High School Science CA Core Standards

Science is a result of human endeavors, imagination, and creativity.

Science and engineering are influenced by society and society is influenced by science and engineering.

Technological advances have influenced the progress of science and science has influenced advances in technology.

Science is a Human Endeavor

Scientific knowledge is based on the assumption that natural laws operate today as they did in the past and they will continue to do so in the future.

Science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent.

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

Many decisions are not made using science alone, but rely on social and cultural contexts to resolve issues.

Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen. The latter involves ethics, values, and human decisions about the use of knowledge.

Science and technology may raise ethical issues for which science, by itself, does not provide answers and solutions.

Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World

Science and engineering complement each other in the cycle known as research and development (R&D). Many R&D projects may involve scientists, engineers, and others with wide ranges of expertise.

Science and engineering complement each other in the cycle known as research and development (R&D).

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Analysis of costs and benefits is a critical aspect of decisions about technology.

New technologies can have deep impacts on society and the environment, including some that were not anticipated.

New technologies can have deep impacts on society and the environment, including some that were not anticipated. Analysis of costs and benefits is a critical aspect of decisions about technology.

Engineers continuously modify these technological systems by applying scientific knowledge and engineering design practices to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks.

Modern civilization depends on major technological systems.

Modern civilization depends on major technological systems. Engineers continuously modify these technological systems by applying scientific knowledge and engineering design practices to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks.

Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible.

Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system.

Systems can be designed for greater or lesser stability.

Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

The functions and properties of natural and designed objects and systems can be inferred from their overall structure, the way their components are shaped and used, and the molecular substructures of its various materials.

Investigating or designing new systems or structures requires a detailed examination of the properties of different materials, the structures of different components, and connections of components to reveal its function and/or solve a problem.

Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed—it only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.

The total amount of energy and matter in closed systems is conserved.

In nuclear processes, atoms are not conserved, but the total number of protons plus neutrons is conserved.

Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions—including energy, matter, and information flows—within and between systems at different scales.

Models can be used to predict the behavior of a system, but these predictions have limited precision and reliability due to the assumptions and approximations inherent in models.

When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models.

When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined.

Algebraic thinking is used to examine scientific data and predict the effect of a change in one variable on another (e.g., linear growth vs. exponential growth).

Using the concept of orders of magnitude allows one to understand how a model at one scale relates to a model at another scale.

The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs.

Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural and human designed systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system.

Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect.

Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.

Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Use mathematical models and/or computer simulations to predict the effects of a design solution on systems and/or the interactions between systems.

Use a computational representation of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.

Use mathematical or computational representations of phenomena to describe explanations.

Create or revise a simulation of a phenomenon, designed device, process, or system.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena or design solutions to support claims.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena or design solutions to support and revise explanations.

Use mathematical and/or computational representations of phenomena or design solutions to support explanations.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.

Create a computational model or simulation of a phenomenon, designed device, process, or system.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena to describe explanations.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena to support claims.

Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and nonlinear functions including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.

Models, mechanisms, and explanations collectively serve as tools in the development of a scientific theory.

A scientific theory is a substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment and the science community validates each theory before it is accepted. If new evidence is discovered that the theory does not accommodate, the theory is generally modified in light of this new evidence.

Laws are statements or descriptions of the relationships among observable phenomena.

Theories and laws provide explanations in science.

Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena

Scientific argumentation is a mode of logical discourse used to clarify the strength of relationships between ideas and evidence that may result in revision of an explanation.

Most scientific knowledge is quite durable, but is, in principle, subject to change based on new evidence and/or reinterpretation of existing evidence.

Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence

Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation.

Science includes the process of coordinating patterns of evidence with current theory.

Science disciplines share common rules of evidence used to evaluate explanations about natural systems.

Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence.

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

New technologies advance scientific knowledge.

Science investigations use diverse methods and do not always use the same set of procedures to obtain data.

Scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include: logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism, replicability of results, and honest and ethical reporting of findings.

Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods

Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly.

Planning and carrying out investigations in 9-12 builds on K-8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.

Communicate scientific ideas (e.g. about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).

Communicate scientific information (e.g., about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).

Communicate technical information or ideas (e.g. about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).

Evaluate the validity and reliability of multiple claims that appear in scientific and technical texts or media reports, verifying the data when possible.

Communicate scientific and technical information (e.g. about the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.

Evaluate competing design solutions to a real-world problem based on scientific ideas and principles, empirical evidence, and logical arguments regarding relevant factors (e.g. economic, societal, environmental, ethical considerations).

Construct an oral and written argument or counter-arguments based on data and evidence.

Evaluate the evidence behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments.

Make and defend a claim based on evidence about the natural world that reflects scientific knowledge, and student-generated evidence.

Evaluate the evidence behind currently accepted explanations to determine the merits of arguments.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments.

Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about natural and designed worlds. Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.

Use a model to provide mechanistic accounts of phenomena.

Use a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

Develop and use a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

Use a model to predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed worlds.

Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Design a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Design or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Apply scientific reasoning to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion.

Design, evaluate, and refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students' own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) 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.

Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Apply scientific ideas to solve a design problem, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.

Refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

Construct and revise an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students' own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) 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 principles and evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.

Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student-generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Analyze complex real-world problems by specifying criteria and constraints for successful solutions.

Ask questions that arise from examining models or a theory to clarify relationships.

Evaluate questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument, the interpretation of a data set, or the suitability of a design.

Asking questions and defining problems in grades 9–12 builds from grades K–8 experiences and progresses to formulating, refining, and evaluating empirically testable questions and design problems using models and simulations.

Analyze data using computational models in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including determining function fits to data, slope, intercept, and correlation coefficient for linear fits) to scientific and engineering questions and problems, using digital tools when feasible.

Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.

Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.

Science and Engineering Practices

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

CCC 1:  Patterns

CCC 2:  Cause and Effect

CCC 3:  Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

CCC 4:  Systems and System Models

CCC 5:  Energy and Matter

CCC 6:  Structure and Function

CCC 7:  Stability and Change

Engineering Design

Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.

Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.

Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Use a mathematical representation to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

Feedback mechanisms maintain a living system's internal conditions within certain limits and mediate behaviors, allowing it to remain alive and functional even as external conditions change within some range. Feedback mechanisms can encourage (through positive feedback) or discourage (negative feedback) what is going on inside the living system.

