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<--These are the documents for the Crosscutting Concepts PD!

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Start on page 19.

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Start on page 19.

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Start on page 19.

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Start on page 19, if you are already comfortable with NGSS!

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Middle School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

High School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Structure and Function

Earth's Systems

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Structure and Function are complementary properties. “The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s). The functioning of natural and built systems alike depends on the shapes and relationships of certain key parts as well as on the properties of the materials from which they are made. A sense of scale is necessary in order to know what properties and what aspects of shape or material are relevant at a particular magnitude or in investigating particular phenomena—that is, the selection of an appropriate scale depends on the question being asked. For example, the substructures of molecules are not particularly important in understanding the phenomenon of pressure, but they are relevant to understanding why the ratio between temperature and pressure at constant volume is different for different substances.

“Similarly, understanding how a bicycle works is best addressed by examining the structures and their functions at the scale of, say, the frame, wheels, and pedals. However, building a lighter bicycle may require knowledge of the properties (such as rigidity and hardness) of the materials needed for specific parts of the bicycle. In that way, the builder can seek less dense materials with appropriate properties; this pursuit may lead in turn to an examination of the atomic-scale structure of candidate materials. As a result, new parts with the desired properties, possibly made of new materials, can be designed and fabricated.” (p. 96-97)

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Standards that use this Crosscussing Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscussing Concept

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Middle School

Chemical Reactions

Energy

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

Earth's Systems

High School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Chemical Reactions

Energy

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

Space Systems

Earth's Systems

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Energy and Matter are essential concepts in all disciplines of science and engineering, often in connection with systems. “The supply of energy and of each needed chemical element restricts a system’s operation—for example, without inputs of energy (sunlight) and matter (carbon dioxide and water), a plant cannot grow. Hence, it is very informative to track the transfers of matter and energy within, into, or out of any system under study.

“In many systems there also are cycles of various types. In some cases, the most readily observable cycling may be of matter—for example, water going back and forth between Earth’s atmosphere and its surface and subsurface reservoirs. Any such cycle of matter also involves associated energy transfers at each stage, so to fully understand the water cycle, one must model not only how water moves between parts of the system but also the energy transfer mechanisms that are critical for that motion.

“Consideration of energy and matter inputs, outputs, and flows or transfers within a system or process are equally important for engineering. A major goal in design is to maximize certain types of energy output while minimizing others, in order to minimize the energy inputs needed to achieve a desired task.” (p. 95)

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Next Generation Science Standards Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models

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This is the first in a series of seven web seminars that focus on the crosscutting concepts found within the Next Generation Science Standards. Presenter Ramon Lopez, from the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses the importance of systems and system models as a crosscutting concept, sharing key features of a system: boundaries, components, and flows and interactions.

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You will be glad you did.

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Middle School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Forces and Interactions

Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

Natural Selection and Adaptations

Earth's Systems

Weather and Climate

Human Impacts

High School

Forces and Interactions

Energy

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Natural Selection and Evolution

Weather and Climate

Human Sustainability

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Crosscutting Concept - Structure and Function Paul Andersen explains how the structure of objects are related to their function and vice versa. He begins with a quick quiz on bicycle construction and ends with a progression of teaching for students grades K-12. He also explains how the scale of an object will determine the function studied.

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Crosscutting Concept 2: Cause and Effect - Mechanisms and Explanation In this video Paul Andersen explains cause and effect its importance in science and engineering. He starts by addressing the chain of interactions that must be present to show cause and effect. He addresses the assumptions of universality and scale in determining cause and effect.

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Middle School

Chemical Reactions

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Natural Selection and Adaptations

Space Systems

History of Earth

Human Impacts

High School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Chemical Reactions

Forces and Interactions

Natural Selection and Evolution

History of Earth

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Creative Commons Atribution License Concept

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Crosscutting Concept 1: Patterns Paul Andersen explains patterns and describes why pattern recognition is an important skill in science and engineering. He begins by discussing patterns in nature, including snowflakes, flower petals, seasons and nucleotides in DNA. He then illustrates the importance of classification in describing and eventually understanding patterns.

