AAAS Science Assessment ^beta

Students are expected to know that:

1. All organisms, including animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms, are made up of cells.
2. Cells vary in size, shape, and specialized functions.
3. Most cells are so small that their details can be seen only with a microscope.
4. Living things can be made of just one cell to many millions of cells.
5. Some organisms are made of many types of cells and many of each type.
6. In single-celled organisms such as bacteria, the single cell carries out all of the functions needed for the organism to stay alive; in organisms made of many cells, individual cells work together with (depend on) other cells to carry out their essential life functions.
7. In multicellular organisms, the structures that make up those organisms (including brain, muscles, skin, and lungs in animals, and stems and flowers in plants) are made up of cells.

Boundaries:

1. Students are not expected to know the terms "prokaryote" or "eukaryote" or the differences between these types of cells.
2. Items will not test students’ knowledge of fungi.

Students are expected to know that:

1. All cells are composed of complex molecules made by the cells themselves from simpler molecules (such as amino acids, simple sugars, and fatty acids) that enter the cells from outside the cells.
2. In multicellular organisms, cells provide structural support for the organism they are part of and carry out essential life functions for that organism.
3. In cells of plants and animals, there are internal structures that perform specialized functions such as extracting energy from food, making new molecules for growth, and eliminating wastes.
4. In addition to the internal structures that perform specialized functions for cells, the interior of cells is also filled with water and molecules that are dissolved in that water.
5. A membrane makes up the outer surface of a cell, which controls what enters and leaves the cell. For example, small molecules such as amino acids, fatty acids, and simple sugars can enter and leave through the cell's membrane.
6. Many of the same basic life processes, such as extracting energy from food, making the materials needed for their own growth, and eliminating wastes, take place within the individual cells of all organisms (including plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms).
7. Plant and animal cells need molecules from food, water, oxygen, and a way to eliminate wastes in order to continue to function.
8. Bacteria need molecules from food, water, and a way to eliminate wastes to continue to function. Some bacteria need oxygen and others do not.

Boundaries:

1. Students are not expected to know specific internal cell structures (organelles) or differences between bacterial, plant, and animal cells.
2. Students are not expected to know the process of either active or passive transport through the cell membrane.
3. Fungi and microorganisms are used as contexts only when students are also told that these are living organisms.
4. Students are not expected to know which bacteria need oxygen and which do not, and they are not expected to know the terms “anaerobic” and “aerobic.”

Students are expected to know that:

1. In multicellular organisms, new cells needed for growth and repair come from the division of existing cells.
2. Cell division results in the formation of two nearly identical cells from a single original cell.
3. Individual cells grow by creating new complex molecules that make up the cells’ structures, using molecules from food that enter the cells.
4. In multicellular organisms, both an increase in individual cell mass and an increase in cell number cause the organism of which they are part to increase in size and mass.
5. The successive duplication of cells explains how multicellular organisms can develop from a single cell.

Boundaries:

1. Students are not expected to know that following the initial development of an organism’s body structures, only certain types of cells divide.
2. They are not expected to know that there are differences in rates of division between types of cells, the length of time different cells are alive, or any other details of the life cycle of cells.
3. Students are not expected to know the terms "mitosis" or "meiosis" or any of the terminology associated with the phases of cell division.

Students are expected to know that:

1. The different body structures of plants and animals (including brain, muscles, skin, and lungs in animals, and stems and flowers in plants) are made up of different types of cells.
2. The different types of cells that make up the body parts of animals develop from one single cell.
3. The different types of cells that make up the body parts of plants can develop from one single cell.
4. After a single cell goes through a series of cell divisions, the cells begin to differentiate into a variety of types of cells with specialized structures and functions. The different types of cells continue to reproduce and further differentiate to form the specialized body structures that make up most multicellular organisms.
5. Groups of cells work together to perform specialized functions in multicellular organisms. These include.red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all cells of the body, muscle cells, which allow movement of the organism, and nerve cells, which transmit electrical signals between the brain and the rest of the body.

Boundaries:

1. Students are not expected to know the stages of cell differentiation (e.g., blastula, gastrula) or the role of differential gene expression in cell differentiation.
2. Students are not expected to know the process of cell differentiation.
3. Students are not expected to know that plants can reproduce asexually (in which case they come from many cells).