Multicellular organisms have a hierarchical structural organization, in which any one system is made up of numerous parts and is itself a component of the next level.

All cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the instructions that code for the formation of proteins, which carry out most of the work of cells.

Systems of specialized cells within organisms help them perform the essential functions of life.

Structure and Function

In multicellular organisms individual cells grow and then divide via a process called mitosis, thereby allowing the organism to grow. The organism begins as a single cell (fertilized egg) that divides successively to produce many cells, with each parent cell passing identical genetic material (two variants of each chromosome pair) to both daughter cells. Cellular division and differentiation produce and maintain a complex organism, composed of systems of tissues and organs that work together to meet the needs of the whole organism.

Growth and Development of Organisms

As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another. Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds are formed that can transport energy to muscles. Cellular respiration also releases the energy needed to maintain body temperature despite ongoing energy transfer to the surrounding environment.

As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different products.

The sugar molecules thus formed contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen: their hydrocarbon backbones are used to make amino acids and other carbon-based molecules that can be assembled into larger molecules (such as proteins or DNA), used for example to form new cells.

The process of photosynthesis converts light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen.

Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem.

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important components of the carbon cycle, in which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and geosphere through chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes.

Plants or algae form the lowest level of the food web. At each link upward in a food web, only a small fraction of the matter consumed at the lower level is transferred upward, to produce growth and release energy in cellular respiration at the higher level. Given this inefficiency, there are generally fewer organisms at higher levels of a food web. Some matter reacts to release energy for life functions, some matter is stored in newly made structures, and much is discarded. The chemical elements that make up the molecules of organisms pass through food webs and into and out of the atmosphere and soil, and they are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in an ecosystem, matter and energy are conserved.

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration (including anaerobic processes) provide most of the energy for life processes.

Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

roup behavior has evolved because membership can increase the chances of survival for individuals and their genetic relatives.

Social Interactions and Group Behavior

Each chromosome consists of a single very long DNA molecule, and each gene on the chromosome is a particular segment of that DNA. The instructions for forming species' characteristics are carried in DNA. All cells in an organism have the same genetic content, but the genes used (expressed) by the cell may be regulated in different ways. Not all DNA codes for a protein; some segments of DNA are involved in regulatory or structural functions, and some have no as-yet known function.

Inheritance of Traits

Environmental factors also affect expression of traits, and hence affect the probability of occurrences of traits in a population. Thus the variation and distribution of traits observed depends on both genetic and environmental factors.

In sexual reproduction, chromosomes can sometimes swap sections during the process of meiosis (cell division), thereby creating new genetic combinations and thus more genetic variation. Although DNA replication is tightly regulated and remarkably accurate, errors do occur and result in mutations, which are also a source of genetic variation. Environmental factors can also cause mutations in genes, and viable mutations are inherited.

Variation of Traits

Genetic information provides evidence of evolution. DNA sequences vary among species, but there are many overlaps; in fact, the ongoing branching that produces multiple lines of descent can be inferred by comparing the DNA sequences of different organisms. Such information is also derivable from the similarities and differences in amino acid sequences and from anatomical and embryological evidence.

Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

The traits that positively affect survival are more likely to be reproduced, and thus are more common in the population.

Natural selection occurs only if there is both (1) variation in the genetic information between organisms in a population and (2) variation in the expression of that genetic information—that is, trait variation—that leads to differences in performance among individuals.

Natural Selection

Species become extinct because they can no longer survive and reproduce in their altered environment. If members cannot adjust to change that is too fast or drastic, the opportunity for the species' evolution is lost.

Changes in the physical environment, whether naturally occurring or human induced, have thus contributed to the expansion of some species, the emergence of new distinct species as populations diverge under different conditions, and the decline–and sometimes the extinction–of some species.

Adaptation also means that the distribution of traits in a population can change when conditions change.

Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.

Evolution is a consequence of the interaction of four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for an environment's limited supply of the resources that individuals need in order to survive and reproduce, and (4) the ensuing proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in that environment.

Adaptation

Humans depend on the living world for the resources and other benefits provided by biodiversity. But human activity is also having adverse impacts on biodiversity through overpopulation, overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, and climate change. Thus sustaining biodiversity so that ecosystem functioning and productivity are maintained is essential to supporting and enhancing life on Earth. Sustaining biodiversity also aids humanity by preserving landscapes of recreational or inspirational value.

Biodiversity is increased by the formation of new species (speciation) and decreased by the loss of species (extinction).

Biodiversity and Humans

All cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the instructions that code for the formation of proteins.

SEP 1:  Asking Questions and Defining Problems

SEP 2:  Developing and Using Models

SEP 3:  Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

SEP 4:  Analyzing and Interpreting Data

SEP 5:  Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

SEP 6:  Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

SEP 7:  Engaging in Argument from Evidence

SEP 8:  Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Moreover, anthropogenic changes (induced by human activity) in the environment—including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change—can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.

A complex set of interactions within an ecosystem can keep its numbers and types of organisms relatively constant over long periods of time under stable conditions. If a modest biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, it may return to its more or less original status (i.e., the ecosystem is resilient), as opposed to becoming a very different ecosystem. Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population, however, can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability.

Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience

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.

Identifying the evidence to answer this question

Identifying the phenomenon to be investigated

a. Students describe the phenomenon under investigation, which includes the following idea: the relationship between the measurable properties (eg., melting point, boiling point, vapor pressure, surface tension) of a substance and the strength of the electrical forces between the particles of the substance.

a. Students develop an investigation plan and describe the data that will be collected and the evidence to be derived from the data, including bulk properties of a substance(eg., melting point and boiling point, volatility, surface tension) that would allow inferences to be made about the strength of electrical forces between particles.

b. Students describe why the data about bulk properties would provide information about strength of the electrical forces between the particles of the chosen substances, including the following descriptions:

i.  The spacing of the particles of the chosen substances can change as a result of the experimental procedure even if the identity of the particles does not change(e.g. when water is boiled the molecules are still present but further apart.)

ii.  Thermal (kinetic) energy has an effect on the ability of the electrical attraction between particles to keep the particles close together.  Thus as more energy is added to the system, the forces of attraction between the particles can no longer keep the particles close together.

iii. The patterns of interaction between particles at the molecular scale are reflected in the patterns of behavior at the macroscopic scale.

iv. Together, patterns observed at multiple scales can provide evidence of the causal relationships between the strength of the electrical forces between particles and the structure of substances at the bulk scale.

