The Next Generation Science Standards is a multi-state effort to create new education standards that are "rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education."The NGSS Standards are national standards that guide science instruction in K-12 schools. These standards have been adopted by some, but not all states as the primary instructional guides. As of December 2016, over 40 states have shown interest in adopting the NGSS as state standards, but only 18 states, along with the District of Columbia have actually adopted them.  NGSS gives a broader, more process-oriented view of science in the classroom. Each subject area is broken down into content areas, which for high school are: Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth and Space Sciences.

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https://www.nextgenscience.org/grades/middle-school-6-8

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Middle School Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) 

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          Students in middle school continue to develop their understanding of the three disciplinary core ideas in the Earth and Space Sciences. The middle school performance expectations in Earth Space Science build on the elementary school ideas and skills and allow middle school students to explain more in-depth phenomena central not only to the earth and space sciences, but to life and physical sciences as well. These performance expectations blend the core ideas with scientific and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge to explain ideas across the science disciplines. While the performance expectations shown in middle school earth and space science couple particular practices with specific disciplinary core ideas, instructional decisions should include use of many practices that lead to the performance expectations.

 

          The performance expectations in ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe, help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “What is Earth’s place in the Universe, What makes up our solar system and how can the motion of Earth explain seasons and eclipses, and How do people figure out that the Earth and life on Earth have changed through time?” The ESS1 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into three sub-ideas: the universe and its stars, Earth and the solar system and the history of planet Earth. Students examine the Earth’s place in relation to the solar system, Milky Way galaxy, and universe. There is a strong emphasis on a systems approach, using models of the solar system to explain astronomical and other observations of the cyclic patterns of eclipses and seasons. There is also a strong connection to engineering through the instruments and technologies that have allowed us to explore the objects in our solar system and obtain the data that support the theories that explain the formation and evolution of the universe. Students examine geoscience data in order to understand the processes and events in Earth’s history. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, scale, proportion, and quantity, and systems and systems modeling are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS1 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, analyzing data, and constructing explanations and designing solutions; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

 

          The performance expectations in ESS2: Earth’s Systems, help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “How do the materials in and on Earth’s crust change over time, How does the movement of tectonic plates impact the surface of Earth, How does water influence weather, circulate in the oceans, and shape Earth’s surface, What factors interact and influence weather, and How have living organisms changed the Earth and how have Earth’s changing conditions impacted living organisms?” The ESS2 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into five sub-ideas: Earth materials and systems, plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions, the roles of water in Earth’s surface processes, weather and climate, and biogeology. Students understand how Earth’s geosystems operate by modeling the flow of energy and cycling of matter within and among different systems. Students investigate the controlling properties of important materials and construct explanations based on the analysis of real geoscience data. Of special importance in both topics are the ways that geoscience processes provide resources needed by society but also cause natural hazards that present risks to society; both involve technological challenges, for the identification and development of resources. Students develop understanding of the factors that control weather. A systems approach is also important here, examining the feedbacks between systems as energy from the sun is transferred between systems and circulates though the ocean and atmosphere. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, scale proportion and quantity, systems and system models, energy and matter, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, and constructing explanations; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

 

          The performance expectations in ESS3: Earth and Human Activity help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “How is the availability of needed natural resources related to naturally occurring processes, How can natural hazards be predicted, How do human activities affect Earth systems, How do we know our global climate is changing?” The ESS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework is broken down into four sub-ideas: natural resources, natural hazards, human impact on Earth systems, and global climate change. Students understand the ways that human activities impacts Earth’s other systems. Students use many different practices to understand the significant and complex issues surrounding human uses of land, energy, mineral, and water resources and the resulting impacts of their development. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, and stability and change are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the ESS3 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in asking questions, developing and using models, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions and engaging in argument; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

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