NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
Arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas
Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade
K-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
K-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
K-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
1-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
1-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
1-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
1-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
2-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
2-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
2-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
2-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
3-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
3-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
3-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
3-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
3-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
4-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
4-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
4-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
4-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
5-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
5-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
5-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
5-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
5-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
5-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
Middle School Physical Sciences
MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
MS-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
MS-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Middle School Earth and Space Sciences
MS-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
Middle School Engineering Design
HS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
HS-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
HS-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
HS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
HS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
HS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
High School Earth and Space Sciences
HS-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
HS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
High School Engineering Design
Connections to Standards Arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)
KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade begin to develop an understanding of the four disciplinary core ideas: physical sciences; life sciences; earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology, and applications of science. In the earlier grades, students begin by recognizing patterns and formulating answers to questions about the world around them. By the end of fifth grade, students should be able to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in gathering, describing, and using information about the natural and designed world(s).
The performance expectations in elementary school grade bands develop ideas and skills that will allow students to explain more complex phenomena in the four disciplines as they progress to middle school and high school. While the performance expectations shown in kindergarten through fifth grade couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.
KINDERGARTEN
The performance expectations in kindergarten help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What happens if you push or pull an object harder? Where do animals live and why do they live there? What is the weather like today and how is it different from yesterday?” Kindergarten performance expectations include PS2, PS3, LS1, ESS2, ESS3, and ETS1 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are expected to develop understanding of patterns and variations in local weather and the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather. Students should be able to apply an understanding of the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object to analyze a design solution. Students are also expected to develop understanding of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; systems and system models; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the kindergarten performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
K‑PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. [Clarification Statement: Examples of pushes or pulls could include a string attached to an object being pulled, a person pushing an object, a person stopping a rolling ball, and two objects colliding and pushing on each other.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to different relative strengths or different directions, but not both at the same time. Assessment does not include non-contact pushes or pulls such as those produced by magnets.]
K-PS2-2. Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of problems requiring a solution could include having a marble or other object move a certain distance, follow a particular path, and knock down other objects. Examples of solutions could include tools such as a ramp to increase the speed of an object and a structure that would cause an object such as a marble or ball to turn.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include friction as a mechanism for change in speed.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
PS2.A: Forces and Motion
|
Cause and Effect
|
K‑PS3 Energy
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-PS3-1. Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface. [Clarification Statement: Examples of Earth’s surface could include sand, soil, rocks, and water.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of temperature is limited to relative measures such as warmer/cooler.]
K-PS3-2. Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of structures could include umbrellas, canopies, and tents that minimize the warming effect of the sun.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connections to Nature of Science Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
|
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
|
Cause and Effect
|
K‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not, the different kinds of food needed by different types of animals, the requirement of plants to have light, and that all living things need water.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
|
Patterns
|
K‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. [Clarification Statement: Examples of qualitative observations could include descriptions of the weather (such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and warm); examples of quantitative observations could include numbers of sunny, windy, and rainy days in a month. Examples of patterns could include that it is usually cooler in the morning than in the afternoon and the number of sunny days versus cloudy days in different months.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative observations is limited to whole numbers and relative measures such as warmer/cooler.]
K-ESS2-2. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of plants and animals changing their environment could include a squirrel digging in the ground to hide its food and that tree roots can break concrete.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
Engaging in argument from evidence in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to comparing ideas and representations about the natural and designed world(s).
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connections to Nature of Science Scientific Knowledge Is Based on Empirical Evidence
|
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
|
Patterns
|
K‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live. [Clarification Statement: Examples of relationships could include that deer eat buds and leaves and therefore usually live in forested areas and that grasses need sunlight so they often grow in meadows. Plants, animals, and their surroundings make up a system.]
K-ESS3-2. Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on local forms of severe weather.]
K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human impact on land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using resources to produce bottles. Examples of solutions could include reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple descriptive questions that can be tested.
Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in K–2 builds on prior experiences and uses observations and texts to communicate new information.
|
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology
|
FIRST GRADE
The performance expectations in first grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What happens when materials vibrate? What happens when there is no light? What are some ways plants and animals meet their needs so that they can survive and grow? How are parents and their children similar and different? What objects are in the sky and how do they seem to move?” First grade performance expectations include PS4, LS1, LS3, and ESS1 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are expected to develop understanding of the relationship between sound and vibrating materials as well as between the availability of light and the ability to see objects. The idea that light travels from place to place can be understood by students at this level through determining the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. Students are also expected to develop understanding of how plants and animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs as well as how the behaviors of parents and offspring help offspring survive. The understanding is developed that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly the same as, their parents. Students are able to observe, describe, and predict some patterns of the movement of objects in the sky. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; structure and function; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the first grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
1‑PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
1-PS4-1. Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. [Clarification Statement: Examples of vibrating materials that make sound could include tuning forks and plucking a stretched string. Examples of how sound can make matter vibrate could include holding a piece of paper near a speaker making sound and holding an object near a vibrating tuning fork.]
1-PS4-2. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated. [Clarification Statement: Examples of observations could include those made in a completely dark room, a pinhole box, and a video of a cave explorer with a flashlight. Illumination could be from an external light source or by an object giving off its own light.]
1-PS4-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. [Clarification Statement: Examples of materials could include those that are transparent (such as clear plastic), translucent (such as wax paper), opaque (such as cardboard), and reflective (such as a mirror).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the speed of light.]
1-PS4-4. Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include a light source to send signals, paper cup and string “telephones,” and a pattern of drum beats.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technological details for how communication devices work.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
|
PS4.A: Wave Properties
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connections to Nature of Science Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
|
1‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]
1-LS1-2. Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns of behaviors could include the signals that offspring make (such as crying, cheeping, and other vocalizations) and the responses of the parents (such as feeding, comforting, and protecting the offspring).]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in K–2 builds on prior experiences and uses observations and texts to communicate new information.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS1.A: Structure and Function
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
1‑LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include features that plants or animals share. Examples of observations could include that leaves from the same kind of plant are the same shape but can differ in size and that a particular breed of dog looks like its parents but is not exactly the same.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include inheritance or animals that undergo metamorphosis or hybrids.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
|
LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
|
Patterns
|
1‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
1-ESS1-1. Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that the sun and moon appear to rise in one part of the sky, move across the sky, and set and that stars other than our sun are visible at night but not during the day.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of star patterns is limited to stars being seen at night and not during the day.]
1-ESS1-2. Make observations at different times of the year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on relative comparisons of the amount of daylight in the winter to the amount in the spring or fall.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative amounts of daylight, not quantifying the hours or time of daylight.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
|
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
SECOND GRADE
The performance expectations in second grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “How does land change and what are some things that cause it to change? What are the different kinds of land and bodies of water? How are materials similar and different from one another, and how do the properties of the materials relate to their use? What do plants need to grow? How many types of living things live in a place?” Second grade performance expectations include PS1, LS2, LS4, ESS1, ESS2, and ETS1 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are expected to develop an understanding of what plants need to grow and how plants depend on animals for seed dispersal and pollination. Students are also expected to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. An understanding of observable properties of materials is developed by students at this level through analysis and classification of different materials. Students are able to apply their understanding of the idea that wind and water can change the shape of land to compare design solutions to slow or prevent such change. Students are able to use information and models to identify and represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area and where water is found on Earth. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; energy and matter; structure and function; stability and change; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the second grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
2‑PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties. [Clarification Statement: Observations could include color, texture, hardness, and flexibility. Patterns could include the similar properties that different materials share.]
2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of properties could include strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative measurements is limited to length.]
2-PS1-3. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object. [Clarification Statement: Examples of pieces could include blocks, building bricks, or other assorted small objects.]
2-PS1-4. Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot. [Clarification Statement: Examples of reversible changes could include materials such as water and butter at different temperatures. Examples of irreversible changes could include cooking an egg, freezing a plant leaf, and heating paper.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions. |
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in argument from evidence in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to comparing ideas and representations about the natural and designed world(s).
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
2‑LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to testing one variable at a time.]
2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.*
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
|
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
|
Cause and Effect
|
2‑LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety of different habitats.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific animal and plant names in specific habitats.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
|
2‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
2-ESS1-1. Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly. [Clarification Statement: Examples of events and timescales could include volcanic explosions and earthquakes, which happen quickly, and erosion of rocks, which occurs slowly.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of timescales.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
|
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
|
Stability and Change
|
2‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
2-ESS2-1. Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include different designs of dikes and windbreaks to hold back wind and water and different designs for using shrubs, grass, and trees to hold back land.]
2-ESS2-2. Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative scaling in models.]
2-ESS2-3. Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence‑ based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in K–2 builds on prior experiences and uses observations and texts to communicate new information.
|
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
K–2 ENGINEERING DESIGN
Children seem to be born with a creative urge to design and build things. Often it takes little more than the presence of raw materials to inspire children to imagine and create forts and dollhouses from cardboard boxes and sandcastles from moist sand near the water’s edge. The task for the primary school teacher is to channel this natural tendency by helping students recognize that creative energy can be a means to solve problems and achieve goals through a systematic process, commonly referred to as engineering design. Although engineering design is not a lock-step process, it is helpful to think of it in three stages—defining the problem, developing possible solutions, and determining which best solves the problem.
Defining the problem begins in kindergarten as students learn that a situation people want to change can be thought of as a problem that can be solved. By the time they leave second grade students should be able to ask questions and make observations to gather information about the problem so they can envision an object or a tool that would solve it.
