| E2 | Earth Systems | |||||
| E2 | E2.1 | Earth Systems Overview | ||||
| E2 | E2.1 | Earth Systems Overview | essential | E2.1A | Explain why the Earth is essentially a closed system in terms of matter. | |
| E2 | E2.1 | Earth Systems Overview | essential | E2.1B | Analyze the interactions between the major systems (geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) that make up the Earth. | |
| E2 | E2.1 | Earth Systems Overview | essential | E2.1C | Explain, using specifi c examples, how a change in one system affects other Earth systems. | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | ||||
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | essential | E2.2A | Describe the Earth | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | essential | E2.2B | Identify differences in the origin and use of renewable (e.g., solar, wind, water, biomass) and nonrenewable (e.g., fossil fuels, nuclear [U-235]) sources of energy. | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | essential | E2.2C | Describe natural processes in which heat transfer in the Earth occurs by conduction, convection, and radiation. | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | essential | E2.2D | Identify the main sources of energy to the climate system. | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | core | E2.2e | Explain how energy changes form through Earth systems. | |
| E2 | E2.2 | Energy in Earth Systems | core | E2.2f | Explain how elements exist in different compounds and states as they move from one reservoir to another. | |
| E2 | E2.3 | Biogeochemical Cycles | ||||
| E2 | E2.3 | Biogeochemical Cycles | essential | E2.3A | Explain how carbon exists in different forms such as limestone (rock), carbon dioxide (gas), carbonic acid (water), and animals (life) within Earth systems and how those forms can be benefi cial or harmful to humans. | |
| E2 | E2.3 | Biogeochemical Cycles | core | E2.3b | Explain why small amounts of some chemical forms may be benefi cial for life but are poisonous in large quantities (e.g., dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Nyos in Africa, fl uoride in drinking water). | |
| E2 | E2.3 | Biogeochemical Cycles | core | E2.3c | Explain how the nitrogen cycle is part of the Earth system. | |
| E2 | E2.3 | Biogeochemical Cycles | core | E2.3d | Explain how carbon moves through the Earth system (including the geosphere) and how it may benefit (e.g., improve soils for agriculture) or harm (e.g., act as a pollutant) society. | |
| E2 | E2.4 | Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems | ||||
| E2 | E2.4 | Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems | essential | E2.4A | Describe renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy for human consumption (electricity, fuels), compare their effects on the environment, and include overall costs and benefits. | |
| E2 | E2.4 | Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems | essential | E2.4B | Explain how the impact of human activities on the environment (e.g., deforestation, air pollution, coral reef destruction) can be understood through the analysis of interactions between the four Earth systems. | |
| E2 | E2.4 | Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems | core | E2.4c | Explain ozone depletion in the stratosphere and methods to slow human activities to reduce ozone depletion. | |
| E2 | E2.4 | Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems | core | E2.4d | Describe the life cycle of a product, including the resources, production, packaging, transportation, disposal, and pollution. | |
| E3 | The Solid Earth | |||||
| E3 | E3.p1 | Landforms and Soils (prerequisite) | ||||
| E3 | E3.p1 | Landforms and Soils (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p1A | Explain the origin of Michigan landforms. Describe and identify surface features using maps and satellite images. (prerequisite) | |
| E3 | E3.p1 | Landforms and Soils (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p1B | Explain how physical and chemical weathering leads to erosion and the formation of soils and sediments. (prerequisite) | |
| E3 | E3.p1 | Landforms and Soils (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p1C | Describe how coastal features are formed by wave erosion and deposition. (prerequisite) | |
| E3 | E3.p2 | Rocks and Minerals (prerequisite) | ||||
| E3 | E3.p2 | Rocks and Minerals (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p2A | Identify common rock-forming minerals (quartz, feldspar, biotite, calcite, hornblende). (prerequisite) | |
| E3 | E3.p2 | Rocks and Minerals (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p2B | Identify common igneous (granite, basalt, andesite, obsidian, pumice), metamorphic (schist, gneiss, marble, slate, quartzite), and sedimentary (sandstone, limestone, shale, conglomerate) rocks and describe the processes that change one kind of rock to another. (prerequisite) | |
| E3 | E3.p3 | Basic Plate Tectonics (prerequisite) | ||||
| E3 | E3.p3 | Basic Plate Tectonics (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p3A | Describe geologic, paleontologic, and paleoclimatalogic evidence that indicates Africa and South America were once part of a single continent. | |
| E3 | E3.p3 | Basic Plate Tectonics (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p3B | Describe the three types of plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, and transform) and geographic features associated with them (e.g., continental rifts and mid-ocean ridges, volcanic and island arcs, deep-sea trenches, transform faults). | |
| E3 | E3.p3 | Basic Plate Tectonics (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E3.p3C | Describe the three major types of volcanoes (shield volcano, stratovolcano, and cinder cones) and their relationship to the Ring of Fire. | |
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | ||||
