Grade 6 Science New York standards Standards

Develop a computational model of a system that shows changes in output when there are changes in inputs.

Describe the steps taken and choices made to design and develop a solution using an iterative design process.

Collect digital data related to a real life question or need.

Visualize a simple data set in order to highlight relationships and persuade an audience.

Decompose a problem into smaller named tasks, some of which can themselves be decomposed into smaller steps.

Identify and name a task within a problem that gets performed multiple times while solving that problem, but with slightly different concrete details each time.

Compare two or more algorithms and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each for a specific task

Identify pieces of information that might change as a program or process runs.

Develop algorithms or programs that use repetition and conditionals for creative expression or to solve a problem.

Explain each step of an algorithm or program that includes repetition and conditionals for the purposes of debugging.

Explain why different types of information might need to be protected.

Describe common safeguards for protecting personal information.

Describe trade-offs between allowing information to be public and keeping information private and secure.

Model and explain the purpose of simple cryptographic methods.

Explain suspicious activity of applications and devices.

Type on a keyboard while demonstrating proper keyboarding technique.

Select appropriate digital tools to communicate and collaborate while learning with others.

Conduct and refine advanced multicriteria digital searches to locate content relevant to varied learning goals.

Use a variety of digital tools and resources to create and revise digital artifacts.

Identify common features of digital technologies.

Describe persistence of digital information and explain how actions in online spaces can have consequences.

Identify and describe actions in online spaces that could potentially be unsafe or harmful.

Describe computing technologies that have changed the world, and express how those technologies influence, and are influenced by, cultural practices.

Explain how laws impact the use of computing technologies and digital information.

Explain current events that involve computing technologies.

Explain who has access to data in different digital spaces.

Explain how computer systems play a role in human decision-making.

Identify and explain ways to improve the accessibility and usability of a computing device or software application for the diverse needs and wants of users.

Identify a diverse range of role models in computer science.

Propose improvements to the design of a computing technology based on an analysis of user interactions with that technology.

Model how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks.

Determine potential solutions to solve hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies.

Model how data is structured to transmit through a network.

Describe that data can be stored locally or remotely in a network.

Computational Thinking

Cybersecurity

Digital Literacy

Impacts of Computing

Networks & System Design

identify their own abilities and interests as possible guides to career choice.

understand how working contributes to a quality living environment

are able to budget their time and money

understand the resources available to them, make informed decisions about the use of those resources, and know some ways to expand resources

understand how the family can provide for the economic, physical, and emotional needs of its members

Students will understand and be able to manage personal resources of talent, time, energy, and money and make effective decisions in order to balance their obligations to work, family, and self. They will nurture and support positive relationships in their homes, workplaces, and communities. They will develop and use their abilities to contribute to society through pursuit of a career and commitment to long-range planning for their personal, professional, and academic futures. They will know and access community resources.

know some career options in the field of physical fitness and sports.

demonstrate the ability to locate physical activity information, products, and services

should be informed consumers, aware of the alternatives available to them within their communities for physical activity and should be able to evaluate facilities and programs available

Students will be aware of and able to access opportunities available to them within their community to engage in physical activity. They will be informed consumers and be able to evaluate facilities and programs. Students will also be aware of some career options in the field of physical fitness and sports.

demonstrate the ability to access community health services for prevention, illness, and emergency care.

recognize the need to be an advocate for family and community health

analyze how media and technology influence the selection of health information, products and services

demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively when advocating for healthy individuals, families and schools

recognize how cultural beliefs influence health behaviors and the use of health services

distinguish between valid and invalid health information, products and services

Students will understand the influence of culture, media, and technology in making decisions about personal and community health issues. They will know about and use valid health information, products, and services. Students will advocate for healthy families and communities.