Developing possible solutions naturally flows from the problem definition phase. One of the most challenging aspects of this phase is to keep students from immediately implementing the first solution they think of and to think it through before acting. Having students sketch their ideas or make a physical model is a good way to engage them in shaping their ideas to meet the requirements of the problem.
Comparing different solutions may involve testing each one to see how well it solves a problem or achieves a goal. Consumer product testing is a good model for this capability. Although students in the primary grades should not be held accountable for designing controlled experiments, they should be able to think of ways of comparing two products to determine which is better for a given purpose.
Connections with the other science disciplines help students develop these capabilities in various contexts. In kindergarten students are expected to design and build simple devices. In first grade students are expected to use tools and materials to solve a simple problem and test and compare different solutions. In second grade they are expected to define more complex problems then develop, test, and analyze data to compare different solutions.
By the time they leave second grade students should be able to achieve all three performance expectations (K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, and K-2-ETS1-3) related to a single problem in order to understand the interrelated processes of engineering design—defining a problem, developing solutions, and comparing different solutions by testing them to see which best solves the problem.
K‑2‑ETS1 Engineering Design
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple descriptive questions.
Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.
Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
|
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
|
Structure and Function
|
THIRD GRADE
The performance expectations in third grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What is typical weather in different parts of the world and during different times of the year? How can the impact of weather-related hazards be reduced? How do organisms vary in their traits? How are plants, animals, and environments of the past similar or different from current plants, animals, and environments? What happens to organisms when their environment changes? How do equal and unequal forces on an object affect the object? How can magnets be used?” Third grade performance expectations include PS2, LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, ESS2, and ESS3 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are able to organize and use data to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. By applying their understanding of weather-related hazards, students are able to make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of such hazards. Students are expected to develop an understanding of the similarities and differences of organisms’ life cycles. An understanding that organisms have different inherited traits, and that the environment can also affect the traits that an organism develops, is acquired by students at this level. In addition, students are able to construct an explanation using evidence for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. Students are expected to develop an understanding of the types of organisms that lived long ago and also about the nature of their environments. Third graders are expected to develop an understanding of the idea that when the environment changes some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into the transformed environment, and some die. Students are able to determine the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object and the cause and effect relationships of electrical or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. They are then able to apply their understanding of magnetic interactions to define a simple design problem that can be solved with magnets. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the third grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in asking questions and defining problems; developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
3‑PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include that an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start moving and that balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one variable at a time: number, size, or direction of forces. Assessment does not include quantitative force size, only qualitative and relative. Assessment is limited to gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down.]
3-PS2-2. Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. [Clarification Statement: Examples of motion with a predictable pattern could include a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, and two children on a seesaw.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technical terms such as period and frequency.]
3-PS2-3. Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electrical or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. [Clarification Statement: Examples of an electrical force could include the force on hair from an electrically charged balloon and the electrical forces between a charged rod and pieces of paper; examples of a magnetic force could include the force between two permanent magnets, the force between an electromagnet and steel paperclips, and the force exerted by one magnet versus the force exerted by two magnets. Examples of cause and effect relationships could include how the distance between objects affects the strength of the force and how the orientation of magnets affects the direction of the magnetic force.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces produced by objects that can be manipulated by students, and electrical interactions are limited to static electricity.]
3-PS2-4. Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of problems could include constructing a latch to keep a door shut and creating a device to keep two moving objects from touching each other.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions. |
PS2.A: Forces and Motion
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
PS2.B: Types of Interactions
|
3‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. [Clarification Statement: Changes that organisms go through during their life form a pattern.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of plant life cycles is limited to those of flowering plants. Assessment does not include details of human reproduction.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
|
Patterns
|
3‑LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-LS2-1. Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior
|
Cause and Effect
|
3‑LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. [Clarification Statement: Patterns are the similarities and differences in traits shared between offspring and their parents, or among siblings. Emphasis is on organisms other than humans.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms of inheritance and prediction of traits. Assessment is limited to non-human examples.]
3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of the environment affecting a trait could include that normally tall plants grown with insufficient water are stunted and that a pet dog given too much food and little exercise may become overweight.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
|
LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
|
Patterns
|
3‑LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and environments in which they lived long ago. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include type, size, and distributions of fossil organisms. Examples of fossils and environments could include marine fossils found on dry land, tropical plant fossils found in Arctic areas, and fossils of extinct organisms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include identification of specific fossils or present plants and animals. Assessment is limited to major fossil types and relative ages.]
3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. [Clarification Statement: Examples of cause and effect relationships could be that plants that have larger thorns than other plants may be less likely to be eaten by predators and animals that have better camouflage coloration than other animals may be more likely to survive and therefore more likely to leave offspring.]
3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include the needs and characteristics of the organisms and habitats involved. The organisms and their habitats make up a system in which the parts depend on each other.]
3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of environmental changes could include changes in land characteristics, water distribution, temperature, food, and other organisms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to a single environmental change. Assessment does not include the greenhouse effect or climate change.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
|
LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS4.B: Natural Selection
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
3‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data at this grade level could include average temperature, precipitation, and wind direction.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of graphical displays is limited to pictographs and bar graphs. Assessment does not include climate change.]
3-ESS2-2. Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and accuracy of ideas and methods.
|
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
|
Patterns
|
3‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-ESS3-1. Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of design solutions to weather-related hazards could include barriers to prevent flooding, wind-resistant roofs, and lightning rods.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
FOURTH GRADE
The performance expectations in fourth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “What are waves and what are some things they can do? How can water, ice, wind, and vegetation change the land? What patterns of Earth’s features can be determined with the use of maps? How do internal and external structures support the survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction of plants and animals? What is energy and how is it related to motion? How is energy transferred? How can energy be used to solve a problem?” Fourth grade performance expectations include PS3, PS4, LS1, ESS1, ESS2, ESS3, and ETS1 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are able to use a model of waves to describe patterns of waves in terms of amplitude and wavelength and to show that waves can cause objects to move. Students are expected to develop understanding of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. They apply their knowledge of natural Earth processes to generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of such processes on humans. In order to describe patterns of Earth’s features, students analyze and interpret data from maps. Fourth graders are expected to develop an understanding that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. By developing a model, they describe that an object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eye. Students are able to use evidence to construct an explanation of the relationship between the speed of an object and the energy of that object. Students are expected to develop an understanding that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electrical currents or from object to object through collisions. They apply their understanding of energy to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; energy and matter; systems and system models; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the fourth grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
4‑PS3 Energy
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-PS3-1. Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measures of changes in the speed of an object or on any precise or quantitative definition of energy.]
4-PS3-2. Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electrical currents. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.]
4-PS3-3. Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the changes in energy due to changes in speed, not on the forces, as objects interact.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.]
4-PS3-4. Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include electrical circuits that convert electrical energy into motion energy of a vehicle, light, or sound and a passive solar heater that converts light into heat. Examples of constraints could include the materials, cost, or time to design the device.] [Assessment Boundary: Devices should be limited to those that convert motion energy to electrical energy or use stored energy to cause motion or produce light or sound.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems. |
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
|
Energy and Matter
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
|
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces
|
4‑PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-PS4-1. Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, analogies, and physical models using wire to illustrate the wavelength and amplitude of waves.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include interference effects, electromagnetic waves, non-periodic waves, or quantitative models of amplitude and wavelength.]
4-PS4-2. Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eyes allows objects to be seen. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include knowledge of specific colors reflected and seen, the cellular mechanisms of vision, or how the retina works.]
4-PS4-3. Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include drums sending coded information through sound waves, using a grid of 1s and 0s representing black and white to send information about a picture, and using Morse code to send text.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
PS4.A: Wave Properties
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
4‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. [Clarification Statement: Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung, brain, and skin.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to macroscopic structures within plant and animal systems.]
4-LS1-2. Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on systems of information transfer.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanisms by which the brain stores and recalls information or the mechanisms of how sensory receptors function.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS1.A: Structure and Function
|
Systems and System Models
|
4‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence from patterns could include rock layers with marine shell fossils above rock layers with plant fossils and no shells, indicating a change from land to water over time and a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom, indicating that over time a river cut through the rock.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific knowledge of the mechanism of rock formation or memorization of specific rock formations and layers. Assessment is limited to relative time.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
|
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
4‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-ESS2-1. Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. [Clarification Statement: Examples of variables to test could include angle of slope in the downhill movement of water, amount of vegetation, speed of wind, relative rate of deposition, cycles of freezing and thawing of water, cycles of heating and cooling, and volume of water flow.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to a single form of weathering or erosion.]
4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. [Clarification Statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
|
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
|
Patterns
|
4‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and fissile materials. Examples of environmental effects could include loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels.]
4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake-resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to evaluate the merit and accuracy of ideas and methods.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
|
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
FIFTH GRADE
The performance expectations in fifth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “When matter changes, does its weight change? How much water can be found in different places on Earth? Can new substances be created by combining other substances? How does matter cycle through ecosystems? Where does the energy in food come from and what is it used for? How do lengths and directions of shadows or relative lengths of day and night change from day to day, and how does the appearance of some stars change in different seasons?” Fifth grade performance expectations include PS1, PS2, PS3, LS1, LS2, ESS1, ESS2, and ESS3 Disciplinary Core Ideas from the NRC Framework.
