Mississippi Science ESS.3.4
The Standard
- ESS.3
- Students will develop an understanding of Earth’s systems and cycles.
Research and communicate information to explain the importance of the transfer of thermal energy among the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere. Include the unique physical and chemical properties of water, the water cycle, and energy transfer within the rock cycle.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Earth’s Systems and Cycles
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use sources to explain how heat moves among water, air, and rock. They connect water's heat storage and ability to dissolve minerals to changes in the water and rock cycles. They explain how heat from inside Earth changes rock.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can show that evaporation takes in heat and condensation releases it. They explain why water warms slowly and how it dissolves minerals in rock. They show how heat melts rock and how cooling forms igneous rock.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often say evaporation releases heat and condensation absorbs it. They may think freezing is the only way water changes rock, or that sunlight melts rock below Earth's surface.
How to Assess It
- Give students a diagram of a sunny lake, cloud, rain-soaked rock, and magma. Ask them to add heat-flow arrows and write four sentences explaining evaporation, condensation, mineral dissolving, and rock melting.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place equal cups of water and dry sand under a lamp; students record temperatures every two minutes and compare how quickly each warms.
Show a photo of a fogged window; ask where the water came from and whether condensation releases or absorbs heat.
Give pairs cards showing evaporation, condensation, rock melting, and rock cooling; have them match each process to heat entering or leaving.
Show a photo of a weathered limestone wall; students explain how slightly acidic rainwater dissolves it over time.
Keep exploring
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