STEM Next Generation Science Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) domain addresses how organisms interact with their environment and each other?
- Earth and Space Sciences
- Life Sciences (Correct answer)
- Physical Sciences
- Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Correct answer: Life Sciences
Life Sciences DCIs (LS1–LS4) cover ecosystems, heredity, evolution, and organism interactions with the environment.
Question 2: In NGSS, the DCI 'PS3: Energy' specifically emphasizes that students should understand energy as:
- A substance that flows from hot to cold objects only
- A property of objects and systems that can be transferred and transformed (Correct answer)
- A force that acts at a distance between charged particles
- A measurement of the total mass of a system
Correct answer: A property of objects and systems that can be transferred and transformed
PS3 frames energy as a property that can be transferred between objects and transformed between forms, not as a substance.
Question 3: Which NGSS DCI focuses on plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions within the Earth?
- ESS1: Earth's Place in the Universe
- ESS2: Earth's Systems (Correct answer)
- ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
- PS1: Matter and Its Interactions
Correct answer: ESS2: Earth's Systems
ESS2 covers Earth's systems including plate tectonics, the rock cycle, and interactions among the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
Question 4: A performance expectation at the middle school level requires students to 'develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.' Which DCI does this primarily address?
- LS1: From Molecules to Organisms
- LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (Correct answer)
- PS3: Energy
- ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
Correct answer: LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
LS2 addresses ecosystem interactions including cycling of matter and energy flow among biotic and abiotic components.
Question 5: Under the NGSS DCI 'ETS1: Engineering Design,' what is the primary purpose of defining constraints and criteria?
- To limit student creativity during the design process
- To specify what a successful solution must do and what limits it must work within (Correct answer)
- To ensure all student designs use the same materials
- To eliminate low-performing student solutions before prototyping
Correct answer: To specify what a successful solution must do and what limits it must work within
Criteria define what a successful solution must achieve; constraints define the boundaries (cost, materials, time) within which solutions must operate.
Question 6: Which Physical Sciences DCI would be most directly addressed when students investigate how the arrangement of atoms determines the properties of substances?
- PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
- PS1: Matter and Its Interactions (Correct answer)
- PS4: Waves and Their Applications
- PS3: Energy
Correct answer: PS1: Matter and Its Interactions
PS1 covers atomic structure, chemical reactions, and how the arrangement of atoms determines physical and chemical properties of matter.
Question 7: The NGSS DCI 'LS4: Biological Evolution' includes which of the following as a key component?
- Mechanisms of DNA replication and protein synthesis
- Evidence of common ancestry and natural selection as the mechanism of evolution (Correct answer)
- Classification of organisms using Linnaean taxonomy
- The structure and function of organelles within cells
Correct answer: Evidence of common ancestry and natural selection as the mechanism of evolution
LS4 focuses on evidence of common ancestry, natural selection, adaptation, and biodiversity as mechanisms and outcomes of biological evolution.
STEM Next Generation Science Standards 2
Which Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) domain addresses how organisms interact with their environment and each other?