Grade 12 · Applied Human Systems Capstone
Grade 12 is a transition into professional and civic life. Students independently define a complex SDG-aligned problem, conduct sustained inquiry, apply disciplinary mastery with minimal scaffolding, and defend their work to an external audience.
Shared Commitments
Grade 12 is not about covering more content; it is about proving readiness. All students adhere to these professional standards.
Independently define a complex SDG-aligned problem.
Students choose the problem, define the scope, and own the outcomes.
Conduct sustained inquiry over time.
Work spans months, not days. Persistence and iteration are required.
Engage with authentic constraints and stakeholders.
Solutions must account for real-world limits (budget, policy, ethics).
Reflect on limitations, impact, and responsibility.
Students articulate what their solution cannot do as clearly as what it can do.
Produce a public-facing artifact and defense.
The final exam is a public defense of the work before a panel of educators and professionals.
What Grade 12 accomplishes: Students leave with a defensible portfolio. Graduation represents readiness, not just completion.
Core Capstone Standards (HSX)
These five phases structure the Grade 12 experience for all pathways.
12-HSX1
Problem Definition and System Scoping
AllScopeStakeholders
- 12-HSX1.1 Students identify a real-world human systems problem aligned to one or more SDGs.
- 12-HSX1.2 Students define system boundaries, stakeholders, and constraints.
- 12-HSX1.3 Students justify why the problem matters locally and globally.
Evidence Expectations
Problem briefs, system maps, stakeholder analyses.
12-HSX2
Independent Inquiry and Design
AllToolsIteration
- 12-HSX2.1 Students develop and execute a sustained plan of investigation or design.
- 12-HSX2.2 Students select appropriate disciplinary tools and methods.
- 12-HSX2.3 Students revise approaches in response to failure or new evidence.
Evidence Expectations
Research logs, design iterations, method justification.
12-HSX3
Validation, Impact, and Limitations
AllEvidenceTradeoffs
- 12-HSX3.1 Students evaluate the effectiveness of their solution using evidence.
- 12-HSX3.2 Students analyze uncertainty, risk, and unintended consequences.
- 12-HSX3.3 Students clearly articulate limitations and tradeoffs.
Evidence Expectations
Validation data sets, impact analysis reports, limitation statements.
12-HSX4
Ethics, Equity, and Responsibility
AllJusticeResponsibility
- 12-HSX4.1 Students evaluate ethical implications of their work.
- 12-HSX4.2 Students analyze how impacts vary across populations and time.
- 12-HSX4.3 Students justify decisions using ethical and scientific reasoning.
Evidence Expectations
Ethical analysis papers, equity impact statements.
12-HSX5
Professional Communication and Defense
AllOralDefense
- 12-HSX5.1 Students communicate their work to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- 12-HSX5.2 Students defend decisions under questioning and critique.
- 12-HSX5.3 Students revise communication based on feedback.
Evidence Expectations
Formal reports, presentations, public oral defense.
Pathway Capstone Examples
Acceptable artifacts vary by mastery pathway, but rigor is constant.
Biomedical
Biomedical research reports, intervention models, public health proposals.
Engineering
Engineering design portfolios, prototypes, system simulations.
Computational
Decision-support tools, simulations, data platforms.