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Click on the NGSS Crosscutting Concept to see related NGSS Nature of Science standards and discipline specific topics related to both the Crosscutting Concept and Nature of Science standard.
1. Patterns
Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification and prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science is a Way of Knowing
Science is both a body of knowledge that represents a current understanding of natural systems and the process used to refine, elaborate, revise, and extend this knowledge.
Science knowledge has a history that includes the refinement of, and changes to, theories, ideas, and beliefs over time.
Science 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.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Understandings around evolution / natural selection
Organism classification
Genetics
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Periodic table of the elements (Octet rule; Groups)
Atomic and molecular orbitals
Ratios in chemical reactions
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Understanding of gravity
Understanding of force and motion (Greeks, Galileo, Newton, Einstein)
2. Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation
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.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence
Most scientific knowledge is quite durable, but is, in principle, subject to change based on new evidence and/or reinterpretation of existing evidence.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Ecosystem dynamics
Energy flow within organisms
Nutrition
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Chemical reactions
Nuclear decay
Concentration gradient
Laws of attraction/repulsion
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Newton’s Laws
3. 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.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems
Science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Life processes and cycles on the scale of cells, organisms, and ecosystems
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Atomic structure -> molecular structure -> crystal structure
Solution concentration and reaction rates
Forces of attraction on various scales
Stoichiometry
Entropy across scales
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Gravitational force on various scales
4. 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.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems
Science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent.
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World
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.
Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
Scientific investigations use a variety of methods, tools, and techniques to revise and produce new knowledge.
Science Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
Science disciplines share commons rules of evidence used to evaluate explanations about natural systems.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Energy and mass cycles within cells, organisms, and ecosystems
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Defining systems
Conservation of energy, conservation of mass
Flame tests (model of the atom)
Reactivity tests (periodicity in element families)
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Defining systems
Conservation of energy, conservation of charge
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science 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.
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World
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.
Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
Scientific investigations use a variety of methods, tools, and techniques to revise and produce new knowledge.
Science Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
Science disciplines share commons rules of evidence used to evaluate explanations about natural systems.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Energy and mass cycles within cells, organisms, and ecosystems
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Conservation of energy, conservation of mass
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Conservation of energy, conservation of charge
6. Structure and function
The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Models, mechanisms, and explanations collectively serve as tools in the development of a scientific theory.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Form and function
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Atomic structure and periodicity
Atomic structure and bonding
Shapes of molecular bonds predict function
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Electrostatics (shape of object affects distribution of charges)
7. Stability and change
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.
Related Nature of Science Standards:
Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World
Not all questions can be answered by science.
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.
BIOLOGY TOPICS:
Modern events such as determining Covid-19 restrictions and protocols
Habitat/ecosystem destruction; pollution
CHEMISTRY TOPICS:
Nuclear power generation, used fuel rod storage, atomic weapons
Reaction rates
PHYSICS TOPICS:
Intrusive use of communication devices for tracking, etc.
Space exploration and potential cross-contamination across planets/moons
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