GEMS Correlations with the Florida Sunshine State Standards

Grade Level Expectations and Benchmarks for Science
Grades K–2

Strand F: Processes of Life


Return to Sunshine State Standards Page


Standard 1: The student describes patterns of structure and function in living things.

Benchmark SC.F.1.1.1: The student knows the basic needs of all living things.

Kindergarten

1. knows some of the basic needs of living things (for example, food, water, space).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Investigating Artifacts, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. understands that living things need food, water, space, and shelter to survive.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Investigating Artifacts, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. understands that the amount of food, water, space, and shelter needed is dependent on the size and kind of living things.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, On Sandy Shores, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Benchmark SC.F.1.1.2: The student knows how to apply knowledge about life processes to distinguish between living and nonliving things.

First Grade

1. knows how to classify things as living and nonliving.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Investigating Artifacts, Terrarium Habitats

Second Grade

1. understands that living things can reproduce, and nonliving things cannot reproduce.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, Terrarium Habitats

Benchmark SC.F.1.1.3: The student describes how organisms change as they grow and mature.

Kindergarten

1. knows ways living things change and grow over time (for example, seed to flowering plant, tadpole to frog).

Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. knows ways organisms change as they grow and mature (for example, as people grow up their size changes).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

2. knows that living things grow and change in different ways and in different lengths of time (for example, butterfly, frog, daisy, pine tree).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. knows some factors that influence the growth of living things (for example, amount of water, amount of light, amount and type of food, type of soil).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, Terrarium Habitats

Benchmark SC.F.1.1.4: The student understands that structures of living things are adapted to their function in specific environments.

Kindergarten

1. knows that plants and animals are found in different kinds of environments and are often hidden.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. knows that plants and animals have adaptations that help them survive in their environment (camouflage, teeth, spines).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. understands that structures of living things are adapted to their function in specific environments.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, On Sandy Shores, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Benchmark SC.F.1.1.5: The student compares and describes the structural characteristics of plants and animals.


Kindergarten

1. knows selected characteristics of plants and animals (for example, shape, size, color).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Investigating Artifacts, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. understands different ways in which living things can be grouped (for example, plant/animals, edible plants/non-edible plants).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Investigating Artifacts

Second Grade

1. knows some characteristics of the vertebrate groups (mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, On Sandy Shores, Tree Homes

2. knows the main parts of plants (stems, leaves, roots, flowers).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Buzzing a Hive, Tree Homes

3. knows that the structural characteristics of plants and animals are used to group them.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Eggs Eggs Everywhere, On Sandy Shores

Standard 2: The student understands the process and importance of genetic diversity.

Benchmark SC.F.2.1.1: The student knows that living things have offspring that resemble their parents.

Kindergarten

1. knows names for animal offspring (for example, puppies, kittens, cubs, calves, chicks, children).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. knows that plants and animals are similar but not identical to their parents.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. understands that plants and animals produce offspring with similar characteristics, but individual differences (for example, kittens in a litter may be colored differently).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats

Benchmark SC.F.2.1.2: The student knows that there are many different kinds of living things that live in a variety of environments.

Kindergarten

1. knows that plants and animals may live in different habitats.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. knows plants and animals that live in a particular habitat (for example, black bears in the forest, whales in the ocean, camels in the desert, ducks in the wetlands).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Hide a Butterfly, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Tree Homes

2. knows the characteristics of the climate in different habitats (for example, sunlight, moisture, temperature).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Penguins and Their Young, Tree Homes

3. knows some ways in which animals and plants are adapted to living in different environments.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Buzzing a Hive, Hide a Butterfly, Ladybugs, Penguins and Their Young, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. knows that plants and animals are adapted to different ranges of temperature and moisture.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, On Sandy Shores, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

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