Students will understand and be able to manage their personal and community resources.

use age-appropriate techniques to select and maintain clothing.

know the basics of managing a safe and healthy home

demonstrate the principles of safe and healthy child care

Students will know the basic principles of home and community safety. They can demonstrate the skills necessary to maintain their homes and workplaces in a safe and comfortable condition. They can provide a safe and nurturing environment for themselves and others.

understand the role of physical activity, sport, and games as a balance between cooperative and competitive behaviors and as a possible arena in which to develop and sharpen leadership and problem solving skills, and understand the physical, emotional, and social benefits of participation in physical activities.

understand the physical and environmental dangers associated with particular activities and demonstrate proper procedures for safe participation in games, sports, and recreational pursuits

work constructively with others to accomplish a goal in a group activity, demonstrating consideration for others involved

develop skills of cooperation and collaboration, as well as fairness, sportsmanship, and respect for others

understand the risks of injury if physical activity is performed incorrectly or performed in extreme environmental conditions, and recognize the importance of safe physical conditions (equipment, facilities) as well as the emotional conditions essential for safety

Students will demonstrate responsible personal and social behavior while engaged in physical activity. They will understand that physical activity provides the opportunity for enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and communication. Students will be able to identify safety hazards and react effectively to ensure a safe and positive experience for all participants.

understand the need for personal involvement in improving the environment.

demonstrate personal and social skills which enhance personal health and safety

assess potentially dangerous situations and demonstrate the skills to avoid or reduce their risks

Students will demonstrate personally and socially responsible behaviors. They will care for and respect themselves and others. They will recognize threats to the environment and offer appropriate strategies to minimize them.

Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.

apply decision making process to dilemmas related to personal health.

recognize the mental, social, and emotional aspects of good health

apply principles of food safety and sanitation

understand the relationships among diet, health, and physical activities; evaluate their own eating patterns; and use appropriate technology and resources to make food selections and prepare simple, nutritious meals

Students will use an understanding of the elements of good nutrition to plan appropriate diets for themselves and others. They will know and use the appropriate tools and technologies for safe and healthy food preparation.

develop leadership, problem solving, cooperation, and team work by participating in group activities.

develop and implement a personal fitness plan based on self-assessment and goal setting, understand physiological changes that result from training, and understand the health benefits of regular participation in activity

understand the relationship between physical activity and the prevention of illness, disease, and premature death

combine and integrate fundamental skills and adjust technique based on feedback, including self-assessment

know that motor skills progress in complexity and need to be used in the context of games and sports with additional environmental constraints

demonstrate competency in a variety of physical activities (games, sports, exercises) that provide conditioning for each fitness area

Students will perform basic motor and manipulative skills. They will attain competency in a variety of physical activities and proficiency in a few select complex motor and sports activities. Students will design personal fitness programs to improve cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular strength, endurance, and body composition.

analyze the multiple influences which affect health decisions and behaviors.

demonstrate the necessary knowledge and skills to promote healthy adolescent development

apply prevention and risk reduction strategies to adolescent health problems

integrate knowledge of basic body systems with an understanding of the changes that accompany puberty

Students will understand human growth and development and recognize the relationship between behaviors and healthy development. They will understand ways to promote health and prevent disease and will demonstrate and practice positive health behaviors.

Students will have the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain physical fitness, participate in physical activity, and maintain personal health.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Text Types and Purposes

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-8

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Text Types and Purposes

Literacy Standards for Writing 6-12

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Craft and Structure

Key Ideas and Details

Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6-8

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Craft and Structure

Key Ideas and Details

Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-8

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Craft and Structure

Key Ideas and Details

Literacy Standards for Reading 6-8

Engineering Design

Human Impacts

Weather and Climate

Earth's Systems

History of Earth

Space Systems

Natural Selection and Adaptations

Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Energy

Forces and Interactions

Chemical Reactions

Structure and Properties of Matter

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.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying temporal and spatial scales.

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the Sun and the force of gravity.

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

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 geologic processes.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

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.

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

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.

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.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

Construct an explanation supported by evidence for how the body is composed of interacting systems consisting of cells, tissues, and organs working together to maintain homeostasis.

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.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

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.

Develop a model to describe how food molecules are rearranged through chemical reactions to release energy during cellular respiration and/or form new molecules that support growth as this matter moves through an organism.

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli, resulting in immediate behavior and/or storage as memories.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms in a variety of ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and protecting ecosystem stability.

Develop and use a model to explain 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 the organism.

Develop and use a model to describe how asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

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.

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.

Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

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.

Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and phase (state) of a substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

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.

Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy during a chemical and/or physical process.

Use evidence to illustrate that density is a property that can be used to identify samples of matter.

Plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate that mixtures are combinations of substances.

Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan and conduct 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.

Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects and the distance between them.

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.

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.

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.

Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the temperature of the sample of matter.

