Ocean Sciences in the Next Generation Science Standards:
Ocean Sciences in the Next Generation Science Standards:
A guide for reviewers on Lead State Teams and NGSS Critical Stakeholder Groups prepared by the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence/National Marine Educators Association NGSS Critical Stakeholder Group representing the Ocean Literacy Campaign.
Earth & Space Science:
The Framework for K-12 Science Education includes considerable discussion of the ocean and ocean processes in the Earth & Space Science section. This section contains the vast majority of all the ocean sciences found in the Framework, and so warrants special attention by reviewers concerned with ocean sciences. We encourage reviewers to use the Framework as a guide to ensure that ocean sciences content from the Framework is not lost in the translation to the Standards. To assist with this, we have excerpted all the ocean concepts and consolidated them in one place for easy reference in this document beginning on page 5. In addition, we offer the following suggestions to enhance the accuracy of particular concepts.
In the Core Idea, The History of Planet Earth, How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history? The Science Framework includes the statement, “Core samples obtained from drilling reveal that the continents’ rocks (some as old as 4 billion years or more) are much older than rocks on the ocean floor (less than 200 million years), where tectonic processes continually generate new rocks and destroy old ones. This concept should include, “The ocean and life in the ocean continually shape the features of Earth. Most rock formations now exposed on land were formed in the ocean.”
The Core Idea, Earth’s Systems, How and why is the earth constantly changing? addresses the interrelationship of the atmosphere, geosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. It should be explicit that the hydrosphere is the ice, water vapor, and liquid water in the atmosphere, ocean, lakes, streams, soils, and groundwater. It should be emphasized that the ocean is the largest reservoir of water on the planet.
The Core Idea, Earth Materials and Systems, How do the major earth systems interact? should include a sentence, “Most rock formations now exposed on land were originally formed in the ocean.”
The Framework includes the sentence, “Tectonic plates are the top parts of giant convection cells that bring matter from the hot inner mantle up to the cool surface.” This sentence should end, “…at seafloor spreading centers” or “…at mid-ocean ridges.”
The Framework includes the sentence, “Earth is often called the water planet because of the abundance of liquid water on its surface and because water’s unique combination of physical and chemical properties is central to the earth’s dynamics.” It is important that reviewers strongly recommend that this sentence is edited to read, “Earth is often called the ocean planet…” We now know that water does exist on other planets and on Earth’s moon. No other planet that we know of, however, has an ocean. It is this large reservoir of liquid water covering most of Earth that defines our planet and allows for life to exist.
The Framework also states, “About 97 percent of Earth’s water is in the ocean, and most fresh water is contained in glaciers or underground aquifers…” This sentence should begin, “About 97 percent of Earth’s water is in the ocean, which covers over 70% of Earth’s surface, and most fresh water…”
The Framework contains the following paragraph: “Water is found almost everywhere on Earth, from high in the atmosphere (as water
vapor) to low in the atmosphere (precipitation, droplets in clouds) to mountain snowcaps and glaciers (solid) to running liquid water on the land, ocean, and underground. Energy from the sun and the force of gravity drive the continual cycling of water among these reservoirs. Sunlight causes evaporation and propels oceanic and atmospheric circulation, which transports water around the globe. Gravity causes precipitation to fall from clouds and water to flow downward on the land through watersheds.” We recommend the addition of this final sentence: “Nearly all water, which covers 70% of Earth’s surface, resides in one interconnected reservoir called the ocean. This large reservoir makes Earth unique among all known planets.” The concept of interconnectedness is important to understanding how the ocean functions as a global circulation system.
In the Core Idea Biogeology, there is no reference to life starting in the ocean, or to the fact that for most of Earth history, life existed only in the ocean. This could be remedied by adding the italicized clause to the following sentence: “The evolution and proliferation of living things, primarily in the ocean for most of earth history, have changed the makeup of Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere over geologic time.”
Life Science:
There is a general tendency when referring to living things to use only examples of common and familiar organisms such plants and animals that occur on land. The problem of using only terrestrial examples extends beyond being “fair” to the ocean! Most ocean examples of organisms, life cycles and processes are quite different from and in many cases not even analogous to their terrestrial counterparts, so using only terrestrial examples makes the concepts inaccurate or even incorrect. Reviewers should ensure that examples represent the true complexity of life on Earth including the vast majority of less common organisms that live only in the ocean.
The following important ideas should be well-represented throughout the Life Sciences section:
• Most life in the ocean exists as microbes. Microbes, which are phytoplankton but which are not all algae, are the most important primary producers in the ocean, and so, on Earth. They have extremely fast growth rates and life cycles compared to primary producers on land.