Students are able to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen through the development of a model. Students develop an understanding of the idea that regardless of the type of change that matter undergoes, the total weight of matter is conserved. Students determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. Through the development of a model using an example, students are able to describe ways in which the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. They describe and graph data to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth. Students develop an understanding of the idea that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. Using models, students can describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment and that energy in animals’ food was once energy from the sun. Students are expected to develop an understanding of patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; energy and matter; and systems and systems models are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
In the fifth grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
5‑PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, and evaporating salt water.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the atomic-scale mechanism of evaporation and condensation or defining unseen particles.]
5-PS1-2. Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved. [Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions or changes could include phase changes, dissolving, and mixing that form new substances.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include distinguishing mass and weight.]
5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties. [Clarification Statement: Examples of materials to be identified could include baking soda and other powders, metals, minerals, and liquids. Examples of properties could include color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility; density is not intended as an identifiable property.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include density or distinguishing mass and weight.]
5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
|
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative measurements to a variety of physical properties and using computation and mathematics to analyze data and compare alternative design solutions.
|
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
|
5‑PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-PS2-1. Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. [Clarification Statement: “Down” is a local description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mathematical representation of gravitational force.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
PS2.B: Types of Interactions
|
Cause and Effect
|
5‑PS3 Energy
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, and motion and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams and flow charts.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
|
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
|
Energy and Matter
|
5‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from soil.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
|
Energy and Matter
|
5‑LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 models and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
|
Systems and System Models
|
5‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-ESS1-1. Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the relative distances, not sizes, of stars. Assessment does not include other factors that affect apparent brightness (such as stellar masses, age, stage).]
5-ESS1-2. Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in the length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun and select stars that are visible only in particular months.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include causes of seasons.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
|
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
|
Patterns
|
5‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways in which the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include the influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; the influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; and the influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the interactions of two systems at a time.]
5-ESS2-2. Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, groundwater, and polar ice caps and does not include the atmosphere.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
Mathematical and computational thinking in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative measurements to a variety of physical properties and using computation and mathematics to analyze data and compare alternative design solutions.
|
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
|
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
|
5‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and accuracy of ideas and methods.
|
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
|
Systems and System Models
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
3–5 ENGINEERING DESIGN
Students’ capabilities as problem solvers builds on their experiences in K–2, where they learned that situations people wish to change can be defined as problems that can be solved or goals that can be achieved through engineering design. With increased maturity students in third through fifth grade are able to engage in engineering in ways that is both more systematic and creative. As in earlier and later grades, engineering design can be thought of as three phases. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the lively process of design does not necessarily follow in that order, as students might think of a new solution during the testing phase, or even re-define the problem to better meet the original need. Nonetheless, they should develop their capabilities in all three phases of the engineering design process.
Defining the problem in this grade range involves the additional step of specifying criteria and constraints. Criteria are requirements for a successful solution and usually specify the function that a design is expected to perform and qualities that would make it possible to choose one design over another. Constraints are the limitations that must be taken into account when creating the designed solution. In the classroom constraints are often the materials that are available and the amount of time students have to work.
Developing possible solutions at this level involves the discipline of generating several alternative solutions and comparing them systematically to see which best meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. (This is a combination of phases two and three from the K–2 level).
Improving designs involves building and testing models or prototypes using controlled experiments or “fair tests” in which only one variable is changed from trial to trial while all other variables are kept the same. This is the same practice as in science inquiry, except the goal is to achieve the best possible design rather than to answer a question about the natural world. Another means for improving designs is to build a structure and subject it to tests until it fails; noting where the failure occurs and then redesigning the structure so that it is stronger. The broader message is that “failure” is an essential and even desirable part of the design process, as it points the way to better solutions.
Connections with other science disciplines help students develop these capabilities in various contexts. For example in third grade students integrate their understanding of science into design challenges, including magnetic forces (3-PS2-4), the needs of organisms (3-LS4-3), and the impacts of severe weather (3-ESS3-1). In fourth grade students generate and compare multiple solutions to problems related to conversion of energy from one form to another (4-PS3-4), communication (4-PS4-3), reducing the effects of weathering and erosion (4-ESS2-1), and geologic hazards (4-ESS3-2). In fifth grade students design solutions to environmental problems (5-ESS2-1).
By the end of fifth grade students should be able to achieve all three performance expectations (3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, and 3-5-ETS1-3) related to a single problem in order to understand the interrelated processes of engineering design. These include defining a problem by specifying criteria and constraints, developing and comparing multiple solutions, and conducting controlled experiments to test alternative solutions.
3‑5‑ETS1 Engineering Design
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
|
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
|
Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World
|
MIDDLE SCHOOL PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Students in middle school continue to develop understanding of four core ideas in the physical sciences. The middle school performance expectations in the physical sciences build on the K–5 ideas and capabilities to allow learners to explain phenomena central to the physical sciences but also to the life sciences and earth and space sciences. The performance expectations in the physical sciences blend the core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge to explain real-world phenomena in the physical, biological, and earth and space sciences. In the physical sciences, performance expectations at the middle school level focus on students developing understanding of several scientific practices. These include developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematical and computational thinking, and constructing explanations and using these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas. Students are also expected to demonstrate understanding of several engineering practices, including design and evaluation.
The performance expectations in PS1: Matter and Its Interactions help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do atomic and molecular interactions explain the properties of matter that we see and feel?” by building understanding of what occurs at the atomic and molecular scale. In middle school the PS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into two sub-ideas: the Structure and Properties of Matter and Chemical Reactions. By the end of middle school, students will be able to apply an understanding that pure substances have characteristic physical and chemical properties and are made from a single type of atom or molecule. They will be able to provide molecular-level accounts to explain states of matters and changes between states, that chemical reactions involve regrouping of atoms to form new substances, and that atoms rearrange during chemical reactions. Students are also able to apply an understanding of the design and process of optimization in engineering to chemical reaction systems. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; energy and matter; structure and function; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and influence of science, engineering, and technology on society and the natural world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS1 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, analyzing and interpreting data, designing solutions, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students use these science and engineering practices to demonstrate understanding of the disciplinary core ideas.
The performance expectations in PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions focus on helping students understand ideas related to why some objects will keep moving, why objects fall to the ground, and why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. Students answer the question, “How can one describe physical interactions between objects and within systems of objects?” At the middle school level, the PS2 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into two sub-ideas: Forces and Motion and Types of Interactions. By the end of middle school, students will be able to apply Newton’s Third Law of Motion to relate forces to explain the motion of objects. Students also apply ideas about gravitational, electrical, and magnetic forces to explain a variety of phenomena,
including beginning ideas about why some materials attract each other while others repel. In particular, students will develop understanding that gravitational interactions are always attractive but that electrical and magnetic forces can be both attractive and negative. Students also develop ideas that objects can exert forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact, through fields. Students are also able to apply an engineering practice and concept to solve a problem caused when objects collide. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; stability and change; and the influence of science, engineering, and technology on society and the natural world serve as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in asking questions, planning and carrying out investigations, designing solutions, and engaging in argument and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations in PS3: Energy help students formulate an answer to the question, “How can energy be transferred from one object or system to another?” At the middle school level, the PS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into four sub-core ideas: Definitions of Energy, Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer, the Relationship Between Energy and Forces, and Energy in Chemical Process and Everyday Life. Students develop their understanding of important qualitative ideas about energy, including that the interactions of objects can be explained and predicted using the concept of transfer of energy from one object or system of objects to another and that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. Students understand that moving objects have kinetic energy and that objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions. Students will also come to know the difference between energy and temperature and begin to develop an understanding of the relationship between force and energy. Students are also able to apply an understanding of design to the process of energy transfer. The crosscutting concepts of scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; and energy are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. The performance expectations in PS3 expect students to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, designing solutions, and engaging in argument from evidence and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas in PS3.
The performance expectations in PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer help students formulate an answer to the question, “What are the characteristic properties of waves and how can they be used?” At the middle school level, the PS4 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into Wave Properties, Electromagnetic Radiation, and Information Technologies and Instrumentation. Students are able to describe and predict characteristic properties and behaviors of waves when the waves interact with matter. Students can apply an understanding of waves as a means to send digital information. The crosscutting concepts of patterns and structure and function are used as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. The performance expectations in PS4 focus on students demonstrating proficiency in developing and using models, using mathematical thinking, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
MS‑PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing models of molecules that vary in complexity. Examples of simple molecules could include ammonia and methanol. Examples of extended structures could include sodium chloride or diamonds. Examples of molecular-level models could include drawings, three-dimensional ball and stick structures, or computer representations showing different molecules with different types of atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include valence electrons and bonding energy, discussing the ionic nature of sub-units of complex structures, or a complete depiction of all individual atoms in a complex molecule or extended structure.]
MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. [Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions could include burning sugar or steel wool, fat reacting with sodium hydroxide, and mixing zinc with hydrogen chloride.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to analysis of the following properties: density, melting point, boiling point, solubility, flammability, and odor.]
MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicines, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.]
MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on qualitative molecular-level models of solids, liquids, and gases to show that adding or removing thermal energy increases or decreases kinetic energy of the particles until a change of state occurs. Examples of models could include drawings and diagrams. Examples of particles could include molecules or inert atoms. Examples of pure substances could include water, carbon dioxide, and helium.]
MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the law of conservation of matter and on physical models or drawings, including digital forms, that represent atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of atomic masses, balancing symbolic equations, or intermolecular forces.]
