Assembly Bill 285: Climate Change Instruction
Information and guidance supporting implementation of Assembly Bill 285 and climate change instruction. Assembly Bill (AB) 285
was signed into law on October 08, 2023. The bill amended California Education Code (EC) sections 51210
and 51220
, requiring instruction in climate change in the adopted courses of study for grades one to six and seven to twelve, respectively. Climate change education is addressed in the current California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS), as well as the 2016 Science Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (Science Framework). If a local educational agency (LEA) successfully implemented the CA NGSS and the Science Framework, the minimum course requirements for science per EC sections 51210 and 51220 will be met. The Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) also support implementation of AB 285 and are embedded in multiple California State frameworks. LEAs are responsible for ensuring that their instructional materials meet the required standards.
The chart below shows opportunities for climate and climate change instruction in the CA NGSS and the Science Framework in kindergarten through grade twelve.
| Grade | Next Generation Science Standards | Science Framework |
|---|---|---|
| K | K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. K-ESS3-2. Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather. K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment. K-PS3-1. Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface. K-PS3-2. Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area. |
Chapter 3 (PDF)
pp. 120–130 pp. 188–200 |
| 1 | 1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
1-ESS1-2. Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. |
Chapter 3 (PDF) pp. 140–144 pp. 154–161 pp. 188–200 |
| 2 | 2-ESS1-1. Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.
2-ESS2-1. Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land. 2-PS-4. Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot. |
Chapter 3 (PDF) pp. 169–173 pp. 173–186 pp. 188–200 |
| 3 | 3-LS2-1. Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. 3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. 3-ESS2-2. Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world. 3-ESS3-1. Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard. |
Chapter 4 (PDF) pp. 226–227 pp. 228–237 pp. 238–251 |
| 4 | 4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
4-PS3-4. Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. 4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans. 4-ESS3-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock formations and fossils in rock layers for changes in a landscape over time to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. 4-ESS2-1. Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. 4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans. |
Chapter 4 (PDF) pp. 258–262 pp. 263–273 |
| 5 | 5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment. |
Chapter 4 (PDF)
pp. 320–326 |
| 6 | MS-ESS2-4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions. MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. MS-ESS3–5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer. |
Chapter 5: Preferred Integrated Course Model (PDF)
pp. 368–385 pp. 395–405 pp. 411–421 Chapter 6: Discipline Specific Model (PDF) pp. 593–609 pp. 610–617 |
| 7 | MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. |
Chapter 5: Preferred Integrated Course Model (PDF)
pp. 470–473 Chapter 6: Discipline Specific Model (PDF) pp. 694–697 |
| 8 | MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.
MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer. |
Chapter 5: Preferred Integrated Course Model (PDF)
pp. 507–511 pp. 519–535 pp. 540–543 Chapter 6: Discipline Specific Model (PDF) pp. 726–729 |
| 9-12 | HS-ESS2-4. Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
HS-ESS3-1. 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. HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems. HS-ESS3–5. Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems. HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity. HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem. HS-LS4-5. Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species. HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity. |
Chapter 7: High School Three-Course Model (PDF) pp. 830–842 Snapshot 7.5: Food Diaries (p. 838) Snapshot 7.6: Shrinking Pika Habitat (p. 839) pp. 843–855 Vignette 7.1: Analyzing the past, present, and future of marine mammal evolution. (p. 843) pp. 891–908 Snapshot 7.8: Structure and Function in Greenhouse Gases (p. 899) Snapshot 7.9: Trends and Patterns in Modern Atmospheric CO2 Levels (p. 902) Snapshot 7.10: Letters to the Editor and Evaluating Climate Change Graphs (p. 905) p. 916-925 Vignette 7.2: Ocean Acidification, A Systems-Based Approach to a Global Problem (p. 916) Chapter 8: High School Four-Course Model (PDF) pp. 1055–1057 pp. 1214–1233 Snapshot 8.9: Letters to the Editor and Evaluating Climate change Graphs (p. 1230) pp. 1259–1271 Vignette 8.4: Keeping it Cool: Engineering Solutions to Urban Heat Islands. (p. 1260) |