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Integrating science into other subjects reinforces skills from across the curriculum.

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You For Youth // Integrating Science Across Curriculum

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Integrating Science Across the Curriculum combines science investigations with content or skills from other subject areas such as math, reading, writing, social studies, technology, and the arts.

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In becoming a culturally relevant educator, we can provide support for all students and connect students background to the world of science.

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Culturally Responsive and Sustaining STEM Curriculum as a Problem-Based Science Approach to Supporting Student Achievement for Black and Latinx Students

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This article explores what happens when students experience informal STEM learning spaces as positive ones that enable them to develop a sense of agency, voice, and academic achievement.

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Science Standards K-12

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NGSS Standards

On September 4, 2013, the SBE adopted the Next Generation Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve (CA NGSS) as required by California Education Code 60605.85. The NGSS Appendices A-M were also adopted to assist teachers in the implementation of the new science standards and to aid in the development of the new science curriculum framework.

The SBE-adopted California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) can be viewed below by grade level Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI): Life Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Physical Sciences or by grade level Topic (e.g., Chemical Reactions, Structure and Function, or Space Systems).

For information on how to read the standards and implement the standards, please read How to Read CA NGSS (PDF) or consult the 2016 Science Framework or visit the Adopting and Implementing NGSS page. For questions about the CA NGSS and 2016 Science Framework, contact the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division (CFIRD) at cfird@cde.ca.gov or 916-319-0881.

Kindergarten through Grade Five Standards

Standards Arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas (Life, Earth and Space, and Physical Science)

Grades Six through Eight Standards

On November 6, 2013, the SBE approved the Science Expert Panel's (SEP) recommended Integrated Learning Progression model as the preferred model for middle grades six through eight. At the same November meeting, the SBE approved a recommendation by the SSPI to reconvene the SEP in order "to develop ... as an alternative model ... a discipline specific model" for the grade span of six through eight based on Achieve's domains model in Appendix K.

In December 2013, the SEP reconvened to develop an alternative domain specific course model.

The documents below provide middle school educators the rationale for the CA NGSS Integrated Learning Progression Course for middle grades six through eight and the Alternative Discipline Specific Course for grades six through eight. The documents also describe learning progressions for each grade level.

Integrated Learning Progression Model (PDF)
This document provides middle school educators the rationale for the Integrated Learning Progression Course arrangement of standards developed by the California Science Expert Panel. Documents containing the standards for each grade level are below.

Discipline Specific Model (PDF)
This document provides middle school educators the rationale for the Discipline Specific Course arrangement. Documents containing the standards for each grade level are below.

Integrated Model Standards Arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas

Discipline Specific Model Standards

Grades Nine through Twelve Standards

Standards Arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas (Life, Earth and Space, and Physical Science)

NGSS Appendices A-M

The NGSS Appendices A-M were adopted to assist teachers in the implementation of NGSS and in the development of the new science curriculum framework.

Questions: Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division | cfird@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0881

Last Reviewed: Tuesday, September 26, 2023

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NGSS for California Public Schools, K-12

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In 2013, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the Next Generation Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve.

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It's important to promote growth mindset and be open to learn new things.

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Addressing students wonderings and thoughts will encourage student to participate and think like a scientist

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How a Wonder Wall will Encourage Every Student to Think Like a Scientist

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The Wonder Wall is a simple, engaging, and inspiring tool to bring out the inner scientist in your students. Read below to see how you can watch their mindset shift. They'll start to ask the bigger questions and build an inquisitive nature about the world around them. Whatever happened to the curious students?

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STEM should be implemented as early as kindergarten. Students will learn how to make observations and propose theories. This also allows children to learn about their environment and the impact they have on it.

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If schools do not have the resources for certain science experiments or projects, generation genius is a great resource for science videos for elementary students to watch.

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Video lessons made in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association that engage, educate & inspire kids in science. Generation Genius videos are 12-minutes long and include lesson plans, teacher guides, DIY activities and stopping points for class discussion.

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Keeping students engaged in all grades are of importance!

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99 Science Engagement Strategies - Bright in the Middle

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Strategies in Teaching Science My passion is to inspire teachers to be creative in their science classroom so that they can engage and motivate their

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Having supply drawers in the classroom helps the students and teacher be prepared with science projects.

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Thinking maps in science help students organize their thought

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Thinking Maps® are visual representations for different thought processes. We can use Thinking Maps in science.

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I love this idea for elementary science classes! It supports the different ways that a student can learn.

