How to Read the NGSS

Each standard in the NGSS includes multiple interconnected parts. They have an architecture that can be seen in Figure A.1. This diagram is taken directly from the NGSS website’s page, “How to Read the Next Generation Science Standards.” This page includes a short written overview and an accompanying video as well as links to more detailed information. The standards are designed to be read online, with features like pop-ups, choices for highlighting different parts of the text (the different dimensions) in different colors, and links to related content elsewhere within the NGSS. If you’re not familiar with how they work, you should follow the link above and then explore around the NGSS a bit before reading further.

Know that the appearance of the Standards can be a bit intimidating, with all the abbreviations, acronyms, codes, and different colors, but after a bit of time working with the text, its logic does become understandable.

Example of ReaL Connections to Performance Expectations

Earth and Space Science Disciplinary Core Idea #2 is “Earth’s Systems,” and it has five supporting concepts:

  • ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
  • ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
  • ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
  • ESS2.E: Biogeology

In the middle school grade band of NGSS, there are six performance expectations associated with ESS2. All six are listed below, but not in their complete form. “Clarification Statements” and “Assessment Boundaries” are not included in the full list, but we’ll look at one of the Performance Expectations in greater detail. See the full list (and the full standard) at http://nextgenscience.org/msess2-earth-systems.

Figure A.1: The architecture of a standard. The NGSS is designed with the web in mind and features of its online architecture make it easier to understand than this diagram might indicate.

Figure A.1: The architecture of a standard. The NGSS is designed with the web in mind and features of its online architecture make it easier to understand than this diagram might indicate.

MS-ESS2 Earth’s Systems (Middle School-Earth System Science 2)

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

  • MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
  • MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
  • MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
  • MS-ESS2-4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
  • MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
  • MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Each of the six above Performance Expectations (PEs) incorporates aspects of each of the three dimensions. The color-coding helps to reveal some of that. “Science and Engineering Practices” are shown in blue italics and Crosscutting Concepts are shown in green underlined italics. Disciplinary Core Ideas are in black. This is one of the color-coding options in the online presentation. Pop-ups (which can be disabled) appear when the different colored parts of the PE are scrolled over with the mouse. Figure A.2 is a screen grab of the first three PEs for ESS2, with a pop-up showing the Crosscutting Concepts related to “MS-ESS2-2.”

All of these Performance Expectations directly aligns with “Why does this place look the way it does?” We’ll take a closer look at MS-ESS2-2, which addresses how geoscience processes have shaped the Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. This Guide coupled with the development of a VFE of a site local to your school, provides rich opportunities for addressing both this particular PE, along with all of the others within this standard. The Clarification Statements often provide helpful examples, and Assessment Boundaries indicate what will not be addressed in the assessments now under development. Importantly, this is not an indication that these topics are out of bounds. These standards represent minimum expectations—exceeding these expectations is often appropriate.

Figure A.2: A screen-grab of part of the middle school standard on Earth Systems: MS-ESS2. Shown here are the first three PEs, with the first partially obscured by a pop-up related to the CC in the second.

Figure A.2: A screen-grab of part of the middle school standard on Earth Systems: MS-ESS2. Shown here are the first three PEs, with the first partially obscured by a pop-up related to the CC in the second.

Figure A.2 only shows a piece of the standard—only the first few Performance Expectations. Like the example in the previous section, this PE also includes Foundation Boxes, which highlight what pieces of each of the three dimensions is addressed in the standard and Connection Boxes, which highlight connections to other disciplines and grade levels. Drawing these connections is important in helping fortify understandings of both the particular content and how that content is contextualized in broader human and natural systems.