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | essential | E3.1A | Discriminate between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and describe the processes that change one kind of rock into another. | |
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | essential | E3.1B | Explain the relationship between the rock cycle and plate tectonics theory in regard to the origins of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. | |
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | core | E3.1c | Explain how the size and shape of grains in a sedimentary rock indicate the environment of formation (including climate) and deposition. | |
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | core | E3.1d | Explain how the crystal sizes of igneous rocks indicate the rate of cooling and whether the rock is extrusive or intrusive. | |
| E3 | E3.1 | Advanced Rock Cycle | core | E3.1e | Explain how the texture (foliated, nonfoliated) of metamorphic rock can indicate whether it has experienced regional or contact metamorphism. | |
| E3 | E3.2 | Interior of the Earth | ||||
| E3 | E3.2 | Interior of the Earth | essential | E3.2A | Describe the interior of the Earth (in terms of crust, mantle, and inner and outer cores) and where the magnetic fi eld of the Earth is generated. | |
| E3 | E3.2 | Interior of the Earth | essential | E3.2B | Explain how scientists infer that the Earth has interior layers with discernable properties using patterns of primary (P) and secondary (S) seismic wave arrivals. | |
| E3 | E3.2 | Interior of the Earth | essential | E3.2C | Describe the differences between oceanic and continental crust (including density, age, composition). | |
| E3 | E3.2 | Interior of the Earth | core | E3.2d | Explain the uncertainties associated with models of the interior of the Earth and how these models are validated. | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | ||||
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | essential | E3.3A | Explain how plate tectonics accounts for the features and processes (sea floor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, earthquakes and volcanoes, mountain ranges) that occur on or near the Earth | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | essential | E3.3B | Explain why tectonic plates move using the concept of heat fl owing through mantle convection, coupled with the cooling and sinking of aging ocean plates that result from their increased density. | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | essential | E3.3C | Describe the motion history of geologic features (e.g., plates, Hawaii) using equations relating rate, time, and distance. | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | core | E3.3d | Distinguish plate boundaries by the pattern of depth and magnitude of earthquakes. | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | recommended | E3.r3e | Predict the temperature distribution in the lithosphere as a function of distance from the mid-ocean ridge and how it relates to ocean depth. (recommended) | |
| E3 | E3.3 | Plate Tectonics Theory | recommended | E3.r3f | Describe how the direction and rate of movement for the North American plate has affected the local climate over the last 600 million years. (recommended) | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | ||||
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | essential | E3.4A | Use the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes to locate and determine the types of plate boundaries. | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | essential | E3.4B | Describe how the sizes of earthquakes and volcanoes are measured or characterized. | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | essential | E3.4C | Describe the effects of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on humans. | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | core | E3.4d | Explain how the chemical composition of magmas relates to plate tectonics and affects the geometry, structure, and explosivity of volcanoes. | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | core | E3.4e | Explain how volcanoes change the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and other Earth systems. | |
| E3 | E3.4 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | core | E3.4f | Explain why fences are offset after an earthquake, using the elastic rebound theory. | |
| E4 | The Fluid Earth | |||||
| E4 | E4.p1 | Water Cycle (prerequisite) | ||||
| E4 | E4.p1 | Water Cycle (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p1A | Describe that the water cycle includes evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infi ltration, surface runoff, groundwater, and absorption. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p1 | Water Cycle (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p1B | Analyze the fl ow of water between the elements of a watershed, including surface features (lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands) and groundwater. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p1 | Water Cycle (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p1C | Describe the river and stream types, features, and process including cycles of fl ooding, erosion, and deposition as they occur naturally and as they are impacted by land use decisions. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p1 | Water Cycle (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p1D | Explain the types, process, and benefi cial functions of wetlands. | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | ||||