Planning

a. In the investigation plan, students include:

i.  A rationale for the choice of substances to compare and a description of the composition of those substances at the atomic molecular scale.

ii.  A description of how the data will be collected, the number of trials and the experimental set up and equipment required.

b.  Students describe how the data will be collected, the number of trials, the experimental set up, and the equipment required.

Collecting

a. Students collect and record data-quantitative and/or qualitative-on the bulk properties of substances.

Refining

a. Students evaluate their investigation, including evaluation of:

i  Assessing the accuracy and precision of the ata collected, as well as the limitations of the investigation; and

ii  The ability of hte data to provide the evidence required

b. If necessary, students refine the plan to produce more accurate, precise, and useful data.

World History, Culture, and Geography: The Modern World

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Historical Interpretation

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Students relate the moral and ethical principles in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, in Judaism, and in Christianity to the development of Western political thought.

Analyze the similarities and differences in Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman views of law, reason and faith, and duties of the individual.

Trace the development of the Western political ideas of the rule of law and illegitimacy of tyranny, using selections from Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics.

Consider the influence of the U.S. Constitution on political systems in the contemporary world.

Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China.

Understand the challenges in the regions, including their geopolitical, cultural, military, and economic significance and the international relationships in which they are involved.

Describe the recent history of the regions, including political divisions and systems, key leaders, religious issues, natural features, resources, and population patterns.

Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.

Students analyze the integration of countries into the world economy and the information, technological, and communications revolutions (e.g., television, satellites, computers).

Students compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.

Compare the major ideas of philosophers and their effects on the democratic revolutions in England, the United States, France, and Latin America (e.g., John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Simón Bolívar, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison).

List the principles of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights (1689), the American Declaration of Independence (1776), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), and the U.S. Bill of Rights (1791).

Understand the unique character of the American Revolution, its spread to other parts of the world, and its continuing significance to other nations.

Explain how the ideology of the French Revolution led France to develop from constitutional monarchy to democratic despotism to the Napoleonic empire.

Discuss how nationalism spread across Europe with Napoleon but was repressed for a generation under the Congress of Vienna and Concert of Europe until the Revolutions of 1848.

Students analyze the effects of the Industrial Revolution in England, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

Analyze why England was the first country to industrialize.

Examine how scientific and technological changes and new forms of energy brought about massive social, economic, and cultural change (e.g., the inventions and discoveries of James Watt, Eli Whitney, Henry Bessemer, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison).

Describe the growth of population, rural to urban migration, and growth of cities associated with the Industrial Revolution.

Trace the evolution of work and labor, including the demise of the slave trade and the effects of immigration, mining and manufacturing, division of labor, and the union movement.

Understand the connections among natural resources, entrepreneur-ship, labor, and capital in an industrial economy.

Analyze the emergence of capitalism as a dominant economic pattern and the responses to it, including Utopianism, Social Democracy, Socialism, and Communism.

Describe the emergence of Romanticism in art and literature (e.g., the poetry of William Blake and William Wordsworth), social criticism (e.g., the novels of Charles Dickens), and the move away from Classicism in Europe.

Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.

Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonialism (e.g., the role played by national security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search for national hegemony, Social Darwinism, and the missionary impulse; material issues such as land, resources, and technology).

Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of such nations as England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Explain imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Describe the independence struggles of the colonized regions of the world, including the roles of leaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in China, and the roles of ideology and religion.

Students analyze the causes and course of the First World War.

Analyze the arguments for entering into war presented by leaders from all sides of the Great War and the role of political and economic rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, domestic discontent and disorder, and propaganda and nationalism in mobilizing the civilian population in support of "total war."

Examine the principal theaters of battle, major turning points, and the importance of geographic factors in military decisions and outcomes (e.g., topography, waterways, distance, climate).

Explain how the Russian Revolution and the entry of the United States affected the course and outcome of the war.

Understand the nature of the war and its human costs (military and civilian) on all sides of the conflict, including how colonial peoples contributed to the war effort.

Discuss human rights violations and genocide, including the Ottoman government's actions against Armenian citizens.

Students analyze the effects of the First World War.

Analyze the aims and negotiating roles of world leaders, the terms and influence of the Treaty of Versailles and Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, and the causes and effects of the United States's rejection of the League of Nations on world politics.

Describe the effects of the war and resulting peace treaties on population movement, the international economy, and shifts in the geographic and political borders of Europe and the Middle East.

Understand the widespread disillusionment with prewar institutions, authorities, and values that resulted in a void that was later filled by totalitarians.

Discuss the influence of World War I on literature, art, and intellectual life in the West (e.g., Pablo Picasso, the "lost generation" of Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway).

Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.

Understand the causes and consequences of the Russian Revolution, including Lenin's use of totalitarian means to seize and maintain control (e.g., the Gulag).

Trace Stalin's rise to power in the Soviet Union and the connection between economic policies, political policies, the absence of a free press, and systematic violations of human rights (e.g., the Terror Famine in Ukraine).

Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and dissimilar traits.

Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.

Compare the German, Italian, and Japanese drives for empire in the 1930s, including the 1937 Rape of Nanking, other atrocities in China, and the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939.

Understand the role of appeasement, nonintervention (isolationism), and the domestic distractions in Europe and the United States prior to the outbreak of World War II.

Identify and locate the Allied and Axis powers on a map and discuss the major turning points of the war, the principal theaters of conflict, key strategic decisions, and the resulting war conferences and political resolutions, with emphasis on the importance of geographic factors.

Describe the political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).

Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.

Discuss the human costs of the war, with particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.

Students analyze the international developments in the post-World World War II world.

Compare the economic and military power shifts caused by the war, including the Yalta Pact, the development of nuclear weapons, Soviet control over Eastern European nations, and the economic recoveries of Germany and Japan.

Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam, and Chile.

Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which established the pattern for America's postwar policy of supplying economic and military aid to prevent the spread of Communism and the resulting economic and political competition in arenas such as Southeast Asia (i.e., the Korean War, Vietnam War), Cuba, and Africa.

Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Zedong, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (e.g., the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square uprising).

Describe the uprisings in Poland (1952), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries' resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.

Understand how the forces of nationalism developed in the Middle East, how the Holocaust affected world opinion regarding the need for a Jewish state, and the significance and effects of the location and establishment of Israel on world affairs.

Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.

