High School (9-12) Performance Expectations
Below are some high school NGSS standards that can be addressed using the Pi-WRF application. The list is however not exhaustive.
1. HS-ESS2-2 Earth System
This standard emphasizes the need for students to understand how the increase in greenhouse gases impacts rising global temperatures and how the loss of wetlands causes a decrease in local humidity. Within this performance expectation, teachers are encouraged to make explicit the impact of rising temperatures on glacial ice and help students understand how low humidity results in decrease in our available wetlands.
Using Pi-WRF teachers can guide students to investigate and compare the surface temperature across regions with different amounts of greenhouse gases.
Performance Expectation Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedback that causes changes to other Earth systems. This standard is composed of the following NGSS 3D components. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting concepts |
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. |
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or decrease the original changes. ESS2.D: Weather and Climate The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space. |
Stability and Change Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system. Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World New technologies can have deep impacts on society and the environment, including some that were not anticipated. Analysis of costs and benefits is a critical aspect of decisions about technology. |
2. HS-ESS2-4 Earth Systems
This standard emphasizes the need for students to demonstrate an understanding of how changes in climate are impacted by changing surface temperatures, precipitation patterns, sea levels, and human activities over different periods of time.
Using Pi-WRF students can investigate changing weather conditions by conducting a longitudinal study that observes and analyzes human activities and weather data (such as temperature, precipitation) over several months.
Performance Expectation Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate. This standard is composed of the following NGSS 3D components. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting concepts |
Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation. Developing and Using Models Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed world(s). Use a model to provide mechanistic accounts of phenomena. |
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems 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. These changes can occur on a variety of time scales from sudden (e.g. volcanic ash clouds) to intermediate (ice ages) to very long-term tectonic cycles. ESS2.D: Weather and Climate The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space. |
Cause and Effect Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. |
3. HS-ESS3-5: Earth and Human Activity
This standard emphasizes the need for students to be able to forecast climate conditions such as glacial ice volumes and sea levels using models that account for variations in location, temperature and precipitation.
Using Pi-WRF students can combine data about changing glacial ice volumes or sea levels with ideal or real weather data in order to test and examine if any relationship exists between changing weather conditions and observed changes in glacial ice volumes or sea level.
Performance Expectation Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth’s systems. This standard is composed of the following NGSS 3D components. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Science and Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting concepts |
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. Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods Science investigations use diverse methods and do not always use the same set of procedures to obtain data. New technologies advance scientific knowledge. Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence. Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation. |
ESS2.A: Global Climate Change Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts. |
Stability and Change Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible. |