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How to learn High school: Science

North Carolina academic standards: Science, High school

0 of 45 concepts ready to learn · Markdown, for your AI

1. Energy · Understand the relationship among pressure, temperature, volume, and phase.

  1. The Particle Model: Use the particle model to explain the properties of solids, liquids, and gases — including differences in arrangement, movement, and spacing — and apply the model to explain density, compressibility, and the anomalous expansion of water

2. Matter and its Interactions · Understand solutions and the solution process.

  1. Acid Reactions & Salts: Describe and write word equations for the reactions of acids with metals, alkalis (neutralisation), and metal oxides/hydroxides, identifying the salt produced in each case
  2. Pure Substances & Mixtures: Distinguish between pure substances and mixtures, identify formulations as useful mixtures with precise compositions, and use melting and boiling points to test for purity

3. Matter and its Interactions · Analyze chemical reactions in terms of quantities, product formation, and energy.

  1. Physical vs Chemical Changes: Distinguish between physical changes (reversible, no new substances formed) and chemical changes (new substances formed, often irreversible), using conservation of mass to understand both types
  2. Types of Chemical Reaction: Identify and describe four types of chemical reaction: combustion (burning in oxygen), oxidation (gain of oxygen), thermal decomposition (breaking down by heat), and displacement (more reactive metal replaces less reactive one)
  3. Reactions That Release or Absorb Heat: Distinguish between exothermic reactions (release energy, temperature rises) and endothermic reactions (absorb energy, temperature falls), with everyday and industrial examples

4. Matter and its Interactions · Understand the bonding that occurs in simple compounds in terms of bond type, strength, and properties.

  1. Ceramics, Polymers & Composites: Describe the properties and uses of ceramics (hard, brittle, heat-resistant), polymers (flexible, lightweight, variable), and composites (combine properties of constituent materials), giving real-world examples of each

5. Matter and its Interactions · Understand the physical and chemical properties of atoms based on their position in the Periodic Table.

  1. The Periodic Table: Describe the organisation of the periodic table into periods and groups, explain the contribution of Mendeleev, and use the table to identify metals, non-metals, and predict patterns in reactivity
  2. Metals vs Non-Metals: Compare the physical and chemical properties of metals and non-metals, explaining metallic properties (malleability, lustre, conductivity) and how position in the periodic table predicts reactivity

6. Matter and its Interactions · Analyze the structure of atoms and isotopes.

  1. Atoms, Elements & Compounds: Explain the differences between atoms, elements, and compounds; describe the simple Bohr model of the atom (nucleus with protons and neutrons, electrons in shells); and write and interpret chemical symbols and simple formulae

7. Waves and Their Applications · Analyze the nature of waves and their applications.

  1. Wave Properties & Types: Describe waves in terms of amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and wave speed; distinguish transverse waves (oscillation perpendicular to direction of travel) from longitudinal waves (oscillation parallel); and use the wave equation v = fλ
  2. Waves & Different Materials: Explain how waves can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected by different materials, and apply these interactions to explain colour perception, sight, communication technologies, and the effects of different surfaces on wave behaviour

8. Energy · Analyze energy transfers and transformations within a mechanical system.

  1. Energy can't be created or destroyed: Explain the principle of conservation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between stores), and describe how energy is dissipated as thermal energy to the surroundings in all real processes
  2. Power: watts and energy per second: Define power as the rate of energy transfer (power = energy ÷ time, measured in watts), and compare energy transfer rates in different everyday contexts
  3. Heating experiments and Q = mcΔT: Plan and carry out experiments to measure energy transferred during heating, including using the equation Q = mcΔT, recording temperature changes over time, and evaluating sources of error

9. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Understand electricity and magnetism and their relationship.

  1. Electromagnets: Describe the magnetic effect of an electric current (a current-carrying wire produces a magnetic field), and investigate how the strength of an electromagnet depends on current, number of coil turns, and core material
  2. Motors & the Motor Effect: Explain the motor effect as the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field, and describe how this principle is used in electric motors and loudspeakers
  3. Ohm's Law: voltage, current, resistance: Apply Ohm's Law (V = IR) to calculate current, voltage, or resistance in a simple circuit, and explain that resistance opposes the flow of current

10. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Understand the relationship between forces and motion.

  1. Newton's Third Law: State and apply Newton's Third Law: every force has an equal and opposite reaction force acting on a different object, distinguishing action-reaction pairs from balanced forces
  2. Relative Motion: Explain relative motion — how the apparent speed and direction of an object depends on the observer's own motion — using everyday examples such as trains and cars passing
  3. Resultant Forces: Describe forces as vector quantities with both magnitude and direction, distinguish between balanced forces (zero resultant, no change in motion) and unbalanced forces (non-zero resultant, causes acceleration or deceleration)

11. Earth and Human Activity · Analyze how Earth's systems impact humans and the biosphere.

  1. Earth's Atmosphere & CO2: Describe the composition of Earth's atmosphere (mainly nitrogen and oxygen, with small amounts of CO₂ and other gases), explain how human activity increases CO₂, and describe the impact on global climate
  2. Biodiversity & Resilience: Explain what biodiversity means, why high biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient, and describe the ways human activity threatens biodiversity (habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, climate change)

12. Earth and Human Activity · Evaluate how human consumption patterns impact Earth's systems.

  1. Renewable vs non-renewable energy: Distinguish between renewable energy resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, biomass) and non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas, nuclear), comparing their advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts

13. Earth’s Systems · Analyze how the geosphere is shaped by plate tectonics and the rock cycle.

  1. The Rock Cycle: Explain the rock cycle: how igneous rocks form from magma, sedimentary rocks from compressed sediment, and metamorphic rocks from heat and pressure, and how all rock types can transform into one another over geological time
  2. How Tectonic Plates Move: Understand that convection currents in the molten mantle drive the movement of rigid tectonic plates; distinguish between convergent (collision/subduction), divergent (spreading ridges), and transform (sliding) plate boundaries; explain why volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain chains cluster at boundaries; introduce the Wilson cycle of supercontinent assembly and breakup

14. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Explain charge interactions in electrostatic systems and in electric circuits.

