Science and Engineering Practices

As with all Amplify Science units, the Light Waves unit provides students with exposure to all the science and engineering practices described in the Next Generation Science Standards. This unit emphasizes all eight practices:

• Practice 1: Asking Questions. As students investigate the surprising launch results, their inquiry is guided by a series of strategic questions. They also have many opportunities to pose their own questions. In particular, the Active Reading approach, an approach to reading based on curiosity and inquiry, supports students in asking thoughtful questions as they read science articles.

• Practice 2: Developing and Using Models. Students complete visual representations to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts throughout the unit. Students also interpret visual models to predict the behavior of magnets and explore the digital simulation (a type of model) to learn important ideas about magnetic fields, magnetic forces, and energy.

• Practice 3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations. To gather evidence, students plan tests and experiments that they then conduct by using hands-on materials and by using the digital simulation. They also evaluate the quality of experiments in terms of how they were set up to isolate variables and discuss how to improve them.

• Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data. Students examine sets of data from outside sources and their own investigations to evaluate claims. Students draw conclusions about unit claims and smaller investigation claims by determining patterns and correlations within sets of data.

• Practice 5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking.Throughout the unit, students create histograms to communicate how they think the distribution of traits in a given population will change under given circumstances. Students apply the unit content to make a prediction and then create a series of histograms at different time points to explain their thinking.

• Practice 6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions. To answer Investigation Questions, students are prompted to explain evidence they gather through hands-on investigations, exploring the digital simulation, and reading. They also construct explanations at the end of each chapter about why the spacecraft was so much faster than expected.

• Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence. Students evaluate claims regarding the possible reasons why the magnetic spacecraft traveled so much faster in the September launch. Using evidence from the Universal Space Agency, students engage in scientific reasoning to produce written arguments. In the Science Seminar, students practice both oral and written argumentation to explain which roller coaster launcher design will be the most effective.

• Practice 8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information. Students are introduced to Active Reading—an approach to obtaining information from science texts—and have multiple opportunities to engage in this practice. Students also evaluate evidence to determine its quality.

Focal Disciplinary Core Ideas

This unit addresses the following core ideas:

LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits:

• Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes. Each distinct gene chiefly controls the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of the individual. Changes (mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits. (MS-LS3-1)

LS3.B: Variation of Traits:

• In addition to variations that arise from sexual reproduction, genetic information can be altered because of mutations. Though rare, mutations may result in changes to the structure and function of proteins. Some changes are beneficial, others harmful, and some neutral to the organism. (MS-LS3-1)

LS4.B: Natural Selection:

• Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others. (MS-LS4-4)
• In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed onto offspring. (MS-LS4-5)

LS4.C: Adaptation:

• Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes. (MS-LS4-6)

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems:

• Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. (MS-ESS3-4)