Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth Science
ESS2.E Biogeology (3-5)
L4
ESS3.A Natural resources (K-2)
L1L2L3L4
ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth systems (3-5)
L4
Life Science
LS1.C Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms (K-2)
L3L4
LS1.C Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms (3-5)
L1L2L3L4
LS2.A Interdependent relationships in ecosystems (K-2)
L2L3L4
LS2.A Interdependent relationship in ecosystems (3-5)
L2L3L4
LS2.A Interdependent relationships in ecosystems (6-8)
L4
LS2.C Ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience (3-5)
L4
LS3.B Variation of Traits (3)
L1L2
LS4.B Natural Selection (3)
L1L4
LS4.C Adaptations (3-5)
L3L4
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans (K-2)
L1L2L3
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans (3-5)
L1L2L3L4
Next Generation Science Standards: Science and Engineering Practices
The eight practices of science and engineering that the Framework identifies as essential for all students to learn and describes in detail are listed below. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
L1L2L3L4
Next Generation Science Standards: Crosscutting Concepts
1. Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
L1L2L3L4
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.
L1L2L3L4
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity. In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
L1L2L3L4
4. Systems and system models. Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
L1L2L3L4
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
L3L4
6. Structure and function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions. 7. Stability and change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
L4
Common Core State Standards Connections
English Language Arts/Literacy: Reading
CCSS: ELA/Literacy: Writing W.3.2
L1L2L3L4
CCSS: ELA/Literacy: Speaking and Listening SL.3.4
L1L2L3L4
Mathematics: Mathematical Practice
Mathematics: Measurement & Data
National Geography Standards
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
L1L2L3L4
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environment
L1L2L3L4
4. The physical and human characteristics of places
L1L2L3L4
5. That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity
L3L4
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth’s surface
L1L2L3L4
14. How human actions modify the physical environment
L4
Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth Science
Life Science
LS3.B Variation of Traits (3)
L1L2L4
LS4.B Natural Selection (3)
L3
LS4.B Natural Selection (3-5)
L1L2L3L4
LS4.C Adaptations (3-5)
L1L2L3L4
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans (K-2)
L1L2L3
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans (3-5)
L1L2L3L4
Next Generation Science Standards: Science and Engineering Practices
The eight practices of science and engineering that the Framework identifies as essential for all students to learn and describes in detail are listed below: Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
L1L2L3L4
Next Generation Science Standards: Crosscutting Concepts
1. Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
L1L2L3L4
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.
L2L3L4
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity. In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
L2L3L4
4. Systems and system models. Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
L1L2L3L4
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
L2L4
6. Structure and function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
L1L2L3L4
7. Stability and change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
L2L3L4
Common Core State Standards Connections
English Language Arts/Literacy: Reading
CCSS: ELA/Literacy: Writing W3.7
L1L2L3
CCSS: ELA/Literacy: Speaking and Listening SL.3.3
L1
Mathematics: Mathematical Practice
Mathematics: Measurement & Data
CCSS: NBT: Number & Operations in Base Ten 3.NBT
L3L4
National Geography Standards
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
L2L3
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments
L1L2L4
4. The physical and human characteristics of places
L2L4
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth’s surface
L2L4
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth Science
ESS2.E Biogeology
3-5Living things can affect the physical characteristics of their environment.
ESS3.A Natural resources
K-2Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.
ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth systems
3-5Societal activities have had major effects on the land, ocean, atmosphere, and even outer space. Societal activities can also help protect Earth’s resources and environments.
Life Science
LS1.C Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms
K-2Animals obtain food they need from plants or other animals. Plants need water and light.
3-5Food provides animals with the materials and energy they need for body repair, growth, warmth, and motion. Plants acquire material for growth chiefly from air, water, and process matter and obtain energy from sunlight, which is used to maintain conditions necessary for survival.
LS2.A Interdependent relationships in ecosystems
K-2Plants depend on water and light to grow, and also depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
3-5The food of almost any animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants, while decomposers restore some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem. (5-LS2-1)
6-8Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.
LS2.C Ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience
3-5When the environment changes, some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into the transformed environment, and some die.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
3Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information. (3-LS3-1)
3The environment also affects the traits that an organism develops. (3-LS3-2)
LS4.B Natural Selection
3Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. (3-LS4-2)
LS4.C Adaptation
3-5For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. (3-LS4-3)
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans
K-2A range of different organisms lives in different places.
