HS-ESS3-1 | Natural Resources, Hazards, and Human Activity · NYS standard · Regents questions

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Revision as of 08:08, 18 October 2026 by Conrad (talk | contribs) (PLD table: list all released questions at each level, matching the questions-by-performance-level pages)
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Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.

Clarification statement: Examples of key natural resources include access to fresh water (such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater), regions of fertile soils such as river deltas, and high concentrations of minerals and fossil fuels. Examples of natural hazards can be from interior processes (such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes), surface processes (such as tsunamis, mass wasting and soil erosion), and severe weather (such as blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and droughts). Examples of the results of changes in climate that can affect populations or drive mass migrations include changes to sea level, regional patterns of temperature and precipitation, and the types of crops and livestock that can be raised.

Reference Tables

Relevant reference tables:


Regents Exam Questions

Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-ESS3-1 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

Exam Cluster Question
August 2026 Earth and Space Sciences Regents Canary Islands Hotspot Question 14
Earth’s Oceans–A Climate Change Indicator Question 17
Dams on the Colorado River Question 21
Carbon Emissions in Industry Question 26
June 2026 Earth and Space Sciences Regents Iceland Hotspot Question 3
The Influence of Volcanoes on Earth’s Systems Question 27
New York’s Concrete Industry Question 28
Lake Nyos Question 33
January 2026 Earth and Space Sciences Regents Mined and Mineral Resources of New York State Question 15
Mount Morris Dam in Letchworth State Park Question 39
Energy and Mineral Resources Question 44
Energy and Mineral Resources Question 45
August 2025 Earth and Space Sciences Regents How Did Earth Get Its Water? Question 26
Dams and Flood Mitigation Question 39
June 2025 Earth and Space Sciences Regents The Carbon Cycle Question 13
New York State's Hudson River Question 23
Ghost Forests Question 37
Earth and Space Sciences sample clusters (Spring 2024) The Effect of The Moon on Earth Question 3

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
  • blizzards
  • delta
  • droughts
  • earthquakes
  • fertile soils
  • floods
  • fossil fuels
  • fresh water
  • groundwater
  • human activity
  • hurricanes
  • interior processes
  • lakes
  • livestock
  • mass migrations
  • mass wasting
  • migration
  • minerals
  • mitigate
  • model
  • natural hazards
  • natural resources
  • peer review
  • precipitation
  • river
  • sea level
  • severe weather
  • soil
  • soil erosion
  • surface processes
  • tornadoes
  • tsunamis
  • volcanic eruptions
From released exam questions

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Regents exam question on HS-ESS3-1 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

Level 1: Identify the evidence that supports an explanation for how human activity has been affected by the availability of natural resources, or the occurrence of natural hazards, or changes in climate. June 2026 Question 3, June 2026 Question 28, June 2026 Question 27, January 2026 Question 39
Level 2: Identify an evidence-based explanation, from those provided, that describes how the availability of natural resources, or the occurrence of natural hazards, or changes in climate have influenced human activity. August 2026 Question 14, August 2026 Question 21, August 2026 Question 17, June 2026 Question 33, January 2026 Question 44, January 2026 Question 45, August 2025 Question 39, June 2025 Question 3, June 2025 Question 23, June 2025 Question 13
Level 3: Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how human activity has been affected by the availability of natural resources, or occurrence of natural hazards, or changes in climate. August 2026 Question 26, January 2026 Question 15, August 2025 Question 26, June 2025 Question 37
Level 4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
Level 5: Construct an explanation based on evidence synthesized from a variety of sources of how human activity has been affected by the availability of natural resources, the occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate. Design a plan to adapt to and/or mitigate the effects of natural perturbations.
Notice: PLD levels!

NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-ESS3-1 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: Construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and 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.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
  • Natural resources: Resource availability has guided the development of human society.
  • Natural hazards: Natural hazards and other geologic events have shaped the course of human history; [they] have significantly altered the sizes of human populations and have driven human migrations.
Crosscutting Concepts
  • Cause and effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
  • Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World: Modern civilization depends on major technological systems.
Page contributors: Conrad Richman, Caroline Leonard
Earth and Space Science | HS. Human Sustainability
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