Instructional Segment 1: Forces and Motion
Students make predictions using Newton’s Laws. Students mathematically describe how changes in motion relate to forces. They investigate collisions in Earth’s crust and in an engineering challenge.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
HS-PS2-1, HS-PS2-2, HS-PS2-3, HS-ETS1-1, HS-EST1-2, HS-ETS1-3, HS-ETS1-4
Instructional Segment 2: Forces at a Distance
Students investigate gravitational and electromagnetic forces and describe them mathematically. They predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. They link the macroscopic properties of materials to microscopic electromagnetic attractions.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
Instructional Segment 3: Energy Conversion and Renewable Energy
Students track energy transfer and conversion through different stages of power plants. They evaluate different power plant technologies. They investigate electromagnetism to create models of how generators work and obtain and communicate information about how solar photovoltaic systems operate. They design and test their own energy conversion devices.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
HS-PS2-5, HS-PS3-1, HS-PS3-2, HS-PS3-5, HS-PS3-3, HS-PS4-5, HS-ESS3-2, HS-ESS3-3, HS-ETS1-1, HS-EST1-2, HS-ETS1-3, HS-ETS1-4
Instructional Segment 4: Nuclear Processes and Earth History
Students develop a model of the internal structure of atoms and then extend it to include the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay. They apply this model to understanding nuclear power and radiometric dating. They use evidence from rock ages to reconstruct the history of the Earth and processes that shape its surface.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
HS-PS1-8, HS-ESS1-5, HS-ESS1-6, HS-ESS2-1
Instructional Segment 5: Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation
Students make mathematical models of waves and apply them to seismic waves traveling through the Earth. They obtain and communicate information about other interactions between waves and matter with a particular focus on electromagnetic waves. They obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about health hazards associated with electromagnetic waves. They use models of wave behavior to explain information transfer using waves and the wave-particle duality.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
HS-PS4-1, HS-PS4-3, HS-PS4-4, HS-PS4-5, HS-PS4-2, HS-ESS2-1
Instructional Segment 6: Stars and the Origins of the Universe
Students apply their model of nuclear fusion to trace the flow of energy from the Sun’s core to Earth. They use evidence from the spectra of stars and galaxies to determine the composition of stars and construct an explanation of the origin of the Universe.
Overview from CA Science Framework
Bundled NGSS Standards for this Segment
Individual Performance Expectations included in this Segment:
HS-ESS1-1, HS-ESS1-2, HS-ESS1-3
All of the Performance Expectations for Physics of the Universe
HS-PS1-8. Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on simple qualitative models, such as pictures or diagrams, and on the scale of energy released in nuclear processes relative to other kinds of transformations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative calculation of energy released. Assessment is limited to alpha, beta, and gamma radioactive decays.]
HS-PS2-1. Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include tables or graphs of position or velocity as a function of time for objects subject to a net unbalanced force, such as a falling object, an object rolling down a ramp, or a moving object being pulled by a constant force.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one-dimensional motion and to macroscopic objects moving at non-relativistic speeds.]
HS-PS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the quantitative conservation of momentum in interactions and the qualitative meaning of this principle.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems of two macroscopic bodies moving in one dimension.]
HS-PS2-3. Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of evaluation and refinement could include determining the success of the device at protecting an object from damage and modifying the design to improve it. Examples of a device could include a football helmet or a parachute.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative evaluations and/or algebraic manipulations.]
HS-PS2-4. Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both quantitative and conceptual descriptions of gravitational and electric fields.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems with two objects.]
HS-PS2-5. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to designing and conducting investigations with provided materials and tools.]
HS-PS2-6. Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the attractive and repulsive forces that determine the functioning of the material. Examples could include why electrically conductive materials are often made of metal, flexible but durable materials are made up of long chained molecules, and pharmaceuticals are designed to interact with specific receptors.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to provided molecular structures of specific designed materials.]
HS-PS3-1. Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explaining the meaning of mathematical expressions used in the model.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to basic algebraic expressions or computations; to systems of two or three components; and to thermal energy, kinetic energy, and/or the energies in gravitational, magnetic, or electric fields.]
HS-PS3-2. Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy stored in fields. [Clarification Statement: Examples of phenomena at the macroscopic scale could include the conversion of kinetic energy to thermal energy, the energy stored due to position of an object above the earth, and the energy stored between two electrically-charged plates. Examples of models could include diagrams, drawings, descriptions, and computer simulations.]