3-5Populations of organisms live in a variety of habitats. Change in those habitats affects the organisms living there. (3-LS4-4)
Science and Engineering Practices
The eight practices of science and engineering that the Framework identifies as essential for all students to learn and describes in detail are listed below.
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
- Developing and using models
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns: Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.
Scale, proportion, and quantity: In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
Systems and system models: Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
Structure and function: The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
Stability and change: For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
Common Core State Standards Connections
English Language Arts/Literacy: Reading
RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g. maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
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.
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.
English Language Arts/Literacy: Writing
SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
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 and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
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.
English Language Arts/Literacy: Speaking & Listening
SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
Mathematics: Mathematical Practice
MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
Mathematics: Measurement & Data
3.MD.B.4 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units—whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
National Geography Standards
1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environment
4 The physical and human characteristics of places
5 That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity
8 The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth’s surface
14 How human actions modify the physical environment
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth Science
ESS3.A Natural resources
K-2Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.
ESS3.B Natural hazards
3-5A variety of hazards result from natural processes; humans cannot eliminate hazards but can reduce their impacts.
ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth systems
K-2Things people do can affect the environment but they can make choices to reduce their impacts.
3-5Societal activities have had major effects on the land, ocean, atmosphere, and even outer space. Societal activities can also help protect Earth’s resources and environments
Life Science
LS1.A Structure and Function
3-5Organism have both internal and external macroscopic structures that allow for growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
LS1.B Growth and development of organisms
3-5Reproduction is essential to every kind of organism. Organisms have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS1.C Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms
K-2Animals obtain food they need from plants or other animals. Plants need water and light.
3-5Food provides animals with the materials and energy they need for body repair, growth, warmth, and motion. Plants acquire material for growth chiefly from air, water, and process matter and obtain energy from sunlight, which is used to maintain conditions necessary for survival.
LS1.D Information Processing
K-2Animals sense and communicate information and respond to inputs with behaviors that help them grow and survive.
3-5Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information; Animals use their perceptions and memories to guide their actions.
LS2.A Interdependent relationships in ecosystems
K-2Plants depend on water and light to grow, and also depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
3-5The food of almost any animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants, while decomposers restore some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem. (5-LS2-1)
6-8Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.
LS2.B Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems
3-5Matter cycles between the air and soil and among organisms as they live and die.
LS2.C Ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience
3-5When the environment changes some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into the transformed environment, and some die.
LS2.D Social interactions and group behavior
3-5Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes.
LS3.A Inheritance of traits and LS3.B Variation of traits
K-2Young organisms are very much, but not exactly, like their parents and also resemble other organisms of the same kind.
3-5Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information; the environment also affects the traits that an organism develops. (3-LS3-1 and 3-LS3-2)
LS3.B Variation of Traits
3Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information. (3-LS3-1)
3The environment also affects the traits that an organism develops. (3-LS3-2)
LS4.B Natural Selection
3-5Differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. (3-LS4-2)
LS4.C Adaptation
3-5Particular organisms can only survive in particular environments.
LS4.D Biodiversity and humans
K-2A range of different organisms lives in different places.
3-5Populations of organisms live in a variety of habitats. Change in those habitats affects the organisms living there. (3-LS4-4)
Science and Engineering Practices
The eight practices of science and engineering that the Framework identifies as essential for all students to learn and describes in detail are listed below:
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
- Developing and using models
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts
1. Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts. 3.
Scale, proportion, and quantity. In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
4. Systems and system models. Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
6. Structure and function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
7. Stability and change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
Common Core State Standards Connections
English Language Arts/Literacy: Reading
RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g. maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
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.
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 solves a problem efficiently.
English Language Arts/Literacy: Writing
W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
W3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
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 and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
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.
English Language Arts/Literacy: Speaking & Listening
SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace. the development of main ideas or themes.
Mathematics: Mathematical Practice
MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
3.NBT Number and Operations in Base Ten
Mathematics: Measurement & Data
3.MD.B.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.
3.MD.B.4 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units- whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
5.MD.A.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.
National Geography Standards
1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environment
4 The physical and human characteristics of places
8 The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth’s surface