Construct, use, and present an argument to support the claim that when work is done on or by a system, the energy of the system changes as energy is transferred to or from the system.

Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred by electric currents.

Develop a model and use mathematical representations to describe waves that includes frequency, wavelength, and how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

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.

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate, objective summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Identify key steps in a text's description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including content-specific vocabulary related to history/social studies.

Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally, visually, and graphically).

Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view, stance, or purpose (e.g. rhetorical language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts, images, visuals, etc.).

Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text. Identify and distinguish between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly/implicitly and make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text, drawing on a wide range of global and diverse texts.

Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including across multiple texts.

Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Cite specific evidence to support analysis of scientific and technical texts, charts, graphs, diagrams, etc. Understand and follow a detailed set of directions.

Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a source; provide an accurate, objective summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Describe how and why scientific ideas and reasoning are developed and modified over the course of a text, source, argument, etc.

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other content-specific words and phrases as they are used in scientific or technical sources.

Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.

Identify purpose and/or point of view when an author is presenting information, describing a procedure, discussing an experiment, etc. Compare and contrast the information gained from two or more experiments, simulations, videos, multimedia sources, readings from texts, graphs, charts, etc. on the same topic.

Identify and match scientific or technical information presented as text with a version of that information presented visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

For scientific sources, distinguish between observation and inference based judgments, and reasoned judgment and opinion. For technical sources, distinguish between facts and reasoned judgment.

Compare and contrast the information gained from two or more experiments, simulations, videos, multimedia sources, readings from texts, graphs, charts, etc. on the same topic.

Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic by identifying and using credible sources.

Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, and evidence.

Establish and maintain a formal style appropriate to the academic discipline, purpose, and audience.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

Write informative/explanatory text focused on discipline-specific content.

Introduce a topic clearly; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose.

Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, data, definitions, concrete details, citations, or other information and examples.

Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

Use precise language and content-specific vocabulary to inform and/or to explain the topic.

Establish and maintain a formal style appropriate to the academic discipline, purpose, and audience.

Write narratives to understand an event or topic, appropriate to discipline-specific norms, conventions, and tasks.

Write responses to texts and to events (past and present), ideas, and theories that include personal, cultural, and thematic connections.

Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question by the end of grade 8), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source by applying discipline-specific criteria used in the social sciences or sciences; and quote or paraphrase the data/accounts and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Write narratives to understand an event or topic, using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well-structured sequences.

Develop personal, cultural, textual, and thematic connections within and across genres through responses to texts and personal experiences.

Conduct short as well as more sustained research based on focused questions to demonstrate understanding of the subject under investigation.

Gather relevant information from multiple sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

MS. Chemical Reactions

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomiclevel structure. (MS-PS1- 2)

Energy and Matter

Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes. (MSPS1-5)

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system. (MS-PS1-6)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results, in order to improve it. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process—that is, some of the characteristics may be incorporated into the new design. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter

(NYSED) Each substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it. (MS-PS1-2) (Note: This Disciplinary Core Idea is also addressed by MS-PS1-3.)

PS1.B: Chemical Reactions

(NYSED) Substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different particles and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants. (MS-PS1- 2),(MS-PS1-5)(Note: This Disciplinary Core Idea is also addressed by MS-PS1-3.)

The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change. (MS-PS1-5)

(NYSED) Some chemical reactions release energy, others absorb energy. (MS-PS1-6)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms. (MS-PS1-5)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-PS1-2)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints. (MSPS1-6

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations. (MS-PS1-2)

Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena

Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-5)

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

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.

Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy during a chemical and/or physical process.

Performance Expectations

MS. Energy

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Proportional relationships (e.g. speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes. (MS-PS3-1),(MS-PS3-4)

Systems and System Models

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions – such as inputs, processes, and outputs – and energy and matter flows within systems. (MS-PS3-2)

Energy and Matter

Energy may take different forms (e.g. energy in fields, thermal energy, energy of motion). (MS-PS3 5)

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system. (MSPS3-3),(MS-PS3-6)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem

The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that is likely to limit possible solutions. (secondary to MS-PS3-3)

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results in order to improve it. There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet criteria and constraints of a problem. (secondary to MS-PS3-3)

PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed. (MS-PS3-1)

A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions. (MS-PS3-2)

