Science Instructional Materials
High-Quality Resources Supporting 3-Dimensional Learning
Priority Features of NGSS-Aligned Instructional Materials
The purpose of this white paper is to emphasize characteristics of instruction and resource materials that are critical for teachers engaging students in high-quality science instruction to meet the full vision of the NVACSS based upon the NGSS. The recommendations presented in this paper represent the voice of science teachers in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Our review of the current literature on science education suggests that instructional materials need to address two major areas:
(1) providing students with relevant learning experiences that cause them to build on or challenge their prior knowledge as they build conceptual understanding to explain phenomenon or design solutions to problems;
(2) providing teachers with guidance for how to facilitate student-centered learning to maximize student understanding.
Resources provided in this section offer educators full access to lessons and units that are immediately available to download and use in classrooms. Additionally, these sites offer instructional material for all grade levels (Elementary, Middle, and High School) and subjects (Biology, Earth & Space Science, Physical Science) with filtering options to help narrow your search.
Achieve’s goal is to identify emerging examples of high quality lessons and units designed for the NGSS, by evaluating these instructional materials using the EQuIP Rubric for Science (Version 3.0). Select the image to the right for the list of instructional materials that have been evaluated as Examples of High Quality NGSS Design, Examples of High Quality NGSS Design if Improved, or Quality Works in Progress.
Greater than 100 science and math simulations that can be used to support face-to-face and online/virtual learning. They are categorized by subject; Physics, Chemistry, Math, Earth Science, and Biology. Create a free account and gain access to lessons developed and used by teachers to engage students in manipulating variables, examining relationships, and testing a variety of different setups as they engage in the practices of science and engineering.
The NGSS Pathfinder provides numerous technology-supported activities, where students can engage in doing real science as they plan and carry out investigations, use models, analyze data and design solutions. Students also gain wide experience with crosscutting concepts, from scales in space and time to energy and systems.
Begin by selecting a Core Idea, then a Practice and Crosscutting Concept to access aligned technology-supported activities.
A storyline is a coherent sequence of lessons, in which each step is driven by students' questions that arise from their interactions with phenomena. A student's goal should always be to explain a phenomenon or solve a problem. The storyline provides a coherent path toward building disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts, piece by piece, anchored in students' own questions.
This site contains a collection of greater than 340 vetted, three-dimensional lessons aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and state standards developed from the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Lessons utilize the Gather-Reason-Communicate instructional framework to engage students in the Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas.
