Search the California Content Standards

Title: 4-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. [Clarification Statement: Examples of variables to test could include angle of slope in the downhill movement of water, amount of vegetation, speed of wind, relative rate of deposition, cycles of freezing and thawing of water, cycles of heating and cooling, and volume of water flow.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to a single form of weathering or erosion.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around. ESS2.E: Biogeology Living things affect the physical characteristics of their regions.

Science & Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon.

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

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy W4.7: 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. Mathematics MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.4: Model with mathematics. MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically. 4.MD.A.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 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1,12), (2, 24), (3,36),... 4.MD.2: Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 2.ESS1.C; 2.ESS2.A; 5.ESS2.A

Title: 4-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. [Clarification Statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth.

Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning.

Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RI.4.7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. Mathematics 4.MD.2: Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fourth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 2.ESS2.B; 2.ESS2.C; 5.ESS2.C; MS.ESS1.C; MS.ESS2.A; MS.ESS2.B

Title: 4-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Performance Expectation: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and fissile materials. Examples of environmental effects could include loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS3.A: Natural Resources Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are not.

Science & Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtain and combine information from books and other reliable media to explain phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain change. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology Knowledge of relevant scientific concepts and research findings is important in engineering. Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural World Over time, people’s needs and wants change, as do their demands for new and improved technologies.

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 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.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: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 5.ESS3.C; MS.PS3.D; MS.ESS2.A; MS.ESS3.A; MS.ESS3.C; MS.ESS3.D

Title: 5-ESS1 Earth’s Place in the Universe

Performance Expectation: Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun and selected stars that are visible only in particular months.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include causes of seasons.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year.

Science & Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Represent data in graphical displays (bar graphs, pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships.

Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts:
N/A

California Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy 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. 5.G.2: Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in fifth grade: N/A Articulation across grade-levels: 1.ESS1.A; 1.ESS1.B; 3.PS2.A; MS.ESS1.A; MS.ESS1.B

Title: 5-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions

Performance Expectation: Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. [Clarification statement: Examples of combinations that do not produce new substances could include sand and water. Examples of combinations that do produce new substances could include baking soda and vinegar or milk and vinegar.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed.

Science & Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.

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

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.

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

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-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-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Performance Expectation: Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS1.D: Information Processing Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories.

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 not supported by evidence.

Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural systems.

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. 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 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.

DCI Connections:
Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band: N/A Articulation across grade-bands: 4.LS1.D; HS.LS1.A

Title: MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources.]

Disciplinary Core Idea(s):
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction. Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources.

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

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 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. Principle III Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from, and can alter. Principle IV The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long-term functioning of both. Principle V Decisions affecting resources and natural systems are based on a wide range of considerations and decision-making processes.

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).

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