In this unit, students explore the vastness and mysteriousness of the universe, exploring how the Earth-sun-moon system fits into solar system phenomena and the Milky Way Galaxy. In this lesson they evaluate phenomena related to gravity’s role in forming the solar system and how mass and gravity determine weight on other planets. This page showcases key elements in this lesson.
In this unit, students apply what they have previously learned about forces, motion, and matter to the solar system, focusing on the phenomena of gravity’s role in the universe. In this lesson, students engineer a solution to collisions between moving objects in space. This page is a high-level extract of this lesson.
In this unit, students analyze the phenomenon of our sun as the primary source of energy on Earth. In this lesson, students explore how the sun’s uneven heating of the planet drives weather phenomena and climate phenomena, which result from complex interactions within Earth’s systems. This page is an extract from parts of this lesson.
In this unit, students evaluate how Earth is heated unevenly by investigating how the angle that the sun’s rays hit Earth affects temperatures at different locations. In this lesson, students use their scientific knowledge of phenomena related to global warming and climate to engineer a model greenhouse that reaches a specific temperature. This pages provides a snapshot of this lesson.
In this unit, students explore science phenomena of the life forms that live on Earth, analyzing the cellular structures that make up complex organisms and figuring out how different groups of cells work together to keep the organism functioning properly. This page shows extracts from each part of this lesson.
In this unit, students compare the science phenomena of bacterial, plant, and animal cells, figuring out similarities among them all as well as differences. Students then conduct an experiment into how yeast cells extract energy from food molecules. This page highlights components of this lesson.
In this unit, students explore science phenomena related to life forms that live on Earth, analyzing the cellular structures that make up complex organisms and how different groups of cells work together to keep the organism functioning properly. In this lesson, students test the effect of sucrose concentration on the heart rate of daphnia, observing how different organ systems work together. This page provides a high-level extract of this lesson.
In this unit, students investigate phenomena related to how organisms pass on traits to their offspring. Students begin, in this lesson, with an investigation into how DNA codes for proteins, which determine an organism’s traits. This page provides a high level overview of this lesson.
In this unit, students continue their exploration of the cell with a focus on the phenomenon of DNA. Students use models to compare and contrast asexual and sexual reproduction and to investigate how traits are passed down from parents to offspring. This page is a high-level extract of this lesson.
In this unit, students figure out connections between genes and heredity to evolution, focusing on figuring out the phenomena of how both genetic information and the environment influence how a population develops over time. Students investigate different kinds of evidence for life’s shared ancestry and then experiment with how adaptations help some organisms survive. Students end with an investigation into artificial selection.
In this unit, students figure out the interconnectedness of genetics, heredity, and evolution. For this lesson, students create an experiment to observe the phenomenon of natural selection determining which organisms are most likely to survive and pass on their traits. This page showcases parts of key components of the 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.