Literacy Standards for Reading in Science and Technical Subjects (RST)
RST 2
RST 3
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RST 7
RST 8
RST 9
Range of Reading and Level of Complexity
RST 10
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11–12 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Literacy Standards for Writing in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (WHST)
Text Types and Purposes
WHST 1
Production and Distribution of Writing
WHST 4
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
WHST 7
WHST 9
- Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
- Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
RST 3
- Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
- Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks; analyze the specific results based on explanations in the text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RST 7
- Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.
- Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
RST 8
- Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claim or a recommendation for solving a scientific or technical problem.
- Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
RST 9
- Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts.
- Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.
Range of Reading and Level of Complexity
RST 10
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11–12 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Literacy Standards for Writing in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (WHST)
Text Types and Purposes
WHST 1
- Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
- a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
- b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
- c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
- d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
- e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.
Production and Distribution of Writing
WHST 4
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
WHST 7
- Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
WHST 9
- Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
Disciplinary Core Ideas
HS-LS2-7: Anthropogenic changes (induced by human activity) in the environment—including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change—can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.
HS-ESS3-3: The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources.
HS-ESS3-4: Scientists and engineers can make major contributions by developing technologies that produce less pollution and waste and that preclude ecosystem degradation.
HS-ETS1-1: Humanity faces major global challenges today, such as the need for supplies of clean water and food or for energy sources that minimize pollution, which can be addressed through engineering. These global challenges also may have manifestations in local communities.
HS-ETS1-3: 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.
Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction: Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. Deciphering causal relationships, and the mechanisms by which they are mediated, is a major activity of science and engineering.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.
Systems and System Models: A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.
Structure and Function: The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions.
Science and Engineering Practices
Asking Questions (for science) and Defining Problems (for engineering)
Developing and Using Models
-to generate data to support explanations, analyze systems, and/or solve problems.
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Constructing Explanations (for science) and Designing Solutions (for engineering)
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
HS-LS2-7: Anthropogenic changes (induced by human activity) in the environment—including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change—can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.
HS-ESS3-3: The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources.
HS-ESS3-4: Scientists and engineers can make major contributions by developing technologies that produce less pollution and waste and that preclude ecosystem degradation.
HS-ETS1-1: Humanity faces major global challenges today, such as the need for supplies of clean water and food or for energy sources that minimize pollution, which can be addressed through engineering. These global challenges also may have manifestations in local communities.
HS-ETS1-3: 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.
Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction: Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. Deciphering causal relationships, and the mechanisms by which they are mediated, is a major activity of science and engineering.
- Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
- Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural and human designed systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system.
- Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.
- The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs.
- Some systems can only be studied indirectly as they are too small, too large, too fast, or too slow to observe directly.
- Patterns observable at one scale may not be observable or exist at other scales.
Systems and System Models: A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.
- Systems can be designed to do specific tasks.
- When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models.
Structure and Function: The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions.
- Investigating or designing new systems or structures requires a detailed examination of the properties of different materials, the structures of different components, and connections of components to reveal its function and/or solve a problem.
Science and Engineering Practices
Asking Questions (for science) and Defining Problems (for engineering)
- Ask questions to clarify and refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.
- Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the school laboratory or field with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on a model or theory.
- Define a design problem that involves the development of a process or system with interacting components and criteria and constraints that may include social, technical, and/or environmental considerations.
Developing and Using Models
- Evaluate merits and limitations of two different models of the same proposed tool, process, mechanism or system to select or revise a model that best fits the evidence or design criteria.
- Develop and/or use a complex model
-to generate data to support explanations, analyze systems, and/or solve problems.
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
- Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly.
- Plan and conduct an investigation or test a design solution in a safe and ethical manner including considerations of environmental, social, and personal impacts.
- Make directional hypotheses that specify what happens to a dependent variable when an independent variable is manipulated.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.
- Analyze data to identify design features or characteristics of the components of a proposed process or system to optimize it relative to criteria for success.
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
- Create and/or revise a computational model or simulation of a phenomenon, designed device, process, or system.
- Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.
- Apply techniques of algebra and functions to represent scientific and engineering problems.
Constructing Explanations (for science) and Designing Solutions (for engineering)
- Make a quantitative and/or qualitative claim regarding the relationship between dependent and independent variables.
- Construct and revise an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
- Apply scientific reasoning, theory, and/or models to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion.
- Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
- Critically read scientific literature adapted for classroom use.
- Compare, integrate and evaluate sources of information to address a scientific question or solve a problem.
- Communicate scientific and/or technical information or ideas.