• Many major groups are found exclusively in the ocean. The diversity of major groups of organisms is much greater in the ocean than on land.
• Ocean biology provides many unique examples of life cycles, adaptations and relationships among organisms that do not occur on land.
• Most of the living space on Earth is in the ocean.
• There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and photosynthetic organisms.
Throughout the Life Sciences section of the NGSS, we hope to avoid the use of “plants and animals,” and instead to use terms such as “living things” or “organisms.” When living things are referred to as plants and animals, it sends a message to curriculum developers, text book publishers and teachers that it is not important to focus on the many phyla that occur only in the ocean that are not plants or animals. Simply using words like “living things” ensures that the great diversity of marine organisms is not categorically precluded from the curriculum. Beyond that, in many cases, where examples are provided, reviewers should ensure that the examples are not solely terrestrial, e.g., in the Core Idea, Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms, statements such as, “Animals obtain food from eating plants or eating other animals,” should read, “Land animals obtain their food from eating plants or other animals. Marine and aquatic animals obtain their food from eating algae, photosynthetic microorganisms, chemosynthetic microorganisms, plants or from other animals.” When referring to photosynthetic organisms, the Standards should not only list plants, for example, “Plants and plantlike organisms need water and light to live and grow.”
The Science Framework correctly refers to primary productivity in the following way, “In most cases, the energy needed for life is ultimately derived from the sun through photosynthesis (although in some ecologically important cases, energy is derived from reactions involving inorganic chemicals in the absence of sunlight—e.g., chemosynthesis).” The parentheses are not needed. Reviewers should ensure that discussion of chemosynthesis is included in the NGSS.
A discussion that normally includes only plants and animals can be adjusted in the following way: “Animals depend on their surroundings to get what they need, including food, water, shelter, and a favorable temperature. Animals depend on plants, other primary producers or other animals for food. They use their senses to find food and water, and they use their body parts to gather, catch, eat, and chew the food. Plants depend on air, water, minerals (in the soil), and light to grow. Algae depend on minerals and nutrients in the water and light to grow. Most animals, some algae and photosynthetic microorganisms can move around. Most plants and algae cannot.”
In general, when discussing the diversity of life, reviewers should ensure that the Standards state that most of the living space on Earth is in the ocean and that most of the diversity of living things occurs in the ocean. Many phyla occur only in the ocean, while there is only one phylum that occurs only on land. When discussing the fossil record or the origins of life, it is important to not that the earliest fossil evidence of life is found in the ocean.
Physical Science:
Within the Core Idea related to Energy: How is energy transferred and conserved? there is a concept , Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life that discusses sunlight and photosynthesis. To complete this concept, there should be inclusion of the existence of life in extreme environments and the energy processes found there. This is a fundamental concept of both energy transfer and the basis for theories of the beginnings of life.
In general, it is important, especially at higher grades, to include anaerobic energy processes and chemosynthesis.
Engineering, Technology and the Applications of Science
This section of the Framework is worded using general language that neither includes the ocean as a context for teaching the concepts nor precludes it. In the grade band end points, there are references to both the impact of technologies on our ability to study and understand the natural world, and to the impact of technologies on the environment and on people. In most cases, no examples are provided, and ocean-related examples could be used as easily as terrestrial or space-related examples.
Ocean-related Excerpts from The Framework for K-12 Science Education
Chapter 7: Earth and Space
7-1
5REPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proof
Parag 5
The second core idea, ESS2: Earth’s Systems, encompasses the processes that drive
Earth’s conditions and its continual evolution (i.e., change over time). It addresses the planet’s large-scale structure and composition, describes its individual systems, and explains how they are interrelated. It also focuses on the mechanisms driving Earth’s internal motions and on the vital role that water plays in all of the planet’s systems and surface processes.
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P. 7-2
CORE IDEA ESS1: EARTH’S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
What is the universe, and what is Earth’s place in it?
The planet Earth is a tiny part of a vast universe that has developed over a huge expanse
of time. The history of the universe, and of the structures and objects within it, can be deciphered using observations of their present condition together with knowledge of physics and chemistry. Similarly, the patterns of motion of the objects in the solar system can be described and predicted on the basis of observations and an understanding of gravity. Comprehension of these patterns can be used to explain many earth phenomena, such as day and night, seasons, tides, and phases of the moon.
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7-4
PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
What are the predictable patterns caused by Earth’s movement in the solar system?
Parag 3
Gravity holds Earth in orbit around the sun, and it holds the moon in orbit around Earth.