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2A | Describe the composition and layers of the atmosphere. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2B | Describe the difference between weather and climate. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2C | Explain the differences between fog and dew formation and cloud formation. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2D | Describe relative humidity in terms of the moisture content of the air and the moisture capacity of the air and how these depend on the temperature. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2E | Describe conditions associated with frontal boundaries (cold, warm, stationary, and occluded). (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2F | Describe the characteristics and movement across North America of the major air masses and the jet stream. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2G | Interpret a weather map and describe present weather conditions and predict changes in weather over 24 hours. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2H | Explain the primary causes of seasons. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p2 | Weather and the Atmosphere (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p2I | Identify major global wind belts (trade winds, prevailing westerlies, and polar easterlies) and that their vertical components control the global distribution of rainforests and deserts. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p3 | Glaciers (prerequisite) | ||||
| E4 | E4.p3 | Glaciers (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p3A | Describe how glaciers have affected the Michigan landscape and how the resulting landforms impact our state economy. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p3 | Glaciers (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p3B | Explain what happens to the lithosphere when an ice sheet is removed. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.p3 | Glaciers (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E4.p3C | Explain the formation of the Great Lakes. (prerequisite) | |
| E4 | E4.1 | Hydrogeology | ||||
| E4 | E4.1 | Hydrogeology | essential | E4.1A | Compare and contrast surface water systems (lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands) and groundwater in regard to their relative sizes as Earth | |
| E4 | E4.1 | Hydrogeology | essential | E4.1B | Explain the features and processes of groundwater systems and how the sustainability of North American aquifers has changed in recent history (e.g., the past 100 years) qualitatively using the concepts of recharge, residence time, inputs, and outputs. | |
| E4 | E4.1 | Hydrogeology | essential | E4.1C | Explain how water quality in both groundwater and surface systems is impacted by land use decisions. | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | ||||
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | essential | E4.2A | Describe the major causes for the ocean | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | essential | E4.2B | Explain how interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere infl uence global and regional climate. Include the major concepts of heat transfer by ocean currents, thermohaline circulation, boundary currents, evaporation, precipitation, climatic zones, and the ocean as a major CO2 reservoir. | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | core | E4.2c | Explain the dynamics (including ocean-atmosphere interactions) of the El Ni | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | core | E4.2d | Identify factors affecting seawater density and salinity and describe how density affects oceanic layering and currents. | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | core | E4.2e | Explain the differences between maritime and continental climates with regard to oceanic currents. | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | core | E4.2f | Explain how the Coriolis effect controls oceanic circulation. | |
| E4 | E4.2 | Oceans and Climate | recommended | E4.r2g | Explain how El Ni | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | ||||
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E4.3A | Describe the various conditions of formation associated with severe weather (thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, fl oods, waves, and drought). | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E4.3B | Describe the damage resulting from, and the social impact of thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E4.3C | Describe severe weather and fl ood safety and mitigation. | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E4.3D | Describe the seasonal variations in severe weather. | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E4.3E | Describe conditions associated with frontal boundaries that result in severe weather (thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes). | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | essential | E3.3F | Describe how mountains, frontal wedging (including dry lines), convection, and convergence form clouds and precipitation. | |
| E4 | E4.3 | Severe Weather | core | E4.3g | Explain the process of adiabatic cooling and adiabatic temperature changes to the formation of clouds. | |
| E5 | The Earth in Space and Time | |||||
| E5 | E5.p1 | Sky Observations (prerequisite) | ||||
| E5 | E5.p1 | Sky Observations (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E5.p1A | Describe the motions of various celestial bodies and some effects of those motions. (prerequisite) | |
| E5 | E5.p1 | Sky Observations (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E5.p1B | Explain the primary cause of seasons. (prerequisite) | |
| E5 | E5.p1 | Sky Observations (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E5.p1C | Explain how a light year can be used as a distance unit. (prerequisite) | |
| E5 | E5.p1 | Sky Observations (prerequisite) | prerequisite | E5.p1D | Describe the position and motion of our solar system in our galaxy and the overall scale, structure, and age of the universe. (prerequisite) | |
| E5 | E5.1 | The Earth in Space | ||||
