NGSS Card Decks by DCI
Part of the Five Tools and Processes for Translating the NGSS Into Instruction and Classroom Assessment Curriculum Collection.
The Five Tools and Processes professional learning sessions are aligned with the NGSS standards page for MS-LS2, Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. This particular standards page was selected to develop the Tool examples and the cards used in learning the process. The Five Tools and Processes also can be used to translate any middle school or high school standards page into instruction and classroom assessment. To do this, you need to choose the correct NGSS card deck.
Use the links below to download a PDF of whichever standards page you wish to work with. These files are formatted to print onto Avery 5388 index card stock. This card stock is perforated and cards are easy to take apart. Three cards print per page, and each box of card stock can print 150 cards. Use the number of cards indicated next to each link to determine how many boxes of card stock you will need per deck. Each group of teachers working together will need a NGSS card deck to do the Tool 1 process.
Access the standards arranged by Topic
Elementary School
Middle School
| Life Science | Earth & Space Science | Physical Science |
|---|---|---|
| MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes (104 cards) | MS-ESS1 Earth's Place in the Universe (80 cards) | MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions (105 cards) |
| MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (105 cards) | MS-ESS2 Earth's Systems (200 cards) | MS-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (96 cards) |
| MS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (45 cards) | MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity (129 cards) | MS-PS3 Energy (117 cards) |
| MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (82 cards) | MS-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer (34 cards) | |
| MS-ETS1 Engineering Design (49 cards) | ||
High School
| Life Science | Earth & Space Science | Physical Science |
|---|---|---|
| HS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes (98 cards) | HS-ESS1 Earth's Place in the Universe (190 cards) | HS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions (142 cards) |
| HS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (162 cards) | HS-ESS2 Earth's Systems (263 cards) | HS-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (159 cards) |
| HS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (69 cards) | HS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity (188 cards) | HS-PS3 Energy (178 cards) |
| HS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (143 cards) | HS-PS4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer (144 cards) | |
| HS-ETS1 Engineering Design (67 cards) | ||
Cards are color-coded as follows:
Dark orange – Disciplinary Core Idea
Light orange – Disciplinary Core Idea from connected standards page
Dark red – Performance Expectation
Light Red – Performance Expectation from connected standards page
Dark blue – Science and Engineering Practice
Light blue – Science and Engineering Practice from connected standards page
Dark green – Crosscutting Concept
Light green – Crosscutting Concept from connected standards page
Dark purple – Connection to Nature of Science or Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science
Light purple – Connection to Nature of Science or Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science from connected standards page
Yellow – Connection to Common Core ELA/Literacy
Brown – Connection to Common Core Mathematics
These NGSS card decks include all of the connections as described in the NGSS (light colored cards). This supports the concept of bundling when you are working with a standards page to ensure that ideas from other disciplines are incorporated into your instruction and classroom assessment. You may wish to review all of the light colored cards and remove some of them before providing the decks to participants, as a way of focusing their attention on specific connections rather than giving them ALL of the possible connections suggested in the NGSS.