• Back

  • Middle School

    Earth's Place in the Universe

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. MS-ESS1-3

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

Science and Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy

  • RST.6-8.1 - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. (MS-ESS1-3)
  • RST.6-8.7 - Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (MS-ESS1-3)

Mathematics

  • 6.RP.A.1 - Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. (MS-ESS1-3)
  • 7.RP.A.2 - Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities. (MS-ESS1-3)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (MS-ESS1-3)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  • Toilet Paper Solar System

    Toilet Paper Solar System is a high-interest, kinesthetic group activity in which students create a scalar model of distances in the solar system using a single roll of toilet paper.  This activity can be conducted in either a long hallway or, a ...

  • Solar System Scale and Size

    Solar System Scale and Size is a two-part activity that explores relative distances and sizes of objects in our Solar System using the 5E Instructional Model. In Activity 1, students are tasked with calculating relative distances to the Sun for the p ...

  • Do you have a great resource to share with the community? Click here.

Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.