South Dakota ELA 11-12.RST.4
The Standard
Determine the meaning of symbols, equations, graphical and tabular representations, domain-specific and content- specific words and phrases including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy) as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 11-12 grade level texts and topics.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025) · Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read a science or technical text and work out what its symbols, equations, graphs, tables, and specialized words mean in that setting. They explain how terms such as force, friction, and energy relate to one another.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain what each symbol in an equation stands for and use a graph or table to support an explanation. They can identify the two objects in a force and reaction-force pair without treating friction as the reaction force.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may read a graph's line without checking its axes or units. They may assume every use of the word “force” means the same thing, or mistake friction for the reaction force in a force pair.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short car-braking passage with F = ma and a stopping-distance table. Ask them to define F in context and use one row to explain how speed affects stopping distance.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Roll a toy car across tile and felt, record stopping distances in a table, and label where friction acts.
Prompt: A braking tire pushes the road forward. Which force slows the car, and which two objects form the force pair?
Give pairs F, m, and a cards plus equation captions; have them match each symbol to its meaning in a braking report.
Show a tire test chart with wet-road stopping distances; ask students which tire stops sooner and which table entry proves it.
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Printable 11-12.RST.4 Worksheet
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