Performance expectationEvaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.
Emphasis is on the idea that photons associated with different frequencies of light have different energies, and the damage to living tissue from electromagnetic radiation depends on the energy of the radiation. Examples of published materials could include trade books, magazines, web resources, videos, and other passages that may reflect bias.
Assessment is limited to qualitative descriptions.
Every item written to HS-PS4-4 has to assess all three dimensions together, not the content alone. This is the structural change that made older practice material stop matching the exam.
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
What a student at each level can do with HS-PS4-4. These drive how a cluster spreads difficulty across its items.
Summarised by ScienceIQ from the NYSED Performance Level Descriptions for Physical Science: Chemistry. These are our wording, not the Department’s — the official descriptions are the authority.
Identify frequency, wavelength, energy, or effect on matter from evidence.
Use evidence to support a claim about radiation absorbed by matter.
Make and support a claim about effects of frequency or wavelength on matter.
Evaluate claims about electromagnetic radiation absorbed by matter.
Phenomenon stimulus, connected items across the required types, answer key, rubric and figures drawn deterministically from a structured spec — in the format your students will sit.