(NYSED) Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, phases (states), and amounts of matter present. (MS-PS3-3),(MS-PS3-4)

PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer

When the motion energy of an object changes, there is inevitably some other change in energy at the same time. (MS-PS3-5)

(NYSED) The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the mass of the sample, and the environment. (MS-PS3-4)

Energy is spontaneously transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones. (MS-PS3-3)

(NYSED) An electric circuit is a closed path in which an electric current can exist. (MS-PS3-6)

PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces

When two objects interact, each one exerts a force on the other that can cause energy to be transferred to or from the object. (MS-PS3-2)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms. (MSPS3-2)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify 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)

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions.(MS-PS3-6)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to identify linear and nonlinear relationships. (MS-PS3-1)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and test a design of an object, tool, process or system. (MSPS3-3)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Construct, use, and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon. (MS-PS3-5)

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations (MS-PS3- 4),(MS-PS3-5)

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.

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.

Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the temperature of the sample of matter.

Construct, use, and present an argument to support the claim that when work is done on or by a system, the energy of the system changes as energy is transferred to or from the system.

Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred by electric currents.

Performance Expectations

MS. Engineering Design

Crosscutting Concepts

Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World

All human activity draws on natural resources and has both short and long-term consequences, positive as well as negative, for the health of people and the natural environment. (MSETS1-1)

The uses of technologies and limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. (MSETS1-1)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems

The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions. (MSETS1-1)

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results, in order to improve it. (MS-ETS1-4)

There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem. (MS-ETS1-2),(MS-ETS1-3)

Sometimes parts of different solutions can be combined to create a solution that is better than any of its predecessors. (MS-ETS1-3)

Models of all kinds are important for testing solutions. (MSETS1-4)

ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process—that is, some of those characteristics may be incorporated into the new design. (MS-ETS1-3)

The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution. (MS-ETS1-4)

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions. (MS- ETS1-1)

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to generate data to test ideas about designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs. (MSETS1-4)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-ETS1-3)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria. (MS-ETS1-2)

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.

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

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.

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.

Performance Expectations

MS. Forces and Interactions

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MS-PS2- 3),(MS-PS2-5)

Systems and System Models

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy and matter flows within systems. (MS-PS2-1),(MS-PS2- 4),

Stability and Change

Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales. (MS-PS2-2)

Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World

The uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. (MS-PS2-1)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A: Forces and Motion

For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton’s third law). (MS-PS2-1)

The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion. (MS-PS2-2)

All positions of objects and the directions of forces and motions must be described in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame and arbitrarily chosen units of size. In order to share information with other people, these choices must also be shared. (MS-PS2-2)

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects. (MS-PS2-3)

Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass— e.g., Earth and the sun. (MS-PS2-4)

Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively). (MSPS2-5)

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles. (MS-PS2-3)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify 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-PS2-2)

Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that can meet the goals of the investigation. (MS-PS2-5)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Apply scientific ideas or principles to design an object, tool, process or system. (MS-PS2-1)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Construct and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-PS2-4)

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations. (MS-PS2-2),(MS-PS2-4)

Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan and conduct 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.

Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects and the distance between them.

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.

Performance Expectations

MS. Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

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.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Develop and use a model to explain 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 the organism.

Develop and use a model to describe how asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used t predict phenomena in natural systems. (MSLS3-2)

Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability. (MS-LS1-4),(MS-LS1-5),(MS-LS4- - 5)

Structure and Function

Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled, and use to describe how their function depends on th shapes, composition, and relationships amon its parts, therefore complex natural structures/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function. (MS-LS3-1)

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science, and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems. (MS-LS4-5)

Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World

Scientific knowledge can describe the consequences of actions but does not necessarily prescribe the decisions that society takes. (MS-LS4-5)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms

Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually, and transfer their genetic information to their offspring. (secondary to MS-LS3-2)

Animals engage in characteristic behaviors that increase the odds of reproduction. (MS-LS1-4)

Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal behavior and specialized features for reproduction. (MS-LS1-4)

Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant. (MS-LS1-5)

LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits

Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes. Each distinct gene chiefly controls the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of the individual. Changes (mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits. (MS-LS3-1)

Variations of inherited traits between parent and offspring arise from genetic differences that result from the subset of chromosomes (and therefore genes) inherited. (MS-LS3-2)