| E5 | E5.1 | The Earth in Space | essential | E5.1A | Describe the position and motion of our solar system in our galaxy and the overall scale, structure, and age of the universe. | |
| E5 | E5.1 | The Earth in Space | core | E5.1b | Describe how the Big Bang theory accounts for the formation of the universe. | |
| E5 | E5.1 | The Earth in Space | core | E5.1c | Explain how observations of the cosmic microwave background have helped determine the age of the universe. | |
| E5 | E5.1 | The Earth in Space | core | E5.1d | Differentiate between the cosmological and Doppler red shift. | |
| E5 | E5.2 | The Sun | ||||
| E5 | E5.2 | The Sun | essential | E5.2A | Identify patterns in solar activities (sunspot cycle, solar fl ares, solar wind). | |
| E5 | E5.2 | The Sun | essential | E5.2B | Relate events on the Sun to phenomena such as auroras, disruption of radio and satellite communications, and power grid disturbances. | |
| E5 | E5.2 | The Sun | essential | E5.2C | Describe how nuclear fusion produces energy in the Sun. | |
| E5 | E5.2 | The Sun | essential | E5.2D | Describe how nuclear fusion and other processes in stars have led to the formation of all the other chemical elements. | |
| E5 | E5.2x | Stellar Evolution | ||||
| E5 | E5.2x | Stellar Evolution | core | E5.2e | Explain how the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram can be used to deduce other parameters (distance). | |
| E5 | E5.2x | Stellar Evolution | core | E5.2f | Explain how you can infer the temperature, life span, and mass of a star and its mass from its color. Use the H-R diagram to explain the life cycles of stars. | |
| E5 | E5.2x | Stellar Evolution | core | E5.2g | Explain how the balance between fusion and gravity controls the evolution of a star (equilibrium). | |
| E5 | E5.2x | Stellar Evolution | core | E5.2h | Compare the evolution paths of low-, moderate-, and high-mass stars using the H-R diagram. | |
| E5 | E5.3 | Earth History and Geologic Time | ||||
| E5 | E5.3 | Earth History and Geologic Time | essential | E5.3A | Explain how the solar system formed from a nebula of dust and gas in a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy about 4.6 Ga (billion years ago). | |
| E5 | E5.3 | Earth History and Geologic Time | essential | E5.3B | Describe the process of radioactive decay and explain how radioactive elements are used to date the rocks that contain them. | |
| E5 | E5.3 | Earth History and Geologic Time | essential | E5.3C | Relate major events in the history of the Earth to the geologic time scale, including formation of the Earth, formation of an oxygen atmosphere, rise of life, Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) and Permian extinctions, and Pleistocene ice age. | |
| E5 | E5.3 | Earth History and Geologic Time | essential | E5.3D | Describe how index fossils can be used to determine time sequence. | |
| E5 | E5.3x | Geologic Dating | ||||
| E5 | E5.3x | Geologic Dating | core | E5.3e | Determine the approximate age of a sample, when given the half-life of a radioactive substance (in graph or tabular form) along with the ratio of daughter to parent substances present in the sample. | |
| E5 | E5.3x | Geologic Dating | core | E5.3f | Explain why C-14 can be used to date a 40,000 year old tree, but U-Pb cannot. | |
| E5 | E5.3x | Geologic Dating | core | E5.3g | Identify a sequence of geologic events using relative-age dating principles. | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | ||||
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | essential | E5.4A | Explain the natural mechanism of the greenhouse effect, including comparisons of the major greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone). | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | essential | E5.4B | Describe natural mechanisms that could result in signifi cant changes in climate (e.g., major volcanic eruptions, changes in sunlight received by the earth, and meteorite impacts). | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | essential | E5.4C | Analyze the empirical relationship between the emissions of carbon dioxide, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and the average global temperature over the past 150 years. | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | essential | E5.4D | Based on evidence of observable changes in recent history and climate change models, explain the consequences of warmer oceans (including the results of increased evaporation, shoreline and estuarine impacts, oceanic algae growth, and coral bleaching) and changing climatic zones (including the adaptive capacity of the biosphere). | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | core | E5.4e | Based on evidence from historical climate research (e.g. fossils, varves, ice core data) and climate change models, explain how the current melting of polar ice caps can impact the climatic system . | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | core | E5.4f | Describe geologic evidence that implies climates were signifi cantly colder at times in the geologic record (e.g., geomorphology, striations, and fossils). | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | core | E4.4 g | Compare and contrast the heat-trapping mechanisms of the major greenhouse gases resulting from emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fl uorocarbons) as well as their abundance and heattrapping capacity. | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | recommended | E5.r4h | Use oxygen isotope data to estimate paleotemperature. (recommended) | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | recommended | E5.r4i | Explain the causes of short-term climate changes such as catastrophic volcanic eruptions and impact of solar system objects. (recommended) | |
| E5 | E5.4 | Climate Change | recommended | E5.r4j | Predict the global temperature increase by 2100, given data on the annual trends of CO2 concentration increase. (recommended) |