Student Review Guide
Geoscience Explorations Semester B Examination 2013-2014
(Honors and On-Level)
Montgomery County Public Schools
Test Description
Length: 2 hours
Format: Students will select three (3) of four (4) writing prompts and complete a brief
constructed response for each. (Honors exam requires students to answer one assigned
wring prompt, and select two (2) more of three (3) writing prompts).
Teacher Guidance on Use of Sample Writing Prompts
Sample writing prompts are provided to encourage appropriate student collaboration and review
of concepts in preparation for the exam. Although the sample writing prompts address the same
concepts as the actual exam prompts, they are not identical to the exam prompts. Each actual
exam prompt includes one of the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices. For example, data is
provided within one of the exam prompts, and students are asked to analyze and interpret the
data as part of their BCR response.

What is the purpose of the sample writing prompts?
In problem-based learning, students sometimes have difficulty applying learning to new
situations since they work with one scenario/RFP throughout the unit. The writing prompts
provide alternative real world examples related to the same content indicators.
The final exam prompts require students to apply their learning to a new scenario. The
sample writing prompts within this student review are designed to serve as preparation for
the final exam. Although these writing prompts are similar to the types of questions that will
be asked on the final exam, they are not representative of the amount of information asked
per prompt.

How should teachers use the sample writing prompts?
The sample writing prompts provided in this student review are not identical to the actual
exam prompts. For this reason, teachers may help students to construct responses to sample
writing prompts. The sample prompts may be used as a formative assessment, either to grade
students on their progress or as tool for adjusting instruction, or as an end of unit summative
assessment.
When teachers grade student work on sample writing prompts, they should assess the
understanding demonstrated by the student. Although students need to fully, clearly and
accurately express their ideas, they should not be assessed on grammar or punctuation.
Students should be encouraged to express ideas in multiple ways including pictures, graphs,
web diagrams, tables, etc.
Geoscience Explorations Student Review Semester B 2013-2014

When should teachers use sample writing prompts?
The sample writing prompts are not designed to go with any particular day of instruction, but
rather are supplemental for teachers’ choice to use as and when appropriate. It is not
intended that every writing prompt and assessment probe is used. It is up to the teacher’s
discretion on when and how to use these resources.
Some examples of using the prompts include using them for group work at the end of a unit,
for homework after project presentations, or for classwork during final exam review.

