• Matter and Its Interactions

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

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

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

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

    • Construct, test, and modify a device that releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes to solve a problem.*

  • Energy

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

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

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

  • From Molecules to Organisms: Structure and Function

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

    • Develop a model to describe how food molecules in plants and animals are broken down and rearranged through chemical reactions to form new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as matter moves through an organism.

  • Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

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

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

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

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

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

  • Earth and Human Activity

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

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

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

    • Obtain, evaluate, and communicate evidence of the factors that have caused changes in global temperatures over the past century.