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How do you set up and run successful science stations in an elementary classroom? Keeping students on task and learning content is hard, but here are four tips that will make your elementary science stations run smoothly.

Science stations are one of my favorite ways to expose students to science content and help them take the content we've learned to a deeper level. We have created science stations for second grade, third grade, and fourth grade. We have 8 different elementary science stations in each unit that engage students in hands-on, interactive activities focused on the Next Generation Science Standards.

But . . . before we even start our elementary science stations, there are a few things we do to make sure students are prepared to work independently.
Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links. Please read the disclosure policy for further information.
Take a look at your room set up. Can students easily work in groups? Are table groups available for them to congregate and interact with the station activities?

Are table groups spread out? Do you have floor space for students to spread out or engage in some stations that take a bit more room? We have one station in fourth grade where students build a marble track to experience friction.
Do you have a designated computer area? How will students access digital resources?

Can you set up stations close to a sink or outside? Some of the stations may require some water or may make a bit of a mess. A sink will make clean up easier.

Those are just some questions to ask yourself when setting up your room for science stations. Not all of the science stations require space, computers, or are messy, but having those options is always good. The Explore, Investigate and Model stations tend to have more hands-on activities that may require some extra space.

If you're using our science stations, you'll need to print the student direction pages, activity sheets, and optional reading passages and differentiated responses. Some stations will also require additional materials, which are listed in the materials list for each station.

We created all of the science stations in color; however, they can be printed in black and white. All of the student pages are in black and white for easy printing.

After printing the elementary science stations, you'll need to figure out how to get the materials to students. I like using baskets. These baskets are about letter size and deep enough to hold papers and some supplies as needed.

We created a FREE resource that includes basket labels and gives you some more information about our science stations. In it, you will find more of the ideas in this blog post as well as a much deeper dive into our science stations.

After you have ensured that your room set up lends itself to science stations and you have your materials prepared, you will need to group students. I tend to group students into heterogeneous groups of 2-3 students.

We offer 8 different science stations, which makes it easy to divide students into groups of three. Groups of four are possible, but I find that the large groups can sometimes lead to more chaos and dysfunction.

If you find that your groups are too large, you could repeat some of your easier to implement stations, like the Watch, Play, Diagram, Read, and Sort stations. Create two sets of those stations and rotate students through stations in such a way that they are separated for those stations and together for the Explore, Model and Investigate stations.

I also like smaller groups because I can more easily separate students who don't work well together. When grouping students consider behaviors and personalities. Which students are going to get along well enough to work independently and not need as much teacher attention?

While I do consider academic ability, I'm more interested in grouping students and pairing students who can work independently with those who need more support. It's not always students who are high academically who are independent workers.

Keep in mind how much teacher attention each group of students will need and whether or not they can read the directions and complete the activities on their own.

The last tip I have for you is to train students well. The more effort you put into training students the better your science stations will run.

Set clear expectations. Students have to know what you want them to do and how you want them to behave in this new structure. Tell students what they will be doing and what you expect them to do before, during, and after science stations.

How do students need to get the materials? How do students need to work together within a group? What do they do if there's a problem? After science station time is over, how do they clean up? What do they do with materials when the time is up? These are just a few questions to ask yourself and consider while training students.

Model, model, model. Model what you want students to do. Model what you don't want them to do. Model it the wrong way and model it the right way. If students aren't meeting your expectations, stop the class and model the right way to do it. Eventually, students will catch on and understand what it is that you want them to do.

One of the best processes for setting up student independence with stations is found in the Daily 5 book. The Daily 5 is a structure to help students become independent so that you can work with a small group of students. You may or may not use the Daily 5 in your classroom, but the way the book explains how to help students learn your expectations is spot on. It's well worth the read, even if you don't do Daily 5.

A Few Other Tips for Successful Elementary Science Stations

Go Slow. Going slow not only helps your students learn the new routine, but it also helps you figure out what areas need a little extra work. When you first start science stations, maybe you only do three stations but have 3-4 copies of each station. Or maybe you only do one station a day for 8 days. Whatever it is, go slow and observe students. Are they completing the tasks? Are they able to work independently? If not, what is the barrier?

Walk around often. As a teacher, I was constantly on my feet checking in with each small group.

Pay more attention to the Explore, Model and Investigate stations because those tend to have more hands-on experiments and may require a bit more teacher attention. When considering where to place each group, I often place those three within close proximity so that I can easily move between them.

