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. [MS-ESS1-1]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop and use multiple models of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to explain why the patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and seasons are cyclic.

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.

Use a given model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe the cyclic pattern of either lunar phases, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, or seasons.

Use a given model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe why seasons or the changing Moon’s appearance are cyclic in nature.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop a model to predict and/or describe phenomena.

Patterns

• Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.

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.

ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars

• 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.

Clarification Statement

Examples of models could include physical, graphical, or conceptual models.

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. [MS-ESS1-1]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop and use multiple models of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to explain why the patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and seasons are cyclic.

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.

Use a given model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe the cyclic pattern of either lunar phases, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, or seasons.

Use a given model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe why seasons or the changing Moon’s appearance are cyclic in nature.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Patterns

• Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.

Connections to Nature of Science

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.

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.

ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars

• 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.

Clarification Statement

Examples of models could include physical, graphical, or conceptual models.

MS. Space Systems

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. [MS-ESS1-2]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in the formation and motions within galaxies and the solar system.

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

Given a model, describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and/or the solar system.

Given a model, identify the force that controls motions within galaxies and/or the solar system.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Systems & System Models

• Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions.

Connections to Nature of Science

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.

ESS1.A: The Universe & Its Stars

• Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.

ESS1.B: Earth & 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.
• The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity

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 could include physical models (such as a model of the solar system scaled using various measures or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual models (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. Space Systems

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. [MS-ESS1-3]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Analyze and interpret multiple data sets to determine scale properties of objects, including surface features and inner layers, in the solar system.

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

Interpret data to determine the relative sizes and/or relative distances of objects in the solar system.

Use data to determine the relative sizes and/or relative distances in the Earth-Sun-Moon system.

Analyzing & Interpreting Data

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

Scale, Proportion, & Quantity

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

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.

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 could include the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data could 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. 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. [MS-ESS1-4]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Construct a scientific explanation, based on evidence from multiple sources, for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion year-old history, and determine patterns of relative age for rock strata, fossils and past geologic events.

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.

Given a scientific explanation, use evidence from rock strata to determine that rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history.

Given evidence from rock strata, identify the explanation, from those provided, that the analysis of rock formation and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history.

Constructing Explanations & 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.

Scale, Proportion, & Quantity

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

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.

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 or evidence could include very recent events or evidence (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens) to very old events or evidence (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples of evidence could 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, radiometric dating using half-lives, and defining index fossils.

MS. History of Earth

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying temporal and spatial scales. [MS-ESS2-2]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Construct an explanation, based on evidence from multiple sources, for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying temporal and spatial scales, and determine the rates of change of these different geoscience processes.

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

Given a scientific explanation, identify the evidence that supports how one geoscience process has changed features on Earth’s surface at varying temporal and/or spatial scales.

Identify an explanation, based on the evidence provided, for how one geoscience process has changed features on Earth’s surface at varying temporal or spatial scales.

Constructing Explanations & 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.

Scale, Proportion, & Quantity

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

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.

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.

Clarification Statement

Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at temporal 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 could 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. History of Earth

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. [MS-ESS2-3]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of past plate motion. Describe the different patterns of past plate motions and explain why these past plate motions have occurred.

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

Using data, identify the evidence that supports past plate motions using either the distribution of fossils, rocks, continental shapes, or seafloor structures.

Using data as evidence, identify the explanation, from those provided, that supports past plate motion based on either the distribution of fossils, rocks, continental shapes, or seafloor structures.

Analyzing & Interpreting Data

• Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Patterns

• Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural systems.

Connections to Nature of Science

Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence

• Science findings are frequently revised and/or reinterpreted based on new evidence.

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

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

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)

Clarification Statement

Examples of data could 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. Earth's System

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. [MS-ESS2-1]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop and use multiple models to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of internal energy that drives these processes.

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

Use a model to describe a process that cycles Earth’s materials and/or the flow of energy that drives this process.

Use a model to identify one process responsible for the formation of sedimentary, igneous and/or metamorphic rocks.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Stability & Change

• Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and processes at different scales, including the atomic scale.

ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems

• All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms.

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 specific identification and naming of minerals and rocks but could include the general classification of rocks as igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary.

MS. Earth's System

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the Sun and the force of gravity. [MS-ESS2-4]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water, and its phase changes, through all Earth’s systems driven by energy from the Sun and the force of gravity.

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

Given a model, describe one process in the cycling of water through one or more of Earth’s systems and describe how this process is driven by energy from the Sun or by the force of gravity.

Given a model, identify one process in the cycling of water that is driven by energy from the Sun or identify one process in the cycling of water that is driven by the force of gravity.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms.

Energy and Matter

• Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.

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

• (NYSED) Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation, sublimation, deposition, precipitation, infiltration, and runoff.
• (NYSED) Global movements of water and its changes in form are driven by sunlight and 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 could include conceptual or physical models.

Assessment Boundary

A quantitative understanding of the latent heats of vaporization and fusion is not assessed.

MS. Earth's System

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. [MS-ESS3-1]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are caused by past and current geologic processes and how the sustainability of these resources has impacted society.

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.

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.

Given a scientific explanation, identify the evidence that shows how past or current geologic processes have contributed to the uneven distribution of Earth’s resources.

Constructing Explanations & 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.