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Middle School

Structure and Properties of Matter

Energy

Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Space Systems

History of Earth

High School

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Space Systems

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Standards that use this Crosscutting Concept

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Middle School

Forces and Interactions

Energy

Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Space Systems

Weather and Climate

High School

Forces and Interactions

Energy

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

Structure and Function

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Human Sustainability

Engineering Design

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Systems and System Models are useful in science and engineering because the world is complex, so it is helpful to isolate a single system and construct a simplified model of it. “To do this, scientists and engineers imagine an artificial boundary between the system in question and everything else. They then examine the system in detail while treating the effects of things outside the boundary as either forces acting on the system or flows of matter and energy across it—for example, the gravitational force due to Earth on a book lying on a table or the carbon dioxide expelled by an organism. Consideration of flows into and out of the system is a crucial element of system design. In the laboratory or even in field research, the extent to which a system under study can be physically isolated or external conditions controlled is an important element of the design of an investigation and interpretation of results…The properties and behavior of the whole system can be very different from those of any of its parts, and large systems may have emergent properties, such as the shape of a tree, that cannot be predicted in detail from knowledge about the components and their interactions.” (p. 92)

“Models can be valuable in predicting a system’s behaviors or in diagnosing problems or failures in its functioning, regardless of what type of system is being examined… In a simple mechanical system, interactions among the parts are describable in terms of forces among them that cause changes in motion or physical stresses. In more complex systems, it is not always possible or useful to consider interactions at this detailed mechanical level, yet it is equally important to ask what interactions are occurring (e.g., predator-prey relationships in an ecosystem) and to recognize that they all involve transfers of energy, matter, and (in some cases) information among parts of the system… Any model of a system incorporates assumptions and approximations; the key is to be aware of what they are and how they affect the model’s reliability and precision. Predictions may be reliable but not precise or, worse, precise but not reliable; the degree of reliability and precision needed depends on the use to which the model will be put.” (p. 93)

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Cause and effect is often the next step in science, after a discovery of patterns or events that occur together with regularity. A search for the underlying cause of a phenomenon has sparked some of the most compelling and productive scientific investigations. “Any tentative answer, or ‘hypothesis,’ that A causes B requires a model or mechanism for the chain of interactions that connect A and B. For example, the notion that diseases can be transmitted by a person’s touch was initially treated with skepticism by the medical profession for lack of a plausible mechanism. Today infectious diseases are well understood as being transmitted by the passing of microscopic organisms (bacteria or viruses) between an infected person and another. A major activity of science is to uncover such causal connections, often with the hope that understanding the mechanisms will enable predictions and, in the case of infectious diseases, the design of preventive measures, treatments, and cures.” (p. 87)

“In engineering, the goal is to design a system to cause a desired effect, so cause-and-effect relationships are as much a part of engineering as of science. Indeed, the process of design is a good place to help students begin to think in terms of cause and effect, because they must understand the underlying causal relationships in order to devise and explain a design that can achieve a specified objective.” (p.88)

When students perform the practice of “Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,” they often address cause and effect. At early ages, this involves “doing” something to the system of study and then watching to see what happens. At later ages, experiments are set up to test the sensitivity of the parameters involved, and this is accomplished by making a change (cause) to a single component of a system and examining, and often quantifying, the result (effect). Cause and effect is also closely associated with the practice of “Engaging in Argument from Evidence.” In scientific practice, deducing the cause of an effect is often difficult, so multiple hypotheses may coexist. For example, though the occurrence (effect) of historical mass extinctions of organisms, such as the dinosaurs, is well established, the reason or reasons for the extinctions (cause) are still debated, and scientists develop and debate their arguments based on different forms of evidence. When students engage in scientific argumentation, it is often centered about identifying the causes of an effect.

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Scale, Proportion and Quantity are important in both science and engineering. These are fundamental assessments of dimension that form the foundation of observations about nature. Before an analysis of function or process can be made (the how or why), it is necessary to identify the what. These concepts are the starting point for scientific understanding, whether it is of a total system or its individual components. Any student who has ever played the game “twenty questions” understands this inherently, asking questions such as, “Is it bigger than a bread box?” in order to first determine the object’s size.