Discuss the establishment and work of the United Nations and the purposes and functions of the Warsaw Pact, SEATO, NATO, and the Organization of American States.

Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.

Students analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs.

Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods.

Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions.

Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments.

Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect.

Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

Students understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions.

Students analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues.

Students conduct cost-benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy.

Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.

Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.

Students evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors' use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications.

Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations.

Overarching Ideas

How did ideas associated with the Englightenment, the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Reason, and a variety of democratic revolutions develop and impact civil society

Why did imperial powers seek to expand their empires? How did colonies respond? What were the legacies of these conquests?

Why was the modern period defined by global conflict and cooperation, economic growth and collapse, and global independence and connnection?

The World in 1750

How were most societies organized in the 1700s?

Who held power in the 1700s? Why?

What was the divine right of kings?

1750-1917: Revolutions Reshape the World Democratic Revolutions

How were enlightened ideas a break from the past?

How did the "social contract" affect ordinary people?

What are individual or natural rights? Who received those rights in the eighteenth century?

Why did civic reformers argue for representative governments?

What were the consequences of trying to implement political revolutionary ideas in Europe, Latin America, and North America?

How do the French, American, and Haitian Revolutions compare to one another?

How is national identity constructed?

Industrial Revolutions

Should this era of industrialization be called an Industrial Revolution? Why or why not?

What were the results of the industrial revolutions? How was technology, and the environment transformed by industrialization?

How did industrial revolutions affect governments, countries, and national identity in similar and different ways?

The Rise of Imperialism and Colonialism

Why did industrialized nations embark on imperial ventures?

How did colonization work?

How was imperialism connected to race and religion?

How was imperialism similar and different between colonies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America?

What were the causes and effects of the Mexican Revolution?

How did native people respond to colonization?

Causes and Course of World War I

Why did the great war become a World War?

How was World War I a total war?

What were the consequences of World War I for nations and people?

Why did the Russian Revolution develop, and how did it become popular?

Effects of World War I

How did World War I end? What were the consequences of the postwar agreement?

How did agreements dating from the World War I and postwar periods impact the map of the Middle East?

What were the effects of World War I on ordinary people?

Why does the term "lost generation" refer to those who lived through or came of age during these years?

How did the post-World War I world order contribute to the collapse of the worldwide economy?

Rise of Totalitarian Governments after World War I

Why did communism and facism appeal to Europeans in the 1930s?

What were the key ideas of communism? How were the ideas translated on the ground?

What was totalitarianism, and how was it implemented in similar and different ways in Japan, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union?

How did Nazis come to power? Why did ordinary people suport them?

Causes and Consequenses of World War II

Why was the death toll so high during World War II?

What were the keys goals of the Axis and Allied powers? How was the war moblized on different fronts?

How did technology affect World War II?

How was World War II a total war? How did World War II's actors, goals, and strategies compare with those of World War I?

How was the Holocaust carried out?

International Developments in the Post-World War II World

How did the cold war develop?

How was the Cold War waged all over the world?

How did former colonies respond to the Cold War and liberation?

How and why did the Cold War end?

Nation-Building in the Contemporary World

How have nations organized in the post-Cold War world?

How have nations struggled in similar and different ways to achieve economic, political, and social stability?

How have developing nations worked together to idenitfy and attempt to solve challenges?

Economic Integration and Contemporary Revolutions in Information, Technology, and Communications

How has globalization affected people, nations, and capital?

How has the post-Cold War world and globalization facilitated extremist and terrorist organizations?

United States History and Geography: Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Historical Interpretation

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.

Describe the Enlightenment and the rise of democratic ideas as the context in which the nation was founded.

Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers' philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal versus state authority and growing democratization.

Examine the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the industrial revolution, including demographic shifts and the emergence in the late nineteenth century of the United States as a world power.

Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.

Explain how demands of African Americans helped produce a stimulus for civil rights, including President Roosevelt's ban on racial discrimination in defense industries in 1941, and how African Americans' service in World War II produced a stimulus for President Truman's decision to end segregation in the armed forces in 1948.

Examine and analyze the key events, policies, and court cases in the evolution of civil rights, including Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, and California Proposition 209.

Describe the collaboration on legal strategy between African American and white civil rights lawyers to end racial segregation in higher education.

Examine the roles of civil rights advocates (e.g., A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, James Farmer, Rosa Parks), including the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" speech.

Discuss the diffusion of the civil rights movement of African Americans from the churches of the rural South and the urban North, including the resistance to racial desegregation in Little Rock and Birmingham, and how the advances influenced the agendas, strategies, and effectiveness of the quests of American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans for civil rights and equal opportunities.

Analyze the passage and effects of civil rights and voting rights legislation (e.g., 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, with an emphasis on equality of access to education and to the political process.

Analyze the women's rights movement from the era of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the movement launched in the 1960s, including differing perspectives on the roles of women.

Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.

Discuss the reasons for the nation's changing immigration policy, with emphasis on how the Immigration Act of 1965 and successor acts have transformed American society.

Discuss the significant domestic policy speeches of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton (e.g., with regard to education, civil rights, economic policy, environmental policy).

Describe the changing roles of women in society as reflected in the entry of more women into the labor force and the changing family structure.

Explain the constitutional crisis originating from the Watergate scandal.

Trace the impact of, need for, and controversies associated with environmental conservation, expansion of the national park system, and the development of environmental protection laws, with particular attention to the interaction between environmental protection advocates and property rights advocates.

Analyze the persistence of poverty and how different analyses of this issue influence welfare reform, health insurance reform, and other social policies.

Explain how the federal, state, and local governments have responded to demographic and social changes such as population shifts to the suburbs, racial concentrations in the cities, Frostbelt-to-Sunbelt migration, international migration, decline of family farms, increases in out-of-wedlock births, and drug abuse.

Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions, including the portrayal of working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class.

Trace the effect of the Americanization movement.

Analyze the effect of urban political machines and responses to them by immigrants and middle-class reformers.

Discuss corporate mergers that produced trusts and cartels and the economic and political policies of industrial leaders.

Trace the economic development of the United States and its emergence as a major industrial power, including its gains from trade and the advantages of its physical geography.

Analyze the similarities and differences between the ideologies of Social Darwinism and Social Gospel (e.g., using biographies of William Graham Sumner, Billy Sunday, Dwight L. Moody).

Examine the effect of political programs and activities of Populists.

Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives (e.g., federal regulation of railroad transport, Children's Bureau, the Sixteenth Amendment, Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson).

Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.

Describe the contributions of various religious groups to American civic principles and social reform movements (e.g., civil and human rights, individual responsibility and the work ethic, antimonarchy and self-rule, worker protection, family-centered communities).

Analyze the great religious revivals and the leaders involved in them, including the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War revivals, the Social Gospel Movement, the rise of Christian liberal theology in the nineteenth century, the impact of the Second Vatican Council, and the rise of Christian fundamentalism in current times.

Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States (e.g., persecution of Mormons, anti-Catholic sentiment, anti-Semitism).

Discuss the expanding religious pluralism in the United States and California that resulted from large-scale immigration in the twentieth century.

Describe the principles of religious liberty found in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, including the debate on the issue of separation of church and state.

Students trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century.

List the purpose and the effects of the Open Door policy.

Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific.

Discuss America's role in the Panama Revolution and the building of the Panama Canal.

Explain Theodore Roosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy, William Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson's Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches.

Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.

Trace the declining role of Great Britain and the expanding role of the United States in world affairs after World War II.

Students analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s.

Discuss the policies of Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey's "back-to-Africa" movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks.

Examine the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act (Prohibition).

Analyze the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the changing role of women in society.

Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special attention to the work of writers (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes).

Trace the growth and effects of radio and movies and their role in the worldwide diffusion of popular culture.

Discuss the rise of mass production techniques, the growth of cities, the impact of new technologies (e.g., the automobile, electricity), and the resulting prosperity and effect on the American landscape.

Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.

Describe the monetary issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s.

Understand the explanations of the principal causes of the Great Depression and the steps taken by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the economic crisis.

Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California.

Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the economy since the 1930s (e.g., Works Progress Administration, Social Security, National Labor Relations Board, farm programs, regional development policies, and energy development projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, California Central Valley Project, and Bonneville Dam).

Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial, multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers in California.

Students analyze America's participation in World War II.

Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Explain U.S. and Allied wartime strategy, including the major battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the Navajo Code Talkers).

Analyze Roosevelt's foreign policy during World War II (e.g., Four Freedoms speech).

Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United States of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitler's atrocities against Jews and other groups; the roles of women in military production; and the roles and growing political demands of African Americans.

Describe major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war's impact on the location of American industry and use of resources.

Discuss the decision to drop atomic bombs and the consequences of the decision (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

Analyze the effect of massive aid given to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan to rebuild itself after the war and the importance of a rebuilt Europe to the U.S. economy.

Students analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.

Trace the growth of service sector, white collar, and professional sector jobs in business and government.

Describe the significance of Mexican immigration and its relationship to the agricultural economy, especially in California.

Examine Truman's labor policy and congressional reaction to it.

Analyze new federal government spending on defense, welfare, interest on the national debt, and federal and state spending on education, including the California Master Plan.

Describe the increased powers of the presidency in response to the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War.

Discuss the diverse environmental regions of North America, their relationship to local economies, and the origins and prospects of environmental problems in those regions.

Describe the effects on society and the economy of technological developments since 1945, including the computer revolution, changes in communication, advances in medicine, and improvements in agricultural technology.

Discuss forms of popular culture, with emphasis on their origins and geographic diffusion (e.g., jazz and other forms of popular music, professional sports, architectural and artistic styles).

Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.

Discuss the establishment of the United Nations and International Declaration of Human Rights, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and their importance in shaping modern Europe and maintaining peace and international order.

Understand the role of military alliances, including NATO and SEATO, in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War.

Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following:<ul><li>The era of McCarthyism, instances of domestic Communism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and blacklisting</li><li>The Truman Doctrine</li><li>The Berlin Blockade</li><li>The Korean War</li><li>The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis</li><li>Atomic testing in the American West, the "mutual assured destruction" doctrine, and disarmament policies</li><li>The Vietnam War</li><li>Latin American policy</li></ul>

List the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests during the war in Vietnam, the "nuclear freeze" movement).

Analyze the role of the Reagan administration and other factors in the victory of the West in the Cold War.

Describe U.S. Middle East policy and its strategic, political, and Content economic interests, including those related to the Gulf War.

Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in the twentieth century, including key economic, political, immigration, and environmental issues.

Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.

Students analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs.

Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods.

Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions.

Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments.

Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect.

Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

Students understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions.

Students analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues.

Students conduct cost-benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy.

Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.

Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.

Students evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors' use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications.

Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations.

Overarching Ideas

How did the federal government grow between the late nineteenth and twenty-first centuries?

What does it mean to be an American in modern times?

How did the United States become a superpower?

How did the United States' population become more diverse over the twentieth century?

Connecting with Past Studies: The Nations Beginnings

What are key tenets of American democracy?

How did the country change because of the Civil War and Reconstruction in the nineteenth century?

Industrialization, Urbanization, Immigration, and Progressive Reform

How did America's economy, industries, and population grow after the Civil War?

Who came to the United States at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century? Why did they come? What was their experience like when they arrived?

How did the federal government impact the country's growth in the years following the Civil War?

Why did women want the right to vote, and how did they convince men to grant it to them?

The Rise of the United States as a World Power

How did America’s role in the world change between the 1870s and 1910s?

Did the United States become an imperial power? Why or why not?

How did America change because of World War I?

The 1920s

Why were the 1920s filled with political, social, and economic extremes?

How did culture change in the 1920s?

Were the 1920s a “return tnormalcy?” Why or why not?

The Great Depression and the New Deal

Why was there a Great Depression?

How did the New Deal attempt to remedy problems from the Great Depression?

How did ordinary people respond tthe Great Depression?

America's Participation in World War II

Why did Americans not want to join World War II before the bombing at Pearl Harbor?

How did American government change because of World War II?

How did American government change because of World War II?

How was the war mobilized and fought differently in the Atlantic versus the Pacific?

How did the America win the war in the Pacific?

How did World War II serve to advance movements for equality at home and abroad?

Cold War Struggles Abroad

What was Containment? How was it employed?

How did American foreign policy shift after World War II?

Why was the period between 1946 and 1990 known as the Cold War?

How did anti-communism drive foreign policy?

Cold War Struggles at Home

How was the Cold War fought domestically?

How did the government work to combat the perceived threat of communism domestically?

How were American politics shaped by the Cold War?

How did the Cold War affect ordinary Americans?

