NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
• The structure and interactions of matter at the bulk scale are determined by electrical forces within and between atoms. (HS-PS1-3)
• A stable molecule has less energy than the same set of atoms separated; one must provide at least this energy in order to take the molecule apart. (HS-PS1-4)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
• When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed. (5-PS1-4)
• Substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants. (MS-PS1-2),(MS-PS1-3),(MS-PS1-5)
• The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change. (MS-PS1-5)
• Some chemical reactions release energy, others store energy. (MS-PS1-6)
• Chemical processes, their rates, and whether or not energy is stored or released can be understood in terms of the collisions of molecules and the rearrangements of atoms into new molecules, with consequent changes in the sum of all bond energies in the set of molecules that are matched by changes in kinetic energy. (HS-PS1-4),(HS-PS1-5)
PS2.B: Types of Interactions
• The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth’s surface pulls that object toward the planet’s center. (5-PS2-1)
• Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects. (MS-PS2-3)
• Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass—e.g., Earth and the sun. (MS-PS2-4)
• Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively). (MS-PS2-5)
• Attraction and repulsion between electric charges at the atomic scale explain the structure, properties, and transformations of matter, as well as the contact forces between material objects.
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
• Energy can be moved from place to place by moving objects or through sound, light, or electric currents. (4-PS3-2),(4-PS3-3)
• Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed. (MS-PS3-1)
• A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions. (MS-PS3-2)
• Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms. (HS-PS3-1),(HS-PS3-2)
• At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. (HS-PS3-2) (HS-PS3-3) • These relationships are better understood at the microscopic scale, at which all of the different manifestations of energy can be modeled as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles and energy associated with the configuration (relative position of the particles). In some cases the relative position energy can be thought of as stored in fields (which mediate interactions between particles). This last concept includes radiation, a phenomenon in which energy stored in fields moves across space. (HS-PS3-2)
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
• Energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat. When objects collide, energy can be transferred from one object to another, thereby changing their motion. In such collisions, some energy is typically also transferred to the surrounding air; as a result, the air gets heated and sound is produced. (4-PS3-2),(4-PS3-3)
• Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. (HS-PS3-1)
• Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems. (HS-PS3-1),(HS-PS3-4)
• Mathematical expressions, which quantify how the stored energy in a system depends on its configuration (e.g. relative positions of charged particles, compression of a spring) and how kinetic energy depends on mass and speed, allow the concept of conservation of energy to be used to predict and describe system behavior. (HS-PS3-1)
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces
• When two objects interacting through a field change relative position, the energy stored in the field is changed. (HS-PS3-5)
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
• The expression “produce energy” typically refers to the conversion of stored energy into a desired form for practical use. (4-PS3-4)
• Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms—for example, to thermal energy in the surrounding environment. (HS-PS3-3),(HS-PS3-4)
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns
• Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
Cause and Effect
• 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.
Energy and Matter
• Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
• 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.
Systems and System Models
• 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.
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
Asking questions and defining problems.
Developing and using models.
Dinosaur Discovery
Rock Clocks
Hands-on Mammals
What can falling anvils and exploding TNT tell us about how energy works in the cartoon and real worlds? Using classic cartoon scenarios, students explore how fundamental forces and properties of matter build a framework for thinking about energy across its different contexts.
