Chemistry G/T

Course Overview

In Chemistry G/T, high school physical science and Earth science learning is intended to equip students to address the following four essential questions as identified within the Next Generation Science Standards: 

1. What is the universe, and what is Earth’s place in it?
2. How can one explain and predict interactions between objects and within systems of objects?
3. How can one explain the structure, properties, and interactions of matter?
4. How is energy transferred and conserved?
5. How are waves used to transfer energy and send and store information?

The high school Performance Expectations (PEs) in the physical science and Earth science 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 physical science and Earth science.  In Physical Science and Earth 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 storylines for physical science (Links to an external site.) and Earth science (Links to an external site.). 

The learning sequence in Chemistry G/T 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 be able to independently develop an understanding of the substructure of atoms and provide more mechanistic explanations of the properties of substances. They will be able to use the periodic table as a tool to explain and predict the properties of elements. Phenomena involving nuclei are also important to understand, as they explain the formation and abundance of the elements, radioactivity, the release of energy from the sun and other stars, and the generation of nuclear power. Students will examine the processes governing the formation and evolution  of the solar system and universe. Some concepts studied are fundamental to science, such as understanding how the matter of our world formed during the Big Bang and within the cores of stars. Engineering and technology play a large role here in obtaining and analyzing the data that support the theories of the formation of the solar system and universe. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, scale, proportion, and quantity, energy and matter, stability and change, 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, using mathematical and computational thinking, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument, and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will be able to independently use their learning to explain why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. Using this expanded knowledge of bonding, students are able to explain important biological and geophysical phenomena. Students can examine the ways that human activities, such as oil spills, cause feedbacks that create changes to other systems. Students understand the properties of water and the role that water plays in Earth’s systems. Students are also able to apply an understanding of the process of optimization in engineering design to materials science. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, energy and matter,  structure and function, and stability and change 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, analyzing data and using math to support claims, constructing explanations and designing solutions, cause and effect, and systems and system models; applying scientific ideas to solve design problems and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will be able to independently use their learning to explain why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. Students will develop an understanding of chemical reactions, including rates of reactions and energy changes, in terms of the collisions of molecules and the rearrangements of atoms. Students are able to use the periodic table as a tool to explain and predict the properties of elements. Using this expanded knowledge of chemical reactions, students are able to explain important phenomena including how to create colored paint pigment for a piece of public art. Students are also able to apply an understanding of the process of optimization in engineering design to chemical reaction systems. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, energy and matter,  structure and function, and stability and change 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, analyzing data and using math to support claims, constructing explanations and designing solutions, cause and effect, and systems and system models; applying scientific ideas to solve design problems and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.

Unit OVERVIEW

Students will be able to independently use their learning to explain chemical reactions, including rates of reactions and energy changes. 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. Students also demonstrate their understanding of engineering principles when they design, build, and refine devices associated with the conversion of energy. Students understand the system interactions that control weather and climate, with a major emphasis on the mechanisms and implications of climate change.  The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect; stability and change, 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 use their learning to explain the dynamic and condition-dependent balance between a reaction and the reverse reaction as determined by the numbers of all types of molecules present. Using this expanded knowledge of chemical reactions, students are able to explain important biological and geophysical phenomena including ocean acidification and the impact on Chesapeake Bay oysters. Students can understand the analysis and interpretation of different kinds of geoscience data allow students to construct explanations for the effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems. Students understand the complex and significant interdependencies between humans and the rest of Earth’s systems through the environmental impacts of human activities. The crosscutting concepts of patterns, energy and matter, and stability and change, cause and effect 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, using mathematical thinking, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, and designing solutions; and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.