What is The Digital Cliff?

NGSS Phenomena:
In 2009, the U.S. government ruled that all companies had to stop broadcasting analog TV and switch to digital. Both the images and sound on a TV are sent as waves. Review the below data to help make sense of why this choice was made:



Space:

7-12 digital channels can be sent in the same amount of space as one analog channel.



Sound quality:

The below graph show how digital and analog signals work with higher or lower signal strength.
NGSS Phenomena: A graph showing that digital sound is consistently high quality with a strong and medium signal, but when the signal is weaker, it drops off very fast. The area where the digital quality drops off is labeled
Storage ability of different Analog vs Digital devices:

Analog Tape cassette: 2 megabytes
Digital CD: 700 megabytes
Digital Smartphone: more than 100,000 megabytes

1. The graph shows that digital signals are better for and analog signals are better for .

Drag the answers below into the grey placeholders above

high quality signals
inconsistent signal at higher quality
consistent signal at lower quality
low quality signals

2. Write a claim to explain how digital signals could help scientists and researchers collect large amounts of information and send that information from the ISS back to Earth.

3. What evidence can support your claim about how digital signals could help scientists and researchers collect large amounts of information and send that information from the ISS back to Earth.

4. What reasoning can support your claim with the evidence to show how digital signals could help scientists and researchers collect large amounts of information and send that information from the ISS back to Earth.

5. What evidence can support the claim that digital information is recorded more reliably than analog information?

6. How does digital technology help to make sure information is stored for the future?

7. Explain how the evidence shows that digital technology will make it easier to send information over large distances.

Get Started with InnerOrbit

  • Browse All Our Question Clusters

  • Create Your Own Assessments

  • Analyze Student Performance in 3 Dimensions

This matching question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-PS4-3

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Structure and Function

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

  • Structure and Function

  • MS-PS4-3

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-PS4-3

  • Structure and Function

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

  • Structure and Function

  • MS-PS4-3

This multiple choice question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-PS4-3

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

This multiple choice question aligns to the following standards

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Structure and Function

  • MS-PS4-3

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-PS4-3

  • Structure and Function

  • PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Get Started with 3D NGSS Assessments

How InnerOrbit Works

Select Questions

Choose from pools of rigorous NGSS aligned question clusters

Build Assessments

Copy, remix, and create your own science assessments

Assign to Classes

Students take do-nows, exit slips, and formative or summative assessments

Refocus Lessons

Give feedback, track growth, and use intuitive reports to identify gaps

Create Rigorous Science Assessments

From Phenomena-Based Questions Tagged Individually with Specific NGSS Standards

Choose from Multiple Choice, Drawing, Matching, Fill in the Blank, and Free Response Questions

  • What is the Effect of These Aerosols?

    6 Questions
    Published

    • MS-ESS2-6

  • Why Does This Drop so Slowly?

    16 Questions
    Published

    • MS-PS2-5

  • What Makes Glaciers Change Over Time?

    21 Questions
    Published

    • MS-ESS2-1

  • What Changes are Occurring at the Padma River?

    13 Questions
    Published

    • HS-ESS2-5

  • What is Happening to the California Condor Population?

    14 Questions
    Published

    • MS-LS2-1

  • Which Trash Cleaning Solution is Better?

    13 Questions
    Published

    • MS-LS2-5

  • How do Mushrooms Get Their Energy?

    24 Questions
    Published

    • HS-LS1-7

  • Browse
    1000+
    Questions

Intuitive Reports to Easily View Progress

Track student growth and gaps in three dimensions

    Easily Build and Assign
    Your First NGSS Assessments