Most systems or processes depend at some level on physical and chemical subprocesses that occur within it, whether the system in question is a star, Earth’s atmosphere, a river, a bicycle, the human brain, or a living cell. Large-scale systems often have emergent properties that cannot be explained on the basis of atomic-scale processes; nevertheless, to understand the physical and chemical basis of a system, one must ultimately consider the structure of matter at the atomic and subatomic scales to discover how it influences the system’s larger scale structures, properties, and functions. Similarly, understanding a process at any scale requires awareness of the interactions occurring—in terms of the forces between objects, the related energy transfers, and their consequences. In this way, the physical sciences—physics and chemistry—underlie all natural and humancreated phenomena, although other kinds of information transfers, such as those facilitated by the genetic code or communicated between organisms, may also be critical to understanding their behavior. An overarching goal for learning in the physical sciences, therefore, is to help students see that there are mechanisms of cause and effect in all systems and processes that can be understood through a common set of physical and chemical principles.
TOPICS OF EXPLORATION:
1. How can one predict an object’s continued motion, changes in motion, or stability?
2. What underlying forces explain the variety of interactions observed?
3. What are the characteristic properties and behaviors of waves?
4. How are instruments that transmit and detect waves used to extend human senses?
2. What underlying forces explain the variety of interactions observed?
3. What are the characteristic properties and behaviors of waves?
4. How are instruments that transmit and detect waves used to extend human senses?
National Research Council 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org