MS.MEO: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

MS-LS1-6: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Cell Energy Cycle
Food Chain
Photosynthesis Lab
Plants and Snails
Pond Ecosystem

MS-LS1-7: Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Cell Energy Cycle
Dehydration Synthesis
Digestive System

MS-LS2-1: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Pond Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

MS-LS2-3: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Carbon Cycle
Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Pond Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Pond Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

MS.IRE: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

MS-LS2-2: Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem
Pond Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

MS-LS2-5: Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

GMOs and the Environment

MS.HE: History of Earth

MS-ESS2-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Erosion Rates
Plate Tectonics
River Erosion
Rock Cycle
Weathering

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.

Building Pangaea
Plate Tectonics

MS.ES: Earth’s Systems

MS-ESS2-1: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle
Plate Tectonics
Rock Cycle
Weathering

MS-ESS3-1: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Carbon Cycle

MS.SPM: Structure and Properties of Matter

MS-PS1-1: Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

Dehydration Synthesis

MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Melting Points
Phase Changes
Phases of Water
Temperature and Particle Motion

MS.CR: Chemical Reactions

MS-PS1-2: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

Chemical Changes

MS-PS1-5: Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Balancing Chemical Equations
Chemical Changes
Chemical Equations

MS-PS1-6: Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.

Feel the Heat

MS.HI: Human Impacts

MS-ESS3-2: Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Hurricane Motion - Metric

MS.ED: Engineering Design

MS-ETS1-1: Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Crumple Zones
Feel the Heat
GMOs and the Environment
Genetic Engineering
Pendulum Clock
Trebuchet

MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Crumple Zones
Digestive System
Feel the Heat
GMOs and the Environment
Genetic Engineering
Pendulum Clock
Programmable Rover
Trebuchet

MS-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Digestive System
GMOs and the Environment
Genetic Engineering
Trebuchet

MS-ETS1-4: Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Crumple Zones
Feel the Heat
Pendulum Clock
Programmable Rover
Trebuchet