More Information about Our Elementary Science Stations

Would you like more information about our second grade, third grade or fourth-grade science stations? The science stations are available for purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers.

We have also written blog posts for several stations listed here:
Third Grade Fourth Grade
In addition, we have aFREE Start Here Resource available that will walk you through how to set up science stations in your classroom and provide you with additional information about these resources.

Do you enjoy watching a video rather than reading a blog post? Here is a Facebook Live that I recorded about how I set up and run elementary science stations. Click below to see it!

Set Up Science Stations in an Elementary Classroom
How do you set up and run science stations in an elementary classroom? Find out how I take four things into consideration for successful science stations.

Click here to access a free resource to get you started: http://www.whatihavelearnedteaching.com/FBScienceStart

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4 Tips for Successful Elementary Science Stations

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How do you set up and run successful science stations in an elementary classroom? Keeping students on task and learning content is hard, but here are four tips that will make your elementary science stations run smoothly. Science stations are one of my favorite ways to expose students to science content and help them take the content we've learned to a deeper level.

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Let's get right down to business. As a teacher, you are constantly searching for tools to help engage ALL of your students within your daily lessons. Unfortunately, many of you are also often faced with increased class sizes and a severe lack of science equipment and supplies.

We know how difficult it can be to teach with outrageous class sizes. The pressure to reach all of your students can be overwhelming. And sadly, an enormous lack of funding just adds more fuel to the fire.

Don't be discouraged! We want to share with you how our S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Labs can be a huge benefit in your own classroom.

Over the past 9 months, we have hand-crafted 61 unique station labs covering a wide variety of major science concepts.

These labs have been used in classrooms across the nation with as few as 2 students or as many as 45 students. Each one is differentiated and student-led which allows you to be a facilitator (whew...huge sigh of relief). Even better, the 7 different tasks each station lab includes helps to increase overall student engagement

What about supplies required? That's one of the very best aspects of these station labs. Each one requires very minimal setup and supplies that can be found in every science prep room.

Below you'll find our "Quick Start" Guide to using the S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Labs. Also, if you subscribe to our list (click banner below), you'll receive our Layers of the Earth Station Lab completely FREE!

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations Introduction
Our S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations are designed to get your students engaged, collaborating, and moving in your daily lessons. Each station provides a different method for reinforcing important science content. Each of the 7 stations correlates to a task that is represented by a letter in the word SCIENCE. These stations will have students ummarize, reate, nterpret, xperiment, avigate, hallenge, and xtend. Upon completion of the 7 S.C.I.E.N.C.E. stations, students will also reflect on the activity to communicate their level of understanding.
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations Descriptions
The 7 S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations included are as follows:

Summarize - Students will read an article relating to a specific science concept. After reading the article, students will write a brief summary of the main ideas and key concepts contained in the article.

Create - Students will create a "graffiti wall" that will include words, phrases, pictures, diagrams, and/or icons to represent a specific science concept. Each student or group of students will add to the existing creation at this station.

Interpret - Students will interpret graphs, data tables, charts, diagrams, and/or pictures in order to answer a series of questions.

Experiment - Students will conduct a quick experiment or hands-on activity in order to demonstrate a specific science concept.

Navigate - Students will navigate through a card activity in order to decipher a code of symbols, numbers, and/or letters.

Challenge - Students will complete a challenge of digital BOOM Cards™ using computers, laptops, tablets, phones, or any electronic device with a modern web browser.

Extend - Students will extend their knowledge of a specific science concept. Students will answer questions to provoke deeper thought of the real world applications of science.

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations Suggestions for Use
The following are ways to utilize S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations in your classroom:

Use at the end of a unit of study to gauge student understanding

Use as an assessment activity

Use in tutorials or student pullouts for struggling learners

Use as a review or reteach activity

Use to increase overall student engagement

Timing and Student Rotation
You may choose to set a timer for each station or allow your students to rotate freely from one station to the next. If you choose to set a timer, we suggest using a timer that can be displayed for all students to see. Online Stopwatch ( www.onlinestopwatch.com) is a wonderful tool to use because it offers several different timer options.

Timer Method - A few of the stations, such as Experiment, Challenge, and Navigate will generally take a little longer to complete than other stations. It may take some time to adjust, but allowing students 2 timer sessions at these stations should provide enough time to complete the required tasks. Typically 4 or 5 minutes should be enough time to complete most stations (8 to 10 minutes may be necessary for the Experiment, Challenge, and Navigate stations).

