Standards are the floor. Mastery and understanding are the goal.

Explore how each subject becomes a coherent sequence of knowledge, reasoning, practice, and transfer—not a disconnected checklist.

Grade 9 Science

26 curriculum outcomes with explicit teaching progressions

Select a record to inspect its progression

Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-1

Explain how DNA structure determines protein structure and function

Independently explain from evidence how dna structure determines proteins that carry out essential cellular functions across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can explain how the sequence of a gene, a region of dna, provides the instructions that determine the structure of a specific protein.
  2. 2I can explain how proteins produced from genetic instructions carry out the essential functions that keep cells and organisms alive.
  3. 3I can construct an explanation, supported by evidence, for how dna structure determines protein structure, and how those proteins enable systems of specialized cells to carry out the essential functions of life.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-2

Model the hierarchical organization of body systems

Independently model how interacting body systems and specialized cells maintain organization in multicellular organisms across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify how cells combine into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into organ systems within a multicellular organism.
  2. 2I can develop a model showing how the components of one body system, such as elastic tissue and smooth muscle in an artery, interact to regulate a system-level function.
  3. 3I can use a hierarchical model to explain how interacting organ systems accomplish an organism-level function such as nutrient uptake, water delivery, or movement in response to neural stimuli.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-3

Investigate feedback mechanisms that maintain homeostasis

Independently plan and conduct an investigation showing how feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify a measurable variable, such as heart rate, stomate opening, or root growth, that changes in response to a stimulus to maintain homeostasis.
  2. 2I can plan an investigation, including controlled variables and data collection methods, to measure how a feedback mechanism responds to a change in stimulus.
  3. 3I can conduct the investigation and analyze the resulting data as evidence that a feedback mechanism maintains a system's internal conditions within a stable range.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-4

Model mitosis and differentiation in organism development

Independently model how mitosis and cell differentiation produce and maintain complex organisms across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can use a model to illustrate how a single cell divides through mitosis to produce daughter cells with identical genetic material.
  2. 2I can use a model to illustrate how genetically identical cells differentiate into the specialized cell types that make up different tissues and organs.
  3. 3I can use a model to explain how the combined processes of mitosis and differentiation produce a complex organism from a single cell and maintain its tissues and organs over time.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-5

Model energy transformation in photosynthesis

Independently model how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify carbon dioxide and water as the matter inputs to photosynthesis and sugars and oxygen as the matter outputs.
  2. 2I can use a model to illustrate how light energy absorbed during photosynthesis is transformed into chemical energy stored in the bonds of sugar molecules.
  3. 3I can represent the overall matter inputs, outputs, and energy transformation of photosynthesis using a diagram or chemical equation.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-6

Explain how sugar molecules form larger carbon-based molecules

Independently explain from evidence how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugars combine with other elements to form biological molecules across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can trace how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms from sugar molecules can be rearranged and recombined with other elements to build new molecules.
  2. 2I can use evidence drawn from models or simulations to explain how atoms from sugars combine with other elements to form amino acids or other large carbon-based molecules.
  3. 3I can revise a constructed explanation for how sugar-derived atoms form larger carbon-based molecules as new evidence from models or simulations is considered.
Cells Organisms · HS-LS1-7

Model matter and energy changes in cellular respiration

Independently model how cellular respiration rearranges matter and transfers energy in living systems across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify food molecules and oxygen as the inputs to cellular respiration and carbon dioxide and water as the outputs.
  2. 2I can use a model to illustrate how the chemical bonds of food and oxygen molecules are broken and new bonds are formed in the resulting compounds.
  3. 3I can use the model to explain how breaking and forming these bonds results in a net transfer of energy that the organism can use.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-1

Represent factors affecting ecosystem carrying capacity

Independently use mathematical or computational representations to explain factors affecting ecosystem carrying capacity across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify how boundaries, resources, climate, and competition interact to affect an ecosystem's carrying capacity.
  2. 2I can use a mathematical or computational representation, such as a graph or chart of population data, to represent how a population changes in relation to carrying capacity.
  3. 3I can use a mathematical or computational representation to support an explanation of how specific interdependent factors affect carrying capacity at a given scale.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-2

