| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| K-PS2-1 | Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. | Examples of pushes or pulls could include a string attached to an object being pulled, a person pushing an object, a person stopping a rolling ball, and two objects colliding and pushing on each other. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to different relative strengths or different directions, but not both at the same time. Assessment does not include non-contact pushes or pulls such as those produced by magnets. |
| K-PS2-2 | Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.* | Examples of problems requiring a solution could include having a marble or other object move a certain distance, follow a particular path, and knock down other objects. Examples of solutions could include tools such as a ramp to increase the speed of the object and a structure that would cause an object such as a marble or ball to turn. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include friction as a mechanism for change in speed. |
| K-PS3-1 | Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface. | Examples of Earth’s surface could include sand, soil, rocks, and water. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of temperature is limited to relative measures such as warmer/cooler. |
| K-PS3-2 | Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.* | Examples of structures could include umbrellas, canopies, and tents that minimize the warming effect of the sun. |
| K-LS1-1 | Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. | Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not; the different kinds of food needed by different types of animals; the requirement of plants to have light; and, that all living things need water. |
| K-ESS2-1 | Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. | Examples of qualitative observations could include descriptions of the weather (such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and warm); examples of quantitative observations could include numbers of sunny, windy, and rainy days in a month. Examples of patterns could include that it is usually cooler in the morning than in the afternoon and the number of sunny days versus cloudy days in different months. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative observations limited to whole numbers and relative measures such as warmer/cooler. |
| K-ESS2-2 | Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. | Examples of plants and animals changing their environment could include a squirrel digs in the ground to hide its food and tree roots can break concrete. |
| K-ESS3-1 | Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live. | Examples of relationships could include that deer eat buds and leaves, therefore, they usually live in forested areas; and, grasses need sunlight so they often grow in meadows. Plants, animals, and their surroundings make up a system. |
| K-ESS3-2 | Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.* | Examples of human impact on the land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using resources to produce bottles. Examples of solutions could include reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles. |
| K-ESS3-3 | Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.* | Examples of human impact on the land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using resources to produce bottles. Examples of solutions could include reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles. |
NGSS Standards
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.
A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K–12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students’ interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.
THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING
Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard—or performance expectation—and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.
CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS
Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.
When these concepts, such as “cause and effect”, are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES
Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by “inquiry” in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.
DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS
Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.
NGSS STANDARDS
Kindergarten NGSS Standards
1st Grade NGSS Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| 1-PS4-1 | Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. | Examples of vibrating materials that make sound could include tuning forks and plucking a stretched string. Examples of how sound can make matter vibrate could include holding a piece of paper near a speaker making sound and holding an object near a vibrating tuning fork. |
| 1-PS4-2 | Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated. | Examples of observations could include those made in a completely dark room, a pinhole box, and a video of a cave explorer with a flashlight. Illumination could be from an external light source or by an object giving off its own light. |
| 1-PS4-3 | Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. | Examples of materials could include those that are transparent (such as clear plastic), translucent (such as wax paper), opaque (such as cardboard), and reflective (such as a mirror). Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the speed of light. |
| 1-PS4-4 | Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.* | Examples of devices could include a light source to send signals, paper cup and string “telephones,” and a pattern of drum beats. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technological details for how communication devices work. |
| 1-LS1-1. | Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.* | Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears. |
| 1-LS1-2 | Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive. | Examples of patterns of behaviors could include the signals that offspring make (such as crying, cheeping, and other vocalizations) and the responses of the parents (such as feeding, comforting, and protecting the offspring). |
| 1-LS3-1 | Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. | Examples of patterns could include features plants or animals share. Examples of observations could include leaves from the same kind of plant are the same shape but can differ in size; and, a particular breed of dog looks like its parents but is not exactly the same. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include inheritance or animals that undergo metamorphosis or hybrids. |
| 1-ESS1-1 | Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. | Examples of patterns could include that the sun and moon appear to rise in one part of the sky, move across the sky, and set; and stars other than our sun are visible at night but not during the day. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of star patterns is limited to stars being seen at night and not during the day. |
| 1-ESS1-2 | Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. | Emphasis is on relative comparisons of the amount of daylight in the winter to the amount in the spring or fall. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative amounts of daylight, not quantifying the hours or time of daylight. |
2nd Grade NGSS Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| 2-PS1-1 | Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties. | Observations could include color, texture, hardness, and flexibility. Patterns could include the similar properties that different materials share. |