LS3.B: Variation of Traits

In sexually reproducing organisms, each parent contributes half of the genes acquired (at random) by the offspring. Individuals have two of each chromosome and hence two alleles of each gene, one acquired from each parent. These versions may be identical or may differ from each other. (MS-LS3- 2)

In addition to variations that arise from sexual reproduction, genetic information can be altered because of mutations. Some changes are beneficial, others harmful, and some neutral to the organism. (MS-LS3-1)

(NYSED) Mutations may result in changes to the structure and function of proteins. (MS-LS3-1)

LS4.B: Natural Selection

In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring. (MS-LS4-5)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop and use a model to describe phenomena. (MS- LS3-1),(MS-LS3-2)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (MS-LS1-5

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Use an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-LS1- 4)

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Gather, read, and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence. (MS-LS4-5)

Performance Expectations

MS. History of Earth

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Performance Expectations

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying temporal and spatial scales

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural systems. (MS-ESS2-3)

Scale Proportion and Quantity

Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. (MSESS1-4),(MS-ESS2-2)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale. (MS-ESS1-4)

Tectonic processes continually generate new ocean sea floor at ridges and destroy old sea floor at trenches. (HS.ESS1.C GBE) (secondary to MS-ESS2-3)

ESS2.A: Earth's Materials and Systems

The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future. (MS-ESS2-2)

ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

Maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart. (MS-ESS2-3)

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes

Water’s movements—both on the land and underground—cause weathering and erosion, which change the land's surface features and create underground formations. (MS-ESS2-2)

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. (MS-ESS2-3)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (MS-ESS1-4),(MS-ESS2-2)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Science findings are frequently revised and/or reinterpreted based on new evidence. (MS-ESS2-3)

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MS-ESS3- 4)

MS. Human Impacts

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data. (MS-ESS3-2)

Cause and Effect

Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation. (MSESS3-3)

Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

All human activity draws on natural resources and has both short and long-term consequences, positive as well as negative, for the health of people and the natural environment. (MS-ESS3-4)

The uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal 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-ESS3-2),(MS-ESS3-3)

Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World

Scientific knowledge can describe the consequences of actions but does not necessarily prescribe the decisions that society takes. (MS-ESS3-4)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS3.B: Natural Hazards

Mapping the history of natural hazards in a region, combined with an understanding of related geologic forces can help forecast the locations and likelihoods of future events. (MSESS3-2)

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems

Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things. (MS-ESS3-3)

Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. (MS-ESS3- 3),(MS-ESS3-4)

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MSESS3-2)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Apply scientific principles to design an object, tool, process or system. (MS-ESS3-3)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Construct an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-ESS3-4)

MS. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. (MSLS2-2)

Stability and Change

Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part. (MS-LS2-5)

Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World

The use of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal 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)

Science Addersses Questions About the Natural and Material World

Scientific knowledge can describe the consequences of actions but does not necessarily prescribe the decisions that society takes. (MS-LS2-5)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem. (secondary to MS-LS2-5)

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Similarly, predatory interactions may reduce the number of organisms or eliminate whole populations of organisms. Mutually beneficial interactions, in contrast, may become so interdependent that each organism requires the other for survival. Although the species involved in these competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems, the patterns of interactions of organisms with their environments, both living and nonliving, are shared. (MS-LS2-2)

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience

(NYSED) Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. (MS-LS2-5)

LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purification and recycling. (secondary to MS-LS2-5)

(NYSED) Humans impact biodiversity both positively and negatively. (secondary to MS-LS2-5)

Science and Engineering Practices

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict phenomena. (MS-LS2-2)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria. (MS-LS2-5)

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms in a variety of ecosystems.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and protecting ecosystem stability.

Performance Expectations

MS. Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

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.

Develop a model to describe how food molecules are rearranged through chemical reactions to release energy during cellular respiration and/or form new molecules that support growth as this matter moves through an organism.

