Grade 7 Science CA Core Standards

Earth’s Systems

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Earth and Human Activity

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Engineering Design

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.*

Matter and Its Interactions

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.*

PRINCIPLE I: People Depend on Natural Systems The continuation and health of individual human lives and of human communities and societies depend on the health of the natural systems that provide essential goods and ecosystem services.

The goods produced by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.

The ecosystem services provided by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.

That the quality, quantity, and reliability of the goods and ecosystem services provided by natural systems are directly affected by the health of those systems.

PRINCIPLE II: People Influence Natural Systems The long‐term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

Direct and indirect changes to natural systems due to the growth of human populations and their consumption rates influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

Methods used to extract, harvest, transport, and consume natural resources influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

The expansion and operation of human communities influences the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

The legal, economic, and political systems that govern the use and management of natural systems directly influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

PRINCIPLE III: Natural Systems Change in Ways that People Benefit from and can Influence Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from and can alter.

Natural systems proceed through cycles and processes that are required for their functioning.

Human practices depend upon and benefit from the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.

Human practices can alter the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.

PRINCIPLE IV: There are no Permanent or Impermeable Boundaries that Prevent Matter from Flowing Between Systems The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long‐ term functioning of both.

The effects of human activities on natural systems are directly related to the quantities of resources consumed and to the quantity and characteristics of the resulting byproducts.

The byproducts of human activity are not readily prevented from entering natural systems and may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental in their effect.

The capacity of natural systems to adjust to human-caused alterations depends on the nature of the system as well as the scope, scale, and duration of the activity and the nature of its byproducts

PRINCIPLE V: Decisions Affecting Resources and Natural Systems are Complex and Involve Many Factors Decisions affecting resources and natural systems are based on a wide range of considerations and decision‐making processes.

There is a spectrum of what is considered in making decisions about resources and natural systems and how those factors influence decisions.

The process of making decisions about resources and natural systems, and how the assessment of social, economic, political, and environmental factors has changed over time.

World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times

Historical Interpretation

Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

Students construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.

Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.

Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long-and short-term causal relations.

Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.

Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.

Students recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.

Students interpret basic indicators of economic performance and conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.

Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.

Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories.

Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.

Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author's perspectives).

Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire.

Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, under-mining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).

Discuss the geographic borders of the empire at its height and the factors that threatened its territorial cohesion.

Describe the establishment by Constantine of the new capital in Constantinople and the development of the Byzantine Empire, with an emphasis on the consequences of the development of two distinct European civilizations, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and their two distinct views on church-state relations.

Students analyze the historical developments of the Scientific Revolution and its lasting effect on religious, political, and cultural institutions.

Discuss the roots of the Scientific Revolution (e.g., Greek rationalism; Jewish, Christian, and Muslim science; Renaissance humanism; new knowledge from global exploration).

Understand the significance of the new scientific theories (e.g., those of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton) and the significance of new inventions (e.g., the telescope, microscope, thermometer, barometer).

Understand the scientific method advanced by Bacon and Descartes, the influence of new scientific rationalism on the growth of demo­cratic ideas, and the coexistence of science with traditional religious beliefs.

Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).

Know the great voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes, and the influence of cartography in the development of a new European worldview.

Discuss the exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, and ideas among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the major economic and social effects on each continent.

Examine the origins of modern capitalism; the influence of mercantil­ism and cottage industry; the elements and importance of a market economy in seventeenth-century Europe; the changing international trading and marketing patterns, including their locations on a world map; and the influence of explorers and map makers.

Explain how the main ideas of the Enlightenment can be traced back to such movements as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution and to the Greeks, Romans, and Christianity.

Describe how democratic thought and institutions were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers (e.g., John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, American founders).

Discuss how the principles in the Magna Carta were embodied in such documents as the English Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence.

Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

Identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life.

Trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.

Explain the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims' daily life.

Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.

Describe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab society.

Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.

Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.

Describe the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan.

Describe agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during the Tang and Song periods.