MS-PS1-6. Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on design, controlling the transfer of energy to the environment, and modification of a device using factors such as type and concentration of a substance. Examples of designs could involve chemical reactions such as dissolving ammonium chloride or calcium chloride.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the criteria of amount, time, and temperature of a substance in testing a device.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
|
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific knowledge, principles, and theories.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
Energy and Matter
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
|
|
MS‑PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS2-1. Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of practical problems could include the impact of collisions between two cars, between a car and stationary objects, and between a meteor and a space vehicle.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to vertical or horizontal interactions in one dimension.]
MS-PS2-2. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on balanced (Newton’s First Law) and unbalanced forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion (Newton’s Second Law), frame of reference, and specification of units.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces and changes in motion in one dimension in an inertial reference frame and to change in one variable at a time. Assessment does not include the use of trigonometry.]
MS-PS2-3. Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electrical and magnetic forces. [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices that use electrical and magnetic forces could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet or the effect of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment about questions that require quantitative answers is limited to proportional reasoning and algebraic thinking.]
MS-PS2-4. Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Newton’s Law of Gravitation or Kepler’s Laws.]
MS-PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact. [Clarification Statement: Examples of this phenomenon could include the interactions of magnets, electrically charged strips of tape, and electrically charged pith balls. Examples of investigations could include firsthand experiences or simulations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to electrical and magnetic fields and to qualitative evidence for the existence of fields.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds from K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables and clarifying arguments and models.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions. |
PS2.A: Forces and Motion
|
Cause and Effect
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds from K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MS‑PS3 Energy
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS3-1. Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a wiffle ball versus a tennis ball.]
MS-PS3-2. Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on relative amounts of potential energy, not on calculations of potential energy. Examples of objects within systems interacting at varying distances could include the Earth and either a roller coaster cart at varying positions on a hill or objects at varying heights on shelves, changing the direction/orientation of a magnet, and a balloon with static electrical charge being brought closer to a classmate’s hair. Examples of models could include representations, diagrams, pictures, and written descriptions of systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to two objects and electrical, magnetic, and gravitational interactions.]
MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a Styrofoam cup.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.]
MS-PS3-4. Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample. [Clarification Statement: Examples of experiments could include comparing final water temperatures after different masses of ice have melted in the same volume of water with the same initial temperature, the temperature change of samples of different materials with the same mass as they cool or heat in the environment, or the same material with different masses when a specific amount of energy is added.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.]
MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. [Clarification Statement: Examples of empirical evidence used in arguments could include an inventory or other representation of the energy before and after the transfer in the form of temperature changes or motion of an object.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculations of energy.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
|
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
|
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim. (MS‑PS3‑4) Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
|
Energy and Matter
|
MS‑PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing waves with both qualitative and quantitative thinking.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include electromagnetic waves and is limited to standard repeating waves.]
MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both light and mechanical waves. Examples of models could include drawings, simulations, and written descriptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative applications pertaining to light and mechanical waves.]
MS-PS4-3. Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on a basic understanding that waves can be used for communication purposes. Examples could include using fiber optic cable to transmit light pulses, radio wave pulses in Wi-Fi devices, and conversion of stored binary patterns to make sound or text on a computer screen.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include binary counting. Assessment does not include the specific mechanism of any given device.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Mathematical and computational thinking at the 6–8 level builds on K–5 and progresses to identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6‑8 builds on K‑5 and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.
|
PS4.A: Wave Properties
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MIDDLE SCHOOL LIFE SCIENCES
Students in middle school develop understanding of key concepts to help them make sense of the life sciences. The ideas build on students’ science understanding from earlier grades and from the disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts of other experiences with the physical and earth sciences. There are four life sciences disciplinary core ideas in middle school: (1) From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes; (2) Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics; (3) Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits; and (4) Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. The performance expectations in middle school blend the core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge across the science disciplines. While the performance expectations in middle school life sciences couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include the use of many science and engineering practices integrated in the performance expectations.
The performance expectations in LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes help students formulate an answer to the question, “How can one explain the ways in which cells contribute to the function of living organisms?” The LS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is organized into four sub-ideas: Structure and Function, Growth and Development of Organisms, Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms, and Information Processing. Students can gather information and use it to support explanations of the structure and function relationship of cells. They can communicate understanding of cell theory. They have a basic understanding of the role of cells in body systems and how those systems work to support the life functions of the organism. The understanding of cells provides a context for the plant process of photosynthesis and the movement of matter and energy needed for the cell. Students can construct an explanation for how environmental and genetic factors affect the growth of organisms. They can connect this to the role of animal behaviors in reproduction of animals as well as the dependence of some plants on animal behaviors for their reproduction. Crosscutting concepts of cause and effect, structure and function, and matter and energy are called out as organizing concepts for the core ideas about processes of living organisms.
The performance expectations in LS2: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics Relationships in Ecosystems help students formulate an answer to the question, “How does a system of living and nonliving things operate to meet the needs of the organisms in an ecosystem?” The LS2 Disciplinary Core Idea is divided into three sub-ideas: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience. Students can analyze and interpret data, develop models, construct arguments, and demonstrate a deeper understanding of resources and the cycling of matter and the flow of energy in ecosystems. They can also study patterns of the interactions among organisms within an ecosystem. They consider biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem and the effects these factors have on population. They evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The performance expectations in LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the
next?” The LS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework includes two sub-ideas: Inheritance of Traits and Variation of Traits. Students can use models to describe ways in which gene mutations and sexual reproduction contribute to genetic variation. Crosscutting concepts of cause and effect and structure and function provide students with a deeper understanding of how gene structure determines differences in the functioning of organisms.
The performance expectations in LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do organisms change over time in response to changes in the environment?” The LS4 Disciplinary Core Idea is divided into four sub-ideas: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity, Natural Selection, Adaptation, and Biodiversity and Humans. Students can construct explanations based on evidence to support fundamental understanding of natural selection and evolution. They can use ideas of genetic variation in a population to make sense of organisms surviving and reproducing and hence passing on the traits of the species. They are able to use fossil records and anatomical similarities of the relationships among organisms and species to support their understanding. Crosscutting concepts of patterns and structure and function contribute to the evidence students can use to describe biological evolution.
MS‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing evidence that living things are made of cells, distinguishing between living and non-living things, and understanding that living things may be made of one cell or many and varied cells.]
MS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the cell functioning as a whole system and the primary role of identified parts of the cell, specifically the nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria, cell membrane, and cell wall.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of organelle structure/function relationships is limited to the cell wall and cell membrane. Assessment of the function of the other organelles is limited to their relationship to the whole cell. Assessment does not include the biochemical function of cells or cell parts.]
MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting sub-systems composed of groups of cells. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding that cells form tissues and tissues form organs specialized for particular body functions. Examples could include the interaction of sub-systems within a system and the normal functioning of those systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanism of one body system independent of others. Assessment is limited to the circulatory, excretory, digestive, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems.]
MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants, respectively. [Clarification Statement: Examples of behaviors that affect the probability of animal reproduction could include nest building to protect young from cold, herding of animals to protect young from predators, and vocalization of animals and colorful plumage to attract mates for breeding. Examples of animal behaviors that affect the probability of plant reproduction could include transferring pollen or seeds and creating conditions for seed germination and growth. Examples of plant structures could include bright flowers attracting butterflies that transfer pollen, flower nectar and odors that attract insects that transfer pollen, and hard shells on nuts that squirrels bury.]
MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms. [Clarification Statement: Examples of local environmental conditions could include availability of food, light, space, and water. Examples of genetic factors could include large breed cattle and species of grass affecting the growth of organisms. Examples of evidence could include drought decreasing plant growth, fertilizer increasing plant growth, different varieties of plant seeds growing at different rates in different conditions, and fish growing larger in large ponds than in small ponds.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms, gene regulation, or biochemical processes.]
MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on tracing the movement of matter and the flow of energy.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis.]
MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing that molecules are broken apart and put back together and that in this process energy is released.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the chemical reactions for photosynthesis or respiration.]
MS-LS1-8. Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Planning and carrying out investigations in 6‑8 builds on K‑5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific knowledge, principles, and theories.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s). |
LS1.A: Structure and Function
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS1.D: Information Processing
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MS‑LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and the growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources.]
MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on predicting consistent patterns of interactions in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of ecosystems. Examples of types of interactions could include competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial.]
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing the conservation of matter and flow of energy into and out of various ecosystems and on defining the boundaries of the system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of chemical reactions to describe the processes.]
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on recognizing patterns in data and making warranted inferences about changes in populations and on evaluating empirical evidence supporting arguments about changes to ecosystems.]
MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories. |
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
their environments, both living and non‑living, are shared. (MS‑LS2‑2)
|
needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. Thus, technology use varies from region to region and over time. (MS‑LS2‑5) • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MS‑LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of an organism. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding that changes in genetic material may result in making different proteins.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific changes at the molecular level, mechanisms for protein synthesis, or specific types of mutations.]
MS-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using models such as Punnett squares, diagrams, and simulations to describe the cause and effect relationship of gene transmission from parent(s) to offspring and the resulting genetic variation.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
|
LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
|
Cause and Effect
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
|
MS‑LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geologic eras in the fossil record.]
MS-LS4-2. Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explanations of the evolutionary relationships among organisms in terms of similarities or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures.]
MS-LS4-3. Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on inferring general patterns of relatedness among embryos of different organisms by comparing the macroscopic appearance of diagrams or pictures.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of comparisons is limited to gross appearance of anatomical structures in embryological development.]
MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using simple probability statements and proportional reasoning to construct explanations.]
MS-LS4-5. Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on synthesizing information from reliable sources about the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection (such as genetic modification, animal husbandry, and gene therapy) and on the impacts these technologies have on society as well as the technologies leading to these scientific discoveries.]
MS-LS4-6. Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using mathematical models, probability statements, and proportional reasoning to support explanations of trends in changes to populations over time.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Hardy-Weinberg calculations.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Mathematical and computational thinking in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to |
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MIDDLE SCHOOL EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES
Students in middle school continue to develop their understanding of the three disciplinary core ideas in the earth and space sciences. The middle school performance expectations in the earth and space sciences build on the elementary school ideas and skills and allow middle school students to explain more in-depth phenomena central not only to the earth and space sciences but to the life and physical sciences as well. These performance expectations blend the core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge to explain ideas across the science disciplines. While the performance expectations shown in middle school earth and space sciences couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.
The performance expectations in ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “What is Earth’s place in the Universe? What makes up our solar system and how can the motion of Earth explain seasons and eclipses? How did people figure out that Earth and life on Earth have changed through time?” The ESS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into three sub-ideas: the Universe and Its Stars, Earth and the Solar System and the History of Planet Earth. Students examine Earth’s place in relation to the solar system, Milky Way galaxy, and universe. There is a strong emphasis on a systems approach, using models of the solar system to explain astronomical and other observations of the cyclic patterns of eclipses and seasons. There is also a strong connection to engineering through the instruments and technologies that have allowed us to explore the objects in our solar system and obtain data that support theories that explain the formation and evolution of the universe. Students examine geoscience data in order to understand the processes and events in Earth’s history. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, scale, proportion, quantity, and systems and system modeling are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS1 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, analyzing data, constructing explanations, and designing solutions and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations in ESS2: Earth’s Systems help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “How do the materials in and on Earth’s crust change over time? How does the movement of tectonic plates impact the surface of Earth? How does water influence weather, circulate in the oceans, and shape Earth’s surface? What factors interact and influence weather? How have living organisms changed the Earth and how have Earth’s changing conditions impacted living organisms?” The ESS2 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into five sub-ideas: Earth Materials and Systems, Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions, the Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes, Weather and Climate, and Biogeology. Students understand how Earth’s geosystems operate by modeling the flow of energy and cycling of matter within and among different systems. Students investigate the controlling properties of important materials and construct explanations based on analysis of real geoscience data. Of special importance in both topics are the ways that geoscience processes provide resources needed by society but also cause natural hazards that present risks to society;
both involve technological challenges for the identification and development of resources. Students develop understanding of the factors that control weather. A systems approach is also important here, examining the feedbacks between systems as energy from the sun is transferred between systems and circulates though the ocean and atmosphere. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; energy and matter; and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, and constructing explanations and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations in ESS3: Earth and Human Activity help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “How is the availability of needed natural resources related to naturally occurring processes? How can natural hazards be predicted? How do human activities affect Earth systems? How do we know our global climate is changing?” The ESS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into four sub-ideas: Natural Resources, Natural Hazards, Human Impact on Earth Systems, and Global Climate Change. Students understand the ways that human activities impact Earth’s other systems. Students use many different practices to understand the significant and complex issues surrounding human uses of land, energy, mineral, and water resources and the resulting impacts of their development. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS3 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in asking questions, developing and using models, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, designing solutions, and engaging in argument and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
MS‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-ESS1-1. Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models can be physical, graphical, or conceptual.]
MS-ESS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students’ school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.]
MS-ESS1-3. Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth-based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data include statistical information, drawings and photographs, and models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling facts about properties of the planets and other solar system bodies.]
MS-ESS1-4. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic timescale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods and epochs or events within them.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
|
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MS‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the identification and naming of minerals.]
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.]
MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of past plate motions. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary: Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.]
MS-ESS2-4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ways in which water changes its state as it moves through the multiple pathways of the hydrologic cycle. Examples of models can be conceptual or physical.] [Assessment Boundary: A quantitative understanding of the latent heats of vaporization and fusion is not assessed.]
MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of cloud types or weather symbols used on weather maps or the reported diagrams from weather stations.]
MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Planning and carrying out investigations in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
MS‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable and on how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).]
MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how some natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and severe weather, are preceded by phenomena that allow for reliable predictions, but others, such as earthquakes, occur suddenly and with no notice and thus are not yet predictable. Examples of natural hazards can be taken from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or severe weather events (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods). Examples of data can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies can be global (such as satellite systems to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local (such as building basements in tornado-prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).]
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as fresh water, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.]
MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables and clarifying arguments and models.
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
|
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGINEERING DESIGN
By the time students reach middle school they should have had numerous experiences in engineering design. The goal for middle school students is to define problems more precisely, to conduct a more thorough process of choosing the best solution, and to optimize the final design.
Defining the problem with “precision” involves thinking more deeply than is expected in elementary school about the needs that a problem is intended to address or the goals a design is intended to reach. How will the end user decide whether or not the design is successful? Also at this level students are expected to consider not only the end user, but also the broader society and the environment. Every technological change is likely to have both intended and unintended effects. It is up to the designer to try to anticipate the effects it may have and to behave responsibly in developing a new or improved technology. These considerations may take the form of either criteria or constraints on possible solutions.
Developing possible solutions does not explicitly address generating design ideas because students were expected to develop the capability in elementary school. The focus in middle school is on a two-stage process of evaluating the different ideas that have been proposed by using a systematic method, such as a tradeoff matrix, to determine which solutions are most promising, and by testing different solutions and then combining the best ideas into a new solution that may be better than any of the preliminary ideas.
Improving designs at the middle school level involves an iterative process in which students test the best design, analyze the results, modify the design accordingly, and then re-test and modify the design again. Students may go through this cycle two, three, or more times in order to reach the optimal (best possible) result.
Connections with other science disciplines help students develop these capabilities in various contexts. For example, in the life sciences students apply their engineering design capabilities to evaluate plans for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services (MS-LS2-5). In the physical sciences students define and solve problems involving a number of core ideas, including chemical processes that release or absorb energy (MS-PS1-6), Newton’s Third Law of Motion (MS-PS2-1), and energy transfer (MS-PS3-3). In the earth and space sciences students apply their engineering design capabilities to problems related to the impacts of humans on Earth systems (MS-ESS3-3).
By the end of eighth grade students are expected to achieve all four performance expectations (MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3, and MS-ETS1-4) related to a single problem in order to understand the interrelated processes of engineering design. These include defining a problem by precisely specifying criteria and constraints for solutions as well as potential impacts on society and the natural environment, systematically evaluating alternative solutions, analyzing data from tests of different solutions and combining the best ideas into an improved solution, and developing a model and iteratively testing and improving it to reach an optimal solution. While the performance expectations shown in MS-ETS1 couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.
MS‑ETS1 Engineering Design
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables and clarifying arguments and models.
Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
|
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
|
Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).
|
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
|
HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Students in high school continue to develop their understanding of the four core ideas in the physical sciences. These ideas include the most fundamental concepts from chemistry and physics but are intended to leave room for expanded study in upper-level high school courses. The high school performance expectations in the physical sciences build on middle school ideas and skills and allow high school students to explain more in-depth phenomena central not only to the physical sciences but to the life and earth and space sciences as well. These performance expectations blend the core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge to explain ideas across the science disciplines. In the physical sciences performance expectations at the high school level, there is a focus on several scientific practices. These include developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematical and computational thinking, and constructing explanations and using these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas. Students are also expected to demonstrate understanding of several engineering practices, including design and evaluation.
The performance expectations in PS1: Matter and Its Interactions help students formulate an answer to the question, “How can one explain the structure, properties, and interactions of matter?” The PS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into three sub-ideas: the Structure and Properties of Matter, Chemical Reactions, and Nuclear Processes. Students are expected to develop understanding of the substructure of atoms and to provide more mechanistic explanations of the properties of substances. Chemical reactions, including rates of reactions and energy changes, can be understood by students at this level in terms of the collisions of molecules and the rearrangements of atoms. Students are able to use the periodic table as a tool to explain and predict the properties of elements. Using this expanded knowledge of chemical reactions, students are able to explain important biological and geophysical phenomena. Phenomena involving nuclei are also important to understand, as they explain the formation and abundance of the elements, radioactivity, the release of energy from the sun and other stars, and the generation of nuclear power. Students are also able to apply an understanding of the process of optimization in engineering design to chemical reaction systems. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, energy and matter, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS1 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, using mathematical thinking, and constructing explanations and designing solutions and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations associated with PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions support students’ understanding of ideas related to why some objects will keep moving, why objects fall to the ground and why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. Students should be able to answer the question, “How can one explain and predict interactions between objects and within systems of objects?” The Disciplinary Core Idea expressed in the NRC Framework for PS2 is broken down into the sub-ideas of Forces and Motion and Types of Interactions. The performance expectations
in PS2 focus on students building understanding of forces and interactions and Newton’s Second Law. Students also develop understanding that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system. Students are able to use Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects. Students are able to apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, systems and system models, and structure and function are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in planning and conducting investigations, analyzing data and using math to support claims, applying scientific ideas to solve design problems, and communicating scientific and technical information and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations associated with PS3: Energy help students formulate an answer to the question, “How is energy transferred and conserved?” The Disciplinary Core Idea expressed in the NRC Framework for PS3 is broken down into four sub-core ideas: Definitions of Energy, Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer, the Relationship Between Energy and Forces, and Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life. Energy is understood as a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system, and the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. Students develop an understanding that energy at both the macroscopic and the atomic scales can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy associated with the configuration (relative positions) of particles. In some cases, the energy associated with the configuration of particles can be thought of as stored in fields. Students also demonstrate their understanding of engineering principles when they design, build, and refine devices associated with the conversion of energy. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; energy and matter; and the influence of science, engineering, and technology on society and the natural world are further developed in the performance expectations associated with PS3. In these performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carry out investigations, using computational thinking, and designing solutions and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations associated with PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer are critical to understand how many new technologies work. As such, this core idea helps students answer the question, “How are waves used to transfer energy and send and store information?” The Disciplinary Core Idea in PS4 is broken down into Wave Properties, Electromagnetic Radiation, and Information Technologies and Instrumentation. Students are able to apply understanding of how wave properties and the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with matter can transfer information across long distances, store information, and investigate nature on many scales. Models of electromagnetic radiation as either a wave of changing electrical and magnetic fields or as particles are developed and used. Students understand that combining waves of different frequencies can make a wide variety of patterns and thereby encode and transmit information. Students also demonstrate their understanding of engineering ideas by presenting information about how
technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; stability and change; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are highlighted as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS3 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in asking questions, using mathematical thinking, engaging in argument from evidence and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
HS‑PS1 Matter and Its Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-PS1-1. Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms. [Clarification Statement: Examples of properties that could be predicted from patterns could include reactivity of metals, types of bonds formed, numbers of bonds formed, and reactions with oxygen.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to main group elements. Assessment does not include quantitative understanding of ionization energy beyond relative trends.]
