Yes, educators that submit phenomena to the NCAP align each submission to the appropriate NC K-12 Science Standards. The database can be searched by individual science standards or grade bands/courses. 

All K-12 grades and courses for science are represented.

Three-dimensional science broadly outlines the knowledge and practices that all students should learn by the end of high school:

• Dimension 1 describes scientific and engineering practices.
• Dimension 2 describes crosscutting concepts.
• Dimension 3 describes core ideas in the science disciplines. 

In order to facilitate students’ learning, the dimensions must be woven together in standards, curricula, instruction, and assessments. When students explore particular Disciplinary Core Ideas (Dimension 3), they should engage in the Science and Engineering Practices (Dimension 1) and make connections to the Crosscutting Concepts (Dimension 2).

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.

An important role of science education is not to teach “all the facts”, but rather to prepare students with sufficient core knowledge so that they can later acquire additional information on their own. A core idea for K-12 science instruction:

• has broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering disciplines or is a key organizing principle of a single discipline.
• provides a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems.
• relates to the interests and life experiences of students or is connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technological knowledge.
• is teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication. That is, the idea can be made accessible to younger students, but is broad enough to sustain continued investigation over years.

In North Carolina, the disciplinary core ideas are grouped into three major domains: the physical sciences; the life sciences; and the earth and space sciences.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.

The K-12 practices are derived from those that scientists and engineers actually engage in as part of their work. Students should be given opportunities to immerse themselves in these practices and to explore why they are central to science and engineering.These eight practices are essential elements of the K-12 science standards.
Science and Engineering Practices:
1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.
 

Crosscutting concepts bridge disciplinary boundaries and have explanatory value throughout science and engineering. These seven concepts help provide students with an organizational framework for connecting knowledge from the various disciplines into a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world.
Crosscutting Concepts:
1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity
4. Systems and system models 
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.

In science, phenomena-based instruction centers on real-world events or observable occurrences that spark student curiosity and guide their learning. Rather than relying on memorization, this approach promotes a deeper grasp of scientific ideas by encouraging students to explore and explain the world around them. Through this process, learners engage in scientific practices and apply key concepts to make sense of what they observe.

The See-Think-Wonder approach prompts students to engage with a phenomenon (images, texts, data, etc.) by first making detailed observations ("see"), followed by describing what they think about what they are seeing (“think”), and then formulating reflective questions ("wonder"). These components align with the Science and Engineering Practices and serve to meaningfully involve students in the learning process. This method not only promotes active engagement, but also facilitates access to scientific content as students work toward a deeper conceptual understanding through investigation. It is essential to recognize that there are no correct or incorrect responses to See-Think-Wonder; rather, the strength of this approach lies in the diverse and individualized responses students contribute, enriching the exploration of the phenomenon.

Using the See-Think-Wonder approach promotes students’ understanding. It is a way to make thinking visible by activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary, and generating questions before delving into a topic. 

The following sites contain additional support in understanding three-dimensional science teaching and learning:

A Framework for K-12 Science Education
NC Department of Public Instruction's K-12 Science Standards Hub
STEM Teaching Tools