HS-PS3-3. Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices. Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators. Examples of constraints could include use of renewable energy forms and efficiency.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment for quantitative evaluations is limited to total output for a given input. Assessment is limited to devices constructed with materials provided to students.]
HS-PS3–5. Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include drawings, diagrams, and texts, such as drawings of what happens when two charges of opposite polarity are near each other.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems containing two objects.]
HS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include electromagnetic radiation traveling in a vacuum and glass, sound waves traveling through air and water, and seismic waves traveling through the Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to algebraic relationships and describing those relationships qualitatively.]
HS-PS4-2. Evaluate questions about the advantages of using a digital transmission and storage of information. [Clarification Statement: Examples of advantages could include that digital information is stable because it can be stored reliably in computer memory, transferred easily, and copied and shared rapidly. Disadvantages could include issues of easy deletion, security, and theft.]
HS-PS4-3. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how the experimental evidence supports the claim and how a theory is generally modified in light of new evidence. Examples of a phenomenon could include resonance, interference, diffraction, and photoelectric effect.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include using quantum theory.]
HS-PS4-4. Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that photons associated with different frequencies of light have different energies, and the damage to living tissue from electromagnetic radiation depends on the energy of the radiation. Examples of published materials could include trade books, magazines, web resources, videos, and other passages that may reflect bias.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative descriptions.]
HS-PS4-5. Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.* [Clarification Statement: Examples could include solar cells capturing light and converting it to electricity; medical imaging; and communications technology.] [Assessment Boundary: Assesments are limited to qualitative information. Assessments do not include band theory.]
HS-ESS1-1. Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the energy transfer mechanisms that allow energy from nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to reach Earth. Examples of evidence for the model include observations of the masses and lifetimes of other stars, as well as the ways that the sun’s radiation varies due to sudden solar flares (“space weather”), the 11-year sunspot cycle, and non-cyclic variations over centuries.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the atomic and sub-atomic processes involved with the sun’s nuclear fusion.]
HS-ESS1-2. Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the astronomical evidence of the red shift of light from galaxies as an indication that the universe is currently expanding, the cosmic microwave background as the remnant radiation from the Big Bang, and the observed composition of ordinary matter of the universe, primarily found in stars and interstellar gases (from the spectra of electromagnetic radiation from stars), which matches that predicted by the Big Bang theory (3/4 hydrogen and 1/4 helium).]
HS-ESS1-3. Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the way nucleosynthesis, and therefore the different elements created, varies as a function of the mass of a star and the stage of its lifetime.] [Assessment Boundary: Details of the many different nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses are not assessed.]
HS-ESS1-4. Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on Newtonian gravitational laws governing orbital motions, which apply to human-made satellites as well as planets and moons.] [Assessment Boundary: Mathematical representations for the gravitational attraction of bodies and Kepler’s Laws of orbital motions should not deal with more than two bodies, nor involve calculus.]
HS-ESS1-5. Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ability of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks. Examples include evidence of the ages, oceanic crust increasing with distance from mid-ocean ridges (a result of plate spreading), and the ages of North American continental crust increasing with distance away from a central ancient core (a result of past plate interactions).]
HS-ESS1-6. Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using available evidence within the solar system to reconstruct the early history of Earth, which formed along with the rest of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Examples of evidence include the absolute ages of ancient materials (obtained by radiometric dating of meteorites, moon rocks, and Earth’s oldest minerals), the sizes and compositions of solar system objects, and the impact cratering record of planetary surfaces.]
HS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how the appearance of land features (such as mountains, valleys, and plateaus) and sea-floor features (such as trenches, ridges, and seamounts) are a result of both constructive forces (such as volcanism, tectonic uplift, and orogeny) and destructive mechanisms (such as weathering, mass wasting, and coastal erosion).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include memorization of the details of the formation of specific geographic features of Earth’s surface.]
HS-ESS3-2. Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conservation, recycling, and reuse of resources (such as minerals and metals) where possible, and on minimizing impacts where it is not. Examples include developing best practices for agricultural soil use, mining (for coal, tar sands, and oil shales), and pumping (for petroleum and natural gas). Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen.]
HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors that affect the management of natural resources include costs of resource extraction and waste management, per-capita consumption, and the development of new technologies. Examples of factors that affect human sustainability include agricultural efficiency, levels of conservation, and urban planning.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment for computational simulations is limited to using provided multi-parameter programs or constructing simplified spreadsheet calculations.]
HS-ETS1-1. Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ETS1-2. Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
HS-ETS1-4. Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.