In this unit, students explore the natural processes that cause Earth’s surface to change over time, analyzing how energy causes Earth’s matter to transform and cycle from one form to another. In this lesson, they trace phenomena of how energy is transferred in chemical reactions, which allows scientists to produce ethanol to use as an alternative energy source. This page showcases each component of this lesson.
In this unit, students explore the science phenomena of Earth systems as they interact. Students do this by discovering the importance of water for life on Earth. In this lesson, students figure out groundwater flow by exploring the porosity and permeability of different Earth materials. This page is a high-level extract of this lesson.
In this unit, students build on their scientific knowledge about matter, energy, and heat transfer to explore the phenomena of weather and climate. They investigate how the sun powers the global water cycle, which in turn has very local impacts that affect the phenomena of regional climates around the world. They then use that knowledge to figure out and design a technology that solves the problem of drought-related water shortages.
In this unit, students use what they know about the relationship between energy and matter to investigate how energy powers the cycling of Earth materials. In this lesson, they analyze the phenomena of processes that form fossil fuels, which determine how these natural resources are distributed around the planet. This page highlights all the parts of this lesson.
Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.