Colorado Academic Standards Online

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system. (Developing and Using Models) (Personal: Initiative/Self-direction)
2. Construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions) (Professional: Resilience/Perseverance).
3. Communicate scientific ideas (e.g., about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically.) (Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information) (Professional: Information literacy)
4. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena. A scientific theory is a substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment and the science community validates each theory before it is accepted. If new evidence is discovered that the theory does not accommodate, the theory is generally modified in light of this new evidence. Models, mechanisms, and explanations collectively serve as tools in the development of a scientific theory.

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: What is the universe and what goes on in stars?
2. ESS1:A The Universe and Its Stars: The star called the sun is changing and will burn out over a life span of approximately 10 billion years. The sun is just one of more than 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and the Milky Way is just one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. The study of stars’ light spectra and brightness is used to identify compositional elements of stars, their movements, and their distances from Earth. The Big Bang theory is supported by observations of distant galaxies receding from our own, of the measured composition of stars and non-stellar gases, and of the maps of spectra of the primordial radiation (cosmic microwave background) that still fills the universe. Other than the hydrogen and helium formed at the time of the Big Bang, nuclear fusion within stars produces all atomic nuclei lighter than and including iron, and the process releases electromagnetic energy. Heavier elements are produced when certain massive stars achieve a supernova stage and explode.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs.
2. Energy and Matter: Energy cannot be created or destroyed — only moved between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems. In nuclear processes, atoms are not conserved, but the total number of protons plus neutrons is conserved.
3. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems. Scientific knowledge is based on the assumption that natural laws operate today as they did in the past and they will continue to do so in the future. Science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Use mathematical or computational representations of phenomena to describe explanations. (Using Mathematical and Computational Thinking) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: What are the predictable patterns caused by Earth's movement in the solar system?
2. ESS1:B Earth and the Solar System: Kepler’s laws describe common features of the motions of orbiting objects, including their elliptical paths around the sun. Orbits may change due to the gravitational effects from, or collisions with, other objects in the solar system. Cyclical changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit around the sun, together with changes in the orientation of the planet’s axis of rotation, both occurring over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, have altered the intensity and distribution of sunlight falling on Earth. These phenomena cause cycles of ice ages and other gradual climate changes.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Scale, Proportion and Quantity: Algebraic thinking is used to examine scientific data and predict the effect of a change in one variable on another (e.g., linear growth vs. exponential growth).

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Evaluate evidence behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments. (Engaging in Argument from Evidence) (Personal: Initiative/Self-direction)
2. Apply scientific reasoning to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion. (Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions) (Entrepreneurial: Creativity/Innovation)
3. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena. A scientific theory is a substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment and the science community validates each theory before it is accepted. If new evidence is discovered that the theory does not accommodate, the theory is generally modified in light of this new evidence. Models, mechanisms, and explanations collectively serve as tools in the development of a scientific theory.

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth's planetary history?
2. ESS1:C The History of Planet Earth: Continental rocks, which can be older than 4 billion years, are generally much older than rocks on the ocean floor, which are less than 200 million years old. Although active geological processes, such as plate tectonics and erosion, have destroyed or altered most of the very early rock record on Earth, other objects in the solar system, such as lunar rocks, asteroids, and meteorites, have changed little over billions of years. Studying these objects can provide information about Earth’s formation and early history.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Patterns: Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.
2. Stability and Change: Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system. Use a model to provide mechanistic accounts of phenomena. (Developing and Using Models) (Personal: Initiative/Self-direction)
2. Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. (Analyzing and Interpreting Data) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)
3. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence. Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence. Science disciplines share common rules of evidence used to evaluate explanations about natural systems. Science includes the process of coordinating patterns of evidence with current theory.