Analyze the influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought during the Song and Mongol periods.

Understand the importance of both overland trade and maritime expeditions between China and other civilizations in the Mongol Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty.

Trace the historic influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufac­ture of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, and gunpowder.

Describe the development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class.

Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.

Study the Niger River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest, savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and slaves; and the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires.

Analyze the importance of family, labor specialization, and regional commerce in the development of states and cities in West Africa.

Describe the role of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing religious and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the influence of Islamic beliefs, ethics, and law.

Trace the growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic scholarship in West Africa.

Describe the importance of written and oral traditions in the trans-mission of African history and culture.

Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Japan.

Describe the significance of Japan's proximity to China and Korea and the intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical influence of those countries on Japan.

Discuss the reign of Prince Shotoku of Japan and the characteristics of Japanese society and family life during his reign.

Describe the values, social customs, and traditions prescribed by the Content lord-vassal system consisting of shogun, daimyo, and samurai and lasting influence of the warrior code throughout the twentieth century.

Trace the development of distinctive forms of Japanese Buddhism.

Study the ninth and tenth centuries' golden age of literature, art, and drama and its lasting effects on culture today, including Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji.

Analyze the rise of a military society in the late twelfth century and the role of the samurai in that society.

Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe.

Study the geography of Europe and the Eurasian land mass, including their location, topography, waterways, vegetation, and climate and their relationship to ways of life in Medieval Europe.

Describe the spread of Christianity north of the Alps and the roles played by the early church and by monasteries in its diffusion after the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire.

Understand the development of feudalism, its role in the medieval European economy, the way in which it was influenced by physical geography (the role of the manor and the growth of towns), and how feudal relationships provided the foundation of political order.

Demonstrate an understanding of the conflict and cooperation between the Papacy and European monarchs (e.g., Charlemagne, Gregory VII, Emperor Henry IV).

Know the significance of developments in medieval English legal and constitutional practices and their importance in the rise of modern democratic thought and representative institutions (e.g., Magna Carta, parliament, development of habeas corpus, an independent judiciary in England).

Discuss the causes and course of the religious Crusades and their effects on the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Europe, with emphasis on the increasing contact by Europeans with cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean world.

Map the spread of the bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the Middle East, and Europe and describe its impact on global population.

Understand the importance of the Catholic church as a political, intellectual, and aesthetic institution (e.g., founding of universities, political and spiritual roles of the clergy, creation of monastic and mendicant religious orders, preservation of the Latin language and religious texts, St. Thomas Aquinas's synthesis of classical philosophy with Christian theology, and the concept of "natural law").

Know the history of the decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian Penin-Grade Seven sula that culminated in the Reconquista and the rise of Spanish Portuguese kingdoms.

Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso-American and Andean civilizations.

Study the locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America, and South America and their effects on Mayan, Aztec, and Incan economies, trade, and development of urban societies.

Study the roles of people in each society, including class structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery.

Explain how and where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish.

Describe the artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three civilizations.

Describe the Meso-American achievements in astronomy and mathematics, including the development of the calendar and the Meso-American knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations' agricultural systems.

Students analyze the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of the Renaissance.

Describe the way in which the revival of classical learning and the arts fostered a new interest in humanism (i.e., a balance between intellect and religious faith).

Explain the importance of Florence in the early stages of the Renais­sance and the growth of independent trading cities (e.g., Venice), with emphasis on the cities' importance in the spread of Renaissance ideas.

Understand the effects of the reopening of the ancient "Silk Road" between Europe and China, including Marco Polo's travels and the location of his routes.

Describe the growth and effects of new ways of disseminating infor­mation (e.g., the ability to manufacture paper, translation of the Bible into the vernacular, printing).

Detail advances made in literature, the arts, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, and the understanding of human anatomy and astronomy (e.g., by Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo di Buonarroti Simoni, Johann Gutenberg, William Shakespeare).

Students analyze the historical developments of the Reformation.