HS-PS1-2. Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties. [Clarification Statement: Examples of chemical reactions could include the reaction of sodium and chlorine, carbon and oxygen, or carbon and hydrogen.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to chemical reactions involving main group elements and combustion reactions.]
HS-PS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on understanding the strengths of forces between particles, not on naming specific intermolecular forces (such as dipole-dipole). Examples of particles could include ions, atoms, molecules, and networked materials (such as graphite). Examples of bulk properties of substances could include the melting point and boiling point, vapor pressure, and surface tension.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Raoult’s Law calculations of vapor pressure.]
HS-PS1-4. Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends on the changes in total bond energy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that a chemical reaction is a system that affects the energy change. Examples of models could include molecular-level drawings and diagrams of reactions, graphs showing the relative energies of reactants and products, and representations showing energy is conserved.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total bond energy changes during a chemical reaction from the bond energies of reactants and products.]
HS-PS1-5. Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on student reasoning that focuses on the number and energy of collisions between molecules.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to simple reactions in which there are only two reactants; evidence from temperature, concentration, and rate data; and qualitative relationships between rate and temperature.]
HS-PS1-6. Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the application of Le Chatelier’s Principle and on refining designs of chemical reaction systems, including descriptions of the connection between changes made at the macroscopic level and what happens at the molecular level. Examples of designs could include different ways to increase product formation, including adding reactants or removing products.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to specifying the change in only one variable at a time. Assessment does not include calculating equilibrium constants and concentrations.]
HS-PS1-7. Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using mathematical ideas to communicate the proportional relationships between masses of atoms in the reactants and the products and the translation of these relationships to the macroscopic scale using the mole as the conversion from the atomic to the macroscopic scale. Emphasis is on assessing students’ use of mathematical thinking and not on memorization and rote application of problem-solving techniques.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include complex chemical reactions.]
HS-PS1-8. Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on simple qualitative models, such as pictures or diagrams and on the scale of energy released in nuclear processes relative to other kinds of transformations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative calculation of energy released. Assessment is limited to alpha, beta, and gamma radioactive decays.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
Planning and carrying out investigations in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.
Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
|
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
|
Patterns
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
PS1.C: Nuclear Processes
|
HS‑PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-PS2-1. Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s Second Law of Motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include tables or graphs of position or velocity as a function of time for objects subject to a net unbalanced force, such as a falling object, an object rolling down a ramp, or a moving object being pulled by a constant force.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one-dimensional motion and to macroscopic objects moving at non-relativistic speeds.]
HS-PS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the quantitative conservation of momentum in interactions and the qualitative meaning of this principle.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems of two macroscopic bodies moving in one dimension.]
HS-PS2-3. Apply science and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of evaluation and refinement could include determining the success of a device at protecting an object from damage and modifying the design to improve it. Examples of a device could include a football helmet or a parachute.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative evaluations and/or algebraic manipulations.]
HS-PS2-4. Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both quantitative and conceptual descriptions of gravitational and electrical fields.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems with two objects.]
HS-PS2-5. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electrical current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electrical current. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to designing and conducting investigations with provided materials and tools.]
HS-PS2-6. Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the attractive and repulsive forces that determine the functioning of the material. Examples could include why electrically conductive materials are often made of metal, flexible but durable materials are made up of long chained molecules, and pharmaceuticals are designed to interact with specific receptors.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to provided molecular structures of specific designed materials.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.
|
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.
Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
|
Systems and System Models
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
HS‑PS3 Energy
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-PS3-1. Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explaining the meaning of mathematical expressions used in the model.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to basic algebraic expressions or computations; to systems of two or three components; and to thermal energy, kinetic energy, and/or the energies in gravitational, magnetic, or electrical fields.]
HS-PS3-2. Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects). [Clarification Statement: Examples of phenomena at the macroscopic scale could include the conversion of kinetic energy to thermal energy, the energy stored due to position of an object above Earth, and the energy stored between two electrically charged plates. Examples of models could include diagrams, drawings, descriptions, and computer simulations.]
HS-PS3-3. Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices. Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators. Examples of constraints could include use of renewable energy forms and efficiency.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment for quantitative evaluations is limited to total output for a given input. Assessment is limited to devices constructed with materials provided to students.]
HS-PS3-4. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics). [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on analyzing data from student investigations and using mathematical thinking to describe energy changes both quantitatively and conceptually. Examples of investigations could include mixing liquids at different initial temperatures or adding objects at different temperatures to water.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to investigations based on materials and tools provided to students.]
HS-PS3-5. Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electrical or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include drawings, diagrams, and texts, such as drawings of what happens when two charges of opposite polarity are near each other.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems containing two objects.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
|
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
|
Cause and Effect
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.
Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories. |
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
|
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces
|
HS‑PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include electromagnetic radiation traveling in a vacuum and glass, sound waves traveling through air and water, and seismic waves traveling through Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to algebraic relationships and describing those relationships qualitatively.]
HS-PS4-2. Evaluate questions about the advantages of using digital transmission and storage of information. [Clarification Statement: Examples of advantages could include that digital information is stable because it can be stored reliably in computer memory, transferred easily, and copied and shared rapidly. Disadvantages could include issues of easy deletion, security, and theft.]
HS-PS4-3. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how experimental evidence supports the claim and how a theory is generally modified in light of new evidence. Examples of a phenomenon could include resonance, interference, diffraction, and photoelectric effect.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include using quantum theory.]
HS-PS4-4. Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that photons associated with different frequencies of light have different energies and the damage to living tissue from electromagnetic radiation depends on the energy of the radiation. Examples of published materials could include trade books, magazines, Web resources, videos, and other passages that may reflect bias.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative descriptions.]
HS-PS4-5. Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.* [Clarification Statement: Examples could include solar cells capturing light and converting it to electricity, medical imaging, and communications technology.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessments are limited to qualitative information. Assessments do not include band theory.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 9–12 builds from K–8 experiences and progresses to formulating, refining, and evaluating empirically testable questions and design problems using models and simulations.
|
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes
|
Cause and Effect
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.
|
|
Systems and System Models
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
HIGH SCHOOL LIFE SCIENCES
Students in high school develop understanding of key concepts that will help them make sense of the life sciences. The ideas build on students’ science understanding of disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts from earlier grades. There are four life sciences disciplinary core ideas in high school: (1) From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes; (2) Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics; (3) Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits; and (4) Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. The performance expectations for high school life sciences blend core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge that can be applied across the science disciplines. While the performance expectations in high school life sciences couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include the use of many practices underlying the performance expectations.
The performance expectations in LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do organisms live and grow?” The LS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is presented as three sub-ideas: Structure and Function, Growth and Development of Organisms, and Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms. In these performance expectations, students demonstrate that they can use investigations and gather evidence to support explanations of cell function and reproduction. They understand the role of proteins as essential to the work of the cell and living systems. Students can use models to explain photosynthesis, respiration, and the cycling of matter and flow of energy in living organisms. The cellular processes can be used as a model for understanding the hierarchical organization of organisms. Crosscutting concepts of matter and energy, structure and function, and systems and system models provide students with insights to the structures and processes of organisms.
The performance expectations in LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics help students formulate an answer to the question, “How and why do organisms interact with their environment, and what are the effects of these interactions?” The LS2 Disciplinary Core Idea includes four sub-ideas: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems; Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems; Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience; and Social Interactions and Group Behavior. High school students can use mathematical reasoning to demonstrate understanding of fundamental concepts of carrying capacity, factors affecting biodiversity and populations, and the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem. These mathematical models provide support of students’ conceptual understanding of systems and their ability to develop design solutions for reducing the impact of human activities on the environment and maintaining biodiversity. Crosscutting concepts of systems and system models play a central role in students’ understanding of science and engineering practices and core ideas of ecosystems.
