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Middle School

Matter and Its Interactions

 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations
 

 

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

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the design, controlling the transfer of energy to the environment, and modification of a device using factors such as type and concentration of a substance. Examples of designs could involve chemical reactions such as dissolving ammonium chloride or calcium chloride.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the criteria of amount, time, and temperature of substance in testing the device.

Science and Engineering Practices

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints. (MS-PS1-6)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS1.B:  Chemical Reactions

Some chemical reactions release energy, others store energy. (MS-PS1-6)

ETS1.B:  Developing Possible Solutions

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results in order to improve it. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

ETS1.C:  Optimizing the Design Solution

Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process - that is, some of the characteristics may be incorporated into the new design. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution. (secondary to MS-PS1-6)

Crosscutting Concepts

Energy and Matter

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system. (MS-PS1-6)

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy
  • RST.6-8.3 - Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. (MS-PS1-6)
  • WHST.6-8.7 - Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. (MS-PS1-6)