| 2-PS1-2 | Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.* | Examples of properties could include, strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative measurements is limited to length. |
| 2-PS1-3 | Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object. | Examples of pieces could include blocks, building bricks, or other assorted small objects. |
| 2-PS1-4 | Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot. | Examples of reversible changes could include materials such as water and butter at different temperatures. Examples of irreversible changes could include cooking an egg, freezing a plant leaf, and heating paper. |
| 2-LS2-1 | Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. | Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to testing one variable at a time. |
| 2-LS2-2 | Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.* | |
| 2-LS4-1 | Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats | Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety of different habitats. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific animal and plant names in specific habitats. |
| 2-ESS1-1 | Make observations from media to construct an evidence-based account that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly. | Examples of events and timescales could include volcanic explosions and earthquakes, which happen quickly and erosion of rocks, which occurs slowly. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of timescales. |
| 2-ESS2-1 | Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.* | Examples of solutions could include different designs of dikes and windbreaks to hold back wind and water, and different designs for using shrubs, grass, and trees to hold back the land. |
| 2-ESS2-2 | Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area. | Assessment does not include quantitative scaling in models. |
| 2-ESS2-3 | Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid. |
3rd Grade NGSS Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| 3-PS2-1 | Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. | Examples could include an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start moving; and, balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one variable at a time: number, size, or direction of forces. Assessment does not include quantitative force size, only qualitative and relative. Assessment is limited to gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down. |
| 3-PS2-2 | Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. | Examples of motion with a predictable pattern could include a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, and two children on a see-saw. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technical terms such as period and frequency. |
| 3-PS2-3 | Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. | Examples of an electric force could include the force on hair from an electrically charged balloon and the electrical forces between a charged rod and pieces of paper; examples of a magnetic force could include the force between two permanent magnets, the force between an electromagnet and steel paperclips, and the force exerted by one magnet versus the force exerted by two magnets. Examples of cause and effect relationships could include how the distance between objects affects strength of the force and how the orientation of magnets affects the direction of the magnetic force. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces produced by objects that can be manipulated by students, and electrical interactions are limited to static electricity. |
| 3-PS2-4 | Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets. | Examples of problems could include constructing a latch to keep a door shut and creating a device to keep two moving objects from touching each other. |
| 3-LS1-1 | Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. | Changes organisms go through during their life form a pattern. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of plant life cycles is limited to those of flowering plants. Assessment does not include details of human reproduction. |
| 3-LS2-1 | Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive. | |
| 3-LS3-1 | Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. | Patterns are the similarities and differences in traits shared between offspring and their parents, or among siblings. Emphasis is on organisms other than humans. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms of inheritance and prediction of traits. Assessment is limited to non-human examples. |
| 3-LS3-2 | Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment | Examples of the environment affecting a trait could include normally tall plants grown with insufficient water are stunted; and, a pet dog that is given too much food and little exercise may become overweight. |
| 3-LS4-1 | Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago. | Examples of data could include type, size, and distributions of fossil organisms. Examples of fossils and environments could include marine fossils found on dry land, tropical plant fossils found in Arctic areas, and fossils of extinct organisms. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include identification of specific fossils or present plants and animals. Assessment is limited to major fossil types and relative ages. |
| 3-LS4-2 | Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. | Examples of cause and effect relationships could be plants that have larger thorns than other plants may be less likely to be eaten by predators; and, animals that have better camouflage coloration than other animals may be more likely to survive and therefore more likely to leave offspring. |
| 3-LS4-3 | Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. | Examples of evidence could include needs and characteristics of the organisms and habitats involved. The organisms and their habitat make up a system in which the parts depend on each other. |
| 3-LS4-4 | Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.* | Examples of environmental changes could include changes in land characteristics, water distribution, temperature, food, and other organisms. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to a single environmental change. Assessment does not include the greenhouse effect or climate change. |
| 3-ESS2-1 | Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. | Examples of data at this grade level could include average temperature, precipitation, and wind direction. Assessment Boundary: Assessment of graphical displays is limited to pictographs and bar graphs. Assessment does not include climate change. |
| 3-ESS2-2 | Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world. | |
| 3-ESS3-1 | Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.* | Examples of design solutions to weather-related hazards could include barriers to prevent flooding, wind resistant roofs, and lightning rods. |
4th Grade NGSS Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| 4-PS3-1 | Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. | Assessment does not include quantitative measures of changes in the speed of an object or on any precise or quantitative definition of energy. |
| 4-PS3-2 | Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. | Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy. |
| 4-PS3-3 | Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. | Emphasis is on the change in the energy due to the change in speed, not on the forces, as objects interact. |
