traveled to time taken) to gather information about the magnitude of properties and processes. They represent scientific relationships through the use of algebraic expressions and equations. magnitude to understand how a model at one scale relates to a model at another scale. They use algebraic thinking to examine scientific data and predict the effect of a change in one variable on another (e.g., linear growth vs. exponential growth). Standard SCI.CC4: Students use science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and an understanding of systems and models to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Systems and System Models SCI.CC4.K-2 Students understand objects and organisms can be described in terms of their parts and that systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together. SCI.CC4.3-5 Students understand a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot. They also describe a system in terms of its components and their interactions. SCI.CC4.m Students understand systems may interact with other systems: they may have sub-systems and be a part of larger complex systems. They use models to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes, and outputs—and energy, matter, and information flows within systems. They also learn that models are limited in that they only represent certain aspects of the system under study. SCI.CC4.h Students investigate or analyze a system by defining its boundaries and initial conditions, as well as its inputs and outputs. They use models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) to simulate the flow of energy, matter, and interactions within and between systems at different scales. They also use models and simulations to predict the behavior of a system, and recognize that these predictions have limited precision and reliability due to the assumptions and approximations inherent in the models. They also design systems to do specific tasks.
Practices (SEP) SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES Standard SCI.SEP1: Students ask questions and define problems, in conjunction with using crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas, to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 SCI.SEP1.A: Asking Questions SCI.SEP1.A.K-2 Students ask simple descriptive questions that can be tested. This includes the following: SCI.SEP1.A.3-5 Students ask questions that specify qualitative relationships. This includes the following: SCI.SEP1.A.m Students ask questions to specify relationships between variables and clarify arguments and SCI.SEP1.A.h Students ask questions to formulate, refine, and evaluate empirically testable questions. This includes the following:
Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural world. Ask or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation. Ask questions about what would happen if a variable is changed. Identify scientific (testable) and non-scientific (non-testable) questions. Ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships. models. This includes the following: Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models, or unexpected results, to clarify or seek additional information. Ask questions to identify and clarify evidence and the premise(s) of an argument. Ask questions to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables and relationships in models. Ask questions to clarify or refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem. Ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer. Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles. Ask questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument or the interpretation of a data set. Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, or unexpected results, to clarify and seek additional information. Ask questions that arise from examining models or theories to clarify and seek additional information and relationships. Ask questions to determine relationships, including quantitative relationships, between independent and dependent variables. Ask questions to clarify and refine a model or an explanation. Evaluate a question to determine if it is testable and relevant. Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the school laboratory, research facilities, or field (e.g., outdoor environment) with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on a model or theory. Ask and evaluate questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument, the interpretation of a data set, or the suitability of the design.
Compare models to identify common features and differences. Develop or use models to represent amounts, relationships, relative scales (bigger, smaller), and patterns in the natural and designed world(s). Develop a simple model based on evidence to represent a proposed object or tool. frequent and regular occurring events. Develop a model using an analogy, example, or abstract representation to describe a scientific principle or design solution. Develop and/or use models to describe or predict phenomena. Develop a diagram or simple physical prototype to convey a proposed object, tool, or process. Use a model to test cause and effect relationships or interactions concerning the functioning of a natural or designed system. component of a system is changed. Use and develop a model of simple systems with uncertain and less predictable factors. Develop and/or revise a model to show the relationships among variables, including those that are not observable but predict observable phenomena. Develop and use a model to predict and describe phenomena. Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms. Develop and use a model to generate data to test ideas about phenomena in natural or designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs, and those at unobservable scales. fits the evidence or design criteria. Design a test of a model to ascertain its reliability. Develop, revise, and use models based on evidence to illustrate and predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system. Develop and use multiple types of models to provide mechanistic accounts and predict phenomena. Move flexibly between these model types based on merits and limitations. Develop a complex model that allows for manipulation and testing of a proposed process or system. Develop and use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and solve problems. Standard SCI.SEP3: Students plan and carry out investigations, in conjunction with using crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas, to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Use and share pictures, drawings, or writings of observations. Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns or relationships in the natural and designed worlds in order to answer scientific questions and solve problems. Compare predictions (based on prior experiences) to what occurred (observable events). Analyze data from tests of an object or tool to determine if the object or tool works as intended. graphs, pictographs, and pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships. Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, or computation. Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to discuss similarities and differences in their findings. Analyze data to refine a problem statement or the design of a proposed object, tool, or process. Use data to evaluate and refine design solutions. large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships. Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships. Distinguish between causal and correlational relationships in data. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for explanations of phenomena. Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including mean, median, mode, and variability) to analyze and characterize data, using digital tools when feasible. Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error), and seek to improve precision and accuracy of data with better technological tools and methods (e.g., multiple trials). Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. Analyze data to define an optimal operational range for a proposed object, tool, process, or system that best meets criteria for success. order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to scientific and engineering questions and problems, using digital tools when feasible. Concepts should include determining the fit of functions, slope, and intercepts to data, along with correlation coefficients when the data is linear. Consider and address more sophisticated limitations of data analysis (e.g., sample selection) when analyzing and interpreting data. Compare and contrast various types of data sets (e.g., archival) to examine consistency of measurements and observations. Evaluate the impact of new data on a working explanation or model of a proposed process or system. Analyze data to optimize design features or characteristics of system components relative to criteria for success.
