PS: Physical Science

PS.1: 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

Electron Configuration
Element Builder
Periodic Trends

PS.2: 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

Melting Points
Polarity and Intermolecular Forces

PS.3: 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

Average Atomic Mass
Half-life
Isotopes
Nuclear Decay
Nuclear Reactions

PS.4: communicate through scientific and technical information roles of molecular-level structure in the functioning of designed materials

Feel the Heat

PS.5: construct and revise an explanation for outcomes of simple chemical reactions based on outer electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and patterns of chemical properties

Covalent Bonds
Ionic Bonds
Periodic Trends

PS.6: develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from chemical reactions is dependent upon changes in total bond energy

Feel the Heat
Reaction Energy

PS.7: 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

Collision Theory

PS.8: refine the design of a chemical system by specifying changes in conditions that would alter the amount of products at equilibrium

Equilibrium and Concentration
Equilibrium and Pressure

PS.9: use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction

Balancing Chemical Equations
Chemical Changes
Chemical Equations
Moles
Stoichiometry

PS.10: 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

Atwood Machine
Crumple Zones
Fan Cart Physics

PS.11: use mathematical representations to demonstrate how total momentum of a system is conserved when there is no net force on the system

2D Collisions
Air Track

PS.12: apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes forces on an object during collisions

Crumple Zones

PS.13: use a mathematical representation of Newton's Law of Gravitation and Coulomb's Law to explain gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects

Coulomb Force (Static)
Gravitational Force
Pith Ball Lab

PS.14: plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that electric currents can produce magnetic fields and changing magnetic fields can produce electric currents

Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic Induction

PS.15: 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 and energy flows in and out of the system are known

Energy Conversion in a System
Energy of a Pendulum
Inclined Plane - Rolling Objects
Inclined Plane - Simple Machine
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects

PS.16: 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 and energy associated with the relative position of particles

Boyle's Law and Charles's Law
Energy Conversion in a System
Energy of a Pendulum
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects
Potential Energy on Shelves

PS.17: design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy

Feel the Heat
Trebuchet

PS.18: 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

Calorimetry Lab
Conduction and Convection
Heat Transfer by Conduction

PS.19: develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the change in energy of the objects due to the interaction

Charge Launcher
Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic Induction
Magnetism
Pith Ball Lab
Polarity and Intermolecular Forces

PS.20: use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, amplitude, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media

Earthquakes 1 - Recording Station
Refraction
Ripple Tank
Waves

PS.21: 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

Basic Prism
Photoelectric Effect

PS.22: evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter

Heat Absorption
Herschel Experiment - Metric
Photoelectric Effect
Radiation

PS.23: 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

Phased Array

LS: Life Science

LS.1: 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

Building DNA
Genetic Engineering
RNA and Protein Synthesis
Enzymes
Protein Synthesis

LS.2: develop and use a model to illustrate the organizational structure of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms

Cell Types
Circulatory System
Digestive System
Senses
Diffusion
Enzymes
Osmosis
Photosynthesis

LS.3: plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis

Homeostasis
Human Homeostasis
Paramecium Homeostasis
Osmosis

LS.4: use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis Lab
Photosynthesis

LS.5: construct an explanation based on evidence from multiple sources for how carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur may combine with other elements to form organic macromolecules with different structures and functions

Dehydration Synthesis

LS.6: 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

Cell Energy Cycle
Cell Respiration

LS.7: construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Cell Respiration

LS.8: use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Photosynthesis

LS.9: use mathematical or computational representations to support arguments about environmental factors that affect carrying capacity, biodiversity, and populations in ecosystems

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

LS.10: 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

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

LS.11: design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity and analyze scientific concepts used by American Indians to maintain healthy relationships with environmental resources

GMOs and the Environment
Nitrogen Cycle

LS.12: construct an explanation using evidence from multiple sources to describe the role of cellular division and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms

Cell Division
Embryo Development
Meiosis
Meowsis

LS.13: make and defend a claim based on evidence from multiple sources that inheritable genetic variations may result from: new genetic combinations through meiosis, viable errors occurring during replication, mutations caused by environmental factors

Building DNA
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Meiosis
Microevolution
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Evolution
Meowsis

LS.14: apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population

Chicken Genetics
Fast Plants^® 1 - Growth and Genetics
Fast Plants^® 2 - Mystery Parent
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Microevolution
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.15: evaluate and communicate scientific information about how common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence

Cladograms
Embryo Development
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Human Evolution - Skull Analysis
Natural Selection
RNA and Protein Synthesis
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

LS.16: construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution by natural selection primarily results from four factors: the potential for a species to increase in number, the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, competition for limited resources, the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
Evolution

LS.17: 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

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Microevolution
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
Evolution

LS.18: construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations over time

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Microevolution
Natural Selection
Evolution

LS.19: evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: changes in the number of individuals of some species, the emergence of new species over time, the extinction of other species, investigate and explain American Indian perspectives on changes in environmental conditions and their impacts

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Natural Selection
Rabbit Population by Season
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
Evolution

ESS: Earth and Space Science

ESS.1: 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

H-R Diagram
Nuclear Reactions

ESS.2: 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

Big Bang Theory - Hubble's Law

ESS.3: communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements

Nuclear Reactions

ESS.4: use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system

Orbital Motion - Kepler's Laws
Solar System Explorer

ESS.7: develop a model to illustrate how earth's internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and time scales to form continental and ocean-floor features

Erosion Rates
Plate Tectonics
River Erosion
Weathering

ESS.8: analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other earth systems

Carbon Cycle

ESS.9: develop a model based on evidence of Earth's interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection

Conduction and Convection
Plate Tectonics

ESS.10: plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on earth materials and surface processes

Erosion Rates
River Erosion
Rock Cycle
Water Cycle
Weathering

ESS.11: develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere

Carbon Cycle

ESS.13: use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth's systems result in changes in climate

Greenhouse Effect - Metric

ESS.14: 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

Greenhouse Effect - Metric

ESS.17: create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, biodiversity, and investigate and explain how some American Indian tribes use scientific knowledge and practices in managing natural resources

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem
Water Pollution

ESS.18: evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems

GMOs and the Environment
Nitrogen Cycle