North Carolina Standard Course of Study

Grade 5 Science:
Competency Goal 3: The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate technology to build an understanding of weather and climate.
3.05 Compile and use weather data to establish a climate record and reveal any trends

Grade 5 Math:
Competency Goal 4: The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis
4.01 Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including stem-and-leaf plots) to solve problems.

Grade 6 Science:
Competency Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
1.04 Analyze variables in scientific investigations:
  • Identify dependent and independent.
  • Use of a control.
  • Manipulate.
  • Describe relationships between.
  • Define operationally.
1.05 Analyze evidence to:
  • Explain observations.
  • Make inferences and predictions.
  • Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
1.06 Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present quantitative data resulting from scientific investigations:
  • Measurement.
  • Analysis of data.
  • Graphing.
  • Prediction models.
1.08 Use oral and written language to:
  • Communicate findings.
  • Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.

Grade 7 Science:
Competency Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry
1.04 Analyze variables in scientific investigations:
  • Identify dependent and independent.
  • Use of a control.
  • Manipulate.
  • Describe relationships between.
  • Define operationally.
1.05 Analyze evidence to:
  • Explain observations.
  • Make inferences and predictions.
  • Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
1.06 Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present quantitative data resulting from scientific investigations:
  • Measurement.
  • Analysis of data.
  • Graphing.
  • Prediction models.
1.08 Use oral and written language to:
  • Communicate findings.
  • Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
  • Scientific text.
  • Articles.
  • Events in the popular press.

Grade 8 Science:
Competency Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry
1.04 Analyze variables in scientific investigations:
  • Identify dependent and independent.
  • Use of a control.
  • Manipulate.
  • Describe relationships between.
  • Define operationally.
1.05 Analyze evidence to:
  • Explain observations.
  • Make inferences and predictions.
  • Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
1.06 Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present quantitative data resulting from scientific investigations:
  • Measurement.
  • Analysis of data.
  • Graphing.
  • Prediction models.
1.08 Use oral and written language to:
  • Communicate findings.
  • Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
  • Scientific text.
  • Articles.
  • Events in the popular press.

High School Biology:
Competency Goal 5: The learner will develop an understanding of the ecological relationships among organisms.
5.03 Assess human population and its impact on local ecosystems and global environments:
  • Historic and potential changes in population.
  • Factors associated with those changes.
  • Climate change.
  • Resource use.
  • Sustainable practices/stewardship.

High School Earth and Environmental:
Competency Goal 1: The learner will develop abilities necessary to do and understand scientific inquiry in the earth and environmental sciences.
1.01 Identify questions and problems in the earth and environmental sciences that can be answered through scientific investigations.
1.02 Design and conduct scientific investigations to answer questions related to earth and environmental science.
  • Create testable hypotheses.
  • Identify variables.
  • Use a control or comparison group when appropriate.
  • Select and use appropriate measurement tools.
  • Collect and record data.
  • Organize data into charts and graphs.
  • Analyze and interpret data.
  • Communicate findings.
1.06 Identify and evaluate a range of possible solutions to earth and environmental issues at the local, national, and global level including considerations of:
  • Interdependent human and natural systems.
  • Diverse perspectives.
  • Short and long range impacts.
  • Economic development, environmental quality and sustainability.
  • Opportunities for and consequences of personal decisions.
  • Risks and benefits of technological advances.

Competency Goal 5: The learner will build an understanding of the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere and its local and global processes influencing climate and air quality.
5.03 Analyze global atmospheric changes including changes in CO2, CH4, and stratospheric O3 and the consequences of these changes:
  • Climate change.
  • Changes in weather patterns.
  • Increasing ultraviolet radiation.
  • Sea level changes.