MS-ESS3-5 lessons
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
The Next Generation Science Standards code MS-ESS3-5 asks students to: “Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.” These Fieldbook lessons teach it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
Climate Clues Grade 6 · partly supports this standard
- Is this winter colder than when your grandparents were kids? 50–60 min
Students compare January temperatures from the 1960s with the last ten years, using their own town's records. They find out why memories and single years can mislead, and how averages show the real pattern.
- What can a tree ring tell us? 50–60 min
Students count and measure the rings in a real slice of tree, match ring widths to rainfall, and compare old and new photographs of a glacier. They explain how nature keeps records of past climate long before anyone owned a thermometer.
NGSS is used as written in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, so the code MS-ESS3-5 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
More NGSS standards for middle school
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