  1. Series vs parallel circuits: Describe and apply the rules for current, voltage, and resistance in series and parallel circuits, and explain the practical uses of each circuit type
  2. Static electricity and sparks: Explain static electricity as the build-up of electric charge through friction, describe how charged objects attract or repel each other, and relate static discharge to everyday phenomena such as lightning

15. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Analyze the motion of objects based on the principles of conservation of momentum and impulse in one dimension.

  1. Newton's First & Second Laws: State and apply Newton's First Law (an object stays at rest or constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant force) and Second Law (force = mass × acceleration), including the relationship between mass, force, and acceleration

16. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Analyze systems of forces and their interaction with matter.

  1. Moments, Pressure & Hooke's Law: Calculate the turning effect (moment = force × perpendicular distance), explain how pressure is transmitted equally in liquids (Pascal's principle) and the concept of atmospheric pressure, and describe Hooke's Law (extension ∝ force up to the elastic limit)
  2. Universal Gravitation: Describe gravity as a universal attractive force between all masses, explain that orbital motion arises because gravity provides the centripetal force keeping objects in orbit, and compare gravitational field strengths on different planets
  3. Investigating Forces: Plan and carry out investigations into forces, including measuring force with a newton meter, investigating Hooke's Law, and collecting and interpreting motion data to test Newton's laws

17. Motion and Stability- Forces and Interactions · Analyze the motion of objects using time, distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration.

  1. Reading Distance-Time Graphs: Read and plot distance-time graphs for moving objects; interpret the gradient (steepness) of a line as speed; identify stationary periods (horizontal sections), constant speed (straight diagonal lines), and relative speeds by comparing gradients; calculate average speed from the gradient of a straight-line segment using speed = distance ÷ time

18. Biological Evolution- Unity and Diversity · Analyze evolutionary relationships among organisms.

  1. Grouping Species Using DNA: Explain cladistics: organisms are grouped by shared derived characters, not just similarity; how phylogenetic trees are built using molecular data (DNA sequence alignment) and the molecular clock; explain why birds are technically a group within dinosaurs (crown Avemetatarsalia); distinguish convergent evolution (unrelated species evolving similar traits) from parallel evolution; introduce horizontal gene transfer and why the tree of life is more accurately a web; explain why classification systems keep changing as new data emerge
  2. Extinction & Rapid Change: Explain how environmental change can outpace a species' ability to adapt through natural selection, leading to extinction, using historical and contemporary examples

19. Biological Evolution- Unity and Diversity · Understand natural selection as a mechanism for biological evolution.

  1. How Natural Selection Works: Explain natural selection as the mechanism of evolution: heritable variation + competition for resources + differential survival and reproduction = change in allele frequency over generations

20. Heredity- Inheritance and Variation of Traits · Understand applications of genetics and biotechnology.

  1. Genetic Mutation: Explain genetic mutation as a random change in DNA sequence, describe causes of mutation (e.g. radiation, chemicals, copying errors), and explain that most mutations are neutral, some harmful, and a few beneficial

21. Heredity- Inheritance and Variation of Traits · Understand types of inheritance and how the environment can influence traits.

  1. Predicting Inherited Traits: Explain how alleles are inherited in sexual reproduction and use Punnett squares to predict the probability of offspring inheriting a characteristic, including dominant and recessive alleles

22. From Molecules to Organisms- Structures and Processes · Analyze the relationship between biochemical processes and energy use.

  1. Aerobic Respiration: Explain aerobic respiration as the process by which organisms release energy from glucose using oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water; write and interpret the word equation: glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water
  2. Photosynthesis: Explain photosynthesis as the process by which plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, and describe how mineral nutrients are absorbed through roots
  3. Body Temperature Regulation: Explain how the human body detects and responds to environmental changes including temperature, including the role of the skin in temperature regulation (sweating, shivering, vasodilation, vasoconstriction)

23. From Molecules to Organisms- Structures and Processes · Analyze the growth and development processes of organisms.

  1. Cancer & Stem Cells: Explain that cancer occurs when mutations in DNA disable normal cell-cycle controls, causing uncontrolled cell division and tumour formation; describe how stem cells differ from specialised cells and their potential for regenerative medicine; and evaluate the ethical debates around embryonic stem cell research and genetic testing
  2. Cells to Organ Systems: Describe the hierarchical organisation of multicellular organisms: cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → organism

24. From Molecules to Organisms- Structures and Processes · Analyze how the relationship between structure and function supports life processes within organisms.

  1. Digestion & Enzymes: Describe the organs of the human digestive system and how food is physically and chemically digested, including the role of enzymes as biological catalysts

25. Understand reproductive systems.

  1. Human Reproduction: Describe the structure and function of the male and female human reproductive systems, and explain the processes of fertilisation, gestation, and birth including the role of the placenta