CCC4 Crosscutting Concept 4 – Systems and System Models
Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering. Systems and System Models are useful in science and engineering because the world is complex, so it is helpful to isolate a single system and construct a simplified model of it. “To do this, scientists and engineers imagine an artificial boundary between…
CCC3 Crosscutting Concept 3 – Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance. Scale, Proportion and Quantity are important in both science and engineering. These are fundamental assessments of dimension that form the foundation of observations about nature. Before an analysis of function or process can be made…
CCC2 Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation
Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts. Cause and effect is often the next step in science, after a discovery of patterns or events that occur together with regularity. A search for…
CCC1 Crosscutting Concept 1 – Patterns
Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them. “Patterns exist everywhere—in regularly occurring shapes or structures and in repeating events and relationships. For example, patterns are discernible in the symmetry of flowers and snowflakes, the cycling of the seasons, and the repeated base pairs of DNA.” (p. 85) While there are many patterns in nature, they…
HS-ETS1-4 Evidence Statement
Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science: Engineering Design – Evidence Statement 4 HS-ETS1-4: 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.
HS-ETS1-3 Evidence Statement
Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science: Engineering Design – Evidence Statement 3 HS-ETS1-3: 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.
HS-ETS1-2 Evidence Statement
Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science: Engineering Design – Evidence Statement 2 HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-1 Evidence Statement
Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science: Engineering Design – Evidence Statement 1 HS-ETS1-1: Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ESS3-6 Evidence Statement
Earth and Space Science: Earth and Human Activity – Evidence Statement 6 HS-ESS3-6: Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of Earth systems to be considered are the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and/or biosphere. An example of the far-reaching impacts from a human activity is how an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide…
HS-ESS3-5 Evidence Statement
Earth and Space Science: Earth and Human Activity – Evidence Statement 5 HS-ESS3-5: 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. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence, for both data and climate model outputs, are for climate changes (such as precipitation and temperature) and their associated impacts…