Science
The goal of science education is to develop science literate students and life-long learners. Students will experience the excitement of doing science and understand the impact of science concepts, processes, and connections in their lives as individuals, community members, and citizens. Students will also realize the constancy of the nature of science in order to question and answer future challenges.
The Next Generation Science Standards are the basis for the District 102 science units in kindergarten through eighth grade. There are three dimensions that are combined to form each standard:
The practices describe behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories about the natural world and the key set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build models and systems. Participation in the below practices throughout the District No. 102 kindergarten through eighth grade science units also helps students form an understanding of the crosscutting concepts and disciplinary ideas of science and engineering; moreover, it makes students’ knowledge more meaningful and embeds it more deeply into their worldview:
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Crosscutting concepts have application across all domains of science. As such, they are a way of linking the different domains of science. These seven crosscutting concepts bridge disciplinary boundaries, uniting core ideas throughout the fields of science and engineering. Their purpose is to help students deepen their understanding of the disciplinary core ideas, and develop a coherent and scientifically based view of the world. The seven crosscutting concepts are as follows:
Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.
Scale, proportion, and quantity. In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
Systems and system models. Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
Structure and function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
Stability and change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
Disciplinary core ideas focus our kindergarten through eighth grade science curriculum, instruction and assessments on the most important aspects of science. Disciplinary ideas are grouped in four domains:
Physical sciences (Matter and Its Interactions; Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions; Energy);
Life sciences (From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes; Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics; Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits; Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity)
Earth and Space sciences (Earth’s Place in the Universe; Earth’s Systems; Earth and Human Activity)
Engineering, Technology and Applications of science (Engineering Design- Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society).
Below are the District 102 science units at each respective grade level:
Note: Beginning in 2015-2016, students are introduced to Engineering Standards through Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) Launch in grades 2-4 and Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) Gateway in grades 5-8.
What are the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)?
The Next Generation Science Standards are the new Illinois Learning Standards in science, and these were adopted in February 2014. These new standards are called learning targets in District 102. The Next Generation Science Standards (D102 Learning Targets) are designed to help students develop the skills they will need in college and in the modern workplace including critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration.
Who wrote the Next Generation Science Standards?
Teachers, along with experts in the field of science, helped write and pilot the Next Generation Science Standards. These teachers and experts believe that they will help inform instruction and help students reach higher levels of science understanding. Education teams from 26 states including Illinois led the development of the NGSS. A 41-member team, which included classroom teachers, stakeholders, experts, and National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), wrote the NGSS.
Thousands of educators, parents, and other community members also reviewed the drafts. Will the new learning targets affect how science is taught?
Yes. The new District 102 learning targets will affect science instruction. The NGSS promote a new way of teaching and learning that allows students to actively do and experience science in deep, meaningful ways. NGSS accomplishes this by integrating three dimensions of learning:
major practices (how science is conducted in the real world such as through planning and carrying out investigations); and
crosscutting concepts (science ideas like cause and effect, patterns, etc. that permeate all of the sciences)
science disciplinary core ideas (content)
The new standards also incorporate engineering and technology principles, beginning in elementary school.
Teachers will emphasize scientific exploration and experimentation while students will:
Ask more questions (scientific inquiry)
Explore and discuss possible solutions Investigate science concepts
Use argumentation
Be fully active in the learning process
During the 2013-2014 school year, Stevenson High School and its feeder schools’ science teachers determined the sequence of the new learning targets and units. Beginning in 2014-2015, D102 science teachers in grades 6-8 are implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (our new learning targets). D102 will fully implement the NGSS K-8 by the 2016-2017 school year, which is the year the NGSS will go into effect.
What science program is District 102 using?
Our program and resources are research-based and aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. The selection of resources is tied to the Next Generation Science learning targets. These resources may include a textbook, inquiry lessons, assignments, labs, manipulatives and other resources.
Will there be support for students who are English Learners, students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), or students with 504 Plans?
English Learners and students with IEPs or 504 plans will continue to be supported through personalized instruction and best practice strategies.
Are the NGSS different from the Common Core State Standards in Math and English Language Arts (ELA)?
The Next Generation Science Standards were developed independently and are not part of the Common Core State Standards in Math and ELA; however, the NGSS development team worked closely with the Common Core State Standards writers to ensure the science standards align to the math content and to connect to literacy (ELA).
What is the name of the new assessment that will replace the Science ISAT after 2014?
Beginning in the Spring of 2016, the Illinois Science Assessment will be administered to students in grades 5 and 8.
Where can parents learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards?
To learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards, visit NextGenScience.org. Illinois' Learning Standards in Science are based on the NGSS.