Search the California Content Standards

Title: 4-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions). Humans cannot eliminate the hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts. (Note: This Disciplinary Core Idea can also be found in 3.WC.) ETS1.B: Designing Solutions to Engineering Problems Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions. (secondary to 4-ESS3-2)

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design solution.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural World Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to increase their benefits, to decrease known risks, and to meet societal demands.

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.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RI.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. RI.4.9: Integrate information from two 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. 4.OA.1: Interpret a multiplication equation as a comparison, e.g., interpret 35 = 5 × 7 as a statement that 35 is 5 times as many as 7 and 7 times as many as 5. Represent verbal statements of multiplicative comparisons as multiplication equations.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: 4.ETS1.C Articulation across grade-levels: K.ETS1.A; 2.ETS1.B; 2.ETS1.C; MS.ESS2.A; MS.ESS3.B; MS.ETS1.B

Title: 4-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Performance Expectation: Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include knowledge of specific colors reflected and seen, the cellular mechanisms of vision, or how the retina works.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation An object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eyes.

Science & Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models Develop a model to describe phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

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. Mathematics MP.4: Model with mathematics. 4.G.1: Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 1.PS4.B; MS.PS4.B; MS.LS1.D

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-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time, and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of cloud types or weather symbols used on weather maps or the reported diagrams from weather stations.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns. ESS2.D: Weather and Climate Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically.

Science & Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed 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.6-8.9: Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic. WHST.6-8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, 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 MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 6.NS.5: Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values; use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.PS1.A; MS.PS2.A; MS.PS3.A; MS.PS3.B Articulation across grade-bands: 3.ESS2.D; 5.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.C; HS.ESS2.D

Title: MS-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents. ESS2.D: Weather and Climate Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.

Science & Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy, matter, and information flows within systems.

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 SL.8.5: Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.PS2.A; MS.PS3.B; MS.PS4.B Articulation across grade-bands: 3.PS2.A; 3.ESS2.D; 5.ESS2.A; HS.PS2.B; HS.PS3.B; HS.ESS1.B; HS.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.D

Title: MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how some natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and severe weather, are preceded by phenomena that allow for reliable predictions, but others, such as earthquakes, occur suddenly and with no notice, and thus are not yet predictable. Examples of natural hazards can be taken from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or severe weather events (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods). Examples of data can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies can be global (such as satellite systems to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local (such as building basements in tornado-prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards Mapping the history of natural hazards in a region, combined with an understanding of related geologic forces can help forecast the locations and likelihoods of future events.

Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.

Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World The uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. Thus technology use varies from region to region and over time.

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. 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). 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.PS3.C Articulation across grade-bands: 3.ESS3.B; 4.ESS3.B; HS.ESS2.B; HS.ESS2.D; HS.ESS3.B; HS.ESS3.D

Title: MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using simple probability statements and proportional reasoning to construct explanations.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS4.B: Natural Selection Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that describe phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability.

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 RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions. 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. WHST.6–8.2.a–f: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. WHST.6-8.9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. SL.8.1.a–d: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. SL.8.4: Present claims and findings (e.g., argument, narrative, response to literature presentations), emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. a. Plan and present a narrative that: establishes a context and point of view, presents a logical sequence, uses narrative techniques (e.g., dialogue, pacing, description, sensory language), uses a variety of transitions, and provides a conclusion that reflects the experience. Mathematics 6.RP.1: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. 6.SP.5.a-d: Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context. 7.RP.2.a-d: Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS2.A; MS.LS3.A; MS.LS3.B Articulation across grade-bands: 3.LS3.B; 3.LS4.B; HS.LS2.A; HS.LS3.B; HS.LS4.B; HS.LS4.C

Title: MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Performance Expectation: Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on synthesizing information from reliable sources about the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection (such as genetic modification, animal husbandry, gene therapy); and, on the impacts these technologies have on society as well as the technologies leading to these scientific discoveries.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS4.B: Natural Selection In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.

Science & Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods. Gather, read, and synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science, and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World Scientific knowledge can describe the consequences of actions but does not necessarily prescribe the decisions that society takes.

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 RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions. 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.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: N/A Articulation across grade-bands: HS.LS3.B; HS.LS4.C

Title: MS-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Performance Expectation: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both light and mechanical waves. Examples of models could include drawings, simulations, and written descriptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative applications pertaining to light and mechanical waves.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS4.A: Wave Properties A sound wave needs a medium through which it is transmitted. PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency (color) of the light. The path that light travels can be traced as straight lines, except at surfaces between different transparent materials (e.g., air and water, air and glass) where the light path bends. A wave model of light is useful for explaining brightness, color, and the frequency-dependent bending of light at a surface between media. However, because light can travel through space, it cannot be a matter wave, like sound or water waves.

Science & Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models Develop and use a model to describe phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy SL.8.5: Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.LS1.D Articulation across grade-bands: 4.PS4.B; HS.PS4.A; HS.PS4.B; HS.ESS1.A; HS.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.C; HS.ESS2.D