Post date: Jul 05, 2016 9:46:59 PM
Below is a table showing the DCIs as they are arranged by grade level. WARNING: The table is a bit misleading unless you remember that NGSS spirals from grade-level to grade level. For example, look at the bottom how it says that 4th grade introduces "Electromagnetic Radiation." That phrase is the category within the larger scientific picture, not a specific description of what students learn. In fact, students are just learning about how light reflects off some objects and gets absorbed by others. Students will build on these simple concepts of light when they learn more about electromagnetic radiation in future grade levels. There is a similar situation with "Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions." Students do not learn about plate tectonics in fourth grade, but they do learn pre-requisite background knowledge (mountain ranges, earthquakes, volcanoes, and seafloor features have specific patterns, but students don't explain these patterns until 6th grade). Other topics, like 'biogeology' may not make any sense at all in this table (in this case, they are simply learning that vegetation affects the rate of erosion in an area).
(Click on the link at the bottom to download a printable PDF of this table).
Arrangement of Disciplinary Core Ideas in Grades 3-5