The performance expectations in LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits help students formulate answers to the questions: “How are characteristics of one generation passed to the next? How can individuals of the same species and even siblings have different characteristics?” The LS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework includes two sub-ideas: Inheritance of Traits and Variation of Traits.
Students are able to ask questions, make and defend a claim, and use concepts of probability to explain the genetic variation in a population. Students demonstrate understanding of why individuals of the same species vary in how they look, function, and behave. Students can explain the mechanisms of genetic inheritance and describe the environmental and genetic causes of gene mutation and the alteration of gene expression. Crosscutting concepts of patterns and cause and effect are called out as organizing concepts for these core ideas.
The performance expectations in LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity help students formulate an answer to the question, “What evidence shows that different species are related?” The LS4 Disciplinary Core Idea involves four sub-ideas: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity, Natural Selection, Adaptation, and Biodiversity and Humans. Students can construct explanations for the processes of natural selection and evolution and communicate how multiple lines of evidence support these explanations. Students can evaluate evidence of the conditions that may result in new species and understand the role of genetic variation in natural selection. Additionally, students can apply concepts of probability to explain trends in populations as those trends relate to advantageous heritable traits in a specific environment. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect and systems and system models play an important role in students’ understanding of the evolution of life on Earth.
HS‑LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-LS1-1. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include identification of specific cell or tissue types, whole-body systems, specific protein structures and functions, or the biochemistry of protein synthesis.]
HS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on functions at the organism system level such as nutrient uptake, water delivery, and organism movement in response to neural stimuli. An example of an interacting system could be an artery depending on the proper function of elastic tissue and smooth muscle to regulate and deliver the proper amount of blood within the circulatory system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include interactions and functions at the molecular or chemical reaction level.]
HS-LS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. [Clarification Statement: Examples of investigations could include heart rate response to exercise, stomate response to moisture and temperature, and root development in response to water levels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the cellular processes involved in the feedback mechanism.]
HS-LS1-4. Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific gene control mechanisms or rote memorization of the steps of mitosis.]
HS-LS1-5. Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on illustrating inputs and outputs of matter and the transfer and transformation of energy in photosynthesis by plants and other photosynthesizing organisms. Examples of models could include diagrams, chemical equations, and conceptual models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific biochemical steps.]
HS-LS1-6. Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence from models and simulations to support explanations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the details of the specific chemical reactions or identification of macromolecules.]
HS-LS1-7. Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed, resulting in a net transfer of energy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding of the inputs and outputs of the process of cellular respiration.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment should not include identification of the steps or specific processes involved in cellular respiration.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS1.A: Structure and Function
|
Systems and System Models
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
|
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
HS‑LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on quantitative analysis and comparison of the relationships among interdependent factors, including boundaries, resources, climate, and competition. Examples of mathematical comparisons could include graphs, charts, histograms, and population changes gathered from simulations or historical data sets.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include deriving mathematical equations to make comparisons.]
HS-LS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales. [Clarification Statement: Examples of mathematical representations include finding the average, determining trends, and using graphical comparisons of multiple sets of data.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to provided data.]
HS-LS2-3. Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding of the role of aerobic and anaerobic respiration in different environments.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the specific chemical processes of either aerobic or anaerobic respiration.]
HS-LS2-4. Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using a mathematical model of stored energy in biomass to describe the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another and that matter and energy are conserved as matter cycles and energy flows through ecosystems. Emphasis is on atoms and molecules such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen being conserved as they move through an ecosystem.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to proportional reasoning to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy.]
HS-LS2-5. Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include simulations and mathematical models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the specific chemical steps of photosynthesis and respiration.]
HS-LS2-6. Evaluate claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Examples of changes in ecosystem conditions could include modest biological or physical changes, such as moderate hunting or a seasonal flood, and extreme changes, such as volcanic eruption or sea-level rise.]
HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human activities can include urbanization, building dams, and dissemination of invasive species.]
HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on (1) distinguishing between group and individual behavior, (2) identifying evidence supporting the outcomes of group behavior, and (3) developing logical and reasonable arguments based on evidence. Examples of group behaviors could include flocking, schooling, herding, and cooperative behaviors such as hunting, migrating, and swarming.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show how relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
|
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
|
Cause and Effect
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem. (HS‑LS2‑1), (HS‑LS2‑2)
|
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
|
HS‑LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-LS3-1. Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the phases of meiosis or the biochemical mechanism of specific steps in the process.]
HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using data to support arguments for the way variation occurs.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the phases of meiosis or the biochemical mechanism of specific steps in the process.]
HS-LS3-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the use of mathematics to describe the probability of traits as it relates to genetic and environmental factors in the expression of traits.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Hardy-Weinberg calculations.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to formulating, refining, and evaluating empirically testable questions and design problems using models and simulations.
Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.
|
LS1.A: Structure and Function
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
|
LS3.B: Variation of Traits
|
HS‑LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on a conceptual understanding of the role each line of evidence has in relation to common ancestry and biological evolution. Examples of evidence could include similarities in DNA sequences, anatomical structures, and order of appearance of structures in embryological development.]
HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence to explain the influence that each of the four factors has on number of organisms, behaviors, morphology, or physiology in terms of ability to compete for limited resources and subsequent survival of individuals and adaptation of species. Examples of evidence could include mathematical models such as simple distribution graphs and proportional reasoning.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include other mechanisms of evolution, such as genetic drift, gene flow through migration, and co-evolution.]
HS-LS4-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on analyzing shifts in the numerical distribution of traits and using these shifts as evidence to support explanations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to basic statistical and graphical analysis. Assessment does not include allele frequency calculations.]
HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using data to provide evidence for how specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (such as ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, or evolution of other organisms) contribute to a change in gene frequency over time, leading to adaptation of populations.]
HS-LS4-5. Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on determining cause and effect relationships for how changes to the environment such as deforestation, fishing, application of fertilizers, drought, flood, and the rate of change of the environment affect the distribution or disappearance of traits in species.]
HS-LS4-6. Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on testing solutions for a proposed problem related to threatened or endangered species or to genetic variation of organisms for multiple species.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.
|
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current or historical episodes in science. |
LS4.B: Natural Selection
|
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
HIGH SCHOOL EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES
Students in high school continue to develop their understanding of the three disciplinary core ideas in the earth and space sciences. The high school performance expectations in the earth and space sciences build on the middle school ideas and skills and allow high school students to explain more in-depth phenomena central not only to the earth and space sciences but to the life and physical sciences as well. These performance expectations blend the core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge to explain ideas across the science disciplines. While the performance expectations shown in high school earth and space sciences couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include the use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.
The performance expectations in ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe help students formulate an answer to the question: “What is the universe, and what is Earth’s place in it?” The ESS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into three sub-ideas: the Universe and Its Stars, Earth and the Solar System, and the History of Planet Earth. Students examine the processes governing the formation, evolution, and workings of the solar system and universe. Some concepts studied are fundamental to science, such as understanding how the matter of our world formed during the Big Bang and within the cores of stars. Others concepts are practical, such as understanding how short-term changes in the behavior of our sun directly affect humans. Engineering and technology play a large role here in obtaining and analyzing data that support theories of the formation of the solar system and universe. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, scale, proportion, quantity, energy and matter, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS1 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, using mathematical and computational thinking, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information and using these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations in ESS2: Earth’s Systems help students formulate an answer to the question: “How and why is Earth constantly changing?” The ESS2 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into five sub-ideas: Earth Materials and Systems, Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions, the Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes, Weather and Climate, and Biogeology. For the purpose of the Next Generation Science Standards, biogeology has been addressed within the life sciences standards. Students develop models and explanations for the ways that feedbacks between different Earth systems control the appearance of Earth’s surface. Central to this is the tension between internal systems, which are largely responsible for creating land at Earth’s surface, and the sun-driven surface systems that tear down the land through weathering and erosion. Students begin to examine the ways that human activities cause feedbacks that create changes to other systems. Students understand the system interactions that control weather and climate, with a major emphasis on the mechanisms and implications of climate change. Students model the flow of energy between different components of the weather system and how this affects chemical cycles such as the carbon cycle. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect, energy and matter, structure and function, and stability and
change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, and engaging in argument and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
The performance expectations in ESS3: Earth and Human Activity help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do Earth’s surface processes and human activities affect each other?” The ESS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into four sub-ideas: Natural Resources, Natural Hazards, Human Impact on Earth Systems, and Global Climate Change. Students understand the complex and significant interdependencies between humans and the rest of Earth’s systems through the impacts of natural hazards, our dependencies on natural resources, and the significant environmental impacts of human activities. Engineering and technology figure prominently here, as students use mathematical thinking and the analysis of geoscience data to examine and construct solutions to the many challenges facing long-term human sustainability on Earth. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect, systems and system models, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS3 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in analyzing and interpreting data, mathematical and computational thinking, constructing explanations and designing solutions and engaging in argument and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
HS‑ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-ESS1-1. Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the energy transfer mechanisms that allow energy from nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to reach Earth. Examples of evidence for the model include observations of the masses and lifetimes of other stars, as well as the ways that the sun’s radiation varies due to sudden solar flares (“space weather”), the 11-year sunspot cycle, and non-cyclic variations over centuries.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the atomic and sub-atomic processes involved with the sun’s nuclear fusion.]
