NGSS Crosscutting Concepts

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