NGSS MS-ESS3-5

ScienceGrades 6–8Earth and Human Activity

The Standard

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Next Generation Science Standards

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students examine temperature, greenhouse gas, solar, volcanic, and human activity data. They ask focused questions about sources, trends, timing, and relationships, then use answers to judge which factors best explain warming.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can identify matching trends in temperature and human-caused greenhouse gas emissions while checking natural explanations against the same timeline. They ask questions that expose missing data, scale, source, or uncertainty and explain why correlation alone does not prove cause.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat one hot day as climate evidence, blame the ozone hole, or assume any matching graph proves causation. They may claim volcanoes or solar changes explain all warming without comparing amounts, timing, and long-term records.
How to Assess It: Give students paired graphs of global temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide, solar output, and volcanic eruptions from 1900 to today. Ask: “Write two questions that would clarify which factor best explains the temperature trend, and name one needed piece of evidence.”

Lesson moves

Give groups printed data strips for temperature, carbon dioxide, solar output, and eruptions; have them align timelines and mark matching or conflicting trends.
Ask, “Which evidence would change your explanation of recent warming?” Students cite one graph and challenge a partner’s reasoning.
Run an evidence detective game where teams earn points by writing source, scale, trend, and uncertainty questions for each data card.
Compare local heating fuel, electricity, and transport records with emissions estimates, then discuss which community choices affect greenhouse gas output.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to MS-ESS3-5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Learning progression

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

Keep exploring

Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.