Publication of the "Next Generation Science Standards" will be just short of two decades since publication of the "National Science Education Standards" (NRC 1996). In that time, biology and science education communities have advanced, and the new standards will reflect that progress (NRC 1999, 2007, 2009; Kress and Barrett 2001). Just as earlier standards influenced state-level standards, assessments, and science teachers at all levels, so too will the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS). Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the NRC "Framework for K-12 Science Education" that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Finally, the author discusses several implications of the new standards. This article extends other discussions of biology and the "Next Generation Science Standards" (see Bybee 2011b, 2012) and other publications for science teachers (Willard et al. 2012). Core ideas for the life sciences consist of the following: From Molecules to Organisms, Ecosystems, Heredity, and Biological Evolution. The core and component ideas for K-12 life sciences (NRC 2012) are described in greater detail.