[Clarification Statement: Examples of models can be physical, graphical, or conceptual.]

Students can gather information from the Earth, Moon, and Sun simulation about the lunar phases and eclipses of the sun and moon. For information about seasons have them revisit the article, “The Endless Summer of the Arctic Tern” in the Earth, Moon, and Sun unit. They can then create a physical, graphical, or conceptual model of the Earth-sun-moon system and use it to aid their description.

Ask:

• How can you use your model to show the cyclic patterns of movement of Earth and the Moon?
• How does this movement cause eclipses to occur?
• How does this movement cause seasons to occur?

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students’ school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.]

Have students revisit the article, “Gravity in the Solar System” in the Earth, Moon, and Sun unit. Using the information students should create a physical or conceptual model of the solar system with arrows to indicate the force of gravity.
Ask:

• How did gravity cause the solar system to be created?
• How does gravity continue to affect the solar system?

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth-based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data include statistical information, drawings and photographs, and models.] [Assessment Boundary : Assessment does not include recalling facts about properties of the planets and other solar system bodies.]

Have students analyze and interpret data from the article “Scale in the Solar System” from the Geology on Mars unit. Also look at the NASA website to provide them with additional data about the sizes of solar system objects and their orbital radii.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.][Assessment Boundary : Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods or epochs and events within them.]

Have students return to the article “Steno and the Shark” from the Plate Motion unit and gather information about how scientists can use rock strata to understand Earth’s history. Prompt students to make a scientific explanation about what they might be able to tell about the fossils pictured in the rock strata image in the article. You could also provide students with additional data from the USGS
website.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the identification and naming of minerals.]

Have students revisit the Rock Transformations simulation. They can use energy mode to examine how energy from the Sun and energy from Earth’s interior drives the cycling of Earth’s materials. Then have them draw a diagram to show how different energy sources affect rock material in different ways.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.]

For reference, students can use the Rock Transformation simulation to look at how processes such as weathering and uplift can change Earth’s surface. Prompt them to pay close attention to the time counter at the top of the screen. Students can then look at the Plate Motion simulation to see how these processes affect the Earth’s surface on a global scale. Have them incorporate evidence from both simulations into their explanation.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary: Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.]

Have students use the following evidence sources from the Plate Motion unit: “The Ancient Mesosaurus” article from Lesson 1.2 and the Earthquake Map from Lesson 1.3. In addition, provide a simple map of the Earth’s continents, and a map showing ocean ridges (use the phrase “Ocean ridges map” in an internet image search). Have students annotate each source of evidence. Then have them describe past plate motion and explain how evidence from each source supports their claim.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ways water changes its state as it moves through the multiple pathways of the hydrologic cycle. Examples of models can be conceptual or physical.] [Assessment Boundary: A quantitative understanding of the latent heats of vaporization and fusion is not assessed.]

Have students create conceptual or physical models that show how water moves through Earth’s systems. Prompt them to describe what causes water to change its phase and move through different parts of Earth’s systems.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time, and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of cloud types or weather symbols used on weather maps or the reported diagrams from weather stations.]

Students can use the Weather Patterns simulation to collect data by creating areas with different air pressure and analyzing the resulting weather condition.

You can also provide students with temperature, pressure, and humidity data from weather maps and have them use the weather maps to predict changes in weather conditions, emphasizing that weather can only be predicted probabilistically.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.]

Students can refer to the Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate simulation and the maps that they examined in Lesson 1.4 to create different models where they explain why different places have different regional climates. Prompt them to use a map to diagram what determines regional climates. To help them explain their model, prompt them to identify locations at different altitudes, at different latitudes, those that are next to different ocean currents, and those that are located near different geographic land features.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).]

Have students return to the article “Why Can’t I Find Gold in My Backyard?” from the Rock Transformations unit and gather information about where resources such as gold, oil, and soil can be found. Prompt them to make sense of this information and focus on one resource to write a thorough explanation about how certain geoscience processes have caused an uneven distribution of that resource.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how some natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and severe weather, are preceded by phenomena that allow for reliable predictions, but others, such as earthquakes, occur suddenly and with no notice, and thus are not yet predictable. Examples of natural hazards can be taken from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or severe weather events (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods). Examples of data can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies can be global (such as satellite systems to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local (such as building basements in tornado prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).]

