On a Wing and a Prayer
In accordance with the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Project 2061 Guidelines, the On a Wing and a Prayer Teacher's Guide addresses the following Benchmarks for Science Literacy. By the end of the following benchmark grades, students should know that/be able to:
Grades K-2
Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others. (page 10)
Some events in nature have a repeating pattern. (page 67)
Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments. (page 102)
Similar patterns may show up in many places in nature and in things people make. (page 217)
Describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion. (page 296)
Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some of the features of the thing being described. (page 296)
Grades 3-5
Scientists' explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe, partly from what they think. Sometimes scientists have different explanations for the same set of observations. That usually leads to their making more observations to resolve the differences. (page 11)
Doing science involves many different kinds of work and engages men and women of all ages and backgrounds. (page 14)
Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful. (page 116)
Keep a notebook that describes observations made, carefully distinguishes actual observations from ideas and speculations about what was observed, and is understandable weeks or months later. (page 293)
Use numerical data in describing and comparing object and events. (page 296)
Grades 6-8
If more than one variable changes at the same time in an experiment, the outcome of the experiment may not be clearly attributable to any one of the variables. (page 12)
One of the most general distinctions among organisms is between plants, which use sunlight to make their own food, and animals, which consume energy-rich foods. (page 104)
All organisms, including the human species, are part of and depend on two main interconnected global food webs. The cycles continue indefinitely because organisms decompose after death to return food material to the environment. (page 104)
Two types of organisms may interact with one another in several ways: They may be in a producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host relationship. Relationships may be competitive or mutually beneficial. (page 117)
Locate information in reference books, back issues of newspapers and magazines, compact disks, and computer databases. (page 297)
Grades 9-12
From time to time, major shifts occur in the scientific view of how the world works. Change and continuity are persistent features of science. (page 8)
No matter how well one theory fits observations, a new theory might fit them just as well or better, or might fit a wider range of observations. In science, the testing, revising, and occasional discarding of theories, new and old, never ends. (page 8)
Sometimes, scientists can control conditions in order to obtain evidence. When that is not possible, for practical or ethical reasons, they try to observe as wide a range of natural occurrences as possible to be able to discern patterns. (page 13)
Human beings are part of the earth's ecosystems. Human activities can, deliberately or inadvertently, alter the equilibrium in ecosystems. (page 117)