Performance expectationConstruct an argument based on evidence about the coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.
Emphasis is on the dynamic causes, effects, and feedbacks between the biosphere and Earth’s other systems, whereby geoscience factors control the evolution of life, which in turn continuously alters Earth’s surface. Examples include how the outgassing of water from Earth’s interior caused the development of Earth’s early oceans leading to the evolution of microorganisms and stromatolites; how photosynthetic life altered the atmosphere through the production of oxygen, which in turn increased weathering rates and allowed for the evolution of animal life; how microbial life on land increased the formation of soil, which in turn allowed for the evolution of land plants; or how the evolution of corals created reefs that altered patterns of erosion and deposition along coastlines and provided habitats for the evolution of new life forms.
Assessment does not include a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of how the biosphere interacts with all of Earth’s other systems.
Every item written to HS-ESS2-7 has to assess all three dimensions together, not the content alone. This is the structural change that made older practice material stop matching the exam.
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Phenomenon stimulus, connected items across the required types, answer key, rubric and figures drawn deterministically from a structured spec — in the format your students will sit.