Guiding Principles of Science Instruction:

  • Science instruction should be three-dimensional, implementing the science and engineering process standards and applying the crosscutting concepts to deepen understanding of core ideas. (NSTA, 2019)
  • Science instruction should foster independent thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving.
  • Standards-based instruction accelerates student gains.
  • Students construct scientific knowledge through exploration, discussion, and reflection.
  • Teachers are facilitators of student learning, as they engage students in rich tasks. Administrators are change agents and have the power to create and to support a culture of scientific inquiry.

IDOE Resources

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Select one Content Area or High School course at a time.
Search for key words within each standard's description.
Standard Grade Area/Subject Description
PI.4.6

High School

 Physical Science Develop and apply pictorial, mathematical or graphical representations to qualitatively and quantitatively predict changes in the mechanical energy (e.g. translational kinetic, gravitational, or elastic potential) of a system due to changes in position or speed of objects or non-conservative interactions within the system.
PI.5.1

High School

 Physical Science For an object moving at constant rate, define linear momentum as the product of an object’s mass and its velocity and be able to quantitatively determine the linear momentum of a single object.
PI.5.2

High School

 Physical Science Operationally define “impulse” as the area under a force vs. change in clock reading (time) curve and be able to determine the change in linear momentum of a system acted on by an external force. Predict the change in linear momentum of an object from the average force exerted on the object and time interval during which the force is exerted.
PI.5.3

High School

 Physical Science Demonstrate that when two objects interact through a collision or separation that both the force experienced by each object and change in linear momentum of each object are equal and opposite, and as the mass of an object increases, the change in velocity of that object decreases.
PI.5.4

High School

 Physical Science Determine the individual and total linear momentum for a two-body system before and after an interaction (e.g. collision or separation) between the two objects and show that the total linear momentum of the system remains constant when no external force is applied consistent with Newton’s third law.
PI.5.5

High School

 Physical Science Classify an interaction (e.g. collision or separation) between two objects as elastic or inelastic based on the change in linear kinetic energy of the system.
PI.5.6

High School

 Physical Science Mathematically determine the center of mass of a system consisting of two or more masses. Given a system with no external forces applied, show that the linear momentum of the center of mass remains constant during any interaction between the masses.
PI.6.1

High School

 Physical Science Develop graphical and mathematical representations that describe the relationship between the amount of stretch of a spring and the restoring force and apply those representations to qualitatively and quantitatively describe how changing the stretch or compression will affect the restoring force and vice versa, specifically for an ideal spring.
PI.6.2

High School

 Physical Science Describe the slope of the graphical representation of restoring force vs. change in length of an elastic material in terms of the elastic constant of the material, specifically for an ideal spring.
PI.6.3

High School

 Physical Science Develop graphical and mathematical representations which describe the relationship between the mass, elastic constant, and period of a simple horizontal mass-spring system and apply those representations to qualitatively and quantitatively describe how changing the mass or elastic constant will affect the period of the system for an ideal spring.
PI.6.4

High School

 Physical Science Develop graphical and mathematical representations which describe the relationship between the strength of gravity, length of string, and period of a simple mass-string (i.e. pendulum) system apply the those representations to qualitatively and quantitatively describe how changing the length of string or strength of gravity will affect the period of the system in the limit of small amplitudes.
PI.6.5

High School

 Physical Science Explain the limit in which the amplitude does not affect the period of a simple mass-spring (i.e. permanent deformation) or mass-string (i.e. pendulum, small angles) harmonic oscillating system.
PI.7.1

High School

 Physical Science Differentiate between transverse and longitudinal modes of oscillation for a mechanical wave traveling in one dimension.
PI.7.2

High School

 Physical Science Understand that a mechanical wave requires a medium to transfer energy, unlike an electromagnetic wave, and that only the energy is transferred by the mechanical wave, not the mass of the medium.
PI.7.3

High School

 Physical Science Develop graphical and mathematical representations that describe the relationship between the frequency of a mechanical wave and the wavelength of the wave and apply those representations to qualitatively and quantitatively describe how changing the frequency of a mechanical wave affects the wavelength and vice versa.

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