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https://youtu.be/18B8WMJdTCQ

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📐🏢 Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty (Read Aloud) | Storytime | Self-confidence |Miss Jill

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https://youtu.be/HNHJNMEFMwA

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ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST by Andrea Beaty (Storyville Kids Video #43) Read Aloud

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1efAsholMFiURUJhWFzlLY3hzadIS0I8l/view

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bzxEInqwCreyyTE8ysybXxyYqtvqBX5r/view

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/v7-C_5rBh1Q?t=119s

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZKnMdYx5yDFvExQDAyb32u9ZiOavHZ7u/view

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https://www.calacademy.org/educators/science-notebook-corner

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Sample our easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your classroom or home!

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K-8 Progression of Science and Engineering Practices

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K-8 Progression of Science and Engineering Practices

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FdTCxaOy7OnS4Iv1oWCd1dLDaa5UA1pL/view

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Matrix of SEPs progressions - from Appendix F.pdf

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Science Notebook & Science Literacy Connections

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Science Notebook & Science Literacy Connections

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dPb1n3RhPo_iFImM69oZPPYVbVTocwH8/view

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Science Notebooks and the Science-Literacy Connection.pdf

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning

Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.

When these concepts, such as "cause and effect", are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.

Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by "inquiry" in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

More about 3D Learning

GET TO KNOW

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.

A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K-12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students' interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.

Get to Know the Standards

IMPLEMENT

The NGSS call for a three-dimensional approach to K-12 science instruction. This represents a significant transition from previous state standards. That's why effective implementation demands a great deal of collaboration and patience among states, districts, schools, teachers, and students.

Thoughtful and coordinated approaches to implementation will enable educators to inspire future generations of scientifically literate students. That is the vision of the NGSS. This website provides a range of high-quality resources that empower educators, administrators, parents, and the general public to help bring this vision to life.

Find Tools and Resources

WHY

Science-and therefore science education-is central to the lives of all Americans.

A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills-communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility-that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.

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Home Page | Next Generation Science Standards

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

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https://passionatelycurioussci.weebly.com/blog/patterns-in-science-inquiry-cubes

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This blog post has seen several updates since I first wrote it in 2015. Here is a little table of contents to the different updates for this resource :)

Science is all about finding patterns. The discussion on this topic starts on the very first day. To help get my students thinking and analyzing, we spend most of the day with the Inquiry Cube Challenge.

The basis of the activity is that groups are given a cube with 5 of the 6 sides filled out with letters, numbers, and shapes in some sort of predictable pattern. Their task is to figure out what needs to go on that missing side. There are several examples of this activity posted online ( 1, 2, 3) but I decided to make my own because I wanted to have multiple levels to challenge all of my students. I have included a printable template at the bottom of this post that can be cut out and folded into cubes.

If you are looking for something a little more durable that will last year after year, I made my set out of some spare 4x4's that I cut up into cubes with laminated side labels. If you don't have access to the materials or tools to make big ones like these, see the end of this post for an about how to make mini wooden inquiry cubes with craft blocks and address label stickers.

After the introduction, I explain the other three levels of difficulty and let the students work with a partner to decode the missing sides. My role from this point on, is simply as a checkpoint. Students are allowed to present their predictions to me up to 3 times but I will only tell them whether or not they have completed the task 100% correctly or not. Many times, they are only missing one or two small details, but they have recheck all of their work because they don't receive any clues about where their prediction isn't matching. This can be very frustrating for anyone but given enough time to struggle through it, every group completes at least one cube before class is over.

To wrap up class, I find that it's useful to reflect specifically on the process of the challenge itself. There is an excellent TED talk about grit being the key to success, and in many ways, I think this activity brings that out in many students. As stressful and frustrating as this experience can be for some, they recognize that it was through that struggle that they eventually succeeded. This a very powerful message, and one that is easy to reflect back to later on in the year when the different challenges emerge.

Of course, it is also fun to talk about examples of where patterns emerge in science and where patterns show up even though without causation, but I'll leave that discussion for another post.

Sometimes, the reality that we are predicting can be measured to confirm or disprove our theories but many times, all we are able to do is to add evidence and reasoning to support our ideas knowing that we may never know for certain. On first glance, it looks like this final cube is just another design for students to interpret but this challenge is less about searching for one right answer, and more about defending and refining one of many possible interpretations. This would make a great follow up activity once students have had a chance looking at levels 1-3 and getting used to normal of every cube having one target solution. ​The ambiguity of the patterns made it a significantly more complex design so it got a blog post of its own :)

Below are the files for the 5 levels of inquiry cubes I designed. Please use and share freely for non-commercial purposes. Please get in touch with me if you have questions or ideas!

