Unit 4 - Fusion

• Level 4: In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught.

• Level 3:

A. Students will 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. HS-ESS1-1

B. Students will use their model (HR Diagram) to communicate how different elements (matter) are produced throughout the various stages in a star's lifecycle. HS-ESS1-3

• Level 2:

A1. Students will construct a model to demonstrate the process of nuclear fusion that includes how hydrogen acts as the sun’s fuel to produce helium and energy. (Describe how lighter elements (hydrogen) through collisions can form other light elements (helium).

A2. Students will discuss how nuclear fusion produces energy in the form of radiation that reaches Earth

B1. Students will use the quantity of hydrogen as a contributing factor to determine the age of a star.

B2. Students will describe how massive elements, up to iron, are produced in cores of stars by a chain of processes of nuclear fusion, which also releases energy, in order to determine the stage a star is in in their lifecycle.

B3. Students will discuss how data from stellar observations is used to create the HR Diagram.

• Level 1: Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.