Have students revisit the Futura Geohazards Engineer’s Dossier from the Plate Motion Engineering Internship and then have them run a test of sensors in the TsunamiAlert Design Tool to collect data about how well the placement of the sensors mitigated the effects of the earthquakes and resultant tsunamis. They can use the information from the Dossier to aid them in analyzing and interpreting the results from the test and make a plan for how they will move the sensors before the next test.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]

In the Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship, students apply scientific principles they learned in the Earth’s Changing Climate unit to design a method for minimizing the energy from combustion for cooling buildings. Students assess, design, and evaluate solutions during the research and design phases of the internship.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.]

Have students use Human Activities mode in the Earth’s Changing Climate simulation to collect evidence to use in their written arguments.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.]

At the conclusion of the Earth’s Changing Climate unit Chapter 3, have students record questions about the evidence they have use throughout the unit to learn what has caused global temperatures to rise. Encourage them to ask about evidence from data cards from Lessons 1.2, 1.5, and 3.1, and about evidence from simulation, and/or evidence from the unit’s articles.

On Day 1 of the Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship, students generate criteria for the design problem they will be working on during their internship, before getting the criteria that have been chosen by Futura Engineering. On Day 10, students brainstorm the criteria and constraints for a new engineering problem they have defined related to civil engineering.

Pose an engineering problem that is relevant to your school and challenge students to come up with criteria and constraints for solutions.

During the design phase of the Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship and the Plate Motion Engineering Internship, students evaluate competing design solutions using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each of the three project criteria. They also use feedback from their project director to evaluate how well their submitted designs meet the project criteria, and discuss that feedback as a whole class to get a range of values for results that strongly, moderately, or weakly address the criteria. Students use the feedback and ranges to make a plan for improving their designs.

Change one of the criteria and then challenge students to return to the competing design solutions to reevaluate them based on the new criteria.

During the design phase of the Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship and the Plate Motion Engineering Internship, students analyze their data by using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each criteria. These processes help them decide which designs to submit to the project director for feedback. Challenge students to return to the data to identify the second best design and explain why the data is less favorable for that design then for the best design.

On Day 10 of each Internship, students define a new engineering problem and develop criteria for that problem. Have students develop a model for testing, analyzing, and revising their design solutions for their new problems. Students can focus on ways to test how well their new solutions meet their newly-generated constraints and criteria. Challenge students to conduct additional rounds of analysis and revision to deepen the iterative testing process.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing evidence that living things are made of cells, distinguishing between living and non-living things, and understanding that living things may be made of one cell or many and varied cells.]

Provide students with any of the following resources to use as they plan and conduct their investigations:

• a number of things both living (or once living) and not living (that were never alive), access to microscopes and, if possible, digital cameras
• images from the article “Cells: The Basic Unit of Life” from the Microbiome unit
• images of cells from the article set “Systems of the Human Body” from the Metabolism unit
• Scale Cards from the Microbiome unit that have images of cells, bacteria, and salt grains

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the cell functioning as a whole system and the primary role of identified parts of the cell, specifically the nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria, cell membrane, and cell wall.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of organelle structure/function relationships is limited to the cell wall and cell membrane. Assessment of the function of the other organelles is limited to their relationship to the whole cell. Assessment does not include the biochemical function of cells or cell parts.]

Have students revisit the article “Cells: The Basic Unit of Life” from the Microbiome unit. Using information from the article, have students create a 3-D model of an animal or plant cell including the nucleus, mitochondria, and cell membrane – if students create a plant cell, they should also include chloroplasts and the cell wall. To accompany their model, have students write an explanation to describe how the cell functions as a whole system, highlighting how each organelle depicted in the model contributes to the function of the cell.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding that cells form tissues and tissues form organs specialized for particular body functions. Examples could include the interaction of subsystems within a system and the normal functioning of those systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanism of one body system independent of others. Assessment is limited to the circulatory, excretory, digestive, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems.]