Analyze data on biodiversity and population change

Independently use mathematical representations to support explanations of factors affecting biodiversity and populations across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can use mathematical representations, such as averages or trends, to summarize provided data about biodiversity or population sizes in an ecosystem.
  2. 2I can use graphical comparisons of multiple data sets to identify patterns in biodiversity or populations at different ecosystem scales.
  3. 3I can use mathematical representations of data to support an explanation of factors affecting biodiversity or populations, and revise the explanation as new evidence is provided.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-3

Explain matter cycling and energy flow in aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Independently construct and revise an explanation of matter cycling and energy flow under aerobic and anaerobic conditions across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can compare the environmental conditions under which aerobic and anaerobic respiration occur.
  2. 2I can explain how matter cycles and energy flows through an ecosystem via aerobic respiration and via anaerobic respiration.
  3. 3I can construct an explanation, supported by evidence, for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and revise it as new evidence is considered.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-4

Model energy transfer and matter conservation across trophic levels

Independently use mathematical representations to support claims about matter cycling and energy transfer among organisms across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can use a mathematical model of stored energy in biomass to represent the proportion of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next.
  2. 2I can use proportional reasoning to trace how atoms such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are conserved as they cycle among organisms in an ecosystem.
  3. 3I can use mathematical representations of energy transfer and matter cycling to support a claim about how matter and energy move among organisms in an ecosystem.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-5

Model the carbon cycle through photosynthesis and respiration

Independently model how photosynthesis and respiration cycle carbon through the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify how carbon is stored and moves among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
  2. 2I can develop a model showing how photosynthesis removes carbon from the atmosphere and cellular respiration returns it, moving carbon between organisms and their surroundings.
  3. 3I can develop a model that illustrates the complete cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere, incorporating photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-6

Evaluate evidence for ecosystem stability and change

Independently evaluate claims and evidence that changing ecosystem conditions can produce a new ecosystem state across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify evidence that complex interactions among organisms maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms under stable conditions.
  2. 2I can distinguish between a modest disturbance an ecosystem recovers from and an extreme disturbance that results in a different ecosystem.
  3. 3I can evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning presented in an argument about whether a given change in conditions maintains or fundamentally alters an ecosystem.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-7

Design a solution to reduce human impact on biodiversity

Independently design, evaluate, and improve a solution that reduces human effects on biodiversity and ecosystems across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can define a specific human activity's impact on the environment or biodiversity and the criteria and constraints a solution must meet.
  2. 2I can design a solution for reducing the impact of a human activity, such as urbanization, dam building, or invasive species introduction, on the environment or biodiversity.
  3. 3I can evaluate a designed solution against criteria and constraints using evidence, and refine it to better reduce impacts on the environment and biodiversity.
Ecosystems · HS-LS2-8

Evaluate evidence for group behavior and survival

Independently evaluate evidence for how group behavior affects individual and species survival and reproduction across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can distinguish examples of coordinated group behavior, such as flocking or cooperative hunting, from individual behavior.
  2. 2I can identify evidence showing how a specific group behavior affects survival or reproduction outcomes for individuals in a population.
  3. 3I can evaluate the evidence and construct a logical, evidence-based argument for how a group behavior affects an individual's and its species' chances of survival and reproduction.
Heredity · HS-LS3-1

Question the role of DNA and chromosomes in heredity

Independently ask questions that clarify relationships among dna, chromosomes, genes, and inherited traits across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify how a chromosome is composed of a single long dna molecule and how a gene is a specific segment of that dna.
  2. 2I can formulate questions that clarify how genes on dna and chromosomes provide the instructions for characteristic traits.
  3. 3I can use questioning to clarify the relationship between dna, chromosomes, and the passing of characteristic traits from parents to offspring.
Heredity · HS-LS3-2

Argue for the sources of inheritable genetic variation

Independently defend from evidence how heritable variation results from meiosis, replication errors, and environmental mutations across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify new genetic combinations from meiosis, viable replication errors, and environmentally caused mutations as three distinct sources of inheritable genetic variation.
  2. 2I can use data or evidence to support a claim that a specific instance of genetic variation resulted from one or more of these three sources.
  3. 3I can defend a claim about the source of an inheritable genetic variation by addressing evidence for and against alternative explanations.
Heredity · HS-LS3-3

