NGSS

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are not a set of daily standards, but a set of expectations for what students should be able to do by the end of instruction (years or grade bands). These performance expectations set the learning goals for students but do not describe how students get there

The NGSS are comprised of three dimensions that are integrated into instruction at all levels. These are the three strands of knowledge and skills that students should explicitly be able to use to explain phenomena and design solutions to problems. The three dimensions are the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), and Science and Engineering Practices (“the Practices” or SEPs).

- Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) - The fundamental ideas necessary for understanding a given science discipline. The core ideas have broad importance within or across science or engineering disciplines, provide a key tool for understanding or investigating complex ideas and solving problems, relate to societal or personal concerns, and can be taught over multiple grade levels at progressive levels of depth and complexity.
- Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) - These concepts hold true across the natural and engineered world. Students can use them to make connections across seemingly disparate disciplines or situations, connect new learning to prior experiences, and more deeply engage with material across other dimensions. The NGSS requires that students explicitly use their understanding of the CCCs to make sense of phenomena or solve problems.
- Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) - The practices are what students DO to make sense of phenomena. They are both a set of skills and a set of knowledge to be internalized. The SEPs reflect the major practices scientists and engineers use to investigate the world and design and build systems.

To learn more, read this quick overview of three-dimensional learning in the NGSS

This video explains how to read and interpret the NGSS.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (Free PDF download of book
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13165/a-framework-for-k-12-science-education-practices-crosscutting-concepts

Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18290/next-generation-science-standards-for-states-by-state

NGSS by Topics
http://ngss.nsta.org/AccessStandardsByTopic.aspx

Disciplinary Core Ideas
http://ngss.nsta.org/DisciplinaryCoreIdeasTop.aspx

Crosscutting Concepts
http://ngss.nsta.org/CrosscuttingConceptsFull.aspx

Science and Engineering Practices
http://ngss.nsta.org/PracticesFull.aspx