Have students revisit the article set “Systems of the Human Body” from the Metabolism unit and the article “Cells: The Basic Unit of Life” from the Microbiome unit. As they read, students should use information in the articles to create evidence cards with quotes and images from the articles that support the claim: The body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Next, students can use the evidence cards they made to write an argument that supports the claim.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of behaviors that affect the probability of animal reproduction could include nest building to protect young from cold, herding of animals to protect young from predators, and vocalization of animals and colorful plumage to attract mates for breeding. Examples of animal behaviors that affect the probability of plant reproduction could include transferring pollen or seeds, and creating conditions for seed germination and growth. Examples of plant structures could include bright flowers attracting butterflies that transfer pollen, flower nectar and odors that attract insects that transfer pollen, and hard shells on nuts that squirrels bury.]

Students can gather information from the article “Invasion of the Periodical Cicadas” from the Traits and Reproduction unit. As they read, students should use information in the article to create evidence cards.

Next, students can use the evidence cards they made as they write an explanation.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of local environmental conditions could include availability of food, light, space, and water. Examples of genetic factors could include large breed cattle and species of grass affecting growth of organisms. Examples of evidence could include drought decreasing plant growth, fertilizer increasing plant growth, different varieties of plant seeds growing at different rates in different conditions, and fish growing larger in large ponds than they do in small ponds.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms, gene regulation, or biochemical processes.]

Students can gather evidence from the article “Growing Giant Pumpkins” from the Traits and Reproduction unit. As they read, students should use information in the articles to create evidence cards with quotes and images from the article.

Next, students can use the evidence cards they made as they write an explanation.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on tracing movement of matter and flow of energy.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis.]

Students can gather information from the Matter and Energy in Ecosystems simulation. Have them take notes and/or take screenshots of the simulation, and then write an explanation based on this evidence.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing that molecules are broken apart and put back together and that in this process, energy is released.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the chemical reactions for photosynthesis or respiration.]

Invite students to plan, draw, and annotate a model that includes representations of molecules and energy.

[Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.]

Students can gather information from the articles “The Big Climb” and “Systems of the Human Body” (Nervous System chapter) from the Metabolism unit.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources.]

Students can use data from the Populations and Resources simulation (3 Populations mode). Have students run the simulation for at least 20 time units before making any changes. They then should make a change to the greenleaf population (a resource population), lock the greenleaf population, press play and then after some time has passed go to Analyze to record data about the number of births in the weebug population before and after the change to the greenleaf population. Students can use this data to describe the cause and effect relationships between populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on predicting consistent patterns of interactions in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of ecosystems. Examples of types of interactions could include competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial.]

Students can gather information for their explanations from the Matter and Energy in Ecosystems simulation, the Populations and Resources simulation, and the following article sets:

• The “Arctic Ecosystem” from the Populations and Resources unit
• “Sunlight and Life” from the Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing the conservation of matter and flow of energy into and out of various ecosystems, and on defining the boundaries of the system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of chemical reactions to describe the processes.]

Have students revisit the Matter and Energy in Ecosystems simulation to gather evidence about the conservation of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems. Next, invite student to draw and label their own model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on recognizing patterns in data and making warranted inferences about changes in populations, and on evaluating empirical evidence supporting arguments about changes to ecosystems.]

To gather data to support their arguments, have students use the Matter and Energy in Ecosystems simulation, the Populations and Resources simulation, and the following articles:

• “Jelly Population Explosion: How Competition Can Affect Population Size” from the Populations and Resources unit
• “Bringing Back the Buffalo” from the Populations and Resources unit

[Clarification Statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.]

Students can gather information from the article “How Ecosystems Clean Earth’s Water” from the Populations and Resources unit. Then provide them with 3 possible design solutions to a problem and have them evaluate each one in order to choose the solution that best maintains biodiversity and ecosystem services. One example of a problem is: there is a wetland and forest area that a city wants to convert into a public park. The city is trying to decide between 3 possible design solutions. Which design solution should they choose to best maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services?