List the causes for the internal turmoil in and weakening of the Catholic church (e.g., tax policies, selling of indulgences).

Describe the theological, political, and economic ideas of the major figures during the Reformation (e.g., Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale).

Explain Protestants' new practices of church self-government and the influence of those practices on the development of democratic practices and ideas of federalism.

Identify and locate the European regions that remained Catholic and those that became Protestant and explain how the division affected the distribution of religions in the New World.

Analyze how the Counter Reformation revitalized the Catholic church and the forces that fostered the movement (e.g., St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, the Council of Trent).

Understand the institution and impact of missionaries on Christianity and the diffusion of Christianity from Europe to other parts of the world in the medieval and early modern periods; locate missions on a world map.

Describe the Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature, and science, including how that cooperation was terminated by the religious persecution of individuals and groups (e.g., the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492).

How did major religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism) and cultural systems (Confucianism, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment) develop and change over time? How did they spread to multiple cultures?

Why did many states and empires gain more power over people and territories over the course of medieval and early modern times?

How did the environment and technological innovations affect the expansion of agriculture, cities, and human population? What impact did human expansion have on the environment?

What were the multiple ways people of different cultures interacted at sites of encounter? What were the effects of their interactions?

How did the distant regions of the world become more interconnected through medieval and early modern times?

The World in 300 CE

How interconnected were the distant regions of the world in 300 CE?

The Impact of Ideas, 1500–1750

How did the Reformation divide the Christian Church, millions of people, and European states?

How did world religions change and spread during the early modern period?

What were the effects of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution?

Why were natural rights, the social contract, and other ideas of the Enlightenment revolutionary?

Rome and Christendom, 300 CE–1200

How did the environment and technological innovations affect the growth and contraction of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and medieval Christendom? What impact did human expansion have on the environment?

How was Rome a site of encounter?

How did the Roman Empire gain and maintain power over people and territories?

How did the religion of Christianity develop and change over time? How did Christianity spread through the empire and to other cultures?

Did the Roman Empire fall?

How did the decentralized system of feudalism control people but weaken state power?

Southwestern Asia, 300–1200: Persia and the World of Islam

How did the environment affect the development and expansion of the Persian Empire, Muslim empires, and cities? What impact did this expansion have on the environment?

How did Islam develop and change over time? How did Islam spread to multiple cultures?

What were the multiple ways people of different cultures interacted at the sites of encounter, such as Baghdad?

Why was Norman Sicily a site of encounter?

What were the effects of the exchanges at Cairo?

How did the Muslim empires and institutions help different regions of Afroeurasia become more interconnected?

South Asia, 300–1200

Under the Gupta Empire, how did the environment, cultural and religious changes, and technological innovations affect the people of India?

How did Indian monks, nuns, merchants, travelers, and empires from what is now modern India and other parts of South Asia spread religious ideas and practices and cultural styles of art and architecture to Central and Southeast Asia?

How did the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism spread and change over time?

East Asia, 300–1300: China and Japan

How did the Tang and Song Dynasties gain and maintain power over people and territories?

How did the environmental conditions and technological innovations cause the medieval economic revolution? What were the effects of this revolution?

Why was Quanzhou such an important site of encounter?

How did Chinese culture, ideas and technologies, and Buddhism influence Korea and Japan?

What influence did samurai customs and values have on the government and society of medieval Japan?

The Americas, 300–1490

How did the environment affect the expansion of agriculture, population, cities, and empires in Mesoamerica and the Andean region?

Why did the Maya civilization, the Aztec Empire, and the Inca Empire gain power over people and territories?

How did Mesoamerican religion develop and change over time?

Under the Aztecs, why was Tenochtitlán a site of encounter?

West Africa, 900–1400

How did the environment affect the development and expansion of the Ghana and Mali Empires and the trade networks that connected them to the rest of Afroeurasia?

Why was Mali a site of encounter? What were the effects of the exchanges at Mali?

