NGSS Maryland   Standards High School

HS-EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE

HS-ESS1: History of Earth

HS-ESS1-1: 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.

HS-ESS1-2: 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.

HS-ESS1-3: Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.

HS-ESS1-4: Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.

HS-ESS2: Earth Systems

HS-ESS2-1: 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.

HS-ESS2-2: Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

HS-ESS2-3: Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.

HS-ESS2-5: Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

HS-ESS2-6: Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.

HS-ESS2: Weather and Climate

HS-ESS2-4: Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.

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.

HS-ESS3: Human Sustainability

HS-ESS3-3: Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

HS-ESS3-4: Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

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.

HS-ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE

HS-ETS1: Engineering Design

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-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-ETS1-3: 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-ETS1-4: 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-LIFE SCIENCE

This text is for illustrative purposes only. What you're reading here is sample text.

This text is for illustrative purposes only. What you're reading here is sample text.

HS-PHYSICAL SCIENCE


Life Science

HS-LS1: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

HS-LS1-1

HS-LS1-1: 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 - High School STEM Case
Protein Synthesis - High School STEM Case

HS-LS1-2

HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

 

Cell Types
Circulatory System
Digestive System
Senses
Diffusion - High School STEM Case
Enzymes - High School STEM Case
Osmosis - High School STEM Case
Photosynthesis - High School STEM Case

HS-LS1-3

HS-LS1-3: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Homeostasis
Human Homeostasis
Paramecium Homeostasis
Osmosis - High School STEM Case

HS-LS1-4

HS-LS1-4: Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

Cell Division
Embryo Development
Meiosis
Miosis - High School STEM Case

HS-LS1-5

HS-LS1-5: Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis Lab
Photosynthesis - High School STEM Case

HS-LS1-6

HS-LS1-6: 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.

 

Dehydration Synthesis

HS-LS1-7

HS-LS1-7: 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 - High School STEM Case

HS-LS2: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

HS-LS2-1

HS-LS2-1: Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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

HS-LS2-2

HS-LS2-2: Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.

  • Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
  • Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
  • Evolution: Mutation and Selection
  • Food Chain
  • Forest Ecosystem
  • Microevolution
  • Prairie Ecosystem
  • Rabbit Population by Season
  • Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
  • Evolution - High School STEM Case

HS-LS2-3

HS-LS2-3: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

 

Cell Respiration - High School STEM Case

 

HS-LS2-5

HS-LS2-5: Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle
Plants and Snails
Pond Ecosystem

HS-LS2-6

HS-LS2-6: 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

 

HS-LS2-7

HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

  • GMOs and the Environment
  • Nitrogen Cycle - High School STEM Case

HS-LS3: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

HS-LS3-1

HS-LS3-1: Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

Building DNA
DNA Analysis
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Genetic Engineering
Human Karyotyping
Meiosis
Meiosis - High School STEM Case

 

 

HS-LS3-3: 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)

HS-LS3-2

HS-LS3-2: 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.

Building DNA
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Meiosis
Microevolution
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Evolution - High School STEM Case
Meiosis - High School STEM Case

 

HS-LS3-3

HS-LS3-3: 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)

HS-LS4: Natural Selection and Evolution

HS-LS4-1

HS-LS4-1: Communicate scientific information that 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

HS-LS4-2

HS-LS4-2: 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.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric
Evolution - High School STEM Case

HS-LS4-3

HS-LS4-3: 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 - High SchoolSTEM Case

HS-LS4-4

HS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Microevolution
Natural Selection
Evolution - High SchoolSTEM Case

HS-LS4-5

HS-LS4-5: 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.

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 - High SchoolSTEM Case

HS-LS4-6

HS-LS4-6: Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

GMOs and the Environment

Physical Science

   HS-PS1: Structure and Properties of Matter

HS-PS1-1

HS-PS1-1: 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

 

HS-PS1-2

HS-PS1-2: 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.

Covalent Bonds
Ionic Bonds
Periodic Trends

 

HS-PS1-3

HS-PS1-3: 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

HS-PS1-4

HS-PS1-4: 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.

Feel the Heat
Reaction Energy

 

HS-PS1-5

HS-PS1-5: 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

HS-PS1-6

HS-PS1-6: Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.

Equilibrium and Concentration
Equilibrium and Pressure

HS-PS1-7

HS-PS1-7: 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

HS-PS1-8

HS-PS1-8: 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

HS-PS2: Forces and Interactions

HS-PS2-1

HS-PS2-1: 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

HS-PS2-2

HS-PS2-2: 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.

  • 2D Collisions
  • Air Track

HS-PS2-3

HS-PS2-3: Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.

Crumple Zones

HS-PS2-4

HS-PS2-4: Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

Coulomb Force (Static)
Gravitational Force
Pith Ball Lab

HS-PS2-5

HS-PS2-5: 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.

Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic Induction

HS-PS3: Structure and Properties of Matter

HS-PS3-1

HS-PS3-1: 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.

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

HS-PS3-2

HS-PS3-2: 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 position of particles (objects).

 

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

 

HS-PS3-3

HS-PS3-3: 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

HS-PS3-4

HS-PS3-4: 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).

Calorimetry Lab
Conduction and Convection
Heat Transfer by Conduction

 

HS-PS3-5

HS-PS3-5: 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.

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

HS-PS4: Waves and Electromagnetic induction

HS-PS4-1

HS-PS4-1: Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Earthquakes 1 - Recording Station
Refraction
Ripple Tank
Waves

 

HS-PS4-3

HS-PS4-3: 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

 

HS-PS4-4

HS-PS4-4: 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

HS-PS4-5

HS-PS4-5: 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