• Design solution 1: Cut down half of the forest and pave over all of the wetlands into public park space. Include a playground, one basketball court, and seating areas for picnicking and meeting within the forest area.
• Design solution 2: Convert the entire area into public park space. Cut down the forest and pave over the wetlands to make room for two playgrounds, three basketball courts, and a community center. Also build a community garden with plants that attract bees and butterflies and create an artificial lake for boating and ducks.
• Design solution 3: Convert half of the forest and half of the wetlands into public park space. Make room for a playground, one basketball court, and seating areas along the wetlands and in the forest for picnicking and meeting.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding that changes in genetic material may result in making different proteins.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific changes at the molecular level, mechanisms for protein synthesis, or specific types of mutations.]

Before developing their own model, students can gather information from the Traits and Reproduction simulation, the “Hemophilia, Proteins, and Genes” article from the Traits and Reproduction unit, and the Mutations: Not Just for Superheroes article set from the Natural Selection unit.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using models such as Punnett squares, diagrams, and simulations to describe the cause and effect relationship of gene transmission from parent(s) to offspring and resulting genetic variation.]

Have students revisit the article “Sea Anemones: Two Ways to Reproduce” from the Traits and Reproduction unit and then develop a model using Punnett squares or a diagram of asexual and sexual reproduction in sea anemones. After students create their models, have them explain why the offspring are different when the sea anemones reproduce sexually versus asexually.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.]

Have students use the Evolutionary History simulation to find a pattern in anatomical structures in different species. Then have them trace back the pattern through the fossil record to find a common ancestor. Students should use All Fossils mode, select Tree view, and Place All fossils. Next, they should choose a species still in existence today (such as dromedary camels) as a starting point. Challenge students to also identify which species is more closely related to the common ancestor based on the similarities of their structures. They can also consider where the fossils may have been found in the rock layers.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explanations of the evolutionary relationships among organisms in terms of similarity or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures.]

Students can refer to the Species Cards in Lesson 1.2 of the Evolutionary History unit as they write their explanation.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on inferring general patterns of relatedness among embryos of different organisms by comparing the macroscopic appearance of diagrams or pictures.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of comparisons is limited to gross appearance of anatomical structures in embryological development.]

Have students revisit the article “Comparing Embryos: Evidence for Common Ancestors” from the Evolutionary History unit. Students should use the pictorial data in the image in the article to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using simple probability statements and proportional reasoning to construct explanations.]

Have students open the Natural Selection simulation and revisit Camouflage mode. Students should press Run and then Analyze results after 50 generations. Have students use the data from the simulation as evidence to write an explanation of how genetic variation increased some individuals chance of survival and reproduction using simple probability statements and proportional reasoning.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on synthesizing information from reliable sources about the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection (such as genetic modification, animal husbandry, gene therapy); and, on the impacts these technologies have on society as well as the technologies leading to these scientific discoveries.]

Have students revisit the article “How to Make a Venomous Cabbage” from the Natural Selection unit. As they read have them gather information about the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection and the impacts these technologies have on society. Then provide students with several reliable online sources they can use to conduct further research on this topic. Next, have students discuss their findings in groups and synthesize information from several sources in a written explanation.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using mathematical models, probability statements, and proportional reasoning to support explanations of trends in changes to populations over time.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Hardy Weinberg calculations.]

Have students revisit the article they read in the Mutations: Not Just for Superheroes article set from the Natural Selection unit. Ask them to create a histogram describing the population at three time points they read about in the article: many generations before the mutation were introduced into the population, when the mutation was introduced, and many generations after the mutation were introduced. To accompany their histograms have students write probability statements and use proportional reasoning to support an explanation of the trends in changes to the population over time.

On Day 1 of the Natural Selection Engineering Internship, students generate criteria for the design problem they will be working on during their internship, before getting the criteria that have been chosen by Futura Engineering. On Day 10, students brainstorm the criteria and constraints for a new engineering problem they have defined related to biomedical engineering.

Pose an engineering problem that is relevant to your school and challenge students to come up with criteria and constraints for solutions.

During the design phase of the Metabolism Engineering Internship and the Natural Selection Engineering Internship, students evaluate competing design solutions using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each of the three project criteria. They also use feedback from their project director to evaluate how well their submitted designs meet the project criteria, and discuss that feedback as a whole class to get a range of values for results that strongly, moderately, or weakly address the criteria. Students use the feedback and ranges to make a plan for improving their designs.