How did Arab/North African and West African perspectives differ on West African kingdoms?

Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World, 1150–1490

How did the Mongol Empire destroy states and increase the interconnection of Afroeurasia?

What were the effects of the exchanges at Majorca and Calicut?

How did increasing interconnection and trade, competition between states (and their people), and technological innovations lead to voyages of exploration?

Global Convergence, 1450–1750

What impact did human expansion in the voyages of exploration have on the environment, trade networks, and global interconnection?

What were the causes of colonialism? What were the effects of colonialism on the colonized people?

What were the effects of exchanges at Tenochtitlán/Mexico City in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries?

Was slavery always racial?

How did the gunpowder empires (Ming/Manchu China, Mughal India, Safavid Persia, Ottoman Empire, Russia, Spain, later France and England) extend their power over people and territories?

Cell Biology: All living organisms are composed of cells, from just one to many trillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know cells function similarly in all living organisms.

Students know the characteristics that distinguish plant cells from animal cells, including chloroplasts and cell walls.

Students know the nucleus is the repository for genetic information in plant and animal cells.

Students know that mitochondria liberate energy for the work that cells do and that chloroplasts capture sunlight energy for photosynthesis.

Students know cells divide to increase their numbers through a process of mitosis, which results in two daughter cells with identical sets of chromosomes.

Students know that as multicellular organisms develop, their cells differentiate.

Genetics:  A typical cell of any organism contains genetic instructions that specify its traits. Those traits may be modified by environmental influences. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know the differences between the life cycles and reproduction methods of sexual and asexual organisms.

Students know sexual reproduction produces offspring that inherit half their genes from each parent.

Students know an inherited trait can be determined by one or more genes.

Students know plant and animal cells contain many thousands of different genes and typically have two copies of every gene. The two copies (or alleles) of the gene may or may not be identical, and one may be dominant in determining the phenotype while the other is recessive.

Students know DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material of living organisms and is located in the chromosomes of each cell.

Students know both genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and diversity of organisms.

Students know the reasoning used by Charles Darwin in reaching his conclusion that natural selection is the mechanism of evolution.

Students know how independent lines of evidence from geology, fossils, and comparative anatomy provide the bases for the theory of evolution.

Students know how to construct a simple branching diagram to classify living groups of organisms by shared derived characteristics and how to expand the diagram to include fossil organisms.

Students know that extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient for its survival.

Evolution: Biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Earth and Life History (Earth Sciences):  Evidence from rocks allows us to understand the evolution of life on Earth. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know Earth processes today are similar to those that occurred in the past and slow geologic processes have large cumulative effects over long periods of time.

Students know the history of life on Earth has been disrupted by major catastrophic events, such as major volcanic eruptions or the impacts of asteroids.

Students know that the rock cycle includes the formation of new sediment and rocks and that rocks are often found in layers, with the oldest generally on the bottom

Students know that evidence from geologic layers and radioactive dating indicates Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and that life on this planet has existed for more than 3 billion years.

Students know fossils provide evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.

Students know how movements of Earth’s continental and oceanic plates through time, with associated changes in climate and geographic connections, have affected the past and present distribution of organisms.

Students know how to explain significant developments and extinctions of plant and animal life on the geologic time scale

Structure and Function in Living Systems: The anatomy and physiology of plants and animals illustrate the complementary nature of structure and function. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know plants and animals have levels of organization for structure and function, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and the whole organism.

Students know organ systems function because of the contributions of individual organs, tissues, and cells. The failure of any part can affect the entire system.

Students know how bones and muscles work together to provide a structural framework for movement.

Students know how the reproductive organs of the human female and male generate eggs and sperm and how sexual activity may lead to fertilization and pregnancy.

Students know the function of the umbilicus and placenta during pregnancy.

Students know the structures and processes by which flowering plants generate pollen, ovules, seeds, and fruit.

Students know how to relate the structures of the eye and ear to their functions.

