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A. Diversity of Life
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- A great variety of kinds of living things can be sorted into groups in many ways using various features to decide which things belong to which group.
- Features used for grouping depend on the purpose of the grouping.
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B. Heredity
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- Some likenesses between children and parents, such as eye color in human beings, or fruit or flower color in plants, are inherited.
- For offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a reliable way to transfer information from one generation to the next.
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C. Cells
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- Some living things consist of a single cell.
- Microscopes make it possible to see that living things are made mostly of cells.
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D. Interdependence of Life
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
- Insects and various other organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food.
- Organisms interact with one another in various ways besides providing food.
- Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful.
- Most microorganisms do not cause disease, and many are beneficial.
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E. Flow of Matter and Energy
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- Almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants.
- Some source of "energy" is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.
- Over the whole earth, organisms are growing, dying, and decaying, and new organisms are being produced by the old ones.
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F. Evolution of Life
By the end of 5th grade, students should know that:
- Individuals of the same kind differ in their characteristics, and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.
- Fossils can be compared to one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences.
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