The ACE climate change assembly addresses the following science standards prescribed by the state of Texas.

Source: Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 19, Part II Chapter 112. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science

§112.32. Aquatic Science, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011 (One Credit).

6.  Science concepts. The student knows the role of cycles in an aquatic environment. The student is expected to:

(B)  examine the interrelationships between aquatic systems and climate and weather, including El Niño and La Niña, currents, and hurricanes.

8.  Science concepts. The student knows that geological phenomena and fluid dynamics affect aquatic systems. The student is expected to:

(B)  identify interrelationships between ocean currents, climates, and geologic features

§112.34. Biology, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011 (One Credit).

12.  Science concepts. The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an environmental system. The student is expected to:

(C)  analyze the flow of matter and energy through trophic levels using various models, including food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids;

(D)  recognize that long-term survival of species is dependent on changing resource bases that are limited;

(E)  describe the flow of matter through the carbon and nitrogen cycles and explain the consequences of disrupting these cycles; and

(F)  describe how environmental change can impact ecosystem stability.

§112.36. Earth and Space Science, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011 (One Credit).

3.  Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions within and outside the classroom. The student is expected to:

(A)  in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student;

(B)  communicate and apply scientific information extracted from various sources such as current events, news reports, published journal articles, and marketing materials;

(C)  draw inferences based on data related to promotional materials for products and services;

(D)  evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and public policy;

(E)  explore careers and collaboration among scientists in Earth and space sciences;

11.  Solid Earth. The student knows that the geosphere continuously changes over a range of time scales involving dynamic and complex interactions among Earth's subsystems. The student is expected to:

(E)  evaluate the impact of changes in Earth's subsystems on humans such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, flooding, and storm surges and the impact of humans on Earth's subsystems such as population growth, fossil fuel burning, and use of fresh water.

12.  Solid Earth. The student knows that Earth contains energy, water, mineral, and rock resources and that use of these resources impacts Earth's subsystems. The student is expected to:

(A)  evaluate how the use of energy, water, mineral, and rock resources affects Earth's subsystems;

(B)  describe the formation of fossil fuels, including petroleum and coal;

(C)  discriminate between renewable and nonrenewable resources based upon rate of formation and use;

(D)  analyze the economics of resources from discovery to disposal, including technological advances, resource type, concentration and location, waste disposal and recycling, and environmental costs; and

(E)  explore careers that involve the exploration, extraction, production, use, and disposal of Earth's resources.

13.  Fluid Earth. The student knows that the fluid Earth is composed of the hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere subsystems that interact on various time scales with the biosphere and geosphere. The student is expected to:

(A)  quantify the components and fluxes within the hydrosphere such as changes in polar ice caps and glaciers, salt water incursions, and groundwater levels in response to precipitation events or excessive pumping;

(C)  analyze the empirical relationship between the emissions of carbon dioxide, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and the average global temperature trends over the past 150 years;

(D)  discuss mechanisms and causes such as selective absorbers, major volcanic eruptions, solar luminance, giant meteorite impacts, and human activities that result in significant changes in Earth's climate;

14.  Fluid Earth. The student knows that Earth's global ocean stores solar energy and is a major driving force for weather and climate through complex atmospheric interactions. The student is expected to:

(B)  investigate how the atmosphere is heated from Earth's surface due to absorption of solar energy, which is re-radiated as thermal energy and trapped by selective absorbers;

15.  Fluid Earth. The student knows that interactions among Earth's five subsystems influence climate and resource availability, which affect Earth's habitability. The student is expected to:

(A)  describe how changing surface-ocean conditions, including El Niño-Southern Oscillation, affect global weather and climate patterns;

(B)  investigate evidence such as ice cores, glacial striations, and fossils for climate variability and its use in developing computer models to explain present and predict future climates;

(D)  explain the global carbon cycle, including how carbon exists in different forms within the five subsystems and how these forms affect life; and

(E)  analyze recent global ocean temperature data to predict the consequences of changing ocean temperature on evaporation, sea level, algal growth, coral bleaching, hurricane intensity, and biodiversity.

§112.37. Environmental Systems, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011 (One Credit).

3.  Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions within and outside the classroom. The student is expected to:

(A)  in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student;

(B)  communicate and apply scientific information extracted from various sources such as current events, news reports, published journal articles, and marketing materials;

(C)  draw inferences based on data related to promotional materials for products and services;

(D)  evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and the environment;

(E)  describe the connection between environmental science and future careers; and

(F)  research and describe the history of environmental science and contributions of scientists.

5.  Science concepts. The student knows the interrelationships among the resources within the local environmental system. The student is expected to:

(A)  summarize methods of land use and management and describe its effects on land fertility;

(B)  identify source, use, quality, management, and conservation of water;

(C)  document the use and conservation of both renewable and non-renewable resources as they pertain to sustainability;

(D)  identify renewable and non-renewable resources that must come from outside an ecosystem such as food, water, lumber, and energy;

(E)  analyze and evaluate the economic significance and interdependence of resources within the environmental system; and

(F)  evaluate the impact of waste management methods such as reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting on resource availability.

6.  Science concepts. The student knows the sources and flow of energy through an environmental system. The student is expected to:

(A)  define and identify the components of the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere and the interactions among them;

(B)  describe and compare renewable and non-renewable energy derived from natural and alternative sources such as oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and wind;

8.  Science concepts. The student knows that environments change naturally. The student is expected to:

(A)  analyze and describe the effects on areas impacted by natural events such as tectonic movement, volcanic events, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, tsunamis, and population growth;

(B)  explain how regional changes in the environment may have a global effect;

(C)  examine how natural processes such as succession and feedback loops restore habitats and ecosystems;

(D)  describe how temperature inversions impact weather conditions, including El Niño and La Niña oscillations; and

(E)  analyze the impact of temperature inversions on global warming, ice cap and glacial melting, and changes in ocean currents and surface temperatures.

9.  Science concepts. The student knows the impact of human activities on the environment. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify causes of air, soil, and water pollution, including point and nonpoint sources;

(B)  investigate the types of air, soil, and water pollution such as chlorofluorocarbons, carbon dioxide, pH, pesticide runoff, thermal variations, metallic ions, heavy metals, and nuclear waste;

(C)  examine the concentrations of air, soil, and water pollutants using appropriate units;

(D)  describe the effect of pollution on global warming, glacial and ice cap melting, greenhouse effect, ozone layer, and aquatic viability;

(E)  evaluate the effect of human activities, including habitat restoration projects, species preservation efforts, nature conservancy groups, hunting, fishing, ecotourism, all terrain vehicles, and small personal watercraft, on the environment;

(F)  evaluate cost-benefit trade-offs of commercial activities such as municipal development, farming, deforestation, over-harvesting, and mining;

(G)  analyze how ethical beliefs can be used to influence scientific practices such as methods for increasing food production;

(H)  analyze and evaluate different views on the existence of global warming;

(I)  discuss the impact of research and technology on social ethics and legal practices in situations such as the design of new buildings, recycling, or emission standards;

(J)  research the advantages and disadvantages of "going green" such as organic gardening and farming, natural methods of pest control, hydroponics, xeriscaping, energy-efficient homes and appliances, and hybrid cars;

§112.38. Integrated Physics and Chemistry, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011 (One Credit).

5.  Science concepts. The student recognizes multiple forms of energy and knows the impact of energy transfer and energy conservation in everyday life. The student is expected to:

(H)  analyze energy conversions such as those from radiant, nuclear, and geothermal sources; fossil fuels such as coal, gas, oil; and the movement of water or wind; and

(I)  critique the advantages and disadvantages of various energy sources and their impact on society and the environment.