Physical Principles in Living Systems (Physical Sciences):  Physical principles underlie biological structures and functions. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know visible light is a small band within a very broad electromagnetic spectrum.

Students know that contractions of the heart generate blood pressure and that heart valves prevent backflow of blood in the circulatory system.

Students know that for an object to be seen, light emitted by or scattered from it must be detected by the eye.

Students know light travels in straight lines if the medium it travels through does not change.

Students know how simple lenses are used in a magnifying glass, the eye, a camera, a telescope, and a microscope.

Students know that white light is a mixture of many wavelengths (colors) and that retinal cells react differently to different wavelengths.

Students know light can be reflected, refracted, transmitted, and absorbed by matter.

Students know the angle of reflection of a light beam is equal to the angle of incidence.

Students know how to compare joints in the body (wrist, shoulder, thigh) with structures used in machines and simple devices (hinge, ball-and-socket, and sliding joints).

Students know how levers confer mechanical advantage and how the application of this principle applies to the musculoskeletal system.

Investigation and Experimentation:  Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.

Use a variety of print and electronic resources (including the World Wide Web) to collect information and evidence as part of a research project.

Communicate the logical connection among hypotheses, science concepts, tests conducted, data collected, and conclusions drawn from the scientific evidence.

Construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth’s plates and cell structure).

Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.

Earth's Place in the Universe

Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Earth's Systems

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Earth and Human Activity

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Engineering Design

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells, either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.

Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.

Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.

Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals' probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.

Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Matter and Its Interactions

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.

Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Energy

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.

Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.

Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information.

Safety Law & Ethics

Social Interactions

Culture

Impacts of Computing

Program Development

Modularity

Control

Variables

Algorithms

Algorithms & Programming

Inference & Models

Collection Visualization & Transformation

Storage

Data & Analysis

Cybersecurity

Network Communication & Organization

Networks & the Internet

Troubleshooting

Hardware & Software

Devices

Computing Systems

Use flowcharts and/or pseudocode to design and illustrate algorithms that solve complex problems.

Create clearly named variables that store data, and perform operations on their contents.

Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures and use compound conditions.

Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.

Create procedures with parameters to organize code and make it easier to reuse.

Seek and incorporate feedback from team members and users to refine a solution that meets user needs.

Incorporate existing code, media, and libraries into original programs, and give attribution.

Systematically test and refine programs using a range of test cases.

Distribute tasks and maintain a project timeline when collaboratively developing computational artifacts.

Document programs in order to make them easier to use, read, test, and debug.

Design modifications to computing devices in order to improve the ways users interact with the devices.

Design a project that combines hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.

Systematically apply troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve hardware and software problems in computing systems.

Represent data in multiple ways.

Collect data using computational tools and transform the data to make it more useful.

Test and analyze the effects of changing variables while using computational models.

Compare tradeoffs associated with computing technologies that affect people’s everyday activities and career options.

Discuss issues of bias and accessibility in the design of existing technologies.

Collaborate with many contributors when creating a computational artifact.

Compare tradeoffs associated with licenses for computational artifacts to balance the protection of the creators’ rights and the ability for others to use and modify the artifacts.

Compare tradeoffs between allowing information to be public and keeping information private and secure.

Model the role of protocols in transmitting data across networks and the internet.

Explain potential security threats and security measures to mitigate threats.

Apply multiple methods of information protection to model the secure transmission of information.

Patterns – Observed patterns in nature guide organization and classification and prompt questions about relationships and causes underlying them.

Macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure.

Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems.

Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.

Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction – Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. Deciphering causal relationships, and the mechanisms by which they are mediated, is a major activity of science and engineering.

Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability.

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity – In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.

Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

The observed function of natural and designed systems may change with scale.

Proportional relationships (e.g., speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes.

Scientific relationships can be represented through the use of algebraic expressions and equations.

Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale

Systems and System Models – A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.

Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and be a part of larger complex systems.

Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy, matter, and information flows within systems.

