Okla. Admin. Code § 210:15-3-82

Current through Vol. 42, No. 8, January 2, 2025

Section 210:15-3-82 - Physics standards for high school

Standards for high school students in the subject of Physics address the following topics:

(1)Matter and its interactions.

(A)Performance expectation one (1). 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on qualitative models, such as pictures or diagrams, and on the scale of energy released in nuclear processes relative to other kinds of transformations. Examples of processes could include the formation of elements through fusion in stars, generation of electricity in a nuclear power plant, or the use of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment does not include quantitative calculation of energy released (i.e., binding energy). Assessment is limited to alpha, beta, and gamma radioactive decay.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Developing and using models. Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Nuclear processes, including fusion, fission, and radioactive decay of unstable nuclei, involve release or absorption of energy.

(II) The total number of neutrons plus protons does not change in any nuclear process.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Energy and matter. In nuclear processes, atoms are not conserved, but the total number of protons plus neutrons are conserved.

(2)Motion and stability: Forces and interactions.

(A)Performance expectation one (1). Analyze and interpret 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Examples of data could include tables or graphs of position or velocity of an object as a function of time. Examples of objects subjected to a net force can include objects in free-fall, objects sliding down a ramp, or moving objects pulled by a constant force. The relationships F net = ma should be explored qualitatively and quantitatively.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to macroscopic objects moving in one-dimensional motion, at non-relativistic speeds.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Analyzing and interpreting data. Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computations, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Newton's Second Law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Cause and effect. Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

(B)Performance expectation two (2). 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on the quantitative conservation of momentum in interactions and the qualitative meaning of this principle. Examples could include one-dimensional elastic or inelastic collisions between objects within the system.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to systems of two macroscopic bodies moving in one dimension and does not include naming the types of collisions.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Using mathematics and computational thinking. Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Momentum is defined for a particular frame of reference; it is the mass times the velocity of the object.

(II) If a system interacts with the objects outside itself, the total momentum of the system can change; however, any such change is balanced by change in the momentum of objects outside the system.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Systems and system models. When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined.

(C)Performance expectation three (3).* Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.

(i)Clarification statement. An example of evaluation could include determining the success of the device at protecting an object from damage. Examples of devices could include a football helmet, parachute, and car restraint systems such as seatbelts and airbags. Refinement of the device may include modifying one or more parts or all of the device to improve performance of the device.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to qualitative evaluations and/or algebraic manipulations.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Designing solutions. Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) If a system interacts with objects outside itself, the total momentum of the system can change; however, any such change is balanced by change in the momentum of objects outside the system.

(II) Criteria and constraints also include satisfying any requirements set by society, such as taking issues of risk mitigation into account, and they should be quantified to the extent possible and stated in such a way that one can tell if a given design meets them.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Cause and effect. Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect.

(D)Performance expectation four (4). Use mathematical representations of Newton's Law of Gravitation and Coulomb's Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on both quantitative and conceptual descriptions of interactions between masses in gravitational fields and electrical charges in electric fields.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to systems with two objects.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking. Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation and Coulomb's Law provide the mathematical models to describe and predict the effects of gravitational and electrostatic forces between distant objects.

(II) Forces at a distance are explained by fields (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) permeating space that can transfer energy through space.

(III) Magnets or electric fields cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields causes electric fields.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Patterns. Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide for causality in explanations of phenomena.

(E)Performance expectation five (5). Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can cause an electric current.

(i)Clarification statement. Students' investigations should describe the data that will be collected and the evidence to be derived from that data. Examples could include electromagnets/solenoids, motors, current carrying wires, and compasses.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to planning and conducting investigations with provided materials and tools.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Planning and carrying out investigations. Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements; consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time); and refine the design accordingly.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Forces at a distance are explained by fields (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) permeating space that can transfer energy through space.

(II) Magnets or electric currents cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields cause electric fields.

(III) "Electrical energy" may mean energy stored in a battery or energy transmitted by electric currents.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Cause and effect. Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

(3)Energy.

