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Finding the Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS) in
Your Science Lessons
Jim Kessler
ACS Office of K-8 Science
Welcome to the Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS)
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Workshop Goals
At the end of the workshop, you will be like this Science
Teacher action figure and be able to:
•
Understand why the NGSS Performance Expectations
(Standards) are written the way they are
•
Think about your own chemistry lessons and how they
align to the NGSS
•
Have a strategy for developing or modifying lessons
that build toward the performance expectations.
The Three “Dimensions” of the NGSS
Standards
Disciplinary Core Ideas - DCI (Orange box)
•
The science ideas or concepts students need to learn
–
Substances are composed of atoms and molecules
–
Adding or removing energy affects the motion of atoms and molecules
Science and Engineering Practices - SEP (Blue box)
•
The different methods students use to investigate, learn about, and
explain the science ideas.
–
Formulate a scientific question
–
Plan and conduct an investigation
Crosscutting Concepts - CC (Green box)
•
Big themes that are common across many or all the science disciplines
–
Cause and effect
–
Structure and Function
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Combining Elements from the SEP,
DCI, and CC to create a Performance
Expectation (Standard)
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How are the NGSS Standards Different?
Traditional Standard: Statement of a science idea
•
Matter can be described and classified according to
observable characteristics.
More modern performance-based standard: Describe or
explain the science idea
•
Describe how different observable characteristics can
be used to classify matter.
Super-modern NGSS Standard:
•
Plan and conduct an investigation to classify materials
according to their different characteristics.
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Why Do the NGSS Standards Always
Combine a Practice with a Core Idea?
The Framework states that students cannot fully
understand scientific ideas without engaging in science
practices.
And
Students cannot learn or show competence in practices
except in the context of specific science content.
Therefor:
Student learning is improved
Students learn both the core ideas and the practice better if
they actually engage in the practice to learn the core idea.
And
Assessing student learning is improved
Students can also show their competency in the core idea
and the practice better if they are assessed together.
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Can the Performance Expectations be
Treated as the Curriculum? No.
•
“The NGSS are standards, or goals, that reflect what a student should know and
be able to do; they do not dictate the manner or methods by which the standards
are taught.”
•
“The PEs are written in a way that expresses the concept and skills to be
performed but still leaves curricular and instructional decisions to states,
districts, schools, and teachers.”
•
“Pairing practices with DCIs is necessary to define a discrete set of blended
standards, but should not be viewed as the only combinations that appear in
instructional materials. In fact, quality instructional materials and instruction must
allow students to learn and apply the science practices, separately and in
combination, in multiple disciplinary contexts.”
•
“Standards, by their nature, are student achievement goals and deliberately
written not to make curricular connections. The NGSS are written so as not to
limit instruction by trying to teach one performance at a time as the sole
instruction.”
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Investigating Phenomena as the Basis of
the Curriculum
•
Asking a Question: A basic practice of the scientist is
formulating empirically answerable questions about
phenomena.
•
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations: A major practice
of science is planning and carrying out systematic
investigations (about phenomena).
•
Developing and Using Models: Science often involves the
construction and use of a wide variety of models and
simulations to help develop explanations about natural
phenomena.
•
Constructing Explanations: The goal for students is to
construct logically coherent explanations of phenomena that
incorporate their current understanding of science, or a model
that represents it, and are consistent with the available
evidence.
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What About Crosscutting Concepts?
The crosscutting concepts are sometimes not as explicitly stated in the PE
as the SEP and the DCI. They are more implicit but are always called out in
the Foundation Box.
The CC listed for MS-PS1-4 flows naturally from the core ideas and the
science practices.
•
Cause and Effect: Cause and effect relationships may be used to
predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.
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But Wait - Do You Start with the Core Ideas
or with the Performance Expectation?
Be practical:
•
Start with the core ideas
students need to learn.
Look at the PE.
•
Look at the practices and
crosscutting concepts in the
foundation boxes as a
guide.
•
Think about what
phenomena students could
observe, interact with, and
investigate to develop an
understanding of the core
ideas.
So What Should a Lesson Look Like?
Students use science practices to investigate
phenomena in order to understand and explain
core ideas and crosscutting concepts.
That’s pretty much it! You are probably already
doing this!!
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•
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Michigan_Science_Standards_
Presentation_488330_7.pdf
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NGSS Middle School Chemistry and
middleschoolchemistry.com
1. Focus on the DCIs that work together.
2. Look at the science practices and crosscutting
concepts that go with that set of DCIs. as a guide for
what students need to understand and be able to do at
the end of the grade band.
3. Use a phenomena students can investigate that will
help them understand and explain the core ideas.
Your goal will be achieved:
•
Students will understand the core idea and improve
their ability and understanding of the science
practice and crosscutting concept.
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Questions
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