The Next Generation Science Standards do not omit content knowledge

The claim that the Next Generation Science Standards leave out content knowledge bothers me, because it seriously mis-represents the truth. For example, this piece on EdSource by Paul Bruno claims that MS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits is an example of how the NGSS

…place relatively more emphasis on “scientific practices” – like asking questions and defining problems – and relatively less emphasis on factual scientific knowledge. Consequently, much important scientific content is omitted from the standards and much of what is present is stated only vaguely.

First, it is disingenuous to say that the NGSS place more emphasis on scientific practices than factual scientific knowledge. There are three equally important elements to the NGSS: science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), and cross-cutting concepts. The core ideas are factual scientific knowledge, and they are no less important than the scientific practices.
Let’s look at the same example given in the EdSource piece. Here is the text of MS-LS3-1, the specific performance expectation in question:

The Next Generation Science Standards do not omit content knowledge