HS-ESS1-6

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Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.

Clarification statement: Emphasis is on using available evidence within the solar system to reconstruct the early history of Earth, which formed along with the rest of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Examples of evidence include the absolute ages of ancient materials (obtained by radiometric dating of meteorites, moon rocks, and Earth’s rocks and minerals), the sizes and compositions of solar system objects, and the impact cratering record of planetary surfaces.

Reference Tables

Relevant reference tables:

• Geologically Important Radioactive Elements Used for Radiometric Dating

Assessment

What assessment of HS-ESS1-6 might look like on a NY state exam.

Exam	Cluster	Question
August 2026	Chesapeake Bay Impact Event	Question 5
	Chesapeake Bay Impact Event	Question 6
	Chesapeake Bay Impact Event	Question 8
January 2026	Evolution of Early Earth Systems	Question 11
	The Moons of Pluto	Question 23
	Doggerland	Question 26
	Bennu	Question 34
August 2025	How Did Earth Get Its Water?	Question 21
	Earth-Moon History	Question 35
	New York State Fossils of Note	Question 41
	New York State Fossils of Note	Question 43
	New York State Fossils of Note	Question 45
June 2025	The Origin of Our Solar System	Question 26
	The Origin of Our Solar System	Question 28
Sample clusters (Fall 2024)	Theia and the Moon	Question 2
	Theia and the Moon	Question 3
	Theia and the Moon	Question 5
Sample clusters (Spring 2024)	Plate Tectonics	Question 2

Performance Level Descriptions

PLDs communicate the knowledge and skills expected of students to demonstrate proficiency in each Learning Standard. NYS assessments classify student performance into one of five levels.

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Level 1: Identify the evidence (radiometric dating, impact cratering), from those provided, that supports/refutes a given explanation of Earth's or another planetary surface's formation or early history.

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Level 2: Using evidence from ancient Earth materials, or meteorites, or other planetary surfaces (other objects in the solar system) to support/refute a given explanation of Earth's formation and/or early history, or use evidence from radiometric dating to support/refute a given explanation of the formation of a solar system object.

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Level 3: Using evidence and scientific reasoning from ancient Earth materials, or meteorites, or other planetary surfaces, construct an account of Earth's formation and/or early history, or use evidence from radiometric dating of rocks and/or other materials to construct an account of the formation or early history of objects in the solar system.

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Level 4: Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth's formation and early history.

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Level 5: Analyze empirical evidence from multiple sources, to construct an explanation of Earth's formation and early history, based upon the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Vocabulary

Terms from the Earth & Space Science Glossary that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.

From this standard

• absolute ages
• ancient Earth materials
• asteroids
• composition
• cratering record
• Earth
• Earth’s formation
• erosion
• exponential decay law
• geologic processes
• half-life
• meteorites
• minerals
• model
• moon rocks
• observation and experiment
• planetary surfaces
• plate tectonics
• radioactive decay
• radiometric dating
• rock record
• scientific reasoning
• scientific theory
• solar system

From released exam questions

• absolute dating – June 2025
• accretion – Sample 2024
• arthropod – Aug 2025
• atmosphere – Aug 2025
• basin – Aug 2025
• burial – Aug 2026
• carbon – Jan 2026
• carbon-14 – Jan 2026
• central uplift – Aug 2026
• cladogram – Aug 2025
• collision – Aug 2025
• comets – Aug 2025
• common ancestor – Aug 2025
• continental shelf – Aug 2026
• crust – Aug 2025, Sample 2024
• crystal lattice – Sample 2024
• decay product – June 2025, Sample 2024
• density – June 2025, Sample 2024
• deposition – Aug 2026
• deuterium – Aug 2025
• deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio (D/H) – Aug 2025
• drill core – Aug 2026
• dropstones – Jan 2026
• Earth’s early oceans – Aug 2025
• Earth’s orbit – Jan 2026
• Earth’s surface – Sample 2024
• earthquakes – Sample 2024
• ejecta – Aug 2026, Sample 2024
• elements – Jan 2026, Aug 2025, Sample 2024
• eolian – Sample 2024
• Equator – Jan 2026
• eurypterid – Aug 2025
• felsic – Sample 2024
• fossils – Aug 2025
• fresh water – Aug 2025
• geologic history – Jan 2026
• geologic periods – Aug 2025
• giant impact hypothesis – Sample 2024
• glacial ice – Jan 2026
• glaciers – Jan 2026
• hardness – Sample 2024
• hydrogen – Aug 2025
• ice – Jan 2026
• ice ages – Jan 2026
• ice volcanoes – Jan 2026
• igneous rock – Sample 2024
• impact craters – Sample 2024
• index fossils – Jan 2026
• isotope – Aug 2026, Jan 2026
• Jovian planets – June 2025
• late heavy bombardment – Sample 2024
• lava flows – Sample 2024
• magma – Sample 2024
• mare – Aug 2025
• mass extinction – Jan 2026, Aug 2025
• melting temperature – Sample 2024
• methane – Jan 2026
• molten rock – Sample 2024
• moon – Jan 2026, Aug 2025, June 2025, Sample 2024
• mountain – Sample 2024
• observations – Sample 2024
• ocean – Aug 2026, Aug 2025
• oxygen – Jan 2026, Aug 2025, Sample 2024
• parent isotope – Aug 2026
• period of revolution – June 2025
• planets – Aug 2025, June 2025
• Principle of Superposition – Aug 2026
• relative ages – Sample 2024
• river – Sample 2024
• satellites – Aug 2025
• sea level – Aug 2026, Jan 2026
• sediment – Aug 2026, Jan 2026, Sample 2024
• sedimentary rock – Jan 2026
• slump blocks – Aug 2026
• soil – Jan 2026
• solar wind – Aug 2025
• stromatolites – Jan 2026
• terrestrial planets – June 2025
• volcano – Jan 2026, Sample 2024
• weathering – Sample 2024

NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-ESS1-6 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

• Constructing explanations and designing solutions: Apply scientific reasoning to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion.
• Science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories explain natural phenomena: A scientific theory is a substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment and the science community validates each theory before it is accepted. If new evidence is discovered that the theory does not accommodate, the theory is generally modified in light of this new evidence.
• Science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories explain natural phenomena: Models, mechanisms, and explanations collectively serve as tools in the development of a scientific theory.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• The history of planet Earth: Although active geologic processes, such as plate tectonics and erosion, have destroyed or altered most of the very early rock record on Earth, other objects in the solar system, such as lunar rocks, asteroids, and meteorites, have changed little over billions of years. Studying these objects can provide information about Earth’s formation and early history.
• Nuclear processes: Spontaneous radioactive decay follows a characteristic exponential decay law allowing an element’s half-life to be used for radiometric dating of rocks and other materials.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Stability and change: Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

Page contributors: Conrad Richman, Caroline Leonard

Earth and Space Science | HS. History of the Earth