The pulls of gravity from the sun and the moon cause the patterns of ocean tides. The moon’s and sun’s positions relative to Earth cause lunar and solar eclipses to occur. The moon’s monthly orbit around Earth, the relative positions of the sun, the moon and the observer, and the fact that it shines by reflected sunlight explain the observed phases of the moon.
By the end of grade 8. The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects,
including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its
gravitational pull on them. This model of the solar system can explain tides, eclipses of the sun and the moon, and the motion of the planets in the sky relative to the stars.
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7-5
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history?
Earth scientists use the structure, sequence, and properties of rocks, sediments, and
fossils, as well as the locations of current and past ocean basins, lakes, and rivers, to reconstruct events in Earth’s planetary history.
Parag 2
Analyses of rock formations and the fossil record are used to establish relative ages. In an
undisturbed column of rock, the youngest rocks are at the top, and the oldest are at the bottom. Rock layers have sometimes been rearranged by tectonic forces; rearrangements can be seen or inferred, such as from inverted sequences of fossil types. Core samples obtained from drilling reveal that the continents’ rocks (some as old as 4 billion years or more) are much older than rocks on the ocean floor (less than 200 million years), where tectonic processes continually generate new rocks and destroy old ones.
Parag 3
The geological time scale organizes Earth’s history into the increasingly long time
intervals of eras, periods, and epochs. Major historical events include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, volcanic activity, the evolution and extinction of living organisms, periods of massive glaciation, and development of watersheds and rivers.
By the end of grade 8. The geological time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a
way to organize Earth’s history. Major historical events include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution and extinction of particular living organisms, volcanic eruptions, periods of massive glaciation, and development of watersheds and rivers through glaciation and water erosion
By the end of grade 12. Radioactive-decay lifetimes and isotopic content in rocks
provide a way of dating rock formations and thereby fixing the scale of geological time. The continents’ rocks (some as old as 4 billion years or more) are much older than rocks on the ocean floor (less than 200 million years), where tectonic processes continually generate new rocks and remove old ones.
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7-6
CORE IDEA ESS2: EARTH’S SYSTEMS
How and why is the earth constantly changing?
Parag 1
…For example, the motion of tectonic plates is part of the cycles
of convection in the earth’s mantle, driven by outflowing heat and the downward pull of gravity, which result in the formation and changes of many features of Earth’s land and undersea surface. Weather and climate are shaped by complex interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, clouds, ice, land, and life forms. The earth’s biosphere has changed the makeup of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere over geological time; conversely, geological events and conditions have influenced the evolution of life on the planet. Water is essential to the dynamics of most earth systems, and it plays a significant role in shaping Earth’s landscape.
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7-7
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
How do the major earth systems interact?
Parag 1
…The hydrosphere is the ice, water vapor, and liquid water
in the atmosphere, ocean, lakes, streams, soils, and groundwater. The presence of living organisms of any type defines the biosphere; life can be found in many parts of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
Paragraph 3
…In the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles, materials cycle between living and
nonliving forms and among the atmosphere, soil, rocks, and ocean
Parag 4
Weather and climate are driven by interactions of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and
atmosphere, with inputs of energy from the sun.
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS2.A
By the end of grade 2. Wind and water can change the shape of the land.
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7-8
By the end of grade 5.
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans).
…The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around.
By the end of grade 12.
…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
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
Why do the continents move, and what causes earthquakes and volcanoes?
Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the
rocks at the earth’s surface and provides a coherent account of its geological history. This theory is supported by multiple evidence streams, for example the consistent patterns of earthquake locations, evidence of ocean floor spreading over time given by tracking magnetic patterns in undersea rocks and coordinating them with changes to the earth’s magnetic axis data, the warping of the land under loads (such as lakes and ice sheets), which show that the solid mantle’s rocks can bend and even flow.
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7-9
…Tectonic plates are the top parts of giant convection cells that bring matter from the hot inner mantle up to the cool surface. These movements are driven by the release of energy (from radioactive decay of unstable isotopes within the earth’s interior) and by the cooling and gravitational downward motion of the dense material of the plates after subduction (one plate being drawn under another). The plates move across the earth’s
surface, carrying the continents, creating and destroying ocean basins, producing earthquakes and volcanoes, and forming mountain ranges and plateaus.
Most continental and ocean floor features are the result of geological activity and
earthquakes along plate boundaries. The exact patterns depend on whether the plates are being pushed together to create mountains or deep ocean trenches, being pulled apart to form new ocean floor at midocean ridges, or sliding past each other along surface faults. Most distributions of rocks within Earth’s crust, including minerals, fossil fuels, and energy resources, are a direct result of the history of plate motions and collisions and the corresponding changes in the configurations of the continents and ocean basins.