The materials are relatively inexpensive and can be easily found on Amazon to make 50 cubes for under $20.

​In an effort to make this activity accessible for online learners, I have also created a virtual cube that can be manipulated by clicking and dragging. Nothing beats a physical, hands-on experience , but this virtual cube at least makes the activity possible without students needing to spatially interpret an unfolded cube design.

The links below are interactive and embedded. You can also save them as animations like those shown here.

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This blog post has seen several updates since I first wrote it in 2015. Here is a little table of contents to the different updates for this resource :) Science is all about finding patterns. The discussion on this topic starts on the very first day.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/15jBuYo7dxXeBN0nnXtMg7jGr9jNG8BfE/view

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https://youtu.be/31eBdgnPsCo

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💪Rosie Revere, Engineer (Read Aloud books for kids) Andrea Beaty | Storytime Science

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https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/sc/cf/cascienceframework2016.asp

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2016 Science Framework - Science Framework (CA Dept of Education)

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The curriculum framework was adopted by the State Board of Education on November 3, 2016. This is the final published version.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rrSW5morEj8bc1wkTyTUYtNcNeVUDdoX/view

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Sense Making Ties NGSS and SEPs Together

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Sense Making Ties NGSS and SEPs Together

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https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2019/03/sense-making-is-the-core-of-ngss/

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Now that the previous blog helped us gain a stronger understanding of the three dimensions of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), let's shift our attention to the key innovation for NGSS: sense-making.

What is Sense-Making in NGSS?

Science is fundamentally about making sense of the natural world. Sense-making is the conceptual process in which a learner actively engages with the natural or designed world, wonders about it, and then develops, tests, and refines ideas.

We often use the phrase "figure something out." When you are trying to figure something out, you are trying to make sense of it. You are engaged in the process of sense-making. Essentially, sense-making is about actively trying to figure out the way the world works (for scientific questions) and exploring how to create or alter things to achieve design goals (for engineering questions).

Integrating Sense-Making with Knowledge

NGSS is shifting instruction away from simply knowing science to emphasizing using science and engineering practices to make sense of the world or solve problems.

Information-based instruction is still important: we still want our students to know science. Students must have information in order to make sense of the information. The converse is not true-students can know information without being able to make sense of it. Take Figure 1 for example. A student could memorize and "know" all of the words/terms in the diagram, without having any understanding of what those terms do or mean. The result is that students may know science without being able to use it-which is what NGSS aims to correct.

Figure 1.

In traditional science classrooms, an observer might be sparked to ask, "What are you learning about right now?" and receive responses such as, "We are learning about photosynthesis." The observer's question and the students' remote response are indicative of how science was taught in the past: through learning and memorizing of facts. The goal of NGSS is for observers to walk into our reformed science classrooms today and ask, "What are you trying to figure out right now?" and receive responses such as, "We're trying to figure out how the tiny seed becomes this huge oak tree." This type of observation and student response exemplifies the reformed NGSS classroom: students are figuring out the world and using sense-making in the classroom.

Sense-Making Ties the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) Together

As we discussed in our previous blog, there are three categories of Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs): Investigating Practices, Sense-Making Practices, and Critiquing Practices. SEPs are how we build, test, refine, and use knowledge to either investigate or solve problems.
Figure 2.

McNeill, Katsh-Singer & Pelletier, 2015

While sense-making is its own dedicated SEP category, the sense-making process ties the SEPs together. Sense-making is part of investigating and critiquing practices, too, and you need all of the SEPs in order to make sense of the world. The SEPs always operate in conjunction with each other-never in isolation-and sense-making is the common thread.

Figure 3.

Schwarz, C. V., Passmore, C., & Reiser, B. J. (2017)
Let's look at an example. Figure 4 shows the sense-making process that NGSS guides students to follow as they try to figure things out.

Figure 4.

The process essentially boils down to these four questions:

1. What are we trying to figure out?

2. How will we figure it out?

3. How do we keep track of what we are figuring out?

4. How does it all fit together? What does it mean?

Notice how SEPs from the other categories are used in students' sense-making process. Sense-making is both used throughout the SEPs, and cannot be accomplished without the other SEPs.