Movements for Equality

Why was there a Civil Rights Movement?

What does “equal rights” mean?

What were the goals and strategies of the Civil Rights Movement?

How did various movements for equality build upon one another?

Did the Civil Rights Movement succeed?

How was the government involved in the Civil Rights Movement?

How was the war in Vietnam similar to and different from the other Cold War struggles?

How did the war in Vietnam affect movement for equality at home?

Contemporary American Society

How has the role of the federal government (and especially the presidency) changed from the 1920s through more recent times?

How did the Cold War end, and what foreign policy developments resulted?

What does globalization mean, and how has it affected the United States?

Why is the United States more diverse now than it was in the middle of the 20th century?

In what ways have issues such as education; civil rights for people of color, immigrants, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) Americans, and disabled Americans; economy policy; recognition of economic, social and cultural rights; the environment; and the status of women remained unchanged over time? In what ways have they changed?

Principles of Economics

Principles of American Democracy

Principles of American Democracy and Economics

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Historical Interpretation

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning.

Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.

Examine the causal relationship between scarcity and the need for choices.

Analyze the influence of ancient Greek, Roman, English, and leading European political thinkers such as John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolò Machiavelli, and William Blackstone on the development of American government.

Explain opportunity cost and marginal benefit and marginal cost.

Discuss the character of American democracy and its promise and perils as articulated by Alexis de Tocqueville.

Identify the difference between monetary and nonmonetary incentives and how changes in incentives cause changes in behavior.

Explain how the U.S. Constitution reflects a balance between the classical republican concern with promotion of the public good and the classical liberal concern with protecting individual rights; and discuss how the basic premises of liberal constitutionalism and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as "self-evident truths."

Evaluate the role of private property as an incentive in conserving and improving scarce resources, including renewable and non-renewable natural resources.

Explain how the Founding Fathers' realistic view of human nature led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers.

Analyze the role of a market economy in establishing and preserving political and personal liberty (e.g., through the works of Adam Smith).

Describe the systems of separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51), the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78), enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the military.

Understand that the Bill of Rights limits the powers of the federal government and state governments.

Students formulate questions about and defend their analyses of tensions within our constitutional democracy and the importance of maintaining a balance between the following concepts: majority rule and individual rights; liberty and equality; state and national authority in a federal system; civil disobedience and the rule of law; freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial; the relationship of religion and government.

Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting.

Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured.

Understand the relationship of the concept of incentives to the law of supply and the relationship of the concept of incentives and substitutes to the law of demand.

Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy).

Discuss the economic principles that guide the location of agricultural production and industry and the spatial distribution of transportation and retail facilities.

Discuss the effects of changes in supply and/or demand on the relative scarcity, price, and quantity of particular products.

Explain how economic rights are secured and their importance to the individual and to society (e.g., the right to acquire, use, transfer, and dispose of property; right to choose one's work; right to join or not join labor unions; copyright and patent).

Explain the roles of property rights, competition, and profit in a market economy.

Discuss the individual's legal obligations to obey the law, serve as a juror, and pay taxes.

Explain how prices reflect the relative scarcity of goods and services and perform the allocative function in a market economy.

Understand the obligations of civic-mindedness, including voting, being informed on civic issues, volunteering and performing public service, and serving in the military or alternative service.

Understand the process by which competition among buyers and sellers determines a market price.

Describe the reciprocity between rights and obligations; that is, why enjoyment of one's rights entails respect for the rights of others.

Describe the effect of price controls on buyers and sellers.

Explain how one becomes a citizen of the United States, including the process of naturalization (e.g., literacy, language, and other requirements).

Analyze how domestic and international competition in a market economy affects goods and services produced and the quality, quantity, and price of those products.

Explain the role of profit as the incentive to entrepreneurs in a market economy.

Describe the functions of the financial markets.

Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the American economy.

Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society.

Understand how the role of government in a market economy often includes providing for national defense, addressing environmental concerns, defining and enforcing property rights, attempting to make markets more competitive, and protecting consumers' rights.

Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to associate for social, cultural, religious, economic, and political purposes.

Identify the factors that may cause the costs of government actions to outweigh the benefits.

Explain how civil society makes it possible for people, individually or in association with others, to bring their influence to bear on government in ways other than voting and elections.

Describe the aims of government fiscal policies (taxation, borrowing, spending) and their influence on production, employment, and price levels.

Discuss the historical role of religion and religious diversity.

Understand the aims and tools of monetary policy and their influence on economic activity (e.g., the Federal Reserve).

Compare the relationship of government and civil society in constitutional democracies to the relationship of government and civil society in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global setting.

Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution.

Understand the operations of the labor market, including the circumstances surrounding the establishment of principal American labor unions, procedures that unions use to gain benefits for their members, the effects of unionization, the minimum wage, and unemployment insurance.

Discuss Article I of the Constitution as it relates to the legislative branch, including eligibility for office and lengths of terms of representatives and senators; election to office; the roles of the House and Senate in impeachment proceedings; the role of the vice president; the enumerated legislative powers; and the process by which a bill becomes a law.

Describe the current economy and labor market, including the types of goods and services produced, the types of skills workers need, the effects of rapid technological change, and the impact of international competition.

Explain the process through which the Constitution can be amended.

Discuss wage differences among jobs and professions, using the laws of demand and supply and the concept of productivity.

Identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government.

Explain the effects of international mobility of capital and labor on the U.S. economy.

Discuss Article II of the Constitution as it relates to the executive branch, including eligibility for office and length of term, election to and removal from office, the oath of office, and the enumerated executive powers.

Discuss Article III of the Constitution as it relates to judicial power, including the length of terms of judges and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Explain the processes of selection and confirmation of Supreme Court justices.

Students analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy.

Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments.

Distinguish between nominal and real data.

Understand the changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights over time, including interpretations of the basic freedoms (religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly) articulated in the First Amendment and the due process and equal-protection-of-the-law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Define, calculate, and explain the significance of an unemployment rate, the number of new jobs created monthly, an inflation or deflation rate, and a rate of economic growth.

Analyze judicial activism and judicial restraint and the effects of each policy over the decades (e.g., the Warren and Rehnquist courts).

Distinguish between short-term and long-term interest rates and explain their relative significance.

Evaluate the effects of the Court's interpretations of the Constitution in Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and United States v. Nixon, with emphasis on the arguments espoused by each side in these cases.