Change one of the criteria and then challenge students to return to the competing design solutions to reevaluate them based on the new criteria.

During the design phase of the Metabolism Engineering Internship and the Natural Selection Engineering Internship, students analyze their data by using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each criteria. These processes help them decide which designs to submit to the project director for feedback. Challenge students to return to the data to identify the second best design and explain why the data is less favorable for that design then for the best design.

On Day 10 of each Internship, students define a new engineering problem and develop criteria for that problem. Have students develop a model for testing, analyzing, and revising their design solutions for their new problems. Students can focus on ways to test how well their new solutions meet their newly-generated constraints and criteria. Challenge students to conduct additional rounds of analysis and revision to deepen the iterative testing process.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing models of molecules that vary in complexity. Examples of simple molecules could include ammonia and methanol. Examples of extended structures could include sodium chloride or diamonds. Examples of molecular-level models could include drawings, 3D ball and stick structures, or computer representations showing different molecules with different types of atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include valence electrons and bonding energy, discussing the ionic nature of subunits of complex structures, or a complete depiction of all individual atoms in a complex molecule or extended structure.]

Have students use what they learned from the “Atomic Zoom In” article and the Chemical Reactions simulation to create models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules such as water, carbon dioxide, or ethanol and different extended structures such as graphite, gold, or sodium chloride. You can have students create their models by drawing them on paper or provide them with clay and toothpicks to create 3D ball and stick structures.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of reactions could include burning sugar or steel wool, fat reacting with sodium hydroxide, and mixing zinc with hydrogen chloride.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to analysis of the following properties: density, melting point, boiling point, solubility, flammability, and odor.

Have students use the Chemical Reactions simulation to combine different substances and determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. In the simulation, they can select the View Properties feature to examine the substances’ color, phase at room temperature, odor, melting point, and boiling point. Prompt students to find two combinations of substances that do not undergo a chemical reaction when combined and two combinations of substances that do undergo a chemical reaction when combined by analyzing and interpreting the data on the substances’ properties before and after the substances are combined.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.

Have students return to the article “Synthetic Materials: Making Substances in the Lab” from the Chemical Reactions unit and gather information about the synthetic materials that come from natural resources or are based on natural resources to create medicines. Prompt them to make sense of this information and explain how these synthetic materials impact society.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on qualitative molecular-level models of solids, liquids, and gases to show that adding or removing thermal energy increases or decreases kinetic energy of the particles until a change of state occurs. Examples of models could include drawings and diagrams. Examples of particles could include molecules or inert atoms. Examples of pure substances could include water, carbon dioxide, and helium.

Have students draw a diagram to show how the motion and temperature of water molecules change as thermal energy is added and as thermal energy is removed. Prompt them use their model to show what happens at the molecular level when liquid water turns into a gas and when liquid water turns into a solid.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on law of conservation of matter and on physical models or drawings, including digital forms, that represent atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the use of atomic masses, balancing symbolic equations, or intermolecular forces.

Have students create a model of a chemical reaction between two substances and use it to describe how the total number of atoms does not change. Provide them with two substances, such as calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) and prompt them to draw the atoms before and after the chemical reaction.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the design, controlling the transfer of energy to the environment, and modification of a device using factors such as type and concentration of a substance. Examples of designs could involve chemical reactions such as dissolving ammonium chloride or calcium chloride.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the criteria of amount, time, and temperature of substance in testing the device.

Have students design a hot pack or cold pack that involves chemical reactions. Provide them with ammonium chloride, calcium chloride, water, graduated cylinders, scales, scoops, and any materials needed to make the pack itself. Give students time to design, construct, and test a hot or cold pack that addresses the following criteria:

• Causes the greatest change in temperature
• Maximizes the time that the temperature change lasts
• Minimizes the amount of substances used After each test, prompt them to analyze the results and modify their device in order to better meet the criteria.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of practical problems could include the impact of collisions between two cars, between a car and stationary objects, and between a meteor and a space vehicle.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to vertical or horizontal interactions in one dimension.

