HS-ESS1-6 | Formation and Early History of Earth

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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:


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

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
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