What does a student learn in StateMaryland,GradeGrade 12,SubjectScience?

Students learn to turn a curiosity or real-world problem into a question that can actually be tested or built toward. The question has to be specific enough that evidence or a working solution could answer it.

Students build diagrams, physical models, or computer simulations to show how a system or process works, then use those models to explain what they observe or predict what happens next.

Students design and run experiments to collect real data and find out whether their ideas hold up.

Students look at data from experiments or research and figure out what it actually means. They spot trends, notice what stands out, and draw conclusions from the numbers or results in front of them.

Students use math, data, and calculations to back up scientific ideas, not just describe them in words. This might mean running numbers on an experiment, reading a graph, or building a simple model to test a prediction.

Students build written explanations for scientific phenomena by pointing to specific evidence and connecting it to established scientific principles. The explanation has to hold up, not just sound right.

Students look at two or more scientific explanations or design solutions, weigh the evidence behind each, and make a case for which one holds up better.

Students read scientific sources, judge how reliable they are, and explain their findings clearly to others. This practice shows up across every science topic, from lab reports to research presentations.

Students examine how atoms and molecules are built and how they interact to explain physical phenomena like dissolving, burning, or changing state.

Students study how things speed up, slow down, or stay still by applying Newton's laws and exploring how energy and momentum are conserved in collisions and other interactions.

Students trace how energy moves and changes form, from heat to motion to electricity and back, and show that the total amount stays the same even as it shifts.

Students study how waves, like sound and light, carry energy from one place to another and how that same movement makes technologies like radio, Wi-Fi, and medical imaging work.

Students study how living things are built and how they work, starting at the cell level and scaling up to full body systems like the heart, lungs, and brain.

Students trace how carbon, water, and nutrients move through living things and back into the environment. They also study how species in a community depend on, compete with, and affect each other.

Students study how traits like eye color or height pass from parents to offspring, and why siblings can look different even with the same parents.

Students study why living things share common traits and why they differ, then examine the forces like natural selection and genetic change that drive those differences over time.

Students map out where Earth sits in the solar system and trace how it moves alongside other planets. They also look at evidence from rocks and fossils to piece together Earth's history over billions of years.

Students study how Earth's land, water, air, and living things connect and affect one another. A volcanic eruption that changes rainfall patterns, or a forest loss that shifts local temperatures, shows these systems in action.

Students examine how things like farming, cities, and industry change Earth's land, water, and air, and how earthquakes, floods, and wildfires shape where and how people live.

Students identify a real problem, brainstorm solutions, and then test and adjust their design until it works better. The focus is on improving ideas through repeated rounds of building and testing, not just getting the right answer on the first try.

Engineering shapes everyday tools and systems, and those tools shape how society lives and works. Students examine how each one changes the other, tracing real decisions made by engineers back to social needs and forward to new problems.