What are some ways to support students to fully demonstrate their learning on these types
of assessment items?
It is important to help students to understand how to answer the types of questions included
within sample writing prompts. There are many ways to support students in this process,
including:
-
Question analysis techniques, such as highlighting or underlining
Teacher think-aloud while reading prompts
Use of graphic organizers to organize ideas prior to writing
Pre-writing brainstorming discourse
Discourse between drafts for ideas on enhancement
Peer reviewing using plus/delta feedback
Multiple drafts based on peer and teacher feedback
Use of graphics to support answers
Sample Writing Prompts
Sample Writing Prompt #1: Scientific Investigation
The substances that are dissolved in seawater came from the weathering and erosion of
continental rocks. Use your knowledge of water and Earth systems to design an investigation to
test how long it takes for water to dissolve rock material.
Sample Writing Prompt #2: Seafloor
Autonomous underwater gliders explore and map seafloor features like mid-ocean ridges and the
abyssal plain. Develop (draw) a model of the ocean floor that explains the formation of at least
three major seafloor features by plate tectonic processes.
Sample Writing Prompt #3: Coral Reefs
Human activity has had a major effect on coral reefs around the world: large areas of reef
systems are no longer covered by living organisms. Construct an explanation of the impact of
human activity on coral reefs that includes the geosphere, atmosphere and oceans.
Sample Writing Prompt #4: Chesapeake Bay Dead Zones
Some regions in the Chesapeake Bay are characterized by dead zones: the bottom environment
is so depleted of oxygen that marine life cannot survive. Prepare an argument from evidence to
support regulations on land use in order to reduce dead zones in the Bay.
Geoscience Explorations Student Review Semester B 2013-2014
NGSS Performance Expectations and Disciplinary Core Ideas
(Each writing prompt is aligned to NGSS Performance Expectations. Students earn credit by
demonstrating their understanding of Disciplinary Core Ideas in the context of Science and Engineering
Practices, and applying Cross-Cutting Concepts within their responses).
Unit 3: Marine Geoscience
HS-ESS1-5
Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate
tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
Continental rocks, which can be older than 4 billion years, are generally much older than the rocks of the
ocean floor, which are less than 200 million years old. (HS-ESS1-5)
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the rocks at Earth’s
surface and provides a framework for understanding its geologic history. (ESS2.B Grade 8 GBE)
(secondary to HS-ESS1-5)
HS-ESS2-1
Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial
and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or decrease the
original changes. (HS-ESS2-1), (HS-ESS2-2)
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the rocks at Earth’s
surface and provides a framework for understanding its geologic history. Plate movements are responsible
for most continental and ocean-floor features and for the distribution of most rocks and minerals within
Earth’s crust. (ESS2.B Grade 8 GBE) (HS-ESS2-1)
HS-EES2-4
Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes
in climate.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
Cyclical changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit around the sun, together with changes in the tilt of the
planet’s axis of rotation, both occurring over hundreds of thousands of years, have altered the intensity and
distribution of sunlight falling on the earth. These phenomena cause a cycle of ice ages and other gradual
climate changes. (secondary to HS-ESS2-4)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
The geological record shows that changes to global and regional climate can be caused by interactions
among changes in the sun’s energy output or Earth’s orbit, tectonic events, ocean circulation, volcanic
activity, glaciers, vegetation, and human activities. These changes can occur on a variety of time scales
from sudden (e.g., volcanic ash clouds) to intermediate (Ice ages) to very long-term tectonic cycles. (HSESS2-4)
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as
its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and
this energy’s re-radiation into space. (HS-ESS2-2), (HS-ESS2-4)
Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus
affect climate. (HS-ESS2-6), (HS-ESS2-4)
Geoscience Explorations Student Review Semester B 2013-2014
HS-ESS2-5
Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface
processes.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
The abundance of liquid water on Earth’s surface and its unique combination of physical and chemical
properties are central to the planet’s dynamics. These properties include water’s exceptional capacity to
absorb, store, and release large amounts of energy, transmit sunlight, expand upon freezing, dissolve and
transport materials, and lower the viscosities and melting points of rocks. (HS-ESS2-5)
HS-ESS3-6
Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those
relationships are being modified due to human activity.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
Current models predict that, although future regional climate changes will be complex and varied, average
global temperatures will continue to rise. The outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly
depend on the amounts of human-generated greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere each year and by
the ways in which these gases are absorbed by the ocean and biosphere. (secondary to HS-ESS3-6)
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
Through computer simulations and other studies, important discoveries are still being made about how the
ocean, the atmosphere, and the biosphere interact and are modified in response to human activities. (HSESS3-6)
Unit 4 Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS2-6
Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere,
geosphere, and biosphere.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
Gradual atmospheric changes were due to plants and other organisms that captured carbon dioxide and
released oxygen. (HS-ESS2-6), (HS-ESS2-7)
Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus
affect climate. (HS-ESS2-6), (HS-ESS2-4)
HS-ESS3-1
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of
natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
Resource availability has guided the development of human society.
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
Natural hazards and other geologic events have shaped the course of human history; they have significantly
altered the sizes of human populations and have driven human migrations.
HS-ESS3-2
Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral
resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
Geoscience Explorations Student Review Semester B 2013-2014
All forms of energy production and other resource extraction have associated economic, social,
environmental, and geopolitical costs and risks as well as benefits. New technologies and social regulations
can change the balance of these factors. (HS-ESS3-2)
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
When evaluating solutions, it is important to take into account a range of constraints, including cost, safety,
reliability, and aesthetics, and to consider social, cultural, and environmental impacts. (secondary to HSESS3-2),(secondary HS-ESS3-4)
HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Scientists and engineers can make major contributions by developing technologies that produce less
pollution and waste and that preclude ecosystem degradation. (HS-ESS3-4)
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
When evaluating solutions, it is important to take into account a range of constraints, including cost, safety,
reliability, and aesthetics, and to consider social, cultural, and environmental impacts. (secondary to HSESS3-2),(secondary HS-ESS3-4)
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating and communicating evidence
NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts:
1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
3. Scale, proportion and quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change
Geoscience Explorations Student Review Semester B 2013-2014