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High School

Forces and Interactions

 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations
 

 

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration. HS-PS2-1

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Examples of data could include tables or graphs of position or velocity as a function of time for objects subject to a net unbalanced force, such as a falling object, an object rolling down a ramp, or a moving object being pulled by a constant force.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one-dimensional motion and to macroscopic objects moving at non-relativistic speeds.

 

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system. HS-PS2-2

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the quantitative conservation of momentum in interactions and the qualitative meaning of this principle.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems of two macroscopic bodies moving in one dimension.

 

Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision. HS-PS2-3

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Examples of evaluation and refinement could include determining the success of the device at protecting an object from damage and modifying the design to improve it. Examples of a device could include a football helmet or a parachute.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative evaluations and/or algebraic manipulations.

 

Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects. HS-PS2-4

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both quantitative and conceptual descriptions of gravitational and electric fields.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to systems with two objects.

 

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current. HS-PS2-5

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: none

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to designing and conducting investigations with provided materials and tools.

Science and Engineering Practices

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Planning and carrying out investigations in 9-12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and empirical models.

Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly. (HS-PS2-5)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.

Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. (HS-PS2-1)

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Mathematical and computational thinking in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and nonlinear functions including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions.

Use mathematical representations of phenomena to describe explanations. (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to explanations and designs that are supported by multiple and independent student-generated sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Apply scientific ideas to solve a design problem, taking into account possible unanticipated effects. (HS-PS2-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A:  Forces and Motion

Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects. (HS-PS2-1)

Momentum is defined for a particular frame of reference; it is the mass times the velocity of the object. In any system, total momentum is always conserved. (HS-PS2-2)

If a system interacts with objects outside itself, the total momentum of the system can change; however, any such change is balanced by changes in the momentum of objects outside the system. (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-3)

PS2.B:  Types of Interactions

Newton’s law of universal gravitation and Coulomb’s law provide the mathematical models to describe and predict the effects of gravitational and electrostatic forces between distant objects. (HS-PS2-4)

Forces at a distance are explained by fields (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) permeating space that can transfer energy through space. Magnets or electric currents cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields cause electric fields. (HS-PS2-4), (HS-PS2-5)

PS3.A:  Definitions of Energy

“Electrical energy” may mean energy stored in a battery or energy transmitted by electric currents. (secondary to HS-PS2-5)

ETS1.A:  Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems

Criteria and constraints also include satisfying any requirements set by society, such as taking issues of risk mitigation into account, and they should be quantified to the extent possible and stated in such a way that one can tell if a given design meets them. (secondary to HS-PS2-3)

ETS1.C:  Optimizing the Design Solution

Criteria may need to be broken down into simpler ones that can be approached systematically, and decisions about the priority of certain criteria over others (trade-offs) may be needed. (secondary to HS-PS2-3)

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena. (HS-PS2-4)

Cause and Effect

Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-5)

Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect. (HS-PS2-3)

Systems and System Models

When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined. (HS-PS2-2)

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy
  • RST.11-12.1 - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account. (HS-PS2-1)
  • RST.11-12.7 - Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem. (HS-PS2-1)
  • WHST.11-12.7 - Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-5)
  • WHST.11-12.8 - Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation. (HS-PS2-5)
  • WHST.11-12.9 - Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-5)
Mathematics
  • HSA-CED.A.1 - Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems. Include equations arising from linear and quadratic functions, and simple rational and exponential functions. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2)
  • HSA-CED.A.2 - Create equations in two or more variables to represent relationships between quantities; graph equations on coordinate axes with labels and scales. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2)
  • HSA-CED.A.4 - Rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2)
  • HSA-SSE.A.1 - Interpret expressions that represent a quantity in terms of its context. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-4)
  • HSA-SSE.B.3 - Choose and produce an equivalent form of an expression to reveal and explain properties of the quantity represented by the expression.★ (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-4)
  • HSF-IF.C.7 - Graph functions expressed symbolically and show key features of the graph, by hand in simple cases and using technology for more complicated cases. (HS-PS2-1)
  • HSN-Q.A.1 - Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data displays. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4), (HS-PS2-5)
  • HSN-Q.A.2 - Define appropriate quantities for the purpose of descriptive modeling. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4), (HS-PS2-5)
  • HSN-Q.A.3 - Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4), (HS-PS2-5)
  • HSS-ID.A.1 - Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots). (HS-PS2-1)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (HS-PS2-1), (HS-PS2-2), (HS-PS2-4)