Explain the controversies that have resulted over changing interpretations of civil rights, including those in Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, and United States v. Virginia (VMI).

Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the United States's borders.

Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices.

Identify the gains in consumption and production efficiency from trade, with emphasis on the main products and changing geographic patterns of twentieth-century trade among countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Analyze the origin, development, and role of political parties, noting those occasional periods in which there was only one major party or were more than two major parties.

Compare the reasons for and the effects of trade restrictions during the Great Depression compared with present-day arguments among labor, business, and political leaders over the effects of free trade on the economic and social interests of various groups of Americans.

Discuss the history of the nomination process for presidential candidates and the increasing importance of primaries in general elections

Understand the changing role of international political borders and territorial sovereignty in a global economy.

Evaluate the roles of polls, campaign advertising, and the controversies over campaign funding.

Explain foreign exchange, the manner in which exchange rates are determined, and the effects of the dollar's gaining (or losing) value relative to other currencies.

Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process (e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating, petitioning, picketing, running for political office).

Discuss the features of direct democracy in numerous states (e.g., the process of referendums, recall elections).

Analyze trends in voter turnout; the causes and effects of reapportionment and redistricting, with special attention to spatial districting and the rights of minorities; and the function of the Electoral College.

Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments.

Explain how conflicts between levels of government and branches of government are resolved.

Identify the major responsibilities and sources of revenue for state and local governments.

Discuss reserved powers and concurrent powers of state governments.

Discuss the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and interpretations of the extent of the federal government's power.

Explain how public policy is formed, including the setting of the public agenda and implementation of it through regulations and executive orders.

Compare the processes of lawmaking at each of the three levels of government, including the role of lobbying and the media.

Identify the organization and jurisdiction of federal, state, and local (e.g., California) courts and the interrelationships among them.

Understand the scope of presidential power and decision making through examination of case studies such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, passage of Great Society legislation, War Powers Act, Gulf War, and Bosnia.

Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life.

Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press.

Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the Internet, as means of communication in American politics.

Explain how public officials use the media to communicate with the citizenry and to shape public opinion.

Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles.

Explain how the different philosophies and structures of feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, fascism, communism, monarchies, parliamentary systems, and constitutional liberal democracies influence economic policies, social welfare policies, and human rights practices.

Compare the various ways in which power is distributed, shared, and limited in systems of shared powers and in parliamentary systems, including the influence and role of parliamentary leaders (e.g., William Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher).

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of federal, confederal, and unitary systems of government.

Describe for at least two countries the consequences of conditions that gave rise to tyrannies during certain periods (e.g., Italy, Japan, Haiti, Nigeria, Cambodia).

Identify the forms of illegitimate power that twentieth-century African, Asian, and Latin American dictators used to gain and hold office and the conditions and interests that supported them.

Identify the ideologies, causes, stages, and outcomes of major Mexican, Central American, and South American revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Describe the ideologies that give rise to Communism, methods of maintaining control, and the movements to overthrow such governments in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland, including the roles of individuals (e.g., Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel).

Identify the successes of relatively new democracies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the ideas, leaders, and general societal conditions that have launched and sustained, or failed to sustain, them.

Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.

Students analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs.

Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods.

Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions.

Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments.

Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect.

Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

Students understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions.

Students analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues.

Students conduct cost-benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy.

Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.

Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.

Students evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors' use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications.

Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations.

Overarching Ideas

What are the key elements of representative democracy, and how did they develop over time?

What rights and responsibilities does a citizen have in a democracy?

How do people get elected?

Why does the government work sometimes and not others?

What problems are posed by representative government, and how can they be addressed?

Fundamental Principles of American Democracy

Why do we need a government?

How much power should government have over its citizens?

What do the terms liberty and equality mean, and how do they relate to each other?

What are the dangers of a democratic system?

What are the trade-offs between majority rule and the protection of individual rights?

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens in a Democracy

What rights and responsibilities does a citizen have in a democracy?

What does it mean to be a citizen?

How can citizens improve a democracy?

Fundamental Principles of Civil Society

What is a civil society, and why do we want to have one?

What are the limits of individual liberty?

What are the dangers of majority rule?

What is the role of religion in a democracy?

How do government actions impact civil society?

The Three Branches of Government as Established by the U.S. Consititution

Why does the Consitution both grant power and take it away?

What is the most powerful branch of government?

Why does it take so long for government to act?

Interpreting the Constitution: The Work of the U.S. Supreme Court

What is judicial review, and how does it work?

What makes a law or an action unconstitutional, and does that determination ever change?

The Electoral Process

How do you get elected?

Who gets elected, and who does not?

What impact do polls, political parties, and PACs have upon elections?

How can I get involved in a campaign?

Why should I vote?

Federalism: Different Levels of Government

Why are powers divided among different levels of government?

What level of government is the most important to me--local, state, tribal, or federal?

What level of government is the most powerful--local, state, tribal, or federal?

The Fourth Estate: the Role of the Media in American Public LIfe

To whate extent are the press and the media fulfilling a watchdog role?

Do media outlets provide enough relevant information about government and politics to allow citizens to vote and participate in a well-informed way?

How has the Internet revolution impacted journalism, and what are its effects on the coverage of public affairs and current issues?

Comparative Governments and the Challenges of Democracy

Do citizens have rights that the state must respect; if so, what are they?

What is the role of civil dissent and when is it necessary?

Why have some revolutions been followed by purges of dissidents, mass arrests of political opponents, murder of "class enemies," suppression of free speech, abolition of private property, and attacks on religious groups?

Why do authoritarian governments spy on their citizens and prevent them from emigrating? Why do they jail or harass critics of their government? Why is only one party allowed in an authoritarian state? Why do ordinary people risk their lives to flee or transform authoritarian states?

How do individual countries combat terrorist organizations that do not recognize international norms or boundaries? How can individual citizens or nongovernmental organizations improve civil society? How can multinational alliances work together to combat climate change?

Overarching Ideas

How is econmics about scarcity, investment, growth, employment, competition, protection, entrepreneurship, and markets?

What is capitalism? What are its benefits and problems?

What does it mean to be financially literate?

How do worldwide markets affect me?

The American Market Economy

What are key components of the American economic system?

How are prices determined? Who determines prices?

How do banks and markets function?

Government Influence upon the American Economy

How is the American government involved in the economy?