Models are limited in that they only represent certain aspects of the system under study

Energy and Matter: Flows, Cycles, and Conservation – Tracking energy and matter flows, into, out of, and within systems helps one understand their system’s behavior

Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes.

Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.

Energy may take different forms (e.g. energy in fields, thermal energy, energy of motion).

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system.

Structure and Function – The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions

Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled, and used to describe how their function depends on the shapes, composition, and relationships among its parts; therefore, complex natural and designed structures/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function.

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used.

Stability and Change – For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.

Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales, including the atomic scale.

Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part.

Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.

Systems in dynamic equilibrium are stable due to a balance of feedback mechanisms.

Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables, and clarifying arguments and models

Ask questions * that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information. * to identify and/or clarify evidence and/or the premise(s) of an argument. * to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables and relationships in models.. * to clarify and/or refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.

Ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer. * Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles.

Ask questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument or the interpretation of a data set.

Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions.

Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.

Evaluate limitations of a model for a proposed object or tool.

Develop or modify a model—based on evidence – to match what happens if a variable or component of a system is changed.

Use and/or develop a model of simple systems with uncertain and less predictable factors.

Develop and/or revise a model to show the relationships among variables, including those that are not observable but predict observable phenomena.

Develop and/or use a model to predict and/or describe phenomena.

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms.

Develop and/or use a model to generate data to test ideas about phenomena in natural or designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs, and those at unobservable scales.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim.

Conduct an investigation and/or evaluate and/or revise the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that meet the goals of the investigation.

Evaluate the accuracy of various methods for collecting data.

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions

Collect data about the performance of a proposed object, tool, process, or system under a range of conditions.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.

Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.

Distinguish between causal and correlational relationships in data.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including mean, median, mode, and variability) to analyze and characterize data, using digital tools when feasible.

Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error), and/or seek to improve precision and accuracy of data with better technological tools and methods (e.g., multiple trials).

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.

Analyze data to define an optimal operational range for a proposed object, tool, process or system that best meets criteria for success.

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.

Use digital tools (e.g., computers) to analyze very large data sets for patterns and trends.

Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions

Create algorithms (a series of ordered steps) to solve a problem.

Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (such as ratio, rate, percent, basic operations, and simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions and problems.

Use digital tools and/or mathematical concepts and arguments to test and compare proposed solutions to an engineering design problem.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K– 5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena.

Construct an explanation using models or representations.

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use an explanation for realworld phenomena, examples, or events.

Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation or conclusion.

Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and/or test a design of an object, tool, process or system.

Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints.

Optimize performance of a design by prioritizing criteria, making tradeoffs, testing, revising, and retesting

Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).

Compare and critique two arguments on the same topic and analyze whether they emphasize similar or different evidence and/or interpretations of facts.

Respectfully provide and receive critiques about one’s explanations, procedures, models and questions by citing relevant evidence and posing and responding to questions that elicit pertinent elaboration and detail.

Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.

Make an oral or written argument that supports or refutes the advertised performance of a device, process, or system, based on empirical evidence concerning whether or not the technology meets relevant criteria and constraints.

Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria.

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.

Critically read scientific texts adapted for classroom use to determine the central ideas and/or obtain scientific and/or technical information to describe patterns in and/or evidence about the natural and designed world(s).

Integrate qualitative and/or quantitative scientific and/or technical information in written text with that contained in media and visual displays to clarify claims and findings.

Gather, read, synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence.

Evaluate data, hypotheses, and/or conclusions in scientific and technical texts in light of competing information or accounts.

Communicate scientific and/or technical information (e.g. about a proposed object, tool, process, system) in writing and/or through oral presentations

The Impact of Ideas, 1500–1750

Global Convergence, 1450–1750

Sites of Encounter in Medieval World, 1150–1490

West Africa, 900–1400

The Americas, 300–1490

East Asia, 300–1300: China and Japan

South Asia, 300–1200

Southwestern Asia, 300–1200: Persia and the World of Islam

Rome and Christendom, 300 CE–1200

The World in 300 CE