Cause & Effect

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

Connections to Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science

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.

ESS3.A: Natural Resources

• Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. These resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic 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 could include 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. Weather & Climate

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions. [MS-ESS2-5]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Collect data from multiple sources to provide evidence for how motions and complex interactions of different air masses, and the interrelationship of weather variables, results in different changes in weather conditions.

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

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

Given data, identify the evidence for how the motions or interactions of complex air masses results in changes to a weather condition.

Planning & 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.

Cause & Effect

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

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.

ESS2.D: Weather & Climate

• Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically.

Clarification Statement

Emphasis is on how air flows from regions of high pressure to low pressure, the complex interactions at air mass boundaries, and the movements of air masses affect weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind at a fixed location and time). Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation).

Assessment Boundary

Assessment includes the application of weather data systems but does not include recalling the names of cloud types, weather symbols used on weather maps, the reported diagrams from weather stations, or the interrelationship of weather variables.

MS. Weather & Climate

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. [MS-ESS2-6]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and the rotation of Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates, and explain how a change in this model can be used to predict future climate changes.

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.

Given a model, identify one way unequal heating of Earth surfaces and/or the rotation of Earth cause patterns of atmospheric or oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Given a model, identify a pattern in the atmospheric or oceanic circulation that determines a regional climate.

Developing & Using Models

• Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Systems & System Models

• 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.

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.
• 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.

Clarification Statement

Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding causing differences in density that create convection currents in the atmosphere, 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 coastlines of continents. Examples of models could include diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.

Assessment Boundary

Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.

MS. Weather & Climate

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. [MS-ESS3-5]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Ask questions to clarify evidence about factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century and offer solutions to these factors that caused the rise in global temperatures.

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

Ask a question to clarify evidence of a factor that has caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Identify a question, from those provided, that includes a factor that has caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Asking Questions & Defining Problems

• Ask questions to identify and clarify evidence of an argument.

Stability & Change

• Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.

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.

Clarification Statement

Examples of factors could 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 could 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. Human Impacts

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. [MS-ESS3-2]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Analyze and interpret data on locations and patterns of natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and provide a real-world example of how a hazard has resulted in the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

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

Given patterns of data for a natural hazard, describe the predictability of that natural hazard and how society could work to mitigate its effects.

Given patterns of data for a natural hazard, describe one appropriate action that could be taken to limit the negative effects from that hazard.

Analyzing & Interpreting Data

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

Patterns

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

Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

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.

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.

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 could include those resulting from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) and surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or from severe weather events (such as blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and droughts). Examples of data could include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies could include global technologies (such as satellite images to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local technologies (such as building basements in tornado-prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).

MS. Human Impacts

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* [MS-ESS3-3]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Given patterns of data for a natural hazard, describe one appropriate action that could be taken to limit the negative effects from that hazard.

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

Given the design of a method that monitors and minimizes a human impact on the environment, identify one positive or one negative impact of the design.

Identify how a given design method that monitors a human impact on the environment could minimize a human impact on the environment.

Constructing Explanations & Designing Solutions

• Apply scientific principles to design an object, tool, process or system.

Cause & Effect

• Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

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.

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.
• 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.

Clarification Statement

Examples of the design process could 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 could 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. Human Impact

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. [MS-ESS3-4]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Construct, compare, and critique arguments supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per capita consumption of natural resources cause multiple impacts on Earth’s systems.

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

Identify the evidence that supports a given argument that human population and consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

Identify an argument that describes a relationship between human consumption of a natural resource and the impact on an Earth’s system.

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.

Cause & Effect

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

Connections to Nature of Science

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.

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems

• 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.

Clarification Statement

Examples of evidence could 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 could include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.

MS. Engineering Design

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-ETS1-1]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem, specifying the importance of each, 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.

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.

Define the constraints of a design problem, taking into account relevant scientific principles, or potential impacts on people or the natural environment, that may limit possible solutions.

Identify one criterium or constraint to a design problem, from those provided, that best ensures a successful solution to a potential impact on people or the natural environment.

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.

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.
• 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.

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.

MS. Engineering Design

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. [MS-ETS1-2]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem and defend the best design solution based on the criteria and constraints

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

Evaluate a design solution using a systematic process based on whether it meets the criteria and/or constraints of the problem.

Identify a design solution, from those provided, that best meets the criteria and/or constraints for a given problem.

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

• Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria.

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.

MS. Engineering Design

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-ETS1-3]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each design solution, based on scientific ideas and engineering principles, that can be combined into a new solution, with justification, to bett

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.

Given the similarities and differences between two different design solutions, identify the best characteristics of each solution.

Given data from tests, determine the similarities or differences between two design solutions.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

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

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.
• Sometimes parts of different solutions can be combined to create a solution that is better than any of its predecessors.

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. Engineering Design

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. [MS-ETS1-4]

NYS Level 4

NYS Level 3

NYS Level 2

NYS Level 1

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, and compare this design to other solutions to the same problem.

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.

Given a model, collect data using iterative testing and identify one modification of a proposed object, tool, or process that can improve the design.

Given a model and data collected from iterative testing, identify one modification that could improve the design.

Developing and Using Models

• Develop a model to generate data to test ideas about designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs.

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.
• Models of all kinds are important for testing solutions.

ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

• 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.