HS-ESS1-2. Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on astronomical evidence of the red shift of light from galaxies as an indication that the universe is currently expanding, the cosmic microwave background as remnant radiation from the Big Bang, and the observed composition of ordinary matter of the universe, primarily found in stars and interstellar gases (from the spectra of electromagnetic radiation from stars), which matches that predicted by the Big Bang theory (3/4 hydrogen and 1/4 helium).]
HS-ESS1-3. Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the way nucleosynthesis, and therefore the different elements created, varies as a function of the mass of a star and the stage of its lifetime.] [Assessment Boundary: Details of the many different nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses are not assessed.]
HS-ESS1-4. Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on Newtonian gravitational laws governing orbital motions, which apply to human-made satellites as well as planets and moons.] [Assessment Boundary: Mathematical representations for the gravitational attraction of bodies and Kepler’s Laws of orbital motions should not deal with more than two bodies or involve calculus.]
HS-ESS1-5. Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ability of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks. Examples include evidence of the ages of oceanic crust increasing with distance from mid-ocean ridges (a result of plate spreading) and the ages of North American continental crust increasing with distance away from a central ancient core (a result of past plate interactions).]
HS-ESS1-6. Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using available evidence within the solar system to reconstruct the early history of Earth, which formed along with the rest of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Examples of evidence include the absolute ages of ancient materials (obtained by radiometric dating of meteorites, moon rocks, and Earth’s oldest minerals), the sizes and compositions of solar system objects, and the impact cratering record of planetary surfaces.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
|
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
|
Patterns
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Using Mathematical and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
|
Energy and Matter
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
|
HS‑ESS2 Earth’s Systems
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how the appearance of land features (such as mountains, valleys, and plateaus) and sea floor features (such as trenches, ridges, and seamounts) are a result of both constructive forces (such as volcanism, tectonic uplift, and orogeny) and destructive mechanisms (such as weathering, mass wasting, and coastal erosion).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include memorization of details of the formation of specific geographic features of Earth’s surface.]
HS-ESS2-2. Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples should include climate feedbacks, such as how an increase in greenhouse gases causes a rise in global temperatures that melts glacial ice, which reduces the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface, increasing surface temperatures and further reducing the amount of ice. Examples could also be taken from other system interactions, such as how the loss of ground vegetation causes an increase in water runoff and soil erosion; how dammed rivers increase groundwater recharge, decrease sediment transport, and increase coastal erosion; and how the loss of wetlands causes a decrease in local humidity that further reduces the wetlands’ extent.]
HS-ESS2-3. Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both a one-dimensional model of Earth, with radial layers determined by density, and a three-dimensional model, which is controlled by mantle convection and the resulting plate tectonics. Examples of evidence include maps of Earth’s three-dimensional structure obtained from seismic waves, records of the rate of change of Earth’s magnetic field (as constraints on convection in the outer core), and identification of the composition of Earth’s layers from high-pressure laboratory experiments.]
HS-ESS2-4. Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate. [Clarification Statement: Examples of the causes of climate change differ by timescale, over 1–10 years: large volcanic eruptions, ocean circulation; 10s–100s of years: changes in human activity, ocean circulation, solar output; 10s–100s of thousands of years: changes to Earth’s orbit and the orientation of its axis; and 10s–100s of millions of years: long-term changes in atmospheric composition.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of the results of changes in climate is limited to changes in surface temperatures, precipitation patterns, glacial ice volumes, sea levels, and biosphere distribution.]
HS-ESS2-5. Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on mechanical and chemical investigations with water and a variety of solid materials to provide evidence for the connections between the hydrologic cycle and system interactions commonly known as the rock cycle. Examples of mechanical investigations include stream transportation and deposition using a stream table, erosion using variations in soil moisture content, and frost wedging by the expansion of water as it freezes. Examples of chemical investigations include chemical weathering and recrystallization (by testing the solubility of different materials) or melt generation (by examining how water lowers the melting temperature of most solids).]
HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on modeling biogeochemical cycles that include the cycling of carbon through the ocean, atmosphere, soil, and biosphere (including humans), providing the foundation for living organisms.]
HS-ESS2-7. Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous co-evolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the dynamic causes, effects, and feedbacks between the biosphere and Earth’s other systems, whereby geoscience factors control the evolution of life, which in turn continuously alters Earth’s surface. Examples include how photosynthetic life altered the atmosphere through the production of oxygen, which in turn increased weathering rates and allowed for the evolution of animal life; how microbial life on land increased the formation of soil, which in turn allowed for the evolution of land plants; and how the evolution of corals created reefs that altered patterns of erosion and deposition along coastlines and provided habitats for the evolution of new life forms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of how the biosphere interacts with all of Earth’s other systems.]
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s).
Planning and carrying out investigations in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.
Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.
|
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World
|
HS‑ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-ESS3-1. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of key natural resources include access to fresh water (such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater), regions of fertile soils such as river deltas, and high concentrations of minerals and fossil fuels. Examples of natural hazards can be from interior processes (such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes), surface processes (such as tsunamis, mass wasting, and soil erosion), and severe weather (such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts). Examples of the results of changes in climate that can affect populations or drive mass migrations include changes to sea level, regional patterns of temperature and precipitation, and the types of crops and livestock that can be raised.]
HS-ESS3-2. Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conservation, recycling, and reuse of resources (such as minerals and metals) where possible and on minimizing impacts where it is not. Examples include developing best practices for agricultural soil use, mining (for coal, tar sands, and oil shales), and pumping (for petroleum and natural gas). Scientific knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen.]
HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among the management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors that affect the management of natural resources include the costs of resource extraction and waste management, per-capita consumption, and development of new technologies. Examples of factors that affect human sustainability include agricultural efficiency, levels of conservation, and urban planning.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment for computational simulations is limited to using provided multi-parameter programs or constructing simplified spreadsheet calculations.]
HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of data on the impacts of human activities could include the quantities and types of pollutants released, changes to biomass and species diversity, or areal changes in land surface use (such as for urban development, agriculture and livestock, or surface mining). Examples for limiting future impacts could range from local efforts (such as reducing, reusing, and recycling resources) to large-scale geoengineering design solutions (such as altering global temperatures by making large changes to the atmosphere or ocean).]
HS-ESS3-5. Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth’s systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence, for both data and climate model outputs, are for climate changes (such as precipitation and temperature) and their associated impacts (such as on sea level, glacial ice volumes, and atmosphere and ocean composition).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one example of a climate change and its associated impacts.]
HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of Earth systems to be considered are the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and/or biosphere. An example of the far-reaching impacts from a human activity is how an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide results in an increase in photosynthetic biomass on land and an increase in ocean acidification, with resulting impacts on sea organism health and marine populations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include running computational representations but is limited to using the published results of scientific computational models.]
*This performance expectation integrates traditional science content with engineering through a practice or disciplinary core idea.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.
Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific knowledge, principles, and theories.
|
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
|
Cause and Effect
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
|
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World
|
HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING DESIGN
At the high school level students are expected to engage with major global issues at the interface of science, technology, society, and the environment and to bring to bear the kinds of analytical and strategic thinking that prior training and increased maturity make possible. As in prior levels, these capabilities can be thought of in three stages—defining the problem, developing possible solutions, and improving designs.
Defining the problem at the high school level requires both qualitative and quantitative analyses. For example, the need to provide food and fresh water for future generations comes into sharp focus when considering the speed at which the world’s population is growing and the conditions in countries that have experienced famine. While high school students are not expected to solve these challenges, they are expected to begin thinking about them as problems that can be addressed, at least in part, through engineering.
Developing possible solutions for major global problems begins by breaking them down into smaller problems that can be tackled with engineering methods. To evaluate potential solutions, students are expected to not only consider a wide range of criteria, but to also recognize that criteria need to be prioritized. For example, public safety or environmental protection may be more important than cost or even functionality. Decisions on priorities can then guide tradeoff choices.
Improving designs at the high school level may involve sophisticated methods, such as using computer simulations to model proposed solutions. Students are expected to use such methods to take into account a range of criteria and constraints, to try to anticipate possible societal and environmental impacts, and to test the validity of their simulations by comparison to the real world.
Connections with other science disciplines help high school students develop these capabilities in various contexts. For example, in the life sciences students are expected to design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing human impact on the environment (HS-LS2-7) and to create or revise a simulation to test solutions for mitigating adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity (HS-LS4-6). In the physical sciences students solve problems by applying their engineering capabilities along with their knowledge of conditions for chemical reactions (HS-PS1-6), forces during collisions (HS-PS2-3), and conversion of energy from one form to another (HS-PS3-3). In the earth and space sciences students apply their engineering capabilities to reduce human impacts on Earth systems and improve social and environmental cost–benefit ratios (HS-ESS3-2, HS-ESS3-4).
By the end of twelfth grade students are expected to achieve all four HS-ETS1 performance expectations (HS-ETS1-1, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-3, and HS-ETS1-4) related to a single problem in order to understand the interrelated processes of engineering design. These include analyzing major global challenges; quantifying criteria and constraints for solutions; breaking down a complex problem into smaller, more manageable problems; evaluating alternative solutions based on prioritized criteria and tradeoffs; and using computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions. While the performance expectations shown in HS-ETS1 couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.
HS‑ETS1 Engineering Design
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-ETS1-1. Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ETS1-2. Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and tradeoffs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
HS-ETS1-4. Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to formulating, refining, and evaluating empirically testable questions and design problems using models and simulations.
Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and non‑linear functions, including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.
|
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
|
Systems and System Models
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
|
Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
---|---|---|
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student‑generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
|
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
|