Apply statistics to trait variation in populations

Independently use statistics and probability to explain variation and trait distribution in a population across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can use statistics to describe how an expressed trait is distributed across individuals in a population.
  2. 2I can apply concepts of probability to explain how both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the likelihood of a trait being expressed.
  3. 3I can use statistical and probabilistic reasoning to explain the overall pattern of variation and distribution of an expressed trait in a population.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-1

Communicate evidence for common ancestry and evolution

Independently communicate evidence that common ancestry and evolution are supported by multiple independent lines of evidence across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify dna sequence similarities, anatomical structures, and embryological development patterns as independent lines of evidence for common ancestry and evolution.
  2. 2I can explain how each line of evidence, such as dna comparisons or the order of appearance of embryonic structures, supports conclusions about common ancestry.
  3. 3I can communicate scientific information that synthesizes multiple independent lines of evidence to support the conclusion that common ancestry and biological evolution have occurred.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-2

Explain the four factors driving evolution

Independently explain from evidence how evolution results from variation, heritability, competition, and differential reproduction across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify the potential for population increase, heritable genetic variation, competition for limited resources, and differential survival and reproduction as the four factors that drive evolution.
  2. 2I can explain how each of the four factors influences the number, behaviors, morphology, or physiology of organisms competing for limited resources.
  3. 3I can construct an explanation, supported by evidence such as distribution graphs or proportional reasoning, for how the four factors interact to produce evolution in a population.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-3

Apply statistics to advantageous trait proportions

Independently use statistics and probability to support explanations of how advantageous traits become more common across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can analyze numerical or graphical data showing a shift in the distribution of an advantageous heritable trait within a population over time.
  2. 2I can apply basic statistical and probability concepts to describe the proportional change between organisms with and without the advantageous trait.
  3. 3I can use the statistical analysis of the trait's shifting distribution as evidence to support an explanation of why the advantageous trait increases in proportion in the population.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-4

Explain how natural selection produces adaptation

Independently explain from evidence how natural selection changes population adaptation over time across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify specific biotic and abiotic factors, such as climate change, geographic barriers, or the evolution of other organisms, that can drive natural selection in a population.
  2. 2I can use data to show how a specific biotic or abiotic factor contributes to a change in gene frequency in a population over time.
  3. 3I can construct an explanation, based on evidence, for how natural selection acting on a specific environmental factor leads to adaptation of a population.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-5

Evaluate evidence for environmental change, speciation, and extinction

Independently evaluate evidence that environmental change can alter species numbers, cause extinction, or produce new species across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify how a change in environmental conditions can lead to population increase, speciation, or extinction, depending on the species and the rate of change.
  2. 2I can evaluate evidence for a cause-and-effect relationship between a specific environmental change, such as deforestation or drought, and a resulting shift in a species' traits or numbers.
  3. 3I can evaluate the overall strength of evidence supporting a claim that a specific environmental change resulted in population growth, speciation, or extinction.
Evolution Biodiversity · HS-LS4-6

Simulate a solution to mitigate biodiversity loss

Independently create or revise a simulation that tests a solution for reducing harmful human effects on biodiversity across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can define a specific adverse impact of human activity on a threatened species or on genetic variation across multiple species that a solution must address.
  2. 2I can create a simulation that tests whether a proposed solution mitigates the defined adverse impact on biodiversity.
  3. 3I can revise the simulation based on its results to improve how well the solution mitigates the adverse impact on biodiversity.
Computer Science · EEP-CS.9

Develop reliable programs and algorithms

Independently design and implement a program using abstraction, data structures, algorithms, and systematic testing across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can explicitly teach and model how to specify a problem with inputs, outputs, constraints, and testable requirements using a concrete computing example.
  2. 2I can design and justify how to use a data structure and abstraction to organize a solution using a traced example or representation.
  3. 3I can independently test normal, boundary, and invalid cases and justify revisions in a new computing context and explain the evidence that the solution works.
Ai Literacy · EEP-AI.9

Verify generative AI research support

Independently use generative ai to support inquiry while independently verifying facts, quotations, citations, and reasoning across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can explicitly teach and model how to distinguish generated leads from verified evidence with an age-appropriate ai-use scenario.
  2. 2I can evaluate and justify how to locate and inspect original sources for claims, quotations, and citations by comparing responsible and irresponsible choices.
  3. 3I can independently build an independent argument that does not rely on ai as evidence in a new learning context while preserving the learner's own thinking and responsibility.
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