Developing and Using Models (SEP 2) as an Anchor Practice

There are three SEPs under the "Sense-Making Practices" category: Analyzing and Interpreting Data (SEP 4), Constructing Explanations (SEP 5), and Developing and Using Models (SEP 2). Developing and Using Models is extremely important: it is a productive anchor for all of the other science and engineering practices-or, a vehicle by which the other SEPs can be learned.
Figure 5.

Rich Hedman & Cindy Passmore, 2013
Figure 5 illustrates the connection of Developing and Using Models (SEP 2) with all of the other SEPs:

Models help identify questions and predict answers (SEP 1)

Models help point to empirical investigations (SEP 3)

Models are the filter through which data are interpreted (SEP 4)

Models are revised and applied to "answer" or explain, predict and solve (SEP 4 & SEP 6)

We use Mathematics to formulate some models and mathematical reasoning to evaluate models (SEP 5)

Argumentation is involved in both developing and evaluating models (SEP 7)

Models hold and organize relevant information and become the focus of communicating ideas (SEP 8)

Models are broadly defined as a set of ideas about how something in the world works. Essentially, models are the tools we use for visualizing and making sense of the natural world. Using models throughout instruction not only helps students learn the other SEPs, but also helps students understand how and when models can be used to figure out something in the world around them-now and in the future.

Applying Sense-Making & Developing and Using Models to the Classroom

Like we said, NGSS is moving instruction away from just providing resources for students to learn or memorize-and toward helping students "figure out." That means one of the most important shifts for teachers in transitioning into NGSS is learning how to facilitate the sense-making process with students. This shift allows students to make sense of phenomena and problems in the classroom (which demonstrates a deep understanding of the three dimensions).

This often raises a really good question: How? How do I start shifting my instruction from focusing on information to focusing on sense-making?

Models in science serve as the functional unit of scientific thought. A core model can anchor science instruction that includes all of the NGSS science and engineering practices. Simply put: developing and using models are a powerful tool educators can use to start the transition to a sense-making classroom.

*****
Illuminate Education is a provider of educational technology and services offering innovative data, assessment and student information solutions. Serving K-12 schools, our cloud-based software and services currently assist more than 1,600 school districts in promoting student achievement and success. Ready to discover your one-stop shop for your district's educational needs? Let's talk.

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Sense-Making is the Core of NGSS - Illuminate Education

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Now that the previous blog helped us gain a stronger understanding of the three dimensions of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), let's shift our attention to the key innovation for NGSS: sense-making. What is Sense-Making in NGSS? Science is fundamentally about making sense of the natural world.

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NGSS Cheat Sheet: How to read the NGSS framework 

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NGSS Cheat Sheet: How to read the NGSS framework 

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Daq9wGn0e47HP1TRuWEKaX9Q2WjqQ0Ho/view

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B4djh9AHE5auc6hxwkLD2a1YjHCDQIKX/view

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/11TIw0gbqH7Kf5gt8PzCj_mZm2srmb8pI/view

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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qcTsmQZGLuFY3SYIAmW7WkgP2YCiE-sr

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NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas Progression Chart

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NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas Progression Chart

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/14LoKpRBTbL_CAyeJG_pk17vOko85tYCS/view

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NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas by Grade Level.docx

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How Practices Change: 8 Science and Engineering Practices 

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How Practices Change: 8 Science and Engineering Practices 

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https://youtu.be/Jal6uAlZcsw

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Guide for Using CER in Science Notebooks

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Guide for Using CER in Science Notebooks

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1exr3lLXe7caZqXrCf67RBt0tULoGiZRr/view

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZmIXIEGnaf-oO6NAgbvc1L7IYS1iPOAR/view

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D7uTroqTIBoWSiUJR-hyXWv_bkQcgX2t/view

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Email: lgates@fcoe.org
Phone: (559)265-3065

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hPqEy59FC5GlPaY9XBfodN32F1wvu6A/view

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1drkwka589IWiBxWN_kuiO7lDUEFPaN8YKx4U-TNPxR8/edit

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cuic8L6Y_74Sqo5bUZJK8UGBhTkO8CWJ/view

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https://www.inquisitive.com/us

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Inquisitive US | Enjoy Teaching NGSS Science

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With a rich, deep and flexible Science curriculum for Grades K - 5. All Units for Grades 3-5 being added April to August. Built for the NGSS Quality lessons and assessments Rich stimulus and planning tools Explore Inquisitive Over 36,800 teachers benefit from using Inquisitive Quality instructional design