| 4-PS3-4 | Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.* | Examples of devices could include electric circuits that convert electrical energy into motion energy of a vehicle, light, or sound; and, a passive solar heater that converts light into heat. Examples of constraints could include the materials, cost, or time to design the device. |
| 4-PS4-1 | Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. | Examples of models could include diagrams, analogies, and physical models using wire to illustrate wavelength and amplitude of waves. |
| 4-PS4-2 | Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen. | |
| 4-PS4-3 | Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.* | Examples of solutions could include drums sending coded information through sound waves, using a grid of 1’s and 0’s representing black and white to send information about a picture, and using Morse code to send text. |
| 4-LS1-1 | Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. | Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung, brain, and skin. |
| 4-LS1-2 | Use a model to describe that animals’ receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways | Emphasis is on systems of information transfer. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanisms by which the brain stores and recalls information or the mechanisms of how sensory receptors function. |
| 4-ESS1-1 | Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. |
Examples of evidence from patterns could include rock layers with shell fossils above rock layers with plant fossils and no shells, indicating a change from water to land over time; and, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom, indicating that over time a river cut through the rock. |
| 4-ESS2-1 | Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. | Examples of variables to test could include angle of slope in the downhill movement of water, amount of vegetation, speed of wind, relative rate of deposition, cycles of freezing and thawing of water, cycles of heating and cooling, and volume of water flow. |
| 4-ESS2-2 | Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. | Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes. |
| 4-ESS3-1 | Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment. | Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and fissile materials. Examples of environmental effects could include loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels. |
| 4-ESS3-2 | Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.* | Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity. |
5th Grade NGSS Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| 5-PS1-1 | Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, and evaporating salt water.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the atomic-scale mechanism of evaporation and condensation or defining the unseen particles.] |
| 5-PS1-2 | Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions or changes could include phase changes, dissolving, and mixing that forms new substances.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include distinguishing mass and weight.] |
| 5-PS1-3 | Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of materials to be identified could include baking soda and other powders, metals, minerals, and liquids. Examples of properties could include color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility; density is not intended as an identifiable property.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include density or distinguishing mass and weight.] |
| 5-PS1-4 | Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. | |
| 5-PS2-1 | Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. | [Clarification Statement: “Down” is a local description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mathematical representation of gravitational force.] |
| 5-PS3-1 | Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, and flow charts.] |
| 5-LS1-1 | Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.] |
| 5-LS2-1 | Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.] |
| 5-ESS1-1 | Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. | [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative distances, not sizes, of stars. Assessment does not include other factors that affect apparent brightness (such as stellar masses, age, stage).] |
| 5-ESS1-2 | Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky | [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun and selected stars that are visible only in particular months.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include causes of seasons.] The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A |
| 5-ESS2-1 | Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. | [Clarification Statement: Examples could include the influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; the influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; and the influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the interactions of two systems at a time.] |
| 5-ESS2-2 | Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth. | [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, ground water, and polar ice caps, and does not include the atmosphere.] |
| 5-ESS3-1 | Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment. The performance expectations above were developed | |
| 3-5-ETS1-1 | Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. | |
| 3-5-ETS1-2 | Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. | |
| 3-5-ETS1-3 | Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved. |
K-2-ETS1 Engineering Design
| Standard ID | Description |
| K-2-ETS1-1 | Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. |
| K-2-ETS1-2 | Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem. |
| K-2-ETS1-3 | Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs. |
Middle School Physical Science Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| MS-PS1-1 | Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing models of molecules that vary in complexity. Examples of simple molecules could include ammonia and methanol. Examples of extended structures could include sodium chloride or diamonds. Examples of molecular-level models could include drawings, 3D ball and stick structures, or computer representations showing different molecules with different types of atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include valence electrons and bonding energy, discussing the ionic nature of subunits of complex structures, or a complete description of all individual atoms in a complex molecule or extended structure is not required.] |
| MS-PS1-3 | Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.] |
| MS-PS1-4 | Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on qualitative molecular-level models of solids, liquids, and gases to show that adding or removing thermal energy increases or decreases kinetic energy of the particles until a change of state occurs. Examples of models could include drawing and diagrams. Examples of particles could include molecules or inert atoms. Examples of pure substances could include water, carbon dioxide, and helium.] |
| MS-PS1-2 | Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions could include burning sugar or steel wool, fat reacting with sodium hydroxide, and mixing zinc with hydrogen chloride.] [Assessment boundary: Assessment is limited to analysis of the following properties: density, melting point, boiling point, solubility, flammability, and odor.] |