In Chapter 4 of the Force and Motion unit, students have the opportunity to help a film student figure out why the collision scene she tried to recreate did not work. In the collision scene, a vehicle collided with a second vehicle at the edge of the cliff and neither vehicle fell off the cliff. In the film student’s attempt at recreating the scene, the second vehicle fell off the cliff.

Have students take this task further and design a solution to the student’s problem. Prompt students to design the props, considering mass, friction, and the forces involved, to prevent both vehicles from falling off the cliff after the collision.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on balanced (Newton’s First Law) and unbalanced forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion (Newton’s Second Law), frame of reference, and specification of units.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces and changes in motion in one-dimension in an inertial reference frame and to change in one variable at a time. Assessment does not include the use of trigonometry.

In Lesson 2.1 of the Force and Motion unit, students have the opportunity to plan and conduct investigations using physical objects to examine the effect of the same size force on objects with different mass. From this investigation, they gather evidence that an object’s mass can affect its change in velocity when a force is exerted on it.

Have students use the Force and Motion simulation or the same physical objects they used in Lesson 2.1 to plan an investigation to gather evidence on the effect of balanced and unbalanced forces on an object’s motion.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of devices that use electric and magnetic forces could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet, or the effect of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment about questions that require quantitative answers is limited to proportional reasoning and algebraic thinking.

Present students with data accessed from the Electromagnets Mode and Permanent Magnets Mode in the Magnetic Fields simulation. Show data about the effect of different number of coils around an electromagnet, distance from a magnet, and/or the number of magnets on the motion of the objects in the system and the energy in the system. Prompt students to ask questions about the data to determine factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools; and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Newton’s Law of Gravitation or Kepler’s Laws.

Students can gather information from the “Escaping a Black Hole” article in the Magnetic Fields unit and present students with data on objects in the solar system that shows their mass, strength of interaction with the Sun, distance from the sun, and their orbital period. Prompt them to then use this information as evidence in their arguments.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of this phenomenon could include the interactions of magnets, electrically-charged strips of tape, and electrically-charged pith balls. Examples of investigations could include first-hand experiences or simulations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to electric and magnetic fields, and limited to qualitative evidence for the existence of fields.

In the Magnetic Fields unit, students evaluate experiments on how well the experiments isolate variables. They also conduct their own investigations on the forces between magnets. Through investigations with magnets and the Magnetic Fields simulation, students gather evidence that magnets exert forces on each other even though they are not in contact.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a wiffle ball versus a tennis ball.

Students have the opportunity to construct and interpret graphical displays of data about kinetic energy, mass, and speed in Lesson 4.3 of the Force and Motion unit. In this activity, students use the Force and Motion simulation to gather data on kinetic energy and velocity and kinetic energy and mass. They graph each set of data and use the data to describe the relationship between kinetic energy and mass, and between kinetic energy and speed.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on relative amounts of potential energy, not on calculations of potential energy. Examples of objects within systems interacting at varying distances could include: the Earth and either a roller coaster cart at varying positions on a hill or objects at varying heights on shelves, changing the direction/orientation of a magnet, and a balloon with static electrical charge being brought closer to a classmate’s hair. Examples of models could include representations, diagrams, pictures, and written descriptions of systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to two objects and electric, magnetic, and gravitational interactions.

In Lesson 3.3 of the Magnetic Fields unit, students have the opportunity to develop models where they describe how the amount of potential energy stored in a system depends on the distance between the magnets. They create diagrams to show the potential energy in systems of magnets at varying distances apart.

Have students use information from the “Potential for Speed” article set or from their investigations with the physical materials used in Lesson 2.2 to create models of other systems and show how the potential energy in the system varies depending on the arrangements of the objects.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a Styrofoam cup.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.

Students can use scientific principles they learned from theThermal Energy unit and from the “Insulating Materials” chapter from the Phase Change Engineering Internship Dossier to design their device. Provide them with materials such as styrofoam cups, wool, foil or other reflective material, cardboard, and small containers and time in class to construct and test their devices.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of experiments could include comparing final water temperatures after different masses of ice melted in the same volume of water with the same initial temperature, the temperature change of samples of different materials with the same mass as they cool or heat in the environment, or the same material with different masses when a specific amount of energy is added.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.

