GEMS Correlations with the Florida Sunshine State Standards

Grade Level Expectations and Benchmarks for Science
Grades 3-5

Strand B: Energy


Return to Sunshine State Standards Page


Standard 1: The student recognizes that energy may be changed in form with varying efficiency.

Benchmark SC.B.1.2.1: The student knows how to trace the flow of energy in a system (e.g., as in an ecosystem).

Fourth Grade

1. knows that most living things use energy from the Sun to live and grow.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, Moons of Jupiter, On Sandy Shores, Schoolyard Ecology

Fifth Grade

1. knows how to trace the flow of energy in a system (for example, electricity in a circuit to produce heat, light, sound, or magnetic fields).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Environmental Detectives

Benchmark SC.B.1.2.3: The student knows that most things that emit light also emit heat.

Third Grade

1. knows that the Sun provides energy for the Earth in the form of heat and light.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Schoolyard Ecology

Fourth Grade

1. knows that most objects that emit light also emit heat.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight

Benchmark SC.B.1.2.4: The student knows the many ways in which energy can be transformed from one type to another.

Fourth Grade

1. knows ways that energy can be transformed (for example, electricity to light, light to heat, mechanical to heat).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight

Benchmark SC.B.1.2.5: The student knows that various forms of energy (e.g., mechanical, chemical, electrical, magnetic, nuclear, and radiant) can be measured in ways that make it possible to determine the amount of energy that is transformed.

Fourth Grade

1. extends and refines use of a variety of tools to measure the gain or loss of energy.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight

Fifth Grade

1. extends and refines use of a variety of tools to measure the gain or loss of energy.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, Messages From Space

Benchmark SC.B.1.2.6: The student knows ways that heat can move from one object to another.

Fifth Grade

1. knows that some materials conduct heat better than others.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight

2. understands that convection, radiation, and conduction are methods of heat transfer.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Environmental Detectives, Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, Messages From Space, Ocean Currents

Standard 2: The student understands the interaction of matter and energy.
Benchmark SC.B.2.2.1: The student knows that some source of energy is needed for organisms to stay alive and grow.

Third Grade

1. knows that some source of energy is needed for organisms to stay alive and grow.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, On Sandy Shores, Schoolyard Ecology

Benchmark SC.B.2.2.2: The student recognizes the costs and risks to society and the environment posed by the use of nonrenewable energy.

Third Grade

1. knows ways natural resources are important.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, On Sandy Shores

2. classifies resources as renewable or nonrenewable.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: On Sandy Shores

Fourth Grade

1. understands the reasons for energy conservation.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, On Sandy Shores

2. knows the risk factors associated with the use of nonrenewable energy sources (for example, economic factors and health factors).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, On Sandy Shores

Benchmark SC.B.2.2.3: The student knows that the limited supply of usable energy sources (e.g., fuels such as coal or oil) places great significance on the development of renewable energy sources.

Fifth Grade

1. knows that the limited supply of usable energy sources (for example., fuels such as coal or oil) places great significance on the development of renewable energy sources.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Environmental Detectives, Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, Moons of Jupiter

Lawrence Hall of Science    © 2015 UC Regents. All rights reserved.    Contact GEMS    Updated February 06, 2021