Performance Expectations

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MS-LS2-1)

Energy and Matter

Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes. (MSLS1-7)

Within a natural system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. (MSLS1-6)

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a natural system. (MS-LS2-3)

Stability and Change

Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part. (MS-LS2-4)

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable though measurement and observation. (MS-LS2-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use. (MS-LS1-6)

Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth, or to release energy. (MS-LS1-7)

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. (MS-LS2-1)

In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction. (MSLS2- 1)

Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources. (MS-LS2-1)

LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. (MS-LS2-3)

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience

Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations. (MS-LS2-4)

PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life

The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen. (secondary to MS-LS1-6)

Cellular respiration in plants and animals involves chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes, complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials. (secondary to MS-LS1-7)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to describe phenomena. (MS-LS2-3)

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms. (MS-LS1-7)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. (MS-LS2-1)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (MS-LS1-6)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Construct an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-LS2-4)

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science knowledge is based upon logical connections between evidence and explanations. (MS-LS1-6)

Science disciplines share common rules of obtaining and evaluating empirical evidence. (MS-LS2-4)

MS. Natural Selection and Adaptations

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.

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.

Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

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.

Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. (MS-LS4-2)

Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data. (MS-LS4-1)

Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort and classify organisms. (MSLS4-2)

Cause and Effect

Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability. (MS-LS4- 4),(MS-LS4-6)

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation. (MS-LS4- 1),(MS-LS4-2)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

The collection of fossils and their placement in chronological order (e.g., through the location of the sedimentary layers in which they are found or through radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth. (MS-LS4-1)

Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent. (MS-LS4- 2)

Comparison of the embryological development of different species also reveals similarities that show relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy. (MS-LS4-3)

LS4.B: Natural Selection

(NYSED) Natural selection can lead to an increase in the frequency of some traits and the decrease in the frequency of other traits. (MS-LS4-4)

LS4.C: Adaptation

Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes. (MS-LS4-6)

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-LS4-1)

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Use mathematical representations to support scientific conclusions and design solutions. (MS-LS4- 6)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for real-world phenomena, examples, or events. (MSLS4- 2)

Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that describe phenomena. (MS-LS4-4)

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science Knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations. (MS-LS4-1)

MS. Space Systems

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.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. (MS-ESS1-1)

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. (MS-ESS1- 3)

Systems and System Models

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions. (MS-ESS1-2)

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems. (MS- ESS1-3)

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation. (MS-ESS1-1),(MS-ESS1-2)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars

Patterns of the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models. (MS-ESS1-1)

Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe. (MS-ESS1-2)

ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System

(NYSED) The solar system consists of the Sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, comets, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the Sun by its gravitational pull on them. (MS-ESS1-2),(MS-ESS1-3)

This model of the solar system can explain eclipses of the sun and the moon. Earth’s spin axis is fixed in direction over the short- term but tilted relative to its orbit around the sun. The seasons are a result of that tilt and are caused by the differential intensity of sunlight on different areas of Earth across the year. (MS-ESS1-1)

The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity. (MS-ESS1-2)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop and use a model to describe phenomena. (MS-ESS1- 1),(MS-ESS1-2)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-ESS1-3)

MS. Structure and Properties of Matter

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and phase (state) of a substance when thermal energy is added or removed. [

Use evidence to illustrate that density is a property that can be used to identify samples of matter.

Plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate that mixtures are combinations of substances

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure. (MS-PS1-1),(MS-PS1-7),(MSPS1-8)

Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data. (MS-PS1-1),(MS- PS1-4)

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MS-PS1-4)

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. (MS-PS1-1)

Structure and Function

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used. (MS-PS1-3)

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science, and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems. (MS-PS1-3)

Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural World

The uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal 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. (MSPS1-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter

(NYSED) Substances are made of one type of atom or combinations of different types of atoms. Individual atoms are particles and can combine to form larger particles that range in size from two to thousands of atoms. (MS-PS1-1)

(NYSED) Each substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it. (MSPS1-3),(MS-PS1-7)(Note: ThisDisciplinaryCore Ideais also addressed by MS- PS1-2.)

(NYSED) In a solid, the particles are closely spaced and vibrate in position but do not change their relative locations. In a liquid, the particles are closely spaced but are able to change their relative locations. In a gas, the particles are widely spaced except when they happen to collide and constantly change their relative locations. (MSPS1-4)

Solids may be formed from molecules, or they may be extended structures with repeating subunits (e.g., crystals). (MS-PS1-1)

(NYSED) The changes of state that occur with variations in temperature and/or pressure can be described and predicted using these models of matter. (MS-PS1-4)

(NYSED) Mixtures are physical combinations of one or more samples of matter and can be separated by physical means. (MS-PS1-8)

PS1.B: Chemical Reactions

(NYSED) Substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different particles, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants. (MS-PS1-3)(Note: This Disciplinary Core Idea is also addressed by MS-PS1-2 and MS-PS1-5.)

PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

(NYSED) The term “heat” as used in everyday language refers both to thermal energy (the motion of particles within a substance) and the transfer of that thermal energy from one object to another. In science, heat is used only for this second meaning; it refers to the energy transferred due to the temperature difference between two objects. (secondary to MS-PS1-4)

(NYSED) Temperature is not a form of energy. Temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter.(secondary to MS-PS1-4)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to predict and/or describe phenomena. (MS-PS1-1),(MS-PS1-4)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify 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-PS1-8)

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions. (MS-PS1-8)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Construct and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. (MS-PS1-7)

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Gather, read, and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence. (MS-PS1-3)

MS. Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

Construct an explanation supported by evidence for how the body is composed of interacting systems consisting of cells, tissues, and organs working together to maintain homeostasis.

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli, resulting in immediate behavior and/or storage as memories.

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural systems. (MS-LS1-8)

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale. (MS-LS1-1)

Systems and System Models

Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and be a part of larger complex systems. (MS-LS1-3) Structure and Function

Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled, and used to describe how their function depends on the relationships among its parts, therefore complex natural structures/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function. (MS-LS1-2)

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science, and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems. (MSLS1 1)

Science is a Human Endeavor

Scientists and engineers are guided by habits of mind such as intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism, and openness to new ideas. (MS-LS1-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.A: Structure and Function

All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive. An organism may consist of one single cell (unicellular) or many different numbers and types of cells (multicellular). (MS-LS1-1)

Within cells, special structures are responsible for particular functions, and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell. (MS-LS1-2)

In multicellular organisms, the body is a system of multiple interacting subsystems. These subsystems are groups of cells that work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions. (MS-LS1-3)

LS1.D: Information Processing

Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. (MS-LS1-8)

(NYSED) Plants respond to stimuli such as gravity (geotropism) and light (phototropism). (MS-LS1-8)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to describe phenomena. (MS-LS1-2)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Conduct an investigation to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that meet the goals of an investigation. (MS-LS1-1)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (MS-LS1-3)

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Gather, read, and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence. (MS-LS1-8)

MS. Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Develop a model and use mathematical representations to describe waves that includes frequency, wavelength, and how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

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.

Performance Expectations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Graphs and charts can be used to identify patterns in data. (MS-PS4-1)

Structure and Function

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used. (MS-PS4-2)

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions. (MS-PS4-3)

Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World

Technologies extend the measurement, exploration, modeling, and computational capacity of scientific investigations. (MS-PS4-3)

Science is a Human Endeavor

Advances in technology influence the progress of science and science has influenced advances in technology. (MSPS4-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS4.A: Wave Properties

A simple wave has a repeating pattern with a specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude. (MS-PS4-1)

A sound wave needs a medium through which it is transmitted. (MS-PS4-2)

PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation

When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency (color) of the light. (MS-PS4-2)

(NYSED) The path that light travels can be traced as straight lines, except when it hits a surface between different transparent materials (e.g., air and water, air and glass) obliquely where the light path bends. (MS-PS4- 2)

A wave model of light is useful for explaining brightness, color, and the frequency-dependent bending of light at a surface between media. (MS-PS4-2)

(NYSED) However, because light can travel through space, it cannot be a mechanical wave, like sound or water waves. (MS-PS4-2)

PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

Digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information. (MS-PS4-3)

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Develop a model to describe phenomena. (MS-PS4-2)

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions. (MSPS4-1)

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information in written text with that contained in media and visual displays to clarify claims and findings. (MS-PS4-3)

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations (MS-PS4-1)

MS. Weather and Climate

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Performance Expectations

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MSESS2-5)

Systems and System Models

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions— such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy, matter, and information flows within systems. (MS-ESS2-6)

Stability and Change

Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time. (MS-ESS3-5)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes

The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns. (MS-ESS2-5)

Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents. (MS-ESS2- 6)

ESS2.D: Weather and Climate

Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. (MS-ESS2-6)

Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically. (MS-ESS2-5)

The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. (MS-ESS2-6)

ESS3.D: Global Climate Change

Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities. (MS-ESS3-5)

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Ask questions to identify and clarify evidence of an argument. (MSESS3-5)

Developing and Using Models

Develop and use a model to describe phenomena. (MS- ESS2-6)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions. (MS-ESS2-5)

Patterns

Macroscopic patterns are related tot he nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure.