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do Earth's major systems interact?
2. ESS2:A Earth's Materials and Systems: Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or decrease the original changes. Evidence from deep probes and seismic waves, reconstructions of historical changes in Earth’s surface and its magnetic field, and an understanding of physical and chemical processes lead to a model of Earth with a hot but solid inner core, a liquid outer core, a solid mantle and crust. Motions of the mantle and its plates occur primarily through thermal convection, which involves the cycling of matter due to the outward flow of energy from Earth’s interior and gravitational movement of denser materials toward the interior.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible. Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system.
2. Energy and Matter: Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.
3. Cause and Effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system. (Developing and Using Models) (Civic/Interpersonal: Collaboration/Teamwork)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: Why do the continents move, and what causes earthquakes and volcanoes?
2. ESS2:B Plate Tectonics and Large Scale Interactions: Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the rocks at Earth’s surface and provides a framework for understanding its geologic history. Plate movements are responsible for most continental and ocean-floor features and for the distribution of most rocks and minerals within Earth’s crust. The radioactive decay of unstable isotopes continually generates new energy within Earth’s crust and mantle, providing the primary source of the heat that drives mantle convection. Plate tectonics can be viewed as the surface expression of mantle convection.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible.
2. Energy and Matter: Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.
3. Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology. Science and engineering complement each other in the cycle known as research and development (R&D). Many R&D projects may involve scientists, engineers, and others with wide ranges of expertise.
4. Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World: New technologies can have deep impacts on society and the environment, including some that were not anticipated. Analysis of costs and benefits is a critical aspect of decisions about technology.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly. (Planning and Carrying Out Investigations) (Entrepreneurial: Inquiry/Analysis)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth's surface and affects its systems?
2. ESS2:C The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes: The abundance of liquid water on Earth’s surface and its unique combination of physical and chemical properties are central to the planet’s dynamics. These properties include water’s exceptional capacity to absorb, store, and release large amounts of energy, transmit sunlight, expand upon freezing, dissolve and transport materials, and lower the viscosities and melting points of rocks.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Structure and Function: The functions and properties of natural and designed objects and systems can be inferred from their overall structure, the way their components are shaped and used, and the molecular substructures of its various materials.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. (Analyzing and Interpreting Data) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)
2. Use a model to provide mechanistic accounts of phenomena and develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system. (Developing and Using Models) (Personal: Initiative/Self-direction)
3. Construct an oral and written argument or counter-arguments based on data and evidence. (Engaging in Argument from Evidence) (Civic/Interpersonal: Collaboration/Teamwork)
4. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence. Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation.

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: What regulates weather and climate?
2. ESS2:D Weather and Climate: The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space. Gradual atmospheric changes were due to plants and other organisms that captured carbon dioxide and released oxygen. Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus affect climate. Current models predict that, although future regional climate changes will be complex and varied, average global temperatures will continue to rise. The outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly depend on the amounts of human-generated greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere each year and by the ways in which these gases are absorbed by the ocean and biosphere

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system. Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.
2. Cause and Effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
3. Energy and Matter: The total amount of energy and matter in closed systems is conserved.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Construct an oral and written argument or counter-arguments based on data and evidence. (Engaging in Argument from Evidence) (Professional: Information and Communications Technologies)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do living organisms alter Earth's processes and structures?
2. ESS2:E Biogeology: The many dynamic and delicate feedbacks between the biosphere and other Earth systems cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and the life that exists on it.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions) (Civic/Interpersonal: Civic engagement)
2. Evaluate competing design solutions to a real-world problem based on scientific ideas and principles, empirical evidence, and logical arguments regarding relevant factors (e.g., economic, societal, environmental, ethical considerations). (Engaging in Argument from Evidence) (Personal: Initiative/Self-direction)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do humans depend on Earth's resources?
2. ESS3:A Natural Resources: Resource availability has guided the development of human society. All forms of energy production and other resource extraction have associated economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical costs and risks as well as benefits. New technologies and social regulations can change the balance of these factors.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Cause and Effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
2. Connections to Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World. Science and technology may raise ethical issues for which science, by itself, does not provide answers and solutions. Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen. The latter involves ethics, values, and human decisions about the use of knowledge. Many decisions are not made using science alone, but rely on social and cultural contexts to resolve issues.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do natural hazards affect individuals and societies?
2. ESS3:B Natural Hazards: Natural hazards and other geologic events have shaped the course of human history, and have significantly altered the sizes of human populations and have driven human migrations.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Cause and Effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Create a computational model or simulation of a phenomenon, designed device, process, or system. (Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)
2. Design or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and trade-off considerations. (Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions) (Civic/Interpersonal: Global/Cultural awareness)

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do humans change the planet?
2. ESS3:C Human Impacts on Earth's Systems: The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources. Scientists and engineers can make major contributions by developing technologies that produce less pollution and waste and that preclude ecosystem degradation.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible. Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system.
2. Connections to Nature of Science: Science is a Human Endeavor. Science is a result of human endeavors, imagination, and creativity.

Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Analyze data using computational models in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims. (Analyzing and Interpreting Data) (Entrepreneurial: Critical thinking/Problem solving)
2. Use a computational representation of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations. (Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking) (Professional: Information and Communications Technologies)
3. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods. Science investigations use diverse methods and do not always use the same set of procedures to obtain data. New technologies advance scientific knowledge.
4. Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence: Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation.

Elaboration on the GLE:

1. Students can answer the question: How do people model and predict the effects of human activities on Earth’s climate?
2. ESS3:D Global Climate Change: Though the magnitudes of humans' impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are humans' abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts. Through computer simulations and other studies, important discoveries are still being made about how the ocean, the atmosphere, and the biosphere interact and are modified in response to human activities, as well as to changes in human activities.

Cross Cutting Concepts:

1. Stability and Change: Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible.
2. Systems and System Models: When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models.