The NGSS Classroom – A Checklist for Administrators
Using Our NGSS Checklist for Classroom Observations This NGSS classroom checklist can make it easier for administrators to observe, understand, and support 3D learning. It’s a consistent tool to use when visiting classrooms—for a quick walkthrough or a formal observation. The checklist highlights key indicators of NGSS science and engineering practices and lists specific examples […]
Next Generation Dissection: Form, Function, and Frogs!
Workshop Resources Life Science 6-12 Middle / High School With the transition to 3-dimensional learning and NGSS,is there still a place for dissections in the classroom? The answer is yes! As you dissect a frog,we will demonstrate how to integrate the 3 dimensions of learning while highlighting adaptations and relationships between structure and function. Download Presentation Shop […]
Notebooking
Write to Read. Read to Write. Write to Learn. In elementary classrooms, teachers often have multiple resources at their fingertips to teach students to read. However, curricula used to teach reading often doesn’t support teachers—or students—in writing. Yet research shows that reading and writing have a synergetic relationship: reading interventions can enhance students’ writing performance; […]
Developing and Using Models
Models represent reality. Students may think of a model as a physical object, but a scientific model can be a formula, a Punnett square, a labeled diagram, or computer simulation. A good model is explanatory and predictive. Models are based on observations or data. Students should be able to apply a model to a novel […]
How to Teach the Crosscutting Concepts with Wisconsin Fast Plants
Hedi Baxter Lauffer, PhD Director, Teaching & Learning Wisconsin Fast Plants Program University of Wisconsin-Madison The Next Generation Science Standards* (NGSS) recommend we build our lessons to unify learning in 3 dimensions: scientific and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. However, it can be challenging to include crosscutting concepts explicitly. Lessons taught with Wisconsin Fast […]
7 Ways Carolina Can Support Your NGSS Implementation
The Next Generation Science Standards* (NGSS) call for students to engage in science and engineering practices while applying core ideas and cross-cutting concepts. Carolina has many solutions to help you implement these rigorous standards in your classroom. This article describes 7 reasons Carolina is your “go to” source for materials that support NGSS implementation. 1. […]
Scientific and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts
What do all sciences have in common? All sciences have a set of practices and conceptual processes in common. How many science classes begin by teaching the scientific method? Our common practices and conceptual processes define our discipline. In the 3-dimensional instructional model, the practices that are part of every scientist’s lessons are listed in dimension […]
Science and Engineering Practices
In the three-dimensional learning model, dimension 1 is science and engineering practices. The National Research Council (NRC) states that “…students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined.” (NRC 2012) Scientific and engineering practices are identified by the NRC […]
How to Make a Good Scientific Model
Are your students able to generate observations and then construct a good scientific model? After your students complete an inquiry activity, use our scientific model checklist to guide them through constructing and refining a model. Encourage students to use the checklist to ensure their model is sound. Allow lab groups to switch models and critique them. Go […]
Our Most Popular Earth and Space Science Kits That Rock Students’ Lab Experiences
This might be earth-shattering news, but did you know that you can cover your earth and space science course, start to finish, with Carolina’s popular kits? Kits that will get your students hands-on experiments, model generation, and data analysis, while meeting your ESS course standards. Repeatedly chosen by thousands of teachers, these kits rock students’ lab experiences.