HS-ESS2-4: How Energy Flow Changes Climate
Also called NGSS HS-ESS2-4 · Topic: Weather and Climate · Earth and Space Science
The Official Wording
Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
Clarification statement: Examples of the causes of climate change differ by timescale, over 1-10 years: large volcanic eruption, ocean circulation; 10-100s of years: changes in human activity, ocean circulation, solar output; 10-100s of thousands of years: changes to Earth's orbit and the orientation of its axis; and 10-100s of millions of years: long-term changes in atmospheric composition.
Assessment boundary: Assessment of the results of changes in climate is limited to changes in surface temperatures, precipitation patterns, glacial ice volumes, sea levels, and biosphere distribution.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What HS-ESS2-4 Means in Plain English
High school students build and use a model of Earth's energy budget: sunlight coming in, heat radiating back out. They explain how a lasting change on either side, from volcanic haze to more greenhouse gas to a slow wobble in Earth's orbit, warms or cools the climate.
Students match each cause to its timescale, a few years for an eruption up to millions of years for shifts in the air's makeup. The effects they track stay measurable: temperatures, rainfall, ice, sea level and where living things are found. Next comes HS-ESS3-5.
HS-ESS2-4 I Can Statements
- I can draw Earth's energy budget with arrows for energy in and out.
- I can explain why a change in that balance warms or cools Earth.
- I can match climate causes to the timescales they act on.
HS-ESS2-4 Worked Example
A model energy budget a class can build with two black cans, a clamp heat lamp and a sheet of wax paper.
Does a thin haze that blocks some sunlight cool a model Earth?
Set It Up: Two empty soda cans painted flat black, a thermometer in each, a clamp heat lamp and a square of wax paper held on a ring stand.
- Place both cans the same distance from the lamp and record their starting temperatures.Both cans at 21 °C
- Hang the wax paper between the lamp and one can, as a haze layer.Haze can gets dimmer light
- Turn the lamp on and read both thermometers every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.11 readings per can
- Graph both cans and note where each curve levels off.Clear can near 38 °C, haze can near 31 °C
- Explain the leveling off in terms of energy in and energy out.Steady temperature means balance
The can behind the haze warmed more slowly and settled at a lower temperature.
Why it works: Less incoming energy means a cooler balance point, just as sulfate haze from the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption cooled Earth for about two years.
Common Mistakes with HS-ESS2-4
Heat in means heat forever
“If the lamp stays on, the can just keeps getting hotter.”
Try this: A warmer object gives off more energy, so its temperature levels off where energy out finally equals energy in.
Mixing up timescales
Blaming the last ice age on volcanic eruptions
Try this: Sort causes by how long they last: eruptions act over a few years, orbit changes over tens of thousands of years.
Weather for climate
“It snowed in April, so the climate is cooling.”
Try this: Climate is the long-run average over decades, so one cold month or one hot summer cannot show a climate change.
Where HS-ESS2-4 Fits
Practice HS-ESS2-4
Quick Check
- A big eruption puts sulfate haze high in the atmosphere. What happens to global temperature over the next few years?
- More carbon dioxide adds no sunlight. How can it still warm Earth?
- Which acts over tens of thousands of years: an eruption, an El Niño or a change in Earth's tilt?