Clarification Statement - S.MS.ESS.1.4.CS:
Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events or evidence could include very recent events or evidence (such as the las

Assessment Boundary - S.MS.ESS.1.4.AB:
Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods or epochs and events within them, radiometric dating using half-lives, and defining index fossils.

Science and Engineering Practices - 6-8.SEP6.3:
Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and wil

Disciplinary Core Ideas - S.MS.ESS.1.4.DCI:
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth •The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale.

Crosscutting Concepts - CC7.4:
Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

Clarification Statement - S.MS.ESS.2.2.CS:
Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at temporal and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many

Science and Engineering Practices - 6-8.SEP6.3:
Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and wil

Disciplinary Core Ideas - S.MS.ESS.2.2.DCI:
ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems •The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future. ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes •Water’s movements—both on the land and underground—cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations.

Crosscutting Concepts - CC7.4:
Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

Clarification Statement - S.MS.ESS.2.3.CS:
Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).

Assessment Boundary - S.MS.ESS.2.3.AB:
Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.

Science and Engineering Practices - 6-8.SEP4.3:
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Disciplinary Core Ideas - S.MS.ESS.2.3.DCI:
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth •Tectonic processes continually generate new ocean sea floor at ridges and destroy old sea floor at trenches. ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions •Maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart.

Crosscutting Concepts - CC1.12:
Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural systems.