HS-ESS2-2
The standard
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
Next Generation Science Standards
What this standard means
Students need to use real geoscience data to connect a surface change to effects in other Earth systems. They should identify the original change, track the cause and effect chain, and explain whether the feedback makes the change grow or slow down.
Mastery looks like a clear claim backed by data from graphs, maps, tables, or satellite images. Students often get stuck listing effects without showing the feedback loop. They may also confuse correlation with causation, or forget to name the systems involved, such as geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere.
Ways to teach it
- Have students use albedo cards, ice, water, and lamps to model how melting ice changes surface heating over time.
- Ask students to write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph explaining how vegetation loss can increase runoff, erosion, and further plant loss.
- Show a graph of Arctic sea ice and temperature, then ask students to label the feedback loop in three arrows.
- Use a local flood map or land-use map to discuss how pavement, wetlands, and runoff affect nearby streams after heavy rain.
Plan a lesson for HS-ESS2-2
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related standards
- MS-ESS2-2
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.
- HS-ESS3-6
Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
- HS-ESS2-4
Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth systems result in changes in climate.
- HS-ESS3-5
Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change a...