FizziQ and the Next Generation Science Standards
Where FizziQ activities fit in an NGSS-aligned physical science, life science or Earth science course, and what a district privacy review needs to know.
In short
FizziQ is a free science app that turns the sensors of a smartphone, tablet or Chromebook (with FizziQ Web) into measuring instruments: accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, sound level meter, spectrum analyzer, light meter, barometer, GPS, video motion analysis. Students collect their own data and analyze it in an experiment notebook. That is exactly the work the NGSS describe as science and engineering practices: the standards are three-dimensional, and FizziQ supports the practices dimension for most physical science performance expectations, plus several in life and Earth science.
The eight Science and Engineering Practices
Each practice below lists how FizziQ supports it and two or three activities from the catalogue that exercise it explicitly.
| Practice | With FizziQ | Example activities |
|---|---|---|
| Asking questions and defining problems | Every activity starts from a question that students can test themselves, from "does adding two sounds double the loudness?" to "why does the flame die?". | Adding decibels, Candle combustion |
| Developing and using models | FizziQ Web simulations (orbits, ballistics, ideal gas, waves, oscillators) let students build a model, change one parameter and compare with measurements made on real objects. | Kepler's third law, v = λf on a lake, Ideal gas law |
| Planning and carrying out investigations | Students choose the instrument, the sampling rate and the protocol; the experiment creator lets teachers write or adapt protocols and share them by QR code. | Speed of sound with two phones, Photosynthesis limiting factors |
| Analyzing and interpreting data | The experiment notebook records raw sensor data, plots it, and supports tables, statistics and curve fitting on the device. | Spring constant, Beer-Lambert law |
| Using mathematics and computational thinking | Formulas in the notebook spreadsheet turn measurements into derived quantities: integrating acceleration to get speed, fitting a parabola, computing a standard deviation. | Airplane takeoff speed, Measurement uncertainty, Measuring g by video |
| Constructing explanations and designing solutions | Activities end with "questions" and "variants" sections that ask students to explain a result and to design a follow-up test. | Doppler effect, Destructive interference |
| Engaging in argument from evidence | Because measurements are the students' own, claims can be defended with their graphs and compared between groups. | Free fall: measuring g, Variation of g with latitude |
| Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information | Notebooks export to PDF and CSV with graphs, photos and text; teachers collect them or students present them. | Pole vault energy balance, Greenhouse experiment |
Performance Expectations covered by activities
A selection of middle school (MS) and high school (HS) performance expectations for which a FizziQ activity provides the investigation or the data analysis. The wording of each expectation is that of the NGSS; the mapping is ours, and teachers remain the judges of fit with their own units.
| Code | Performance expectation | FizziQ activities |
|---|---|---|
| MS-PS2-2 | Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object. | Atwood machine, Inclined plane, Free fall |
| HS-PS2-1 | Analyze data to support the claim that Newton's second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration. | Atwood machine, Spring constant, Rolling cylinder |
| MS-PS2-3 | Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. | Biot-Savart law, Magnetic detection |
| HS-PS2-5 | Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field. | Biot-Savart law |
| MS-PS3-1 | Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object. | Elastic collisions, Pendulum energy |
| MS-PS3-5 | Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. | Bouncing ball, Pole vault |
| MS-PS1-4 | Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. | Ideal gas law, Latent heat of vaporization, Thermal convection |
| HS-PS1-7 | Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction. | Combustion stoichiometry |
| MS-PS4-1 | Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave. | Sound level vs distance, Wave attenuation |
| MS-PS4-2 | Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials. | Beer-Lambert law, Retroreflection |
| HS-PS4-1 | Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media. | Speed of sound, Test tube resonance, Tube resonance, v = λf |
| MS-LS1-6 | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms. | Plant gas exchange, Limiting factors |
| MS-LS1-7 | Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism. | Cellular respiration |
| MS-ESS1-1 | Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons. | Sun's height across seasons, Day length, Orbital period of the Moon |
| MS-ESS1-2 | Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. | Solar system simulation, Gravity assist |
| HS-ESS1-4 | Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. | Geostationary orbit, Translunar injection, Three-body problem |
| MS-ESS3-5 | Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. | Radiative effect of CO₂ |
| 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. | Solar constant, Greenhouse experiment |
Crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas
The activities are organised by domain (motion, forces, sound and waves, energy, electricity and magnetism, matter, astronomy, living systems) so they slot into the disciplinary core ideas PS1 to PS4, LS1, ESS1 to ESS3. Crosscutting concepts come naturally from the data: patterns in a spectrogram, cause and effect in a controlled experiment, scale and proportion in an orbit simulation, energy and matter in a CO₂ measurement, stability and change in a damped oscillator.
What a teacher needs
- Devices: any recent iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet (FizziQ); Chromebooks, Macs and PCs use FizziQ Web in the browser, with no installation.
- Cost: free, no in-app purchases, no ads.
- Accounts: none. Nothing to create, nothing to delete at the end of the year.
- Protocols: more than 100 ready-to-use activities, and an experiment creator to write your own and share them by QR code.
- External sensors: temperature, pH, CO₂, humidity, force and more through FizziQ Connect, Arduino or micro:bit.
- Evidence: an independent study published in Physics Education (IOP, 2026) is summarised on the About page.
Questions about a specific standard or a district adoption: contact us.