(A)Performance expectation one (1). 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on utilizing calculations to understand that energy is transferred in and out of systems and conserved, as well as explaining the meaning of mathematical expressions used in the model.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to basic algebraic expressions or computations; to systems of two or three components; and to thermal energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and/or the energies in gravitational, magnetic, or electric fields.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Using mathematics and computational thinking. Create a computational model of a phenomenon, process, or system based on basic assumptions.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system's total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.

(II) Conservation of energy means energy cannot be created or destroyed and the total change of energy in a system is always equal to the energy transferred into or out of the system.

(III) Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.

(IV) Mathematical expressions, which quantify how the stored energy in a system depends on its configuration (e.g. relative positions of charged particles, compression of a spring) and how kinetic energy depends on mass and speed, allow the concept of conservation of energy to be used to predict and describe system behavior.

(V) The availability of energy limits what can occur in any system.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Systems and system models. Models can be used to predict the behavior of a system, but these predictions have limited precision and reliability due to the assumptions and approximations inherent in models.

(B)Performance expectation two (2). 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Examples of phenomena at the macroscopic scale could include the conversion of kinetic energy to thermal energy, the energy stored due to position of an object above the earth (considered as stored in fields), and the energy stored between two electrically-charged plates. Examples of models could include diagrams, drawings, descriptions, and computer simulations.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment does not include quantitative calculations.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Developing and using models. Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system.

(II) That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system's total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.

(III) At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.

(IV) These relationships are better understood at the microscopic scale, at which all of the different manifestations of energy can be modeled as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles and energy associated with the configuration (relative position of the particles). In some cases, the relative position energy can be thought of as stored in fields (which mediate interactions between particles). This last concept includes radiation, a phenomenon in which energy stored in fields moves across space.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Energy and matter. Energy cannot be created or destroyed-only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between system

(C)Performance expectation three (3).* Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices. Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators. Examples of constraints placed on a device could include the cost of materials, types of materials available, having to use renewable energy, an efficiency threshold, and time to build and/or operate the device.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment for quantitative evaluations is limited to total output for a given input. Assessment is limited to devices constructed with materials provided to students.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.

(III) Modern civilization depends on major technological systems. Engineers continuously modify these technological systems by applying scientific knowledge and engineering design practices to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Energy and matter. Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.

(D)Performance expectation four (4). Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy between components in a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on analyzing data from student investigations and using mathematical thinking to describe the energy changes both quantitatively and conceptually. Examples of investigations could include mixing liquids at different initial temperatures or adding objects at different temperatures to water.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to investigations based on materials and tools provided to students. Assessment includes both quantitative and conceptual descriptions of energy change.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.

(II) Uncontrolled systems always evolve toward more stable statesthat is, toward more uniform energy distribution (e.g., water flows downhill, objects hotter than their surrounding environment cool down).

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Systems and system models. When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models.

(E)Performance expectation five (5). 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Examples of models could include drawings, diagrams, and texts, such as drawings of what happens when two charges of opposite polarity are near each other, including an explanation of how the change in energy of the objects is related to the change in energy of the field. Examples of electric field phenomena may include volcanic lightning or laser printing and examples of magnetic field phenomena may include a mag-lev or magnetic braking.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to systems containing two objects

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Developing and using models. Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) When two objects interact, each one exerts a force on the other. These forces can transfer energy between the objects. Forces between two objects at a distance are explained by force fields (gravitational, electric, or magnetic) between them.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Energy and matter. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It only moves between one place to another, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

(4)Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer.

(A)Performance expectation one (1). Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on using mathematical relationships to understand how various media change the speed of waves. Examples of data could include electromagnetic radiation traveling in a vacuum and glass, sound waves traveling through air and water, and seismic waves traveling through the Earth.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to algebraic relationships and describing those relationships qualitatively.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) The wavelength and frequency of a wave are related to one another by the speed of travel of the wave, which depends on the type of wave and the medium through which it is passing.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Cause and effect. Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

(B)Performance expectation two (2).* Evaluate questions about the advantages and disadvantages of using a digital transmission and storage of information.

