The Standards

Middle School

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. MS-LS1-8

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: none

Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.

Science and Engineering Practices

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.

Gather, read, and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence. (MS-LS1-8)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.D: Information Processing

Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories. (MS-LS1-8)

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural systems. (MS-LS1-8)

Planning

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy

WHST.6-8.8 - Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. (MS-LS1-8)