In Lesson 3.3 of the Thermal Energy unit, students have the opportunity to plan and conduct an investigation to figure out why two samples that are different substances heat up at different rates. They use the Different Substances Mode in theThermal Energy simulation to plan their investigation and gather information on kinetic energy and temperature of two different substances when they are heated.

Have students also use the simulation to plan and conduct an investigation where they examine the kinetic energy and temperature when energy is added or removed from two samples that have different mass.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of empirical evidence used in arguments could include an inventory or other representation of the energy before and after the transfer in the form of temperature changes or motion of object.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculations of energy.

Students can use information gained from theThermal Energy simulation and the “How Air Conditioning Makes Cities Hotter” article as evidence to construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on describing waves with both qualitative and quantitative thinking.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include electromagnetic waves and is limited to standard repeating waves.

In Lesson 2.3 of the Light Waves units, students have the opportunity to examine mathematical representations of waves and discuss different wave properties. They explain that different types of light have different wavelengths and how the amplitude of the wave is related to the energy of the wave.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both light and mechanical waves. Examples of models could include drawings, simulations, and written descriptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative applications pertaining to light and mechanical waves.

Throughout the Light Waves unit, students use the Light Waves simulation to observe and describe how light interacts with various materials. They draw diagrams to describe how UV light is absorbed by DNA to cause skin cancer, and to describe how UV light is reflected, transmitted, and absorbed by different molecules in the atmosphere.

Considering that sound waves can only be transmitted through matter, have them come up with and create diagrams of examples of when a sound wave is reflected, absorbed, and transmitted through different materials.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on a basic understanding that waves can be used for communication purposes. Examples could include using fiber optic cable to transmit light pulses, radio wave pulses in wifi devices, and conversion of stored binary patterns to make sound or text on a computer screen.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include binary counting. Assessment does not include the specific mechanism of any given device.]

Students can gather information from the Light Waves article, “How Fiber-optic Communication Works,” on using fiber optic cables to transmit light pulses to support the claim.

On Day 1 of the Force and Motion Engineering Internship, students generate criteria for the design problem they will be working on during their internship, before getting the criteria that have been chosen by Futura Engineering. On Day 10, students brainstorm the criteria and constraints for a new engineering problem they have defined related to mechanical engineering.

On Day 1 of the Phase Change Engineering Internship, students generate criteria for the design problem they will be working on during their internship, before getting the criteria that have been chosen by Futura Engineering. On Day 10, students brainstorm the criteria and constraints for a new engineering problem they have defined related to chemical engineering.

Pose an engineering problem that is relevant to your school and challenge students to come up with criteria and constraints for solutions.

During the design phase of the Force and Motion Engineering Internship and the Phase Change Engineering Internship, students evaluate competing design solutions using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each of the three project criteria. They also use feedback from their project director to evaluate how well their submitted designs meet the project criteria, and discuss that feedback as a whole class to get a range of values for results that strongly, moderately, or weakly address the criteria. Students use the feedback and ranges to make a plan for improving their designs.

Change one of the criteria and then challenge students to return to the competing design solutions to reevaluate them based on the new criteria.

During the design phase of the Force and Motion Engineering Internship, students analyze their data by graphing their results and then comparing the graphs of different design solutions. They also analyze their data by using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each criteria. These processes help them decide which designs to submit to the project director for feedback. Challenge students to return to the data to identify the second best design and explain why the data is less favorable for that design then for the best design.

During the design phase of the Phase Change unit, students analyze their data by using a color coding system to identify which designs best meet each criteria. These processes help them decide which designs to submit to the project director for feedback.

In the research phase of the Force and Motion Engineering Internship, students build and test their own Egg Drop models, in which they need to build a structure to protect an egg dropped from a certain height. Students do one round of analysis and revision to their model. Challenge students to conduct additional rounds of analysis and revision to deepen the iterative testing process for the Egg Drop models.

On Day 10 of the Force and Motion Engineering Internship and the Phase Change Engineering Internship, students define a new engineering problem, and constraints, and criteria for that problem. Have students develop a model for testing, analyzing, and revising design solutions for their new problems. Students should focus on ways to test how well their new solutions meet their newly-generated constraints and criteria.