, unicellular, multicellular, asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction, autotroph, heterotroph, and unique cell structures.
C. Create & use dichotomous keys to classify unknown organisms.
Standard 3
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain how organisms reproduce either sexually or asexually and transfer genetic information to determine the traits of their offspring.
a. Construct an explanation supported with scientific evidence of the role of genes and chromosomes in the process of inheriting a specific trait.
b. Develop and use a model to describe how asexual reproduction can result in offspring with identical genetic information while sexual reproduction results in genetic variation. (Clarification statement: Models could include, but are not limited to, the use of monohybrid Punnett squares to demonstrate the heritability of genes and the resulting genetic variation, identification of heterozygous and homozygous, and comparison of genotype vs. phenotype.)
c. Ask questions to gather and synthesize information about the ways humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms through selective breeding. (Clarification statement: The element specifically addresses artificial selection and the ways in which it is fundamentally different from natural selection.)
Standard 4
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to examine the interdependence of organisms with one another and their environments.
a. Construct an explanation for the patterns of interactions observed in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of the ecosystem. (Clarification statement: The interactions include, but are not limited to, predator-prey relationships, competition, mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.)
b. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and the flow of energy among biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. (Clarification statement: Emphasis is on tracing movement of matter and flow of energy, not the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.)
c. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for how resource availability, disease, climate, and human activity affect individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems.
d. Ask questions to gather and synthesize information from multiple sources to differentiate between Earth’s major terrestrial biomes (i.e., tropical rainforest, savanna, temperate forest, desert, grassland, taiga, and tundra) and aquatic ecosystems (i.e., freshwater, estuaries, and marine). (Clarification statement: Emphasis is on the factors that influence patterns across biomes such as the climate, availability of food and water, and location.)
Standard 5
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information that exposes the fraudulent past of evolution and how our current understandings of life prove intelligent design is the only true origin of life.
a. Use mathematical representations to evaluate how natural selection at any level has yet to produce a change in kind of any organism or create life on any scale throughout recorded history.
b. Examine the current alleged proofs for macroevolution such as the missing links and or illustrated examples and investigate their authenticity and mathematical probabilities.
c. Analyze and interpret new evidence in the fossil record that indicates the age of bones that we once thought to be millions of years old are much in fact much younger due to soft tissue discoveries made by Mark Armitage and Maria Schwitzer.
Standard 6
Investigate the qualities, uses, and conservation of various natural resources and how they impact the world.
A. Ask questions to determine the differences between renewable/sustainable energy resources
(examples: hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, biomass) and nonrenewable energy resources (examples: nuclear: uranium, fossil fuels: oil, coal, and natural gas), and how they are used in our everyday lives.
B. Design and evaluate solutions for sustaining the quality and supply of natural resources such as water, soil, and air.
C. Understand the difference in climate and weather and investigate how ground based towers are used to predict it.
D. Experiment with magnification of sunlight via lenses and or the curving of water with transparent surfaces/substances to see how its heat can be used as a renewable resource.