NGSS Nature of Science Thread:
Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Scientists often use hypotheses to develop and test theories and explanations.
Related Science and Engineering Practices
Practice 1: Asking Questions and Defining Problems
Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information.
Ask questions that arise from examining models or a theory, to clarify and/or seek additional information and relationships.
Ask questions to determine relationships, including quantitative relationships, between independent and dependent variables.
Ask questions to clarify and refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.
Evaluate a question to determine if it is testable and relevant.
Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the school laboratory, research facilities, or field (e.g., outdoor environment) with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on a model or theory.
Ask and/or evaluate questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument, the interpretation of a data set, or the suitability of a design.
Define a design problem that involves the development of a process or system with interacting components and criteria and constraints that may include social, technical, and/or environmental considerations.
Related Crosscutting Concepts
None for this standard.
Performance Expectations and Disciplinary Core Ideas by Subject
Biology
Performance Standards
None for Biology
Disciplinary Core Ideas
None for Biology
Chemistry
Performance Standards
HS-PS4 – WAVES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN TECHNOLOGIES FOR INFORMATION TRANSFER
HS-PS4-3: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
PS1: MATTER AND ITS INTERACTIONS
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
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)
In many situations, a dynamic and condition-dependent balance between a reaction and the reverse reaction determines the numbers of all types of molecules present. (HS-PS1-6)
The fact that atoms are conserved, together with knowledge of the chemical properties of the elements involved, can be used to describe and predict chemical reactions. (HS-PS1-2), (HS-PS1-7)
Physics
Performance Standards
None for Physics
Disciplinary Core Ideas
None for Physics
Nature of Science Standards within the same thread
Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Laws are statements or descriptions of the relationships among observable phenomena.
Scientists often use hypotheses to develop and test theories and explanations.