INSTRUCTIONAL CASE -- HEAT ENERGY IN EARTH’S SYSTEM
2. STANDARDS
CA State Content Standards
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Sciences)
3. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the objects are at the same temperature. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow or by waves, including water, light and sound waves, or by moving objects.
c. Students know heat flows in … fluids … by convection (which involves flow of matter).
Energy in the Earth System
4. Many phenomena on Earth’s surface are affected by the transfer of energy through radiation and convection currents. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on Earth’s surface; it powers winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
d. Students know convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.
As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will: a. Develop a hypothesis. b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data. c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables.
d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.
e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.
Created by San Lorenzo USD: Jillian Apell, Cathy Lee, and Linda Preminger and San Leandro USD Teachers: Gery Baura and Clinton Huey (2012)

Common Core Standards
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ELA/Literacy -
RST.6-8.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. (MS-ESS2-5)
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RST.6-8.3. Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
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RST.6-8.7.
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
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RST.6-8.8.
Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
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RST.6-8.9.
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
WHST.6-
8.8
Mathematics -
MP.2
Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (MS-ESS2-5)
6.NS.C.5
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. (MS-ESS2-5)
Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation. (MS-ESS2-5)
K-12 Science Framework
The 8 Science and Engineering Practices
1) Asking questions and defining problems.
2) Developing and using models
3) Planning and carrying out investigations
4) Analyzing and interpreting data (sea breeze/land breeze)
7) Engaging in argument from evidence
8) Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts
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Cause and Effect
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Systems and system models
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Energy and matter
Disciplinary Core Ideas: ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
Complex interactions determine local weather patterns and influence climate, including the role of the ocean.
NGSS Content Standards
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. [Clarification Statement: The geosphere, hydrosphere (including ice), atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system and each
Created by San Lorenzo USD: Jillian Apell, Cathy Lee, and Linda Preminger and San Leandro USD Teachers: Gery Baura and Clinton Huey (2012)

system is a part of the whole Earth System. Examples could include the influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; the influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; and the influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the interactions of two systems at a time.]
MS-
ESS2-2.
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales. [Clarification Statement:
Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.]
MS-
ESS2-5.
Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather
(defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time, and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation).] [ Assessment
Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of cloud types or weather symbols used on weather maps or the reported diagrams from weather stations.
]
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MSDevelop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth
ESS2-6. cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlightdriven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [ Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.
]
MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.* [Clarification
Created by San Lorenzo USD: Jillian Apell, Cathy Lee, and Linda Preminger and San Leandro USD Teachers: Gery Baura and Clinton Huey (2012)

Statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a Styrofoam cup.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.]
Created by San Lorenzo USD: Jillian Apell, Cathy Lee, and Linda Preminger and San Leandro USD Teachers: Gery Baura and Clinton Huey (2012)