NGSS 3 Dimensional Learning

NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts

  • 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?)