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS2.B
By the end of grade 2. Rocks, soils, and sand are present in most areas where plants and animals live. There may also be rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds. Maps show where things are located.
By the end of grade 5. The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean
floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Earthquakes happen near or deep below Earth’s surface, volcanoes are found on the continents and on the ocean floor, and major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges.
By the end of grade 8. 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 geological 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
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7-10
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
How do the properties and movements of water shape Earth’s surface and affect its systems?
Parag 1
Earth is often called the water planet because of the abundance of liquid water on its
surface and because water’s unique combination of physical and chemical properties is central to the earth’s dynamics.
Each of these properties plays a role in how water affects other earth systems (e.g., ice expansion contributes to rock erosion, ocean thermal capacity contributes to moderating temperature variations).
Parag 2
Water is found almost everywhere on Earth, from high in the atmosphere (as water
vapor) to low in the atmosphere (precipitation, droplets in clouds) to mountain snowcaps and glaciers (solid) to running liquid water on the land, ocean, and underground. Energy from the sun and the force of gravity drive the continual cycling of water among these reservoirs. Sunlight causes evaporation and propels oceanic and atmospheric circulation, which transports water around the globe. Gravity causes precipitation to fall from clouds and water to flow downward on the land through watersheds
Parag 3
About 97 percent of Earth’s water is in the ocean, and most fresh water is contained in
glaciers or underground aquifers; only a tiny fraction of Earth’s water is found in streams, lakes, and rivers.
Parag 4
Water participates both in the dissolution and formation of Earth’s materials. The
downward flow of water, both in liquid and solid form, shapes landscapes through the erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment. Shoreline waves in the ocean and lakes are powerful agents of erosion. Over millions of years, coastlines have moved back and forth over continents by hundreds of kilometers, largely due to the rise and fall of sea level as the climate changed (e.g., ice ages).
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS2.C
By the end of grade 2. Water is found in the ocean, rivers, lakes, and ponds.
By the end of grade 5. Water is found almost everywhere on Earth: as humidity; as fog or clouds in the atmosphere; as rain or snow falling from clouds; as ice, snow, and running water on land and in the ocean; and as groundwater beneath the surface. The downhill movement of water as it flows to the ocean shapes the appearance of the land. Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.
By the end of grade 8. Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation as well as downhill flows on land. The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns. (continues on 7-11 page: ) Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight andgravity. Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents. Water’s movements both on the land and underground cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations.
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7-11
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
What regulates weather and climate?
Parag 1
Weather and climate are shaped by complex interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things.
Parag 2
The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate. It absorbs and stores large amounts of energy from the sun and releases it very slowly; in that way, the ocean moderates and stabilizes global climates. Energy is redistributed globally through ocean currents (e.g., the Gulf Stream) and also through atmospheric circulation (winds). Sunlight heats Earth’s surface, which in turn heats the atmosphere. The resulting temperature patterns, together with Earth’s rotation and the configuration of continents and oceans, control the large-scale patterns of atmospheric circulation. Winds gain energy and water vapor content as they cross hot ocean regions, which can lead to tropical storms.
Parag 3
…..However, what determines the temperature at which this balance occurs is a complex set of absorption, reflection, transmission, and redistribution processes in the atmosphere and oceans that determine how long energy stays trapped in these systems before being radiated away.
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7-12
Parag 1
Some climate changes in Earth’s history were rapid shifts (caused by events, such as
volcanic eruptions and meteoric impacts, that suddenly put a large amount of particulate matter into the atmosphere or by abrupt changes in ocean currents); other climate changes were gradual and longer term—due, for example, to solar output variations, shifts in the tilt of Earth’s axis, or atmospheric change due to the rise of plants and other life forms that modified the atmosphere via photosynthesis.
NOTE THIS SHOULD LEAD TO MENTIONING CYANOBACTERIA (BLUE-GREEN ALGAE) AS THE MAIN DRIVER OF ATMOSPHERIC CHANGE TO O2
Parag 2
Natural factors that cause climate changes over human time scales (tens or hundreds of years) include variations in the sun’s energy output, ocean circulation patterns, atmospheric composition, and volcanic activity. (See ESS3.D for a detailed discussion of human activities and global climate change). When ocean currents change their flow patterns, such as during El Niño Southern Oscillation conditions, some global regions become warmer or wetter and others become colder or drier.
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS2.D
By the end of grade 8. Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving
sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. Because these patterns are so complex, weather can be predicted only probabilistically.
