NSES Content Standard Unifying Concepts and Processes:   Systems, order, and organization  Grades K-12, page 116  Science assumes that the behavior of the universe is not capricious, that nature is the same everywhere, and that it is understandable and predictable. Students can develop understanding of regularities in systems, and by extension, the universe; they can develop understandings of basic laws, theories, and models that explain the world. Newton's laws of force and motion, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, conservation laws, Darwin's laws of natural selection, and chaos theory all exemplify the idea of order and regularity. An assumption of order establishes the basis for cause-effect relationships and predictability.

 
Benchmark 1A The Nature of Science: The Scientific World View
Grades 9-12, page 8
Scientists assume that the universe is a vast single system in which the basic rules are the same everywhere. The rules may range from very simple to extremely complex, but scientists operate on the belief that the rules can be discovered by careful, systematic study.

Benchmark 10B Historical Perspectives: Uniting the Heavens and Earth
Grades 9-12, page243
Isaac Newton created a unified view of force and motion in which motion everywhere in the universe can be explained by the same few rules. His mathematical analysis of gravitational force and motion showed that planetary orbits had to be the very ellipses that Kepler had proposed two generations earlier.

Benchmark 11A Common Themes: Systems
Grades 9-12, page 266
Even in some very simple systems, it may not always be possible to predict accurately the result of changing some part or connection.

Benchmark 11B Common Themes: Models
Grades 9-12, page 270
The basic idea of mathematical modeling is to find a mathematical relationship that behaves in the same ways as the objects or processes under investigation. A mathematical model may give insight about how something really works or may fit observations very well without any intuitive meaning.

Benchmark 11B Common Themes: Models
Grades 9-12, page 270
The usefulness of a model can be tested by comparing its predictions to actual observations in the real world. But a close match does not necessarily mean that the model is the only "true" model or the only one that would work.

Benchmark 11C Common Themes: Constancy and Change
Grades 9-12, page 275
Most systems above the molecular level involve so many parts and forces and are so sensitive to tiny differences in conditions that their precise behavior is unpredictable, even if all the rules for change are known. Predictable or not, the precise future of a system is not completely determined by its present state and circumstances but also depends on the fundamentally uncertain outcomes of events on the atomic scale.