accounts of natural phenomena. This includes the following: Use information from observations (firsthand and from media) to construct an account for natural phenomena. and predict phenomena. This includes the following: Construct an explanation of observed relationships (e.g., the distribution of plants in the back yard). Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation. Identify the evidence that supports particular points in an explanation. scientific ideas, principles, and theories. This includes the following: Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict and describe phenomena. Construct an explanation using models or representations. Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources, including the students’ own experiments. Solutions should build on the following assumption: 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. Apply scientific ideas, principles, and evidence to construct, revise, or use an explanation for real world phenomena, examples, or events. Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation. sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories. This includes the following: Make quantitative and qualitative claims regarding the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Construct and revise an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources, including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, and peer review. Explanations should reflect 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. Apply scientific ideas, principles, and evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena taking into account possible, unanticipated effects. Apply scientific reasoning, theory, and models to link evidence to the claim and to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation. SCI.SEP6.B: Design Solutions SCI.SEP6.B.K-2 Students use evidence and ideas in designing solutions. This includes the following: SCI.SEP6.B.3-5 Students use evidence to create multiple solutions to design problems. This includes the following: SCI.SEP6.B.m Students design solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and SCI.SEP6.B.h Students create designs that are supported by multiple and independent student-generated sources of evidence consistent
Use tools and materials to design and/or build a device that solves a specific problem or a solution to a specific problem. Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem. Apply scientific ideas to solve design problems. Generate multiple solutions to a problem and compare how well they meet the criteria and constraints. theories. This includes the following: Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and test a design of an object, tool, process, or system. Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints. Optimize performance of a design by prioritizing criteria, making trade-offs, testing, revising, and retesting. with scientific ideas, principles, and theories. This includes the following: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, and prioritized criteria. Consider trade-offs. Apply scientific ideas, principles, and evidence to solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects. Standard SCI.SEP7: Students engage in argument from evidence, in conjunction with using crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas, to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 SCI.SEP7.A: Argue from Evidence SCI.SEP7.A.K-2 Students compare ideas and representations about the natural and designed world. This includes the following: Identify arguments that are supported by evidence. Distinguish between explanations that account for all gathered evidence and those that do not. SCI.SEP7.A.3-5 Students critique the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world. This includes the following: Compare and refine arguments based on an evaluation of the evidence presented. SCI.SEP7.A.m Students construct a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world. This includes the following. Compare and critique two arguments on the same topic. Analyze whether they emphasize similar or different evidence and interpretations of facts. SCI.SEP7.A.h Students use appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world. Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science. This includes the following: Compare and evaluate competing arguments or design
be measured as a multidimensional niche. SCI.LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems SCI.LS2.B.5 Matter cycles between the air and soil and among organisms as they live and die. SCI.LS2.B.m The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Food webs model how matter and energy are transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. SCI.LS2.B.h Photosynthesis and cellular respiration provide most of the energy for life processes. Only a fraction of matter consumed at the lower level of a food web is transferred up, resulting in fewer organisms at higher levels. At each link in an ecosystem, elements are combined in different ways, and matter and energy are conserved. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are key components of the global carbon cycle. SCI.LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience SCI.LS2.C.3 When the environment changes, some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into transformed environments, and some die. SCI.LS2.C.m Ecosystem characteristics vary over time. Disruptions to any part of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all of its populations. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. SCI.LS2.C.h If a biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, including one induced by human activity, the ecosystem may return to its more or less original state or become a very different ecosystem, depending on the complex set of interactions within the ecosystem. SCI.LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior SCI.LS2.D.3 Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes. SCI.LS2.D.m Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on -- for example, water purification and recycling. SCI.LS2.D.h Group behavior has evolved because membership can increase the chances of survival for individuals and their genetic relatives. SCI.LS2: EXAMPLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Standard SCI.LS4: Students use science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and an understanding of biological evolution to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 SCI.LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity SCI.LS4.A.3 Some living organisms resemble organisms that once lived on Earth. Fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms and environments that existed long ago. SCI.LS4.A.m The fossil record documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms and their environments through Earth’s history. The fossil record and comparisons of anatomical similarities between organisms enables the inference of lines of evolutionary descent. SCI.LS4.A.h The ongoing branching that produces multiple lines of descent can be inferred by comparing DNA sequences, amino acid sequences, and anatomical and embryological evidence of different organisms. SCI.LS4.B: Natural Selection SCI.LS4.B.3 Differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving and reproducing. SCI.LS4.B.m Both natural and artificial selection result from certain traits giving some individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing, leading to predominance of certain traits in a population. SCI.LS4.B.h Natural selection occurs only if there is variation in the genes and traits between organisms in a population. Traits that positively affect survival can become more common in a population. SCI.LS4.C: Adaptation SCI.LS4.C.3 Particular organisms can only survive in particular environments. SCI.LS4.C.m Species can change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions through adaptation by natural selection acting over generations. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common. SCI.LS4.C.h Evolution results primarily from genetic variation of individuals in a species, competition for resources, and proliferation of organisms better able to survive and reproduce. Adaptation means that the distribution of traits in a population, as well as species expansion, emergence, or extinction, can change when conditions change.
the Application of Science (ETS) ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE Standard: SCI.ETS1: Students use science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and an understanding of engineering design to make sense of phenomena and solve problems. Reminder: Throughout the Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science section, the individual disciplinary core ideas in the boxes only become performance indicators when inserted into the sentence above, in this case replacing the overall topic words, “engineering design.” For example with ETS1.A.K-2, it would read, “Students use science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and an understanding that a situation that people want to change or create can be approached as a problem to solved through engineering to make sense of phenomena and solve problems.” Additionally, these engineering ideas are meant to be integrated with related science learning, not taught in isolation. Learning Element Performance Indicators (By Grade Band) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 SCI.ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems SCI.ETS1.A.K-2 A situation that people want to change or create can be approached as a problem to be solved through engineering. SCI.ETS1.A.3-5 Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired SCI.ETS1.A.m 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 SCI.ETS1.A.h Criteria and constraints also include satisfying any requirements set by society, such as taking issues of risk mitigation into account, and they should be quantified to the extent possible and stated in such a way that one can tell if a given design meets them.