MS-ESS2-6
The standard
Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
Next Generation Science Standards
What this standard means
Students need to build and use models that connect uneven solar heating, Earth’s rotation, winds, ocean currents, and climate patterns. They should explain why the equator is warmer, why air and water move in patterns, and why nearby places can have different climates because of latitude, altitude, oceans, and landforms.
Mastery looks like a labeled model with arrows, heat flow, and clear cause-and-effect notes. Students can use the model to explain a regional climate, not just name parts. Common trouble spots are treating wind and currents as random, mixing up weather and climate, and overexplaining the Coriolis effect beyond the needed pattern.
Ways to teach it
- Use a lamp, globe, and sticky arrows to model uneven heating, then add wind belts and ocean current arrows with colored tape.
- Ask students to explain why coastal California and inland Nevada have different climates despite being at similar latitudes.
- Give an unlabeled world map with current and wind arrows, and have students add three cause-and-effect labels.
- Compare city climate graphs for Quito, London, and Singapore, then connect differences to latitude, altitude, oceans, and prevailing winds.
Plan a lesson for MS-ESS2-6
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related standards
- 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.
- MS-ESS2-4
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
- MS-ESS2-1
Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
- 3-ESS2-2
Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.