How has the American government been involved in the economy in the past?

How does the federal budget affect ordinary people?

What does it mean to pay taxes?

What does it mean to run a deficit?

Why is there a Federal Reserve Bank? How does it function?

Labor Markets

What does it mean to work?

How does one compete in the labor market?

How are wages determined?

How and why do workers organize?

Aggregate Economic Behavior

What is macroeconomics and what does it reveal about the economy?

How do data help to tell the story of the economy?

How does a cyclical economy function?

The Global Economy

What is globalization?

How does globalization affect international and national economies and individuals?

Why are there critics of globalization?

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Historical Interpretation

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.

Students analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs.

Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods.

Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions.

Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments.

Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect.

Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

Students understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions.

Students analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues.

Students conduct cost-benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy.

Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.

Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.

Students evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors' use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications.

Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations.

Earth's Place in the Universe

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.

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.

Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.

Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.

Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.

Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth's formation and early history.

Earth's Systems

Develop a model to illustrate how Earth's internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.

Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

Develop a model based on evidence of Earth's interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.

Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth systems result in changes in climate.

Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.

Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth systems and life on Earth.

Earth and Human Activity

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.

Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.

Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.

Engineering Design

Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.

Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.

Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Use a mathematical representation to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

Matter and Its Interactions

Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.

Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.

Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.

Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.

Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton's second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.

Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.

Use mathematical representations of Newton's Law of Gravitation and Coulomb's Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.

Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Energy

Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.

Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy stored in fields.

Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).

Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Evaluate questions about the advantages of using a digital transmission and storage of information.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.

Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.

Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.

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

Design algorithms to solve computational problems using a combination of original and existing algorithms.

Create more generalized computational solutions using collections instead of repeatedly using simple variables.

Justify the selection of specific control structures by identifying tradeoffs associated with implementation, readability, and performance.

Iteratively design and develop computational artifacts for practical intent, personal expression, or to address a societal issue by using events to initiate instructions.

Decompose problems into smaller subproblems through systematic analysis, using constructs such as procedures, modules, and/or classes.

Create computational artifacts using modular design.

Systematically design programs for broad audiences by incorporating feedback from users.

Explain the limitations of licenses that restrict use of computational artifacts when using resources such as libraries.

Iteratively evaluate and refine a computational artifact to enhance its performance, reliability, usability, and accessibility.

Design and develop computational artifacts working in team roles using collaborative tools.

Document decisions made during the design process using text, graphics, presentations, and/or demonstrations in the development of complex programs.

Describe ways in which abstractions hide the underlying implementation details of computing systems to simplify user experiences.

Compare levels of abstraction and interactions between application software, system software, and hardware.

Develop guidelines that convey systematic troubleshooting strategies that others can use to identify and fix errors.

Create data visualizations to help others better understand real-world phenomena.

Refine computational models to better represent the relationships among different elements of data collected from a phenomenon or process.

Translate between different representations of data abstractions of real-world phenomena, such as characters, numbers, and images.

Describe tradeoffs associated with how data elements are organized and stored.

Evaluate the ways computing impacts personal, ethical, social, economic, and cultural practices.

Identify impacts of bias and equity deficit on design and implementation of computational artifacts and apply appropriate processes for evaluating issues of bias.

Demonstrate ways a given algorithm applies to problems across disciplines.

Study, discuss, and think critically about the potential impacts and implications of emerging technologies on larger social, economic, and political structures, with evidence from credible sources.

Use collaboration tools and methods to increase connectivity with people of different cultures and careers.

Explain the beneficial and harmful effects that intellectual property laws can have on innovation.

Explain the privacy concerns related to the collection and generation of data through automated processes.

Evaluate the social and economic implications of privacy in the context of safety, law, or ethics.

Describe issues that impact network functionality.

Describe the design characteristics of the internet.

Compare and contrast security measures to address various security threats.

Compare and contrast cryptographic techniques to model the secure transmission of information.

Safety Law & Ethics

Culture

Impacts of Computing

Program Development

Modularity

Control

Variables

Algorithms

Algorithms & Programming

Inference & Models

Collection Visualization & Transformation

Data & Analysis

Cybersecurity

Network Communication & Organization

Networks & the Internet

Hardware & Software

Devices

Computing Systems

Describe how artificial intelligence drives many software and physical systems.

Implement an algorithm that uses artificial intelligence to overcome a simple challenge.

Implement searching and sorting algorithms to solve computational problems.

Evaluate algorithms in terms of their efficiency.

Compare and contrast fundamental data structures and their uses.

Demonstrate the flow of execution of a recursive algorithm.

Analyze a large-scale computational problem and identify generalizable patterns or problem components that can be applied to a solution.

Construct solutions to problems using student-created components, such as procedures, modules, and/or objects.

Demonstrate code reuse by creating programming solutions using libraries and APIs.

Plan and develop programs for broad audiences using a specific software life cycle process.

Develop programs for multiple computing platforms.

Identify and fix security issues that might compromise computer programs.

Develop and use a series of test cases to verify that a program performs according to its design specifications.

Modify an existing program to add additional functionality and discuss intended and unintended implications.

Evaluate key qualities of a program through a process such as a code review.

Use version control systems, integrated development environments (IDEs), and collaborative tools and practices (e.g., code documentation) while developing software within a group.

Compare multiple programming languages, and discuss how their features make them suitable for solving different types of problems.

Illustrate ways computing systems implement logic through hardware components.

Categorize and describe the different functions of operating system software.

Select and use data collection tools and techniques to generate data sets.

Use data analysis tools and techniques to identify patterns in data representing complex systems.

Evaluate the ability of models and simulations to test and support the refinement of hypotheses.

Evaluate computational artifacts with regard to improving their beneficial effects and reducing harmful effects on society.

Evaluate how computational innovations that have revolutionized aspects of our culture might evolve.

Evaluate the impact of equity, access, and influence on the distribution of computing resources in a global society.

Debate laws and regulations that impact the development and use of software.

Examine the scalability and reliability of networks, by describing the relationship between routers, switches, servers, topology, and addressing.

Explain how the characteristics of the internet influence the systems developed on it.

Develop solutions to security threats.

Analyze cryptographic techniques to model the secure transmission of information.

Matter and Its Interactions

Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.

Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.

Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.

Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.

Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.*

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.

Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.*

Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.

Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Energy

Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.

Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).

Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.*

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).

Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Evaluate questions about the advantages of using a digital transmission and storage of information.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.

Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.

Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.*