What is the NGSS & 3 Dimensional Science Learning and Why is it Important?

Science Practices  -  Disciplinary Core Ideas  -  Crosscutting Concepts

HS-ESS1-1: Nuclear Fusion and the Sun's Energy

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 in the form of radiation. (Scale, Proportion, and Quantity)

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.

Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include details of the atomic and sub-atomic processes involved with the sun’s nuclear fusion.

HS-ESS1-2: The Big Bang Theory

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. (Energy and Matter)

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).

Boundary Statement: none

HS-ESS1-3: Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements. (Energy and Matter)

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.

Boundary Statement: Details of the many different nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses are not assessed.

HS-ESS1-4: Orbital Motions

Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. (Scale, Proportion, and Quantity)

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on Newtonian gravitational laws governing orbital motions, which apply to human-made satellites as well as planets and moons.

Boundary Statement: 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.