The Disciplinary Core Ideas are the foundation for the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. These standards provide a clear, concise, and coherent set of expectations for what students should know and be able to do in order to be college and career ready. The Disciplinary Core Ideas are broken into four strands: physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology. Each of these strands consists of a number of more specific disciplinary core concepts, which can be further broken down into related crosscutting concepts.

The physical sciences core ideas include the structure and properties of matter, motion and stability, conservation of energy and increase in disorder, light and radiation, condensed phases, and forces and interactions. The life sciences core ideas include the biological evolution of organisms, phenomena of matter and energy and how they interact, and investigations, structure, and function of cells, organisms, and systems. The earth and space sciences core ideas include the composition of Earth's system, the flow of energy and matter, and Earth's history. Finally, the engineering and technology core ideas include identifying, designing, and constructing solutions to problems, and how systems are impacted through the use of these solutions.

By helping students understand the core ideas in each discipline, the standards promote overall critical thinking as students learn to combine ideas from multiple topics and ask advanced questions. By requiring students to acquire knowledge, critical thinking skills and efficient problem solving skills, the standards develop 21st century skills that can be used in a wide variety of areas. In particular, the standards focus on developing real-world problem-solving, teamwork, innovation, and self-directed learning. This encourages students to go beyond simply memorizing facts, applying them to real-life situations, and analyzing information to develop creative and original solutions.

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Physical Science

Life Science

Earth & Space Science

Engineering, Technology & Application of Science