CSEL SCIENCE
Alignment with Current Science Standards
(middle school)
CSEL Science aligns with three-dimensional and phenomenon-based learning as described in the Framework for K–12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). For example, the middle grades module
Kinetic and Potential Energy is organized around an anchoring phenomenon: a roller coaster that cannot complete its loops because it lacks sufficient energy. Students return to this problem across the module as they investigate how energy is stored, transferred, and transformed in different systems. Students stretch rubber bands by different amounts to test how elastic potential energy affects motion, drop balls from different heights to investigate gravitational potential energy, and roll cars of different masses down ramps to explore how mass affects energy transfer during collisions. Across investigations, students record measurements, compare trials, graph and analyze data, identify patterns, and use evidence to support claims. Additionally, students develop and use models, including diagrams, energy representations, and a digital roller coaster simulation, to explain how kinetic and potential energy change within a system. By the end of the module, students apply evidence from their hands-on investigations and models to explain how the roller coaster can be redesigned to work.
Below is documentation of how CSEL Science Module 3: Kinetic and Potential Energy, is aligned with NGSS.
NGSS Performance Expectations
Module 3:
Kinetic and Potential Energy aligns with the following NGSS standards:
- MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
- MS-PS3-2: Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
- MS-PS3-5: Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
NGSS Three-Dimensional Learning Alignment
In CSEL Science, the word “session” refers to a structured period of time devoted to a specific biology subtopic. Across eight sessions, students engage in integrated use of Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs). Learning is organized around a single anchoring phenomenon: a roller coaster that cannot complete its loops due to insufficient energy. Each session incrementally builds middle-grade students’ explanatory capacity to understand and resolve this phenomenon. See table for session-by-session NGSS alignment.
Module 3: Kinetic and Potential Energy
| Session Outline | Driving Question(s) | Science & Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Roller Coaster Rescue | Why does the roller coaster not move through the loops? | Ask questions & define problems Construct explanations | MS-PS3.A | Systems Cause and effect Energy and matter |
| 2. Feel the Energy - The Science of Roller Coasters | How does a roller coaster transform energy as it moves? | Analyze and interpret data Develop and use models Obtain & communicate information | MS-PS3.A MS-PS3.B | Systems Cause and effect Energy and matter Patterns |
| 3. Power Up! Exploring Different Kinds of Energy | How do different types of energy appear and change in everyday life? | Analyze and interpret data Obtain & communicate information | MS-PS3.A MS-PS3.B | Cause and effect Energy and matter Scale/prop./quantity |
| 4. Elastic Energy in Action | How can energy be stored and released in elastic objects? | Analyze and interpret data Carry out investigations Use math/computational thinking Construct explanations | MS-PS3.B MS-PS3.C | Cause and effect Energy and matter Patterns Structure and function |
| 5. Drop Heights and Energy Insights | How does an object’s height affect its energy? | Analyze and interpret data Carry out investigations Use math/computational thinking Construct explanations | MS-PS3.B MS-PS3.C | Cause and effect Energy and matter Patterns Scale/prop./quantity |
| 6. Crash Science | How does mass affect energy transfer? What happens to energy when objects collide? | Analyze and interpret data Carry out investigations Use math/computational thinking Construct explanations | MS-PS3.B MS-PS3.C | Systems Cause and effect Patterns Scale/prop./quantity |
| 7. Solving the Roller Coaster Problem | How can the roller coaster be redesigned to work? | Develop and use models Engage in argument from evidence Construct explanations | MS-PS3.A MS-PS3.B MS-PS3.C | Systems Cause and effect Energy and matter |
Science and Engineering Practices
Students plan and conduct investigations over multiple sessions. In Session 5.4: Elastic Energy in Action, students stretch rubber bands by different amounts and measure how far a cup moves, directly testing how elastic potential energy affects kinetic energy and energy transfer (Session 5.4, pp. 2–5). In Session 5.5:
Drop Heights and Energy Insights, students drop ping-pong balls from increasing heights and measure the bounce height to investigate how gravitational potential energy changes with elevation (Session 5.5, pp. 2–5). In Session 5.6:
Crash Science, students roll cars of different masses down a ramp and measure collision outcomes to explore how mass affects energy transfer (Session 5.6, pp. 2–6). Across these investigations, students analyze and interpret data by recording measurements, comparing trials, identifying patterns, and using evidence to support claims. In the culminating session, Session 5.7:
Solving the Roller Coaster Problem, students use a digital roller coaster simulation to model the system, adjust variables such as mass and height, review energy bar graphs, and test solutions that enable the coaster to complete the loops (Session 5.7, pp. 3–7). Students construct explanations and communicate their reasoning orally and in writing, using academic science vocabulary.
​​Disciplinary Core Ideas
The module centers on core ideas from MS-PS3: Energy. Students develop clear definitions of kinetic and potential energy using repeated real-world examples, including roller coasters, balls at different heights, stretched rubber bands, and moving cars. Students investigate the conservation of energy by tracking how energy transforms from potential to kinetic and how it transfers between objects during collisions and interactions. Gravity, mass, and height are explicitly connected to changes in energy and motion.
Crosscutting Concepts
Students apply crosscutting concepts throughout the module. They track energy and matter as they flow through systems, and these quantities remain conserved. Cause-and-effect relationships are explored by changing variables such as height, mass, and stretch distance. Students reason about systems and system models, including roller coaster systems and experimental setups, and identify patterns of repeated energy transformations across contexts.
Students begin by defining a real-world problem: a roller coaster that cannot complete its loops due to insufficient energy. In Session 5.1:
Roller Coaster Rescue, students act out and discuss a science scenario in which the roller coaster is closed for repairs, prompting them to ask questions about energy, motion, and systems (Session 5.1, pp. 2–3). Students plan and conduct investigations over multiple sessions.
In Session 5.4:
Elastic Energy in Action, students stretch rubber bands by different amounts and measure how far a cup moves, directly testing how elastic potential energy affects kinetic energy and energy transfer (Session 5.4, pp. 3–7).
In Session 5.5:
Drop Heights and Energy Insights, students drop ping-pong balls from increasing heights and measure the bounce height to investigate how gravitational potential energy changes with elevation (Session 5.5, pp. 2–5).
In Session 5.6:
Crash Science, students roll cars of different masses down a ramp and measure collision outcomes to explore how mass affects energy transfer (Session 5.6, pp. 2–6).
Across these investigations, students analyze and interpret data by recording measurements, comparing trials, identifying patterns, and using evidence to support claims. In the culminating session, Session 5.7:
Solving the Roller Coaster Problem, students use a digital roller coaster simulation to model the system, adjust variables such as mass and height, review energy bar graphs, and test solutions that enable the coaster to complete the loops (Session 5.7, pp. 3–7). Students construct explanations and communicate their reasoning orally and in writing, using academic science vocabulary.