Search the California Content Standards

Title: 3-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Performance Expectation: Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of problems could include constructing a latch to keep a door shut and creating a device to keep two moving objects from touching each other.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS2.B: Types of Interactions Electric, and magnetic forces between a pair of objects do not require that the objects be in contact. The sizes of the forces in each situation depend on the properties of the objects and their distances apart and, for forces between two magnets, on their orientation relative to each other.

Science & Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining Problems Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

Crosscutting Concepts: Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology Scientific discoveries about the natural world can often lead to new and improved technologies, which are developed through the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science process.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
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California Common Core State Standards Connections:
N/A

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in third grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: K.ETS1.A; 4.ETS1.A; MS.PS2.B

Title: 4-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe

Performance Expectation: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence from patterns could include rock layers with marine shell fossils above rock layers with plant fossils and no shells, indicating a change from land to water over time.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific knowledge of the mechanism of rock formation or memorization of specific rock formations and layers. Assessment is limited to relative time.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due to earth forces, such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types indicate the order in which rock layers were formed.

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Identify the evidence that supports particular points in an explanation.

Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems Science assumes consistent patterns in natural systems.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. W.4.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes, paraphrase, and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. W.4.9.a,b: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.4: Model with mathematics. 4.MD.1: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1,12), (2,24), (3,36),...

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 2.ESS1.C; 3.LS4.A; MS.LS4.A; MS.ESS1.C; MS.ESS2.A; MS.ESS2.B

Title: 4-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Performance Expectation: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. [Clarification Statement: Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung, brain, and skin.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to macroscopic structures within plant and animal systems.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS1.A: Structure and Function Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.

Science & Engineering Practices: Engaging in Argument from Evidence Construct an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model.

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle II The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy W.4.1.a–d: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. Mathematics 4.G.3: Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 1.LS1.A; 3.LS3.B; MS.LS1.A

Title: 4-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on systems of information transfer.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanisms by which the brain stores and recalls information or the mechanisms of how sensory receptors function.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS1.D: Information Processing Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information, which may be then processed by the animal’s brain. Animals are able to use their perceptions and memories to guide their actions.

Science & Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models Use a model to test interactions concerning the functioning of a natural system.

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle II The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy SL.4.5: Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 1.LS1.D; MS.LS1.A; MS.LS1.D

Title: 5-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments.

Science & Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain phenomena or solutions to a design problem.

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World Science findings are limited to questions that can be answered with empirical evidence.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle II The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. RI.5.7: Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently. RI.5.9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources. RI.5.9.a-b: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.4: Model with mathematics.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fifth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: MS.ESS3.A; MS.ESS3.C; MS.ESS3.D

Title: 5-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Performance Expectation: Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. [Clarification Statement: “Down” is a local description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mathematical representation of gravitational force.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS2.B: Types of Interactions The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth’s surface pulls that object toward the planet’s center.

Science & Engineering Practices: Engaging in Argument from Evidence Support an argument with evidence, data, or a model.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain change.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. RI.5.9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. W.5.1.a–d: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fifth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 3.PS2.A; 3.PS2.B; MS.PS2.B; MS.ESS1.B; MS.ESS2.C

Title: MS-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe

Performance Expectation: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods or epochs and events within them.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
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.

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and 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.

Crosscutting Concepts: 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.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. WHST.6-8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Mathematics 6.EE.6: Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. 7.EE.4.a-b: Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS4.A; MS.LS4.C Articulation across grade-bands: 3.LS4.A; 3.LS4.C; 4.ESS1.C; HS.PS1.C; HS.LS4.A; HS.LS4.C; HS.ESS1.C; HS.ESS2.A

Title: MS-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary: Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth Tectonic processes continually generate new ocean sea floor at ridges and destroy old sea floor 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.

Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. 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.

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

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle III Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from, and can alter.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. RST.6-8.7: Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). RST.6-8.9: Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 6.EE.6: Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. 7.EE.4.a-b: Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS4.A Articulation across grade-bands: 3.LS4.A; 3.ESS3.B; 4.ESS1.C; 4.ESS2.B; 4.ESS3.B; HS.LS4.A; HS.LS4.C; HS.ESS1.C; HS.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.B

Title: MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
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.

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Apply scientific principles to design an object, tool, process or system.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and 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.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle I The continuation and health of individual human lives and of human communities and societies depend on the health of the natural systems that provide essential goods and ecosystem services. Principle II The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy WHST.6-8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. WHST.6–8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources (primary and secondary), using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. Mathematics 6.RP.1: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. 6.EE.6: Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS2.A; MS.LS2.C ; MS.LS4.D Articulation across grade-bands: 3.LS2.C; 3.LS4.D; 5.ESS3.C; HS.LS2.C; HS.LS4.C; HS.LS4.D; HS.ESS2.C; HS.ESS2.D; HS.ESS2.E; HS.ESS3.C; HS.ESS3.D

Title: MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
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.

Science & Engineering Practices: 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.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and 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. 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.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle I The continuation and health of individual human lives and of human communities and societies depend on the health of the natural systems that provide essential goods and ecosystem services. Principle II The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. WHST.6-8.1.a-f: Write arguments focused on discipline content. WHST.6-8.9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Mathematics 6.RP.1: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. 7.RP.2.a-d: Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities. 6.EE.6: Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. 7.EE.4.a-b: Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS2.A; MS.LS4.D Articulation across grade-bands: 3.LS2.C; 3.LS4.D; 5.ESS3.C; HS.LS2.A; HS.LS2.C; HS.LS4.C; HS.LS4.D; HS.ESS2.E; HS.ESS3.A; HS.ESS3.C