Source: NGSS Appendix G
Cause and Effect is often the next step in science, after a discovery of patterns or events that occur together with regularity. A search for the underlying cause of a phenomenon has sparked some of the most compelling and productive scientific investigations. “Any tentative answer, or ‘hypothesis,’ that A causes B requires a model or mechanism for the chain of interactions that connect A and B. For example, the notion that diseases can be transmitted by a person’s touch was initially treated with skepticism by the medical profession for lack of a plausible mechanism. Today infectious diseases are well understood as being transmitted by the passing of microscopic organisms (bacteria or viruses) between an infected person and another. A major activity of science is to uncover such causal connections, often with the hope that understanding the mechanisms will enable predictions and, in the case of infectious diseases, the design of preventive measures, treatments, and cures”.
“In engineering, the goal is to design a system to cause a desired effect, so cause-and-effect relationships are as much a part of engineering as of science. Indeed, the process of design is a good place to help students begin to think in terms of cause and effect, because they must understand the underlying causal relationships in order to devise and explain a design that can achieve a specified objective”.
When students perform the practice of “Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,” they often address cause and effect. At early ages, this involves “doing” something to the system of study and then watching to see what happens. At later ages, experiments are set up to test the sensitivity of the parameters involved, and this is accomplished by making a change (cause) to a single component of a system and examining, and often quantifying, the result (effect). Cause and effect is also closely associated with the practice of “Engaging in Argument from Evidence.” In scientific practice, deducing the cause of an effect is often difficult, so multiple hypotheses may coexist. For example, though the occurrence (effect) of historical mass extinctions of organisms, such as the dinosaurs, is well established, the reason or reasons for the extinctions (cause) are still debated, and scientists develop and debate their arguments based on different forms of evidence. When students engage in scientific argumentation, it is often centered about identifying the causes of an effect.
Source: Peter A'Hearn/ CrossCut Symbols
What evidence is there for a cause and effect relationship?
How can this cause and effect relationship be tested?
What are other possible causes? Are there many causes?
Is the cause and effect relationship real or imagined?
How is this cause and effect relationship similar to and different than others I have learned about?
Engineering- How can I use this cause and effect relationship?
What other crosscutting concepts apply to this cause and effect relationship?
Based on what I've learned, what other symbol could be used to represent Cause and Effect?
Source: Peter A'Hearn/ CrossCut Symbols
Asking Questions - What is the cause of this effect?
Defining Problems - What is the desired effect?
Models - What model will explain this cause and effect relationship?
Investigations - How can we design an investigation to see if this is the cause of this effect?
Data - Does our data support this cause and effect relationship?
Using Math - How can we measure the relationship between the cause and effect? How can we model it with math?
Computational Thinking - How can we make a computer model of this cause and effect relationship?
Explanations - What explains how the cause leads to the effect? What does this cause and effect relationship help to explain?
Solutions - Will this cause the desired effect?
Argument - What is the evidence that the cause leads to the effect?
Information - What is already known about this cause and effect relationship? How can I best communicate about this cause and effect relationship?
This set of prompts is intended to help teachers elicit student understanding of crosscutting concepts in the context of investigating phenomena or solving problems.
Source: STEM Teaching Tools
Bozeman Science Video - Concept 2 - Cause and Effect
Wonder of Science Graphic Organizer: Cause and Effect - Google Draw or PDF, (version 2) - Google Draw or PDF