In this workshop, participants will learn how to interpret and design cognitive formative assessment with respect to a three-dimensional view of learning. The NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards embody this focus on an integrated three-dimensional view of science learning—as one of the signature features of this new vision. The materials for this resource come from a series of PD sessions on 3D formative assessment developed and provided by Katie Van Horne, Shelley Stromholt, Bill Penuel, and Philip Bell.

This resource is designed to promote global well-being and to prepare students and communities for future success in a global economy, we should provide them with opportunities to study local issues and understand how these issues fit into the fabric of global sustainability—practices that support ecological, human, and economic health.

This unit consists of five lessons encouraging younger learners to engineer increasingly better towers using blocks and recycled materials. Each 30 minute lesson ("phase") includes goals, discussion, activity instructions, extensions, and student worksheets.

Phase 1: Paper Cut-Outs Activity
Phase 2: Building Blocks Activity
Phase 3: Number of Blocks Activity
Phase 4: Building within a Space Activity
Phase 5: Recycled Tower Activity

NGSS: K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3

Common Core ELA: RI.2.1, W.2.6, W.2.8, SL.2.5

Common Core Math: MP.2, MP.4, MP.5, 2.MD.D.10

WHAT ARE PHENOMENA IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING?

Natural phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our science
knowledge to explain or predict. The goal of building knowledge in science is to develop general
ideas, based on evidence, that can explain and predict phenomena. Engineering involves designing solutions to problems that arise from phenomena, and using explanations of phenomena to design solutions. In this way, phenomena are the context for the work of both the scientist and the engineer.

Developed in partnership with the Jamerson Center for Engineering and Mathematics and ESD112 STEM Initiatives, this unit explores NGSS Performance Expectations for Kindergarten Weather and Climate, including an engineering design performance task.

In this fifth-grade science and engineering unit on earth systems and on the structure and properties of matter, students investigate where the dirty water that drains out of their homes and schools goes and where the clean water they use comes from. Their investigations lead them to discover connections between the hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Their discoveries spark a series of design problems to solve in order to protect freshwater reservoirs and minimize human impacts on the environment, including ways to mitigate flooding and erosion, naturally filter water and prevent contamination of water reservoirs, and conserve water usage in drought-prone areas of the world.

Zombie Guacamole is an upper elementary curricular program created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information. In Zombie Guacamole, students build an evidence-based explanation of why a bowl of guacamole was found at the bottom of a 25-year-old landfill, still fresh! The focus of this program is decomposition: what is required for it to occur, its importance to ecosystems, and how waste systems are linked to the health of people and the environment. Students develop explanatory models to describe the movement of matter in an ecosystem and work in groups to manipulateconditions for decomposition in an investigation. Beyond that, students also build knowledge of natural and human-made systems of food production and waste management to inform action in their school community to protect Earth’s resources and environment. Through Zombie Guacamole, students can combine scientific understanding, environmental consciousness, and action to become leaders for a more just and sustainable future.

The inquiryHub (iHub) biology curriculum is a full-year high school biology course anchored in phenomena and aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards.

Denver Public Schools teachers, working with a team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Northwestern University, designed three units, which address all of the performance expectations in the NGSS for high school biology. Scientists are part of the team and have reviewed all content for accuracy. Achieve, Inc., which reviews science units, has reviewed the first unit in the curriculum and rated it as High Quality NGSS Design if Improved.

The inquiryHub (iHub) Chemistry curriculum is a full-year high school Chemistry course anchored in phenomena and aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards.

Denver Public Schools teachers, working with a team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Northwestern University, designed five units, which address common high school physical science performance expectations in the NGSS for high school Chemistry. The units are organized around coherent storylines, in which students ask and investigate questions related to an anchoring phenomenon or design challenge. Students use science and engineering practices to figure out Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) and crosscutting concepts needed to make sense of and explain the phenomena or solve the problem presented in the challenge.