Unit 1: KMT and Climate Change

This unit builds toward the following NGSS performance Expectations (PE’s). Links to evidence statements are provided:

• HS-PS3-2: Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects). [Clarification Statement: Examples of phenomena at the macroscopic scale could include the conversion of kinetic energy to thermal energy, the energy stored due to position of an object above the earth, and the energy stored between two electrically-charged plates. Examples of models could include diagrams, drawings, descriptions, and computer simulations.]

• HS-ESS3-5: Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence, for both data and climate model outputs, are for climate changes (such as precipitation and temperature) and their associated impacts (such as on sea level, glacial ice volumes, or atmosphere and ocean composition).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one example of a climate change and its associated impacts.]

• HS-ESS3-6: Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of Earth systems to be considered are the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and/or biosphere. An example of the far-reaching impacts from a human activity is how an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide results in an increase in photosynthetic biomass on land and an increase in ocean acidification, with resulting impacts on sea organism health and marine populations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include running computational representations but is limited to using the published results of scientific computational models.]

This unit contains these Physical Science Grade 9-12 DCI elements.

• PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

  • 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.

  • At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.

  • 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.

• ESS3.D: Global Climate Change

  • Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human 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.

• ESS2.D: Weather and 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. (secondary)

This unit focuses on these Science and Engineering Practices

• Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed worlds.

  • Develop and use a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

• Using Mathematical and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis; a range of linear and nonlinear functions including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms; and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.

  • Use a computational representation of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.

• Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.

  • Analyze data using computational models in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims.

This unit contains these Crosscutting Concepts

• Energy and Matter

  • Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

• 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.

• System 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.

This unit contains this connection to the 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.

• Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

  • Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence. Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation.