Advanced Physical Science

Course Overview

High school physical science learning is intended to equip students to address the following four essential questions as identified within the Next Generation Science Standards. 

1. How can one explain and predict interactions between objects and within systems of objects?
2. How can one explain the structure, properties, and interactions of matter?
3. How is energy transferred and conserved?
4. How are waves used to transfer energy and send and store information?

The high school Performance Expectations (PEs) in the physical sciences address these essential questions and build on 6-8 ideas and experiences.  They blend Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) with Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEP) and Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) to support students in developing usable knowledge to explain real-world phenomena in the physical sciences.  In Physical Science, students regularly engage in asking scientific questions that drive their investigations and lead to increasingly sophisticated evaluation of data and their presentation.  Students also have opportunities to learn and apply engineering-specific practices such as designing solutions to identified problems. Read the full NGSS storyline (Links to an external site.) for high school physical science.

The learning sequence in Physical Science is organized around a series of driving questions that provide the context and motivation for learning.  While exploring each driving question, students engage in unique learning experiences that are carefully designed to immerse them in the SEPs as they construct their understanding of important concepts. These experiences are carefully sequenced so that students encounter ideas that are developmentally and cognitively appropriate.  By the end of the learning experiences,  students will be able to meet the NGSS performance expectations and address the driving questions.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will investigate understanding of ideas related to why some objects will keep moving, why objects fall to the ground, and why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. Students should be able to answer the question, “How can one explain and predict interactions between objects and within systems of objects?” The disciplinary core idea expressed in the Framework for PS2 is broken down into the sub ideas of Forces and Motion and Types of Interactions. The performance expectations in PS2 focus on students building understanding of forces and interactions and Newton’s Second Law based on a foundation of kinematics. Students are able to use Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, and systems and system models are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in planning and conducting investigations, analyzing data and using math to support claims, and applying scientific ideas to solve design problems; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students formulate an answer to the question, "Why do some materials stick together (and cause a spark) and other materials do not?" The performance task goal is to determine the risk of static electricity fires at gas stations and develop a way to prevent these fires from occurring at service station gas pumps. Students will develop a model of electric interactions to explain electrostatic phenomena. To develop and revise their models, students collect evidence related to how charged objects interact with other objects. They develop a particulate model of materials and a model of atomic structure to start building an understanding of the mechanism of charging objects.  Students are able to use the periodic table as a tool to explain and predict the properties of elements. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, energy and matter, and structure and function are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In these performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, and communicating scientific and technical information; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas. This unit is adapted from the Interactions unit from Concord Consortium and CREATE for STEM from Michigan State University.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will be able to formulate an answer to the question, “Why do some things get hotter or colder when they react?” The Core Idea expressed in the Framework for PS3-4 focuses on Conservation of Energy and (Thermal) Energy Transfer. Energy is understood as quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system, and the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. Students will be able to design and conduct an experiment to demonstrate the second law of thermodynamics.  From the PS1 framework the performance expectations highlight the energy of chemical reactions and factors that affect rates of reaction. Students will develop a mathematical model to describe the changes in energy from a chemical reaction system and investigate factors that affect rate of reactions. Students will be able to provide a mathematical evidence to support the Law of Conservation of mass. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; energy and matter; and the influence of science, engineering, and technology on society and the natural world are further developed in the performance expectations associated with PS3. In these performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carry out investigations, using computational thinking and designing solutions; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will investigate to understand that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system. Students are able to apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, cause and effect, systems and system models, and structure and function are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS2 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in planning and conducting investigations, analyzing data and using math to support claims, applying scientific ideas to solve design problems, and communicating scientific and technical information; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Students will investigate energy concepts to formulate an answer to the question, “How is energy transferred and conserved?” The Core Idea expressed in the Framework for PS3 is broken down into four sub-core ideas:  Definitions of Energy, Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer, the Relationship between Energy and Forces, and Energy in Chemical Process and Everyday Life. Energy is understood as quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system, and the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. Students develop an understanding that energy at both the macroscopic and the atomic scale can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy associated with the configuration (relative positions) of particles. In some cases, the energy associated with the configuration of particles can be thought of as stored in fields. Students also demonstrate their understanding of engineering principles when they design, build, and refine devices associated with the conversion of energy. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; energy and matter; and the influence of science, engineering, and technology on society and the natural world are further developed in the performance expectations associated with PS3. In these performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carry out investigations, using computational thinking and designing solutions; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will be able to independently answer the question, “How are waves used to transfer energy and send and store information?” The disciplinary core idea in PS4 is broken down into Wave Properties, Electromagnetic Radiation, and Information Technologies and Instrumentation. Students are able to apply understanding of how wave properties and the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with matter can transfer information across long distances, store information, and investigate nature on many scales. Models of electromagnetic radiation as either a wave of changing electric and magnetic fields or as particles are developed and used. Students understand that combining waves of different frequencies can make a wide variety of patterns and thereby encode and transmit information. Students also demonstrate their understanding of engineering ideas by presenting information about how technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; systems and system models; stability and change; interdependence of science, engineering, and technology; and the influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural world are highlighted as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the PS3 performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in asking questions, using mathematical thinking, engaging in argument from evidence and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.