NEXT GEN SCIENCE COURSES
Each student's program will vary based on interest, skill level, duration and difficulty.
K-2
K-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
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K-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
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.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
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K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
K-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
K-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
K-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
K-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity
Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
K-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity
Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K
1-PS4-1 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
1-PS4-2 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects in darkness can be seen only when illuminated.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-PS4-4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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1-ESS1-2 Earth's Place in the Universe
Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
1
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2-PS1-1 Matter and Its Interactions
Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-PS1-2 Matter and Its Interactions
Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-PS1-3 Matter and Its Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
2-PS1-4 Matter and Its Interactions
Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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2-ESS2-3 Earth's Systems
Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
2
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K-2-ETS1-1 Engineering Design
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K-1-2
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K-2-ETS1-2 Engineering Design
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: K-2
K-1-2
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K-2-ETS1-3 Engineering Design
Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
K-2
K-1-2
3-5
3-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-PS2-3 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-PS2-4 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS1-1 From molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
3-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
3-5
3
3-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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3-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
3
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4-PS3-1 Energy
Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
3-5
4
4-PS3-2 Energy
Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-PS3-3 Energy
Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-PS3-4 Energy
Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
4-PS4-1 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-PS4-2 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
3-5
4
4-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
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4-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity
Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.*
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
4
5-PS1-1 Matter and Its Interactions
Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-PS1-2 Matter and Its Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-PS1-3 Matter and Its Interactions
Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-PS1-4 Matter and Its Interactions
Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-PS3-1 Energy
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from the Earth.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-ESS1-2 Earth's Place in the Universe
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
3-5
5
5-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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5-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
5
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3-5-ETS1-1 Engineering Design
Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
345
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3-5-ETS1-2 Engineering Design
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
345
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3-5-ETS1-3 Engineering Design
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade: 3-5
345
6-8
MS-PS1-1 Matter and its Interactions
Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS1-2 Matter and its Interactions
Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS1-3 Matter and its Interactions
Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS1-4 Matter and its Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS1-5 Matter and its Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS1-6 Matter and its Interactions
Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS2-3 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS2-4 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS2-5 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS3-1 Energy
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS3-2 Energy
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS3-3 Energy
Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS3-4 Energy
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS3-5 Energy
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS4-1 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS4-2 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-PS4-3 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-3 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-4 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-5 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-6 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-7 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-8 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS2-3 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS2-4 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS2-5 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-5 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS4-6 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS1-2 Earth's Place in the Universe
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS1-3 Earth's Place in the Universe
Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS1-4 Earth's Place in the Universe
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-3 Earth's Systems
Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-4 Earth's Systems
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-5 Earth's Systems
Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS2-6 Earth's Systems
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity
Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS3-4 Earth and Human Activity
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ESS3-5 Earth and Human Activity
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ETS1-1 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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ETS1-2 Engineering Design
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ETS1-3 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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
MS-ETS1-4 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.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
Middle School (6-8)
9-12
HS-PS1-1 Matter and its Interactions
Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-1 Matter and its Interactions
Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-2 Matter and its Interactions
Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-3 Matter and its Interactions
Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-4 Matter and its Interactions
Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-5 Matter and its Interactions
Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-6 Matter and its Interactions
Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-7 Matter and its Interactions
Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS1-8 Matter and its Interactions
Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-1 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-3 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-4 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-5 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS2-6 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS3-1 Energy
Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS3-2 Energy
Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS3-3 Energy
Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS3-4 Energy
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS3-5 Energy
Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS4-1 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS4-2 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Evaluate questions about the advantages of using digital transmission and storage of information.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS4-3 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS4-4 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-PS4-5 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-3 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-4 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-5 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-6 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS1-7 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-3 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-4 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-5 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-6 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-7 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS2-8 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS3-3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-5 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-LS4-6 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-1 Earth's Place in the Universe
Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-2 Earth's Place in the Universe
Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-3 Earth's Place in the Universe
Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-4 Earth's Place in the Universe
Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-5 Earth's Place in the Universe
Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS1-6 Earth's Place in the Universe
Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems
Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-3 Earth's Systems
Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-4 Earth's Systems
Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-5 Earth's Systems
Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-6 Earth's Systems
Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS2-7 Earth's Systems
Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity
Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity
Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-4 Earth and Human Activity
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.*
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-5 Earth and Human Activity
Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ESS3-6 Earth and Human Activity
Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ETS1-1 Engineering Design
Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ETS1-2 Engineering Design
Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ETS1-3 Engineering Design
Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)
HS-ETS1-4 Engineering Design
Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.
Performance Expectation
Grade:
High School (9-12)