| MS-PS1-5 | Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on law of conservation of matter and on physical models or drawings, including digital forms, that represent atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of atomic masses, balancing symbolic equations, or intermolecular forces.] |
| MS-PS1-6 | Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.* | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the design, controlling the transfer of energy to the environment, and modification of a device using factors such as type and concentration of a substance. Examples of designs could involve chemical reactions such as dissolving ammonium chloride or calcium chloride.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the criteria of amount, time, and temperature of substance in testing the device.] |
| MS-PS2-1 | Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.* | [Clarification Statement: Examples of practical problems could include the impact of collisions between two cars, between a car and stationary objects, and between a meteor and a space vehicle.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to vertical or horizontal interactions in one dimension.] |
| MS-PS2-2 | Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on balanced (Newton’s First Law) and unbalanced forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion (Newton’s Second Law), frame of reference, and specification of units.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces and changes in motion in one-dimension in an inertial reference frame and to change in one variable at a time. Assessment does not include the use of trigonometry.] |
| MS-PS2-3 | Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices that use electric and magnetic forces could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet, or the effect of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment about questions that require quantitative answers is limited to proportional reasoning and algebraic thinking.] |
| MS-PS2-4 | Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools; and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Newton’s Law of Gravitation or Kepler’s Laws.] |
| MS-PS2-5 | Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of this phenomenon could include the interactions of magnets, electrically-charged strips of tape, and electrically-charged pith balls. Examples of investigations could include first-hand experiences or simulations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to electric and magnetic fields, and limited to qualitative evidence for the existence of fields.] |
| MS-PS3-1 | Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a wiffle ball versus a tennis ball.] |
| MS-PS3-2 | Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on relative amounts of potential energy, not on calculations of potential energy. Examples of objects within systems interacting at varying distances could include: the Earth and either a roller coaster cart at varying positions on a hill or objects at varying heights on shelves, changing the direction/orientation of a magnet, and a balloon with static electrical charge being brought closer to a classmate’s hair. Examples of models could include representations, diagrams, pictures, and written descriptions of systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to two objects and electric, magnetic, and gravitational interactions.] |
| MS-PS3-3 | Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.* | [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a Styrofoam cup.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.] |
| MS-PS3-4 | Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of experiments could include comparing final water temperatures after different masses of ice melted in the same volume of water with the same initial temperature, the temperature change of samples of different materials with the same mass as they cool or heat in the environment, or the same material with different masses when a specific amount of energy is added.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.] |
| MS-PS3-5 | Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of empirical evidence used in arguments could include an inventory or other representation of the energy before and after the transfer in the form of temperature changes or motion of object.] [Assessment Boundary: ]Assessment does not include calculations of energy] |
| MS-PS4-1 | Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing waves with both qualitative and quantitative thinking.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include electromagnetic waves and is limited to standard repeating waves.] |
| MS-PS4-2 | Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both light and mechanical waves. Examples of models could include drawings, simulations, and written descriptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative applications pertaining to light and mechanical waves.] |
| MS-PS4-3 | Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on a basic understanding that waves can be used for communication purposes. Examples could include using fiber optic cable to transmit light pulses, radio wave pulses in wifi devices, and conversion of stored binary patterns to make sound or text on a computer screen.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include binary counting. Assessment does not include the specific mechanism of any given device.] |
Middle School Life Science Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| MS-LS1-1. | Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing evidence that living things are made of cells, distinguishing between living and non-living things, and understanding that living things may be made of one cell or many and varied cells.] |
| MS-LS1-2. | Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the cell functioning as a whole system and the primary role of identified parts of the cell, specifically the nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria, cell membrane, and cell wall.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of organelle structure/function relationships is limited to the cell wall and cell membrane. Assessment of the function of the other organelles is limited to their relationship to the whole cell. Assessment does not include the biochemical function of cells or cell parts.] |
| MS-LS1-3. | Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding that cells form tissues and tissues form organs specialized for particular body functions. Examples could include the interaction of subsystems within a system and the normal functioning of those systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanism of one body system independent of others. Assessment is limited to the circulatory, excretory, digestive, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems.] |
| MS-LS1-8. | Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. | [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.] |
| MS-LS1-6. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on tracing movement of matter and flow of energy.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis.] |
| MS-LS1-7. | Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing that molecules are broken apart and put back together and that in this process, energy is released.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the chemical reactions for photosynthesis or respiration.] |
| MS-LS2-1. | Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources.] |
