EARTH’S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE Performance Expectation Construct a scientific explanation on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s geologic history. Clarification Statement Emphasis is on analyses of rock formations and fossils they contain to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Major events could include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, adaptation and extinction of particular living organisms, volcanic eruptions, periods of massive glaciation, and the development of watersheds and rivers through glaciation and water erosion. The events in Earth’s history happened in the past continue today. Scientific explanations can include models. Science & Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Asking questions and defining problems Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions: Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6– 8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific principles, and theories. 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. Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale. (MS.ESS1C.a) Scientists use data from radioactive dating techniques to estimate the age of Earth’s materials. (MS.ESS1C.b) SCALE, PROPORTION, AND QUANTITY Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. Diocese of Baton Rouge Science Standards: Grade 8 July, 2017 Page 6
EARTH’S SYSTEMS Performance Expectation Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. Clarification Statement Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials. Science & Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Crosscutting Concepts 1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) 2. Developing and models: Modeling in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems. Develop and/or use a model to predict and/or describe phenomena. Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking Constructing explanations and designing solutions Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information EARTH’S MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS All 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. (MS.ESS2A.a) STABILITY AND CHANGE Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales, including the atomic Diocese of Baton Rouge Science Standards: Grade 8 July, 2017 Page 7
SYSTEMS Performance Expectation Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and sea floor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. Clarification Statement Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches). Science & Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data: Analyzing data in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and statistical techniques of data and error analysis. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. mathematics and computational thinking Constructing explanations and designing solutions Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH Tectonic processes continually generate new ocean sea floor at ridges and destroy old sea floor at trenches. (MS.ESS1C.c) 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.ESS2B.a) PATTERNS Patterns in of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems. Diocese of Rouge Science Standards: Grade 8 July, 2017 Page 9
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION: AND DIVERSITY Performance Expectation scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. Clarification Statement Emphasis is on explanations of the evolutionary relationships among organisms in terms of similarity or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures. Science & Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Asking questions and defining problems Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions: Constructing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering) in 6–8 builds on K– 5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories. Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use an explanation for real- world phenomena, examples, or events. Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information EVIDENCE OF COMMON ANCESTRY AND DIVERSITY Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent. (MS.LS4A.b) Comparison of the embryological development of different species also reveals similarities that show relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy. (MS.LS4A.c) PATTERNS Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. Diocese of Baton Rouge Science Standards: Grade 8 July, 2017 Page 17
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION: UNITY AND DIVERSITY Performance Expectation Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations of species over time. Clarification Statement Emphasis is on using mathematical models, probability statements, and proportional reasoning to support explanations of trends in changes to populations over time. Students should be able to explain trends in data for the number of individuals with specific traits changing over time. Science & Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Asking questions and defining problems Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics and computational thinking: Mathematical and computational thinking in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments. Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions. Constructing explanations and designing solutions Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information ADAPTATION Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which populations change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment tend to become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes. (MS.LS4C.a) CAUSE AND EFFECT Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability. Diocese of Rouge Science Standards: Grade 8 July, 2017 Page 19