High School Science Nevada Standards

Networks and the Internet

Impacts of Computing

Data and Analysis

Computing Systems

Algorithms and Programming

Create prototypes that use algorithms to solve computational problems by leveraging prior student knowledge and personal interests.

Justify the selection of specific control structures when tradeoffs involve implementation, readability, and program performance, and explain the benefits and drawbacks of choices made.

Design and iteratively develop computational artifacts for practical intent, personal expression, or to address a societal issue by using events to initiate instructions.

Decompose problems into smaller components through systematic analysis, using constructs such as procedures, modules, and/or objects.

Create artifacts by using procedures within a program, combinations of data and procedures, or independent but interrelated programs.

Systematically design and develop programs for broad audiences by incorporating feedback from users.

Evaluate licenses that limit or restrict use of computational artifacts when using resources such as libraries.

Evaluate and refine computational artifacts to make them more usable by all and accessible to people with disabilities.

Design and develop computational artifacts working in team roles using collaborative tools.

Document design decisions using text, graphics, presentations, and/or demonstrations in the development of complex programs.

Demonstrate the use of both linked lists and arrays to simplify solutions, generalizing computational problems instead of repeatedly using simple variables.

Explain how abstractions hide the underlying implementation details of computing systems embedded in everyday objects.

Compare levels of abstraction and interactions between application software, system software, and hardware layers.

Develop guidelines that convey systematic troubleshooting strategies that others can use to identify and fix errors.

Create interactive data visualizations or alternative representations using software tools to help others better understand real-world phenomena.

Create computational models that represent the relationships among different elements of data collected from a phenomenon, process, or model.

Translate between different bit representations of real-world phenomena, such as characters, numbers, and images (e.g., convert hexadecimal colors to decimal percentages, ASCII/Unicode representation).

Evaluate the tradeoffs in how data elements are organized and where data is stored.

Evaluate the ways computing impacts personal, ethical, social, economic, and cultural practices.

Test and refine computational artifacts to reduce bias and equity deficits.

Demonstrate ways a given algorithm applies to problems across disciplines.

Explain the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on society.

Use tools and methods for collaboration on a project to increase connectivity of people in different cultures and career fields.

Explain the beneficial and harmful effects that intellectual property laws can have on innovation.

Explain the privacy concerns related to the collection and generation of data through automated processes that may not be evident to users.

Evaluate the social and economic implications of privacy in the context of safety, law, or ethics.

Give examples to illustrate how sensitive data can be affected by malware and other attacks.

Recommend security measures to address various scenarios based on factors such as efficiency, feasibility, and ethical impacts.

Compare various security measures, considering tradeoffs between the usability and security of a computing system.

Explain tradeoffs when selecting and implementing cybersecurity recommendations.

Evaluate the scalability and reliability of networks, by describing the relationship between routers, switches, servers, topology, and addressing.

Networks and the Internet

Impacts of Computing

Data and Analysis

Computing Systems

Algorithms and Programming

Describe how artificial intelligence drives many software and physical systems.

Implement an artificial intelligence algorithm to play a game against a human opponent or solve a problem.

Use and adapt classic algorithms to solve computational problems.

Evaluate algorithms in terms of their efficiency, correctness, and clarity.

Illustrate the flow of execution of a recursive algorithm.

Construct solutions to problems using student-created components, such as procedures, modules and/or objects.

Analyze a large-scale computational problem and identify generalizable patterns that can be applied to a solution.

Demonstrate code reuse by creating programming solutions using libraries and APIs.

Plan and develop programs for broad audiences using a software life cycle process.

Explain security issues that might lead to compromised computer programs.

Develop programs for multiple computing platforms.

Use version control systems, integrated development environments (IDEs), and collaborative tools and practices (code documentation) in a group software project.

Develop and use a series of test cases to verify that a program performs according to its design specifications.

Modify an existing program to add additional functionality and discuss intended and unintended implications (e.g., breaking other functionality).

Evaluate key qualities of a program through a process such as a code review.

Compare multiple programming languages and discuss how their features make them suitable for solving different types of problems.

Compare and contrast fundamental data structures and their uses.

Categorize the roles of operating system software.

Illustrate ways computing systems implement logic, input, and output through hardware components.

Use data analysis tools and techniques to identify patterns in data representing complex systems.

Select data collection tools and techniques to generate data sets that support a claim or communicate information.

Evaluate the ability of models and simulations to test and support the refinement of hypotheses.

Evaluate computational artifacts to maximize their beneficial effects and minimize harmful effects on society.

Evaluate the impact of equity, access, and influence on the distribution of computing resources in a global society.

Predict how computational innovations that have revolutionized aspects of our culture might evolve.

Debate laws and regulations that impact the development and use of software.

Compare ways software developers protect devices and information from unauthorized access.

Describe the issues that impact network functionality (e.g., bandwidth, load, delay, and topology).

Earth's Place in the Universe

Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun's core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation.

Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.

Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.

Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.

Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.

Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth's formation and early history.

Earth's Systems

Develop a model to illustrate how Earth's internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.

Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

Develop a model based on evidence of Earth's interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.

Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth systems result in changes in climate.

Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.

Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth systems and life on Earth.

Earth and Human Activity

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.

Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.

Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.

Engineering Design

Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.

Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.

Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.

Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Use a mathematical representation to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

Matter and Its Interactions

Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.

Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.

Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.

Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.

Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton's second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.

Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.

Use mathematical representations of Newton's Law of Gravitation and Coulomb's Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.

Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Energy

Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.

Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy stored in fields.

Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).

Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Evaluate questions about the advantages of using a digital transmission and storage of information.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.

Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.

Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.