Graphs, charts and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

Cause and effect

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Scale, proportion and quantity

Time, space and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

Proportional relationships (e.g. speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes.

Systems and system models

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions - such as inputs, processes and outputs - and energy and matter flows within systems.

Energy and matter in systems

Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes.

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system.

Energy may take different forms (e.g. energy in fields, thermal energy, energy of motion).

Structure and function

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used.

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions.

Stability and change of systems

Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales.

Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem

The more precisely a design task's criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful.  Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that is likely to limit possible solutions.

Developing Possible Solutions

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results, in order to improve it.  There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet criteria and constraints of a problem.

Optimizing the Design Solution

Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process - that is, some of the characteristics may be incorporated into the new design.

The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution.

Structure and Properties of Matter

Substances are made of one type of atom or combinations of different types of atoms.  Individual atoms are particles and can combine to form larger particles that range in size from two to thousands of atoms.

Each substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it.

In a solid, the particles are closely spaced and vibrate in position but do not change their relative locations.  In a liquid, the particles are closely spaced but are able to change their relative locations.  In a gas, the particles are widely spaced except when they happen to collide and constantly change their relative locations.

Solids may be formed from molecules, or they may be extended structures with repeating subunits (e.g., crystals).

The changes of state that occur with variations in temperature and/or pressure can be described and predicted using these models of matter.

Mixtures are physical combinations of one or more samples of matter and can be separated by physical means.

Each substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it.

Chemical Reactions

Substances react chemically in characteristic ways.  In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different particles, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants.

The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change.

Some chemical reactions release energy, others absorb energy.

Forces and Motion

For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton's third law).

The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change.  The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion.  For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion.

All positions of objects and the directions of forces and motions must be described in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame and arbitrarily chosen units of size.  In order to share information with other people, these choices must also be shared.

Types of Interactions

Electric and magnet (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects.

Gravitational forces are always attractive.  There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects has a large mass - e.g Earth and the sun.

Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively).

Definitions of Energy

The term "heat" is used in everyday language refers both to thermal energy (the motion of particles within a substance) and the transfer of that thermal energy from one object to another.  In science, heat is used only for this second meaning; if refers to the energy transferred due to the temperature difference between two objects.

Temperature is not a form of energy.  Temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter.

Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.

A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions.

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter.  The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, phases (states) and amounts of matter present.

Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer

When the motion energy of an object changes, there is inevitably some other change in energy at the same time.

The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the mass of the sample and the environment.

Energy is spontaneously transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones.

An electric circuit is a closed path in which an electric current can exist.

Relationship Between Energy and Forces

When two objects interact, each one exerts a force on the other that can cause energy to be transferred to or from the object.

Wave Properties

A simple wave has a repeating pattern with a specific wavelength, frequency and amplitude.

A sound wave needs a medium through which it is transmitted.

Electromagnetic Radiation

When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed or transmitted through the object, depending on the object's material and the frequency (color) of the light.

The path that light travels can be traced as straight lines, except when it hits a surface between different transparent materials (e.g. air and water, air and glass) obliquely where the light path bends.

A wave model of light is useful for explaining brightness, color and the frequency-dependent bending of light at a surface between media.

However, because light can travel through space, it cannot be a mechanical wave, like sound or water waves.

Information Technologies and Instrumentation

Digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information.

Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information in written text with that contained in media and visual displays to clarify claims and findings.

Asking questions and defining problems

Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles.

Developing and using models

Develop a model to predict and/or describe phenomena.

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms.

Planning and carrying out investigations

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design:  identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to to the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim.

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions.

Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that can meet the goals of the investigation.

Analyzing and interpreting data

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.

Using mathematics and computational thinking

Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions.

Constructing explanations and designing solutions

Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints.

Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and test a design of an object, tool, process or system.

Engaging in argument from evidence

Construct and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.

Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information

Gather, read and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence.