NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts
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The 3-dimensional framework for NGSS included the incorporation of Cross-Cutting Concepts. These are themes that will be revisited not only throughout different units in 6th grade science, but in different grades and scientific disciplines throughout a student's school career.
- Patterns (Example: What happens to the amount of swings a pendulum makes as its length gets longer?)
- Cause and Effect (Example: What forces are occurring within the Earth to cause an earthquake?)
- Scale, Proportion and Quantity (Example: Why will you weigh less on the moon than on the Earth?)
- Energy and Matter (Example: How does energy get transformed as charges move along a complete circuit?)
- Systems and System Models (Example: How can we use a stream table to model the forces of weathering, erosion and deposition?)
- Stability and Change (Example: How does fossil evidence in sedimentary rock help us make inferences about life forms that are now extinct?)
- Structure and Function (Example: How is a go-cart designed to give both speed and safety?)