Search the California Content Standards

Title: 2-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include different designs of dikes and windbreaks to hold back wind and water, and different designs for using shrubs, grass, and trees to hold back the land.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems Wind and water can change the shape of the land. ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution Because there is always more than one possible solution to a problem, it is useful to compare and test designs. (secondary to 2-ESS2-1)

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Compare multiple solutions to a problem.

Crosscutting Concepts: Stability and Change Things may change slowly or rapidly. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World Developing and using technology has impacts on the natural world. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World Scientists study the natural and material world.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RI.2.3: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. RI.2.9: Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.4: Model with mathematics. MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically. 2.MD.5: Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as drawings of rulers) and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in second grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 4.ESS2.B; 5.ESS2.C

Title: 5-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, ground water, and polar ice caps, and does not include the atmosphere.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.

Science & Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Describe and graph quantities such as area and volume to address scientific questions.

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and volume.

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 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. 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. SL.5.5: Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes. 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: 2.ESS2.C; MS.ESS2.C; MS.ESS3.A

Title: 5-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions or changes could include phase changes, dissolving, and mixing that form new substances.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include distinguishing mass and weight.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish. PS1.B: Chemical Reactions No matter what reaction or change in properties occurs, the total weight of the substances does not change. (Boundary: Mass and weight are not distinguished at this grade level.)

Science & Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Measure and graph quantities such as weight to address scientific and engineering questions and problems.

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight, time, temperature, and volume. 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.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. 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. W.5.9.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. MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically. 5.MD.1: Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real-world problems.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fifth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 2.PS1.A; MS.PS1.A

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

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth-based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data include statistical information, drawings and photographs, and models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling facts about properties of the planets and other solar system bodies.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them.

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

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. 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.

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. 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.RP.1: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. For example, "The ratio of wings to beaks in the bird house at the zoo was 2:1, because for every 2 wings there was one beak." "For every vote candidate A received, candidate C received nearly three votes." 7.RP.2.a-d: Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.

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

Title: MS-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future. ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes Water’s movements—both on the land and underground—cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations.

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 nature 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:
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. WHST.6-8.2.a-f: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. SL.8.5: Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest. 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.PS1.B; MS.LS2.B Articulation across grade-bands: 4.ESS1.C; 4.ESS2.A; 4.ESS2.E; 5.ESS2.A; HS.PS3.D; HS.LS2.B; HS.ESS1.C; HS.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.B; HS.ESS2.C; HS.ESS2.D; HS.ESS2.E; HS.ESS3.D

Title: MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.

Science & Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining Problems Ask questions to identify and clarify evidence of an argument.

Crosscutting Concepts: Stability and Change Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate 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. 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.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.PS3.A Articulation across grade-bands: HS.PS3.B; HS.PS4.B; HS.ESS2.A; HS.ESS2.D; HS.ESS3.C; HS.ESS3.D

Title: MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions

Performance Expectation: Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter Each pure substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it. PS1.B: Chemical Reactions Substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants.

Science & Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information 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 now supported by evidence.

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. 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. Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural World The uses of technologies and any limitation 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 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: MS.LS2.A; MS.LS4.D; MS.ESS3.A; MS.ESS3.C Articulation across grade-bands: HS.PS1.A; HS.LS2.A; HS.LS4.D; HS.ESS3.A

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

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on balanced (Newton’s First Law) and unbalanced forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion (Newton’s Second Law), frame of reference, and specification of units.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces and changes in motion in one-dimension in an inertial reference frame and to change in one variable at a time. Assessment does not include the use of trigonometry.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS2.A: Forces and Motion The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion. All positions of objects and the directions of forces and motions must be described in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame and arbitrarily chosen units of size. In order to share information with other people, these choices must also be shared.

Science & Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.

Crosscutting Concepts: 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.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.6-8.3: Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. 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. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 6.EE.2.a-c: Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers. 7.EE.3-4: Solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations.

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

Title: MS-PS3 Energy

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a whiffle ball versus a tennis ball.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.

Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Proportional relationships (e.g. speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle IV The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long-term functioning of both.

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.6-8.7: 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.RP.1: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. 6.RP.2: Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b ≠ 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship. 7.RP.2.a-d: Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities. 8.EE.1: Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. 8.EE.2: Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to equations of the form x2 = p and x3 = p, where p is a positive rational number. Evaluate square roots of small perfect squares and cube roots of small perfect cubes. Know that √2 is irrational. 8.F.3: Interpret the equation y = mx + b as defining a linear function, whose graph is a straight line; give examples of functions that are not linear.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.PS2.A Articulation across grade-bands: 4.PS3.B; HS.PS3.A; HS.PS3.B

Title: MS-PS3 Energy

Performance Expectation: 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. [Clarification Statement: Examples of experiments could include comparing final water temperatures after different masses of ice melted in the same volume of water with the same initial temperature, the temperature change of samples of different materials with the same mass as they cool or heat in the environment, or the same material with different masses when a specific amount of energy is added.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the size of the sample, and the environment.

Science & Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Proportional relationships (e.g. speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
Principle IV The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long-term functioning of both.

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.6-8.3: Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. 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. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 6.SP.5.a-d: Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: MS.PS1.A; MS.PS2.A; MS.ESS2.C; MS.ESS2.D; MS.ESS3.D Articulation across grade-bands: 4.PS3.C; HS.PS1.B; HS.PS3.A; HS.PS3.B