English Language Arts and Literacy | Grade : 9-10
Strand - Reading in Science and Career and Technical Subjects
Cluster - Key Ideas and Details
[RCA-ST.9-10.1] - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
- Description
An author’s use of words to illustrate a scene, event, phenomenon, object, or character; descriptions in literary texts usually contain carefully chosen imagery that appeals to the audience’s sense of sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste. - Evidence
Empirical data or other sources of support (e.g., mathematical proofs) for a claim; may be selected, presented, and evaluated differently by different audiences and in different subject areas according to the norms of disciplinary literacy. See Text Types and Purposes for Argument. - Massachusetts Anchor Standards for Reading
- Reading Closely to Analyze Complex Texts in the Secondary Grades
- Technical subject
Course devoted to a practical study, such as engineering, technology, design, business, or other workforce-related subject; also, the technical aspect of a wider field of study, such as art or music.
[WCA.9-10.9] -
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, interpretation, reflection, and research. (See grades 9-10 Reading Standard 1 for more on the use of textual evidence.)
[HS.ESS.1.1] -
Use informational text to explain that the life span of the Sun over approximately 10 billion years is a function of nuclear fusion in its core. Communicate that stars, through nuclear fusion over their life cycle, produce elements from helium to iron and release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation. State Assessment Boundary: Specific stages of the life of a star, details of the many different nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses, or calculations of energy released are not expected in state assessment.
[HS.ESS.1.2] -
Describe the astronomical evidence for the Big Bang theory, including the red shift of light from the motion of distant galaxies as an indication that the universe is currently expanding, the cosmic microwave background as the remnant radiation from the Big Bang, and the observed composition of ordinary matter of the universe, primarily found in stars and interstellar gases, which matches that predicted by the Big Bang theory (3/4 hydrogen and 1/4 helium).
[HS.ESS.2.2] -
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s hydrosphere can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
Clarification Statement: Examples can include how decreasing the amount of glacial ice reduces the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface, increasing surface temperatures and further reducing the amount of ice; how the loss of ground vegetation causes an increase in water runoff and soil erosion; how dammed rivers increase groundwater recharge, decrease sediment transport, and increase coastal erosion; and how the loss of wetlands causes a decrease in local humidity that further reduces the wetland extent.
[HS.ESS.2.4] -
Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems over different time scales result in changes in climate. Analyze and interpret data to explain that long-term changes in Earth’s tilt and orbit result in cycles of climate change such as Ice Ages.
Clarification Statement: Examples of the causes of climate change differ by timescale: large volcanic eruption and ocean circulation over 1–10 years; changes in human activity, ocean circulation, and solar output over tens to hundreds of years; changes to Earth’s orbit and the orientation of its axis over tens to hundreds of thousands of years; and long-term changes in atmospheric composition over tens to hundreds of millions of years.
State Assessment Boundary: Changes in climate will be limited to changes in surface temperatures, precipitation patterns, glacial ice volumes, sea levels, and biosphere distribution in state assessment.
[HS.ESS.3.2] -
Evaluate competing design solutions for minimizing impacts of developing and using energy and mineral resources, and conserving and recycling those resources, based on economic, social, and environmental cost-benefit ratios.* Clarification Statement: Examples include developing best practices for agricultural soil use, mining (for metals, coal, tar sands, and oil shales), and pumping (for petroleum and natural gas).
[HS.LS.1.4] -
Construct an explanation using evidence for why the cell cycle is necessary for the growth, maintenance, and repair of multicellular organisms. Model the major events of the cell cycle, including (a) cell growth and DNA replication, (b) separation of chromosomes (mitosis), and (c) separation of cell contents. State Assessment Boundary: Specific gene control mechanisms or specific details of each event (e.g., phases of mitosis) are not expected in state assessment.
[HS.LS.3.4] -
Use scientific information to illustrate that many traits of individuals, and the presence of specific alleles in a population, are due to interactions of genetic factors and environmental factors. Clarification Statements: Examples of genetic factors include the presence of multiple alleles for one gene and multiple genes influencing a trait. An example of the role of the environment in expressed traits in an individual can include the likelihood of developing inherited diseases (e.g., heart disease, cancer) in relation to exposure to environmental toxins and lifestyle; an example in populations can include the maintenance of the allele for sickle-cell anemia in high frequency in malaria-affected regions because it confers partial resistance to malaria. State Assessment Boundary: Hardy-Weinberg calculations are not expected in state assessment.
[HS.CHEM.2.6] -
Communicate scientific and technical information about the molecular-level structures of polymers, ionic compounds, acids and bases, and metals to justify why these are useful in the functioning of designed materials.* Clarification Statement: Examples could include comparing molecules with simple molecular geometries; analyzing how pharmaceuticals are designed to interact with specific receptors; and considering why electrically conductive materials are often made of metal, household cleaning products often contain ionic compounds to make materials soluble in water, or materials that need to be flexible but durable are made up of polymers. State Assessment Boundary: State assessment will be limited to comparing substances of the same type with one compositional or structural feature different.
[HS.ETS.3.6] -
Use informational text to illustrate how a vehicle or device can be modified to produce a change in lift, drag, friction, thrust, and weight.
Clarification Statements: Examples of vehicles can include cars, boats, airplanes, and rockets. Considerations of lift require consideration of Bernoulli’s principle.