Virginia Standards of Learning Alignment | Orbit Earth Expo

Kindergarten First GradeSecond GradeThird GradeFourth GradeFifth GradeSixth Grade

Life SciencePhysical ScienceEarth Science


Kindergarten

K.4 The student will investigate and understand that the position, motion, and physical properties of an object can be described. Key concepts include

  • b) shapes and forms of objects;
  • d) relative sizes and weights of objects;

K.8 The student will investigate and understand that shadows occur when light is blocked by an object. Key concepts include

  • a) shadows occur in nature when sunlight is blocked by an object; and
  • b) shadows can be produced by blocking artificial light sources.

K.9 The student will investigate and understand that there are simple repeating patterns in his/her daily life. Key concepts include

  • a) weather observations;

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1st Grade

1.2 The student will investigate and understand that moving objects exhibit different kinds of motion. Key concepts include

  • a) objects may have straight, circular, and back-and-forth motions;
  • c) pushes or pulls can change the movement of an object.

1.6 The student will investigate and understand the basic relationships between the sun and Earth. Key concepts include

  • a) the sun is the source of energy and light that warms the land, air, and water; and
  • b) the sun’s relative position in the morning is east and in the late afternoon is west.

1.7 The student will investigate and understand weather and seasonal changes. Key concepts include

  • b) there are relationships between daily and seasonal changes; and
  • c) changes in temperature, light, and precipitation can be observed and recorded over time.

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2nd Grade

2.3 The student will investigate and understand basic properties of solids, liquids, and gases. Key concepts include

  • c) changes in phases of matter with the addition or removal of energy.

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3rd Grade

3.5 The student will investigate and understand relationships among organisms in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Key concepts include

  • a) producer, consumer, decomposer;
  • b) herbivore, carnivore, omnivore; and
  • c) predator and prey.

3.8 The student will investigate and understand basic patterns and cycles occurring in nature. Key concepts include

  • a) patterns of natural events such as day and night, seasonal changes, simple phases of the moon, and tides;

3.9 The student will investigate and understand the water cycle and its relationship to life on Earth. Key concepts include

  • a) there are many sources of water on Earth;
  • b) the energy from the sun drives the water cycle;
  • c) the water cycle involves several processes;
  • d) water is essential for living things; and
  • e) water on Earth is limited and needs to be conserved.

3.10 The student will investigate and understand that natural events and human influences can affect the survival of species. Key concepts include

  • a) the interdependency of plants and animals;

3.11 The student will investigate and understand different sources of energy. Key concepts include

  • a) energy from the sun;

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4th Grade

4.5 The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals, including humans, in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include

  • c) flow of energy through food webs;

4.7 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system. Key concepts include

  • a) the planets in the solar system;
  • b) the order of the planets in the solar system; and
  • c) the relative sizes of the planets.

4.8 The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth, the moon, and the sun. Key concepts include

  • a) the motions of Earth, the moon, and the sun;
  • b) the causes for Earth’s seasons;
  • c) the causes for the phases of the moon;
  • d) the relative size, position, age, and makeup of Earth, the moon, and the sun;

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5th Grade

5.2 The student will investigate and understand how sound is created and transmitted, and how it is used. Key concepts include

  • d) uses and applications of sound waves.

5.3 The student will investigate and understand basic characteristics of visible light and how it behaves. Key concepts include

  • c) opaque, transparent, and translucent;
  • d) reflection of light from reflective surfaces; and
  • e) refraction of light through water and prisms.

5.7 The student will investigate and understand how Earth’s surface is constantly changing. Key concepts include

  • a) identification of rock types;
  • e) changes in Earth’s crust due to plate tectonics;
  • f) weathering, erosion, and deposition;

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6th Grade

6.8 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system and the interactions among the various bodies that comprise it. Key concepts include

  • a) the sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their moons, dwarf planets, meteors, asteroids, and comets;
  • b) relative size of and distance between planets;
  • c) the role of gravity;
  • d) revolution and rotation;
  • e) the mechanics of day and night and the phases of the moon;
  • f) the unique properties of Earth as a planet;
  • g) the relationship of Earth’s tilt and the seasons;
  • h) the cause of tides;

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Life Science

LS.6 The student will investigate and understand that organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on one another and on nonliving components of the environment. Key concepts include

  • a) the carbon and water cycles;
  • b) interactions resulting in a flow of energy and matter throughout the system;
  • d) energy flow in food webs and energy pyramids.

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Physical Science

PS.7 The student will investigate and understand temperature scales, heat, and thermal energy transfer. Key concepts include

  • c) conduction, convection, and radiation;

PS.8 The student will investigate and understand the characteristics of sound waves. Key concepts include

  • d) technological applications of sound.

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Earth Science

ES.7 The student will investigate and understand geologic processes including plate tectonics. Key concepts include

  • a) geologic processes and their resulting features; and
  • b) tectonic processes.

ES.10 The student will investigate and understand that oceans are complex, interactive physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to long- and short-term variations. Key concepts include

  • a) physical and chemical changes related to tides, waves, currents, sea level and ice cap variations, upwelling, and salinity variations;
  • d) features of the sea floor as reflections of tectonic processes;

ES.12 The student will investigate and understand that energy transfer between the sun and Earth and its atmosphere drives weather and climate on Earth. Key concepts include

  • b) prediction of weather patterns;
  • d) weather phenomena and the factors that affect climate including radiation, conduction, and convection.

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