The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb and retain the energy radiated from land and ocean surfaces, thereby regulating Earth’s average surface temperature and keeping it habitable.
By the end of grade 12. Global climate is a dynamic balance on many different time
scales among energy from the sun falling on Earth; the energy’s reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems; and the energy’s reradiation into space. Climate change can occur if any part of Earth’s systems is altered.
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7-13
parag 2
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 the biosphere.
ESS2.E: Biogeology
How do living organisms alter Earth’s processes and structures?
Parag 1
Plants, algae, and microorganisms produced most of the oxygen (i.e., the O2) in the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and they enabled the formation of fossil fuels and types of sedimentary rocks.
Parag 2
Organisms ranging from bacteria to human beings are a major driver of the global carbon
cycle, and they influence global climate by modifying the chemical makeup of the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases in particular are continually moved through the reservoirs represented by the ocean, land, life, and atmosphere. The abundance of carbon in the atmosphere is reduced through the ocean floor accumulation of marine sediments and the accumulation of plant biomass; atmospheric carbon is increased through such processes as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
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7-14
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
How do humans depend on Earth’s resources?
Parag 1
Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources, including air, water, soil, minerals, metals, energy, plants, and animals.
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS3.A
By the end of grade 8. Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and
biosphere for many different resources.
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7-15
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
How do natural hazards affect individuals and societies?
Natural processes can cause sudden or gradual changes to Earth’s systems, some of
which may adversely affect humans. Through observations and knowledge of historical events, people know where certain of these hazards—such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, severe weather, floods, and coastal erosion—are likely to occur
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7-16
Parag 2
Finally, satellite monitoring of weather patterns, along with measurements from land, sea, and air, usually can identify developing severe weather and lead to its reliable forecast.
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS3.B
By the end of grade 5. A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g.,
earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, severe weather, floods, coastal erosion). Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems (continued on 7-17)
How do humans change the planet?
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7-17
parag 1
Recorded history, as well as chemical and geological evidence, indicates that human
activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major impacts on the land, rivers, ocean, air, and even outer space. Humans affect the quality, availability, and distribution of Earth’s water through the modification of streams, lakes, and groundwater………. The activities of humans have significantly altered the biosphere, changing or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of many living species. These changes also affect the viability of agriculture or fisheries to support human populations. Land use patterns for agriculture and ocean use patterns for fishing are affected not only by changes in population and needs but also by changes in climate or local conditions (such as desertification due to overuse, depletion of fish populations by overextraction).
Parag 4
Some negative effects of human activities are reversible with informed and responsible
Management……… Regulations regarding water and air pollution have greatly
reduced acid rain and stream pollution, and international treaties on the use of certain refrigerant gases have halted the growth of the annual ozone hole over Antarctica. Regulation of fishing and the development of marine preserves can help restore and maintain fish populations
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS3.C
By the end of grade 2. Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world
around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things—for example, by reducing trash through reuse and recycling.
By the end of grade 5. Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space.
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7-18
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
How do people model and predict the effects of human activities on Earth’s climate?
Parag 1
Global climate change, shown to be driven by both natural phenomena and by human
activities, could have large consequences for all of Earth’s surface systems, including the
biosphere (see ESS3.C for a general discussion of climate). Humans are now so numerous and resource-dependent that their activities affect every part of the environment, from outer space and the stratosphere to the deepest ocean.
Parag 4
Climate models are important tools for predicting, for example, when and where new
water supplies will be needed, when and which natural resources will become scarce, how weather patterns may change and with what consequences, whether proposed technological concepts for controlling greenhouse gases will work, and how soon people will have to leave low-lying coastal areas if sea levels continue to rise. Meanwhile, important discoveries are being…(continued on 7-19…) made—for example, about how the biosphere is responding to the climate changes that have already occurred, how the atmosphere is responding to changes in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and how greenhouse gases move between the ocean and the atmosphere over long periods.
7-19
Parag 2
It is important to note that although forecasting the consequences of environmental
change is crucial to society,…………… However, it is clear not only that human activities play a major role in climate change but also that impacts of climate change, for example increased frequency of severe storms due to ocean warming, have begun to influence human activities
Grade Band Endpoints for ESS 3.D
By the end of grade 12. Because global climate changes usually happen too slowly for
individuals to recognize them directly, scientific and engineering research—much of it based on studying and modeling past climate patterns—is essential………. 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, as well as to changes in human activities
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7-21
BOX 7-1
Core and Component Ideas in Earth and Space Sciences
Core Idea ESS2: Earth’s Systems
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
ESS2.E: Biogeology