Free Rotation Method (Preferred) - This is our preferred method for using S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Stations products. However, it is completely teacher preference.

If you choose to allow your students to rotate from station to station without the use of a timer, the following suggestions will be useful.

If space in your room allows, you may want to duplicate ALL stations. Or you may choose to duplicate the stations that require more time, such as Experiment, Navigate, and Challenge.

Each station should have no more than 4 students at a time.

Students will work at their own pace and rotate to an "open" station at any time.

Students should leave each station neat and organized prior to rotating to another station.

The order in which the students complete the stations does not matter. They may start and finish at any station.

Give the students several reminders of the time remaining in class (i.e. 20, 10, 5 minutes remaining).

Allow early finishers to assist other students (teacher preference)

Independent vs. Partner/Small Group
You may choose to have your students work independently, with partners, or in small groups. All S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Labs are versatile and designed to be used in all of these scenarios. No matter which method you feel is best for your class, we recommend that students fill out their own student recording sheet. This will allow students to complete a personal reflection at the conclusion of the lab.
Teacher Facilitation and Best Practices
Each S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Lab product is completely student guided so that the teacher can truly be a facilitator. You should be able to freely move around the classroom to assist when needed. Be sure to give students the responsibility of completing all of the tasks on their own (we want them to become problem solvers). It may take a little practice, but students will become more independent each time they participate in a S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Lab.
Assessing Your Students
There are a couple of different ways to use S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Station Labs to assess your students. You may grade the student recording sheets or simply use them as data-collecting formative assessments.

Grade the entire student recording sheet for accuracy or only grade certain sections. The Interpret, Navigate, and Challenge stations are generally the easiest to grade if you are looking for "concrete" answers.

Use the student reflection portion of the recording sheet (shown below) as an exit ticket/formative assessment. Compile a list of students who do not feel they have fully mastered the content. You may do this by reading your students' responses to their areas of weakness or by their "Level of Understanding Scale Score." Any number below a 7 on the scale is a concern. These students may need extra remediation in tutorials, pullouts, small groups, or other beneficial interventions.

If you are interested in using these labs in your classroom, we have created a S.C.I.E.N.C.E Station Lab Bundle that contains 61 unique station labs covering a wide variety of major science concepts.

We hope these stations will help to relieve some of your planning stress while offering engaging, interactive, and meaningful lessons for your students!

Thanks for reading!

Scott and Natalie

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Start Teaching SCIENCE Like Never Before - Differentiated Station Labs

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Let's get right down to business. As a teacher, you are constantly searching for tools to help engage ALL of your students within your daily lessons. Unfortunately, many of you are also often faced with increased class sizes and a severe lack of science equipment and supplies.

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Students have different needs in the way that they learn. When it comes to science, there are different aspects to think of.

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Science groups help keep students accountable for playing a role within their assignments and projects.

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Assigning roles in science groups can be a helpful way of managing student participation in science investigations.

Notice I say managing participation! Not managing behaviour... Obviously there will inevitably be issues that require teacher support to overcome when children work in small groups but assigning roles encourages participation, develops responsibility and increases accountability among your students.

To keep your students on track we highly recommend using these posters and badges in your classroom - Science Groups Posters, Badges and Labels
To use the posters and badges follow these simple tips:

1. Assign a role to each student at the beginning of each lesson. Teachers can determine whether these roles are chosen by the students or themselves. I personally like to assign the roles myself so that students are given the opportunity to have a go at each role.

2. Despite the roles that have been assigned, students should still be monitored as they work to ensure groups are cooperating and remaining on task.

3. Posters should be displayed in the classroom for students to refer to as well as badges prepared for students to wear during lessons so everyone is clear on what their role is. These badges can be laminated for longevity, hole-punched and threaded with a safety pin. Science basket labels can be laminated and attached to baskets with zip-ties, blue-tac, Velcro dots or sticky tape.

Following these simple steps will ensure your students are not only staying on track so they remain concentrated on the task at hand (hence more able to learn) but will also ensure they are learning vital life skills to set themselves up for success for life beyond the classroom.

Like the sound of getting your students working purposefully in your science classroom? Sign up to our Free Resource Library to get access to these posters plus plenty more great resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

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Assigning roles in science groups can be a helpful way of managing student participation in science investigations. Notice I say managing participation! Not managing behaviour... Obviously there will inevitably be issues that require teacher support to overcome when children work in small groups but assigning roles encourages participation, develops responsibility and increases accountability among your students.