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A very good introduction. Well worth your time to read.

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Each month, or bi-monthly, I will be sending out information, resources, updates, and considerations. Each month I will have a different focus, this month it is Phenomenon!

The use of phenomenon to drive instruction differs greatly from our current modality of using discrepant events, labs, demonstrations....as activities to show students how ideas are relevant, as hooks for student engagement or to confirm what students have learned; to students working throughout a unit and lessons to be able to explain they how's and why's surrounding the phenomenon.

That being said, figuring out what phenomenon to use can be challenging. In this "Now Consider This" you will find resources that help you understand what the use of phenomena in a unit is, what to look for, how to use and more!

#ProjectPhenomenon

This website has been developed in response to a need to help teachers identify grade level appropriate phenomena that could be incorporated into science instruction. #ProjectPhenomena is a collaboration of teacher, industry, university, and community organization leaders who want to help students engage in relevant, engaging, and meaningful phenomena as part of science process.

MDE has released sample Science Item Cluster Assessments for grades 5, 8 and 11 . These items will be very similar to what the Spring 2018 assessments will look like for science.

Please try them out yourselves and you can have your students experience them as well.

To access the assessments, click this link or go to

https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi/

Then follow the instructions below:

1) Click Online Training Tools

2) Click Sample Item Sets

3) Select either 5, 8 or 11

The login information is provided but it may be a little hard to read.

For example, for the 5th grade:
The overarching goal of our framework for K-12 science education is to ensure that by the end of 12th grade, all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science; possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues; are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives; are able to continue to learn about science outside school; and have the skills to enter careers of their choice, including (but not limited to) careers in science, engineering, and technology.

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Each month, or bi-monthly, I will be sending out information, resources, updates, and considerations. Each month I will have a different focus, this month it is Phenomenon!

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Great phenomena examples from The Exploratorium

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The Exploratorium, established in 1969, is an internationally renowned museum of art, science, and human perception located in San Francisco, California. Its hundreds of hands-on exhibits are designed to promote science discovery. The Exploratorium Teacher Institute has supported middle and high school math and science teachers to incorporate hands-on, inquiry-rich experiences into their classrooms since 1984.

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The Exploratorium , established in 1969, is an internationally renowned museum of art, science, and human perception located in San Francisco, California. Its hundreds of hands-on exhibits are designed to promote science discovery. The Exploratorium Teacher Institute has supported middle and high school math and science teachers to incorporate hands-on, inquiry-rich experiences into their classrooms since 1984.

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A science education website you MUST explore

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Tools for

Ambitious
Science
Teaching

Companion Book available now on Harvard Ed Press

Pressing for evidence- based explanations

Planning for engagement with important science ideas

Supporting on-going changes in thinking

Eliciting students' ideas

What is Ambitious Science Teaching?

Great teaching can be learned. This web site provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms. Ambitious teaching deliberately aims to support students of all backgrounds to deeply understand science ideas, participate in the activities of the discipline, and solve authentic problems.

We feature 4 core sets of teaching practices that support these goals. These core sets make up the Ambitious Science Teaching Framework. The framework has been based on classroom research from the past 30 years-research that has asked, "What kinds of talk, tasks, and tools do students need in order to fully engage in meaningful forms of science learning?"

If you are a member of a group of science educators committed to the improvement of teaching, the vision, practices, and tools here will furnish a common language for you about teaching. You will be able to identify "what we will get better at" and how to get started.

Become Part of a Community That Shares a Common Vision of Excellence in Teaching.

Because ambitious science teaching focuses on doing four things really well in the classroom (the core practices), members of our community can speak a common language about how to continually improve instruction and support student learning. We can frame problems together and work towards solutions with help from each other. The expertise of our community comes from our members (teachers, instructional coaches, teacher educators) as well as from extensive empirical classroom research. On this site you can explore how other professionals are using core practices and the tools that go with them.

Explore New Tools That Support Student Learning

This site provides a constantly evolving set of tools to help improve student participation and learning. Some of these tools will help you plan for student engagement with "big" science ideas. Some will help students reason publicly with each other about science ideas. Others will help students engage in scientific modeling, explanation and argument with evidence. Still others will scaffold science-specific writing and talk. We have unique sets of tools for teachers, instructional coaches, and teacher educators.

But here's what is really important about our tools-they belong to the community, meaning that they need to be continually tested under different classroom conditions in order to be improved and diversified.

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Pressing for evidence- based explanations Planning for engagement with important science ideas Supporting on-going changes in thinking Eliciting students' ideas Great teaching can be learned.