An understanding of scale involves not only understanding systems and processes vary in size, time span, and energy, but also different mechanisms operate at different scales. In engineering, “no structure could be conceived, much less constructed, without the engineer’s precise sense of scale... At a basic level, in order to identify something as bigger or smaller than something else—and how much bigger or smaller—a student must appreciate the units used to measure it and develop a feel for quantity.” (p. 90) “The ideas of ratio and proportionality as used in science can extend and challenge students’ mathematical understanding of these concepts. To appreciate the relative magnitude of some properties or processes, it may be necessary to grasp the relationships among different types of quantities—for example, speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken, density as a ratio of mass to volume. This use of ratio is quite different than a ratio of numbers describing fractions of a pie. Recognition of such relationships among different quantities is a key step in forming mathematical models that interpret scientific data.” (p. 90)

The crosscutting concept of Scale, Proportion, and Quantity figures prominently in the practices of “Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking” and in “Analyzing and Interpreting Data.” This concept addresses taking measurements of structures and phenomena, and these fundamental observations are usually obtained, analyzed, and interpreted quantitatively. This crosscutting concept also figures prominently in the practice of “Developing and Using Models.” Scale and proportion are often best understood using models. For example, the relative scales of objects in the solar system or of the components of an atom are difficult to comprehend mathematically (because the numbers involved are either so large or so small), but visual or conceptual models make them much more understandable (e.g., if the solar system were the size of a penny, the Milky Way galaxy would be the size of Texas).

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“Patterns exist everywhere—in regularly occurring shapes or structures and in repeating events and relationships. For example, patterns are discernible in the symmetry of flowers and snowflakes, the cycling of the seasons, and the repeated base pairs of DNA.” (p. 85)

While there are many patterns in nature, they are not the norm since there is a tendency for disorder to increase (e.g. it is far more likely for a broken glass to scatter than for scattered bits to assemble themselves into a whole glass). In some cases, order seems to emerge from chaos, as when a plant sprouts, or a tornado appears amidst scattered storm clouds. It is in such examples that patterns exist and the beauty of nature is found. “Noticing patterns is often a first step to organizing phenomena and asking scientific questions about why and how the patterns occur.” (p. 85)

“Once patterns and variations have been noted, they lead to questions; scientists seek explanations for observed patterns and for the similarity and diversity within them. Engineers often look for and analyze patterns, too. For example, they may diagnose patterns of failure of a designed system under test in order to improve the design, or they may analyze patterns of daily and seasonal use of power to design a system that can meet the fluctuating needs.” (page 85-86)

Patterns figure prominently in the science and engineering practice of “Analyzing and Interpreting Data.” Recognizing patterns is a large part of working with data. Students might look at geographical patterns on a map, plot data values on a chart or graph, or visually inspect the appearance of an organism or mineral. The crosscutting concept of patterns is also strongly associated with the practice of “Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking.” It is often the case that patterns are identified best using mathematical concepts. As Richard Feynman said, “To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature. If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in.”

The human brain is remarkably adept at identifying patterns, and students progressively build upon this innate ability throughout their school experiences. The following table lists the guidelines used by the writing team for how this progression plays out across K-12, with examples of performance expectations drawn from the NGSS.

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Concept 3 - Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

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Crosscutting Concept 3: Scale, Proportion, and Scale In this video Paul Andersen explains the importance of scale in science and engineering. The Universe varies in size along three scales: size, timespan, and energy. Many phenomenon are too small and fast, or two large and slow to observe.

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For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.

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The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.

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Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.

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Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.

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In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.

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Causal Patters in Science! (An amazing site!

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Research reveals that students have difficulty achieving deep understanding of many science concepts. They often structure their explanations in simple, linear ways that distort the concepts students are attempting to learn. This website supports middle school teachers in helping their students to develop a deeper understanding in science and to learn the causal patterns embedded in scientific explanations.

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Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.