| MS-LS2-3. | Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing the conservation of matter and flow of energy into and out of various ecosystems, and on defining the boundaries of the system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of chemical reactions to describe the processes.] |
| MS-LS2-4. | Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on recognizing patterns in data and making warranted inferences about changes in populations, and on evaluating empirical evidence supporting arguments about changes to ecosystems.] |
| MS-LS2-2. | Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on predicting consistent patterns of interactions in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of ecosystems. Examples of types of interactions could include competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial.] |
| MS-LS2-5. | Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.* | [Clarification Statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.] |
| MS-LS1-4. | Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of behaviors that affect the probability of animal reproduction could include nest building to protect young from cold, herding of animals to protect young from predators, and vocalization of animals and colorful plumage to attract mates for breeding. Examples of animal behaviors that affect the probability of plant reproduction could include transferring pollen or seeds, and creating conditions for seed germination and growth. Examples of plant structures could include bright flowers attracting butterflies that transfer pollen, flower nectar and odors that attract insects that transfer pollen, and hard shells on nuts that squirrels bury.] |
| MS-LS1-5. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of local environmental conditions could include availability of food, light, space, and water. Examples of genetic factors could include large breed cattle and species of grass affecting growth of organisms. Examples of evidence could include drought decreasing plant growth, fertilizer increasing plant growth, different varieties of plant seeds growing at different rates in different conditions, and fish growing larger in large ponds than they do in small ponds.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms, gene regulation, or biochemical processes.] |
| MS-LS3-1. | Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding that changes in genetic material may result in making different proteins.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific changes at the molecular level, mechanisms for protein synthesis, or specific types of mutations.] |
| MS-LS3-2. | Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using models such as Punnett squares, diagrams, and simulations to describe the cause and effect relationship of gene transmission from parent(s) to offspring and resulting genetic variation.] |
| MS-LS4-5. | Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on synthesizing information from reliable sources about the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection (such as genetic modification, animal husbandry, gene therapy); and, on the impacts these technologies have on society as well as the technologies leading to these scientific discoveries.] |
| MS-LS4-1. | Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.] |
| MS-LS4-2. | Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explanations of the evolutionary relationships among organisms in terms of similarity or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures.] |
| MS-LS4-3. | 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. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on inferring general patterns of relatedness among embryos of different organisms by comparing the macroscopic appearance of diagrams or pictures.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of comparisons is limited to gross appearance of anatomical structures in embryological development.] |
| MS-LS4-4. | Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using simple probability statements and proportional reasoning to construct explanations.] |
| MS-LS4-6. | Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using mathematical models, probability statements, and proportional reasoning to support explanations of trends in changes to populations over time.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Hardy Weinberg calculations.] |
Middle School Earth Science Standards
| Standard ID | Description | Clarification Statement |
| MS-ESS1-1. | Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of models can be physical, graphical, or conceptual.] |
| MS-ESS1-2. | Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students’ school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.] |
| MS-ESS1-3. | Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth-based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data include statistical information, drawings and photographs, and models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling facts about properties of the planets and other solar system bodies.] |
| MS-ESS1-4. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods or epochs and events within them.] |
| MS-ESS2-2. | Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.] |
| MS-ESS2-3. | Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary: Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.] |
| MS-ESS2-1. | Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the identification and naming of minerals.] |
| MS-ESS2-4. | Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ways water changes its state as it moves through the multiple pathways of the hydrologic cycle. Examples of models can be conceptual or physical.] [Assessment Boundary: A quantitative understanding of the latent heats of vaporization and fusion is not assessed.] |
| MS-ESS3-1. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).] |
| MS-ESS2-5. | Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.] |
| MS-ESS2-6. | Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.] |
| MS-ESS3-5. | Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.] |
| MS-ESS3-2. | Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. | [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how some natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and severe weather, are preceded by phenomena that allow for reliable predictions, but others, such as earthquakes, occur suddenly and with no notice, and thus are not yet predictable. Examples of natural hazards can be taken from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or severe weather events (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods). Examples of data can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies can be global (such as satellite systems to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local (such as building basements in tornado-prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).] |
| MS-ESS3-3. | Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* | [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).] |
| MS-ESS3-4. | Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. | [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.] |
Middle School Engineering Design Standards
| Standard ID | Description |
| MS-ETS1-1 | Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions. |
| MS-ETS1-2 | Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. |
| MS-ETS1-3 | Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success. |
| MS-ETS1-4 | Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved. |