Earth, Space & Origins

The Earth, the cosmos, and the big stories of beginnings — held as stories grounded in evidence, among many others.

K–12 objective ladder

• K D06.S4.K.01 Listen to an origin story about the universe and retell it in their own words, knowing it is one story among many.
• K D06.S4.K.02 Observe and describe changes in the natural world (day and night, seasons, growth).
• 1 D06.S4.01.01 Observe and describe patterns of the Sun, Moon, and stars, and how day turns into night.
• 1 D06.S4.01.02 Observe and describe weather and seasons where they live and in other places.
• 2 D06.S4.02.01 Describe how the Sun warms the Earth and gives light that living things need.
• 2 D06.S4.02.02 Describe rocks, soil, and water and how they make up the land we live on.
• 3 D06.S4.03.01 Explain how Earth's rotation causes day and night and how its orbit causes the seasons.
• 3 D06.S4.03.02 Describe how wind, water, and ice shape the land over time.
• 4 D06.S4.04.01 Describe the water cycle and how water moves and is reused around the Earth.
• 4 D06.S4.04.02 Explain how fossils and rock layers give clues about Earth's long history.
• 5 D06.S4.05.01 Describe the Earth, Moon, and Sun system and explain day length, moon phases, and eclipses.
• 5 D06.S4.05.02 Explain how Earth's surface is changed by slow and fast processes, and where earthquakes and volcanoes occur.
• 6 D06.S4.06.01 Describe Earth's place in the solar system and the scale of planets, moons, and the Sun.
• 6 D06.S4.06.02 Explain how the rock cycle recycles Earth's materials and how soil supports life.
• 7 D06.S4.07.01 Explain how the atmosphere, oceans, and land interact to shape climate and weather.
• 7 D06.S4.07.02 Explain how evidence (such as fossils, rock layers, and ice cores) tells the story of deep time and past life.
• 8 D06.S4.08.01 Describe the life cycle of stars, the formation of elements, and our place in the galaxy.
• 8 D06.S4.08.02 Explain how plate tectonics shapes continents, mountains, and ocean basins over millions of years.
• 9 D06.S4.09.01 Explain how greenhouse gases regulate climate and how human activity is changing the climate system.
• 9 D06.S4.09.02 Explain the evidence for the age of the Earth and the universe and how scientists measure it.
• 10 D06.S4.10.01 Explain the Big Bang model and the evidence that supports it, and distinguish a model from revealed truth.
• 10 D06.S4.10.02 Analyze human impacts on Earth systems and evaluate responses to environmental change with hope and agency.
• 11 D06.S4.11.01 Compare cosmological models and weigh the evidence for each, holding them as models rather than certainties.
• 11 D06.S4.11.02 Explain how Earth's systems are coupled and how climate, ecology, and human society shape one another.
• 12 D06.S4.12.01 Weigh cosmological models and geological evidence, and the relationship between scientific and other ways of knowing about origins.
• 12 D06.S4.12.02 Articulate a considered position on the origins of the cosmos and life that holds scientific evidence and other ways of knowing in respectful relation.

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