(i)Clarification statement. Examples of advantages could include that digital information is stable because it can be stored reliably in computer memory, transferred easily, and copied and shared rapidly. Disadvantages could include issues of easy deletion, security, and theft.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. (An assessment boundary is not applicable to this performance expectation.)

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Asking questions. Evaluate questions that challenge the premises(s) of an argument, the interpretation of a data set, or the suitability of a design.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Information can be digitized (e.g., picture stored as the values of an array of pixels); in this form, it can be stored reliably in computer memory and sent over long distances as a series of wave pulses.

(II) Modern civilization depends on major technological systems.

(III) Engineers continuously modify these technological systems by applying scientific knowledge and engineering design practices to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Stability and change. Systems can be designed for greater or lesser stability.

(C)Performance expectation three (3). Develop an argument for how scientific evidence supports the explanation that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by the wave model or the particle model, and in some situations one model is more useful than the other.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on how the experimental evidence supports the claim and how a theory is generally modified in light of new evidence. Examples of a phenomenon could include resonance, interference, diffraction, and photoelectric effect.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment does not include using quantum theory.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Engaging in argument from evidence. Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument or counterarguments based on data and evidence.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Waves can add or cancel one another as they cross, depending on their relative phase (i.e., relative position of peaks and troughs of the waves), but they emerge unaffected by each other.

(II) Boundary: The discussion at this grade level is qualitative only; it can be based on the fact that two sounds can pass a location in different directions without getting mixed up.

(III) Electromagnetic radiation (e.g., radio, microwaves, light) can be modeled as a wave of changing electric and magnetic fields or as particles called photons.

(IV) The wave model is useful for explaining many features of electromagnetic radiation, and the particle model explains other features.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Systems and system models. Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer) can be used to simulate systems and interactions (including energy, matter and information flows) within and between systems at different scales.

(D)Performance expectation four (4). Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.

(i)Clarification statement. Emphasis is on the idea that different frequencies of light have different energies, and the damage to living tissue from electromagnetic radiation depends on the energy of the radiation. Examples of published materials could include peer-reviewed scientific articles, trade books, magazines, web resources, videos, and other passages that may reflect bias.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessment is limited to qualitative descriptions.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Evaluate the validity and reliability of and/or synthesize multiple claims, methods, and/or designs that appear in scientific and technical texts or media reports, verifying the data when possible.

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) When light or longer wavelength electromagnetic radiation is absorbed in matter, it is generally converted into thermal energy (heat).

(II) Shorter wavelength electromagnetic radiation (ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays) can ionize atoms and cause damage to living cells.

(III) Photoelectric materials emit electrons when they absorb light of high enough frequency.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

(I)Cause and effect. Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural and human-designed systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system.

(E)Performance expectation five (5).* 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.

(i)Clarification statement. Examples could include solar cells capturing light and converting it to electricity and transmitting an audio file through a modulated laser signal. Other examples can be found in medical imaging and communications technology.

(ii)Assessment Boundary. Assessments are limited to qualitative information. Assessments do not include band theory.

(iii)Science and Engineering Practice.

(I)Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Communicate scientific and/or technical information (e.g., about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).

(iv)Disciplinary Core Ideas.

(I) Solar cells are human-made devices that capture the sun's energy and produce electrical energy.

(II) Information can be digitized (e.g., a picture stored as the values of an array of pixels); in this form, it can be stored reliably in computer memory and sent over long distances as a series of wave pulses.

(III) Photoelectric materials emit electrons when they absorb light of a high enough frequency.

(IV) Multiple technologies based on the understanding of waves and their interactions with matter are part of every day experiences in the modern world (e.g., medical imaging, communications, scanners) and in scientific research. They are essential tools for producing, transmitting, and capturing signals and for storing and interpreting the information contained in them.

(v)Crosscutting Concepts.

Okla. Admin. Code § 210:15-3-82

Added at 20 Ok Reg 159, eff 10-10-02 (emergency); Added at 20 Ok Reg 821, eff 5-15-03; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 2264, eff 7-25-11

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 38, Issue 24, September 1, 2021, eff. 9/11/2021