Science in St Vrain
In St. Vrain we believe to create future scientist, we must engage students in hands on science and emphasize the idea of figuring out, not just learning about. We must also create critical thinkers and light the spark and sense of wonder for science learning in our students.
Three-dimensional Science Instruction lays the foundation for students to work and think like scientists and engineers. In high school, students will explore disciplinary core ideas in physical, life, and Earth and space sciences via phenomena in the world around them. Students will develop and ask testable questions, collect, and analyze different types of evidence, and write and communicate their understanding. Mastery of these standards will result in learners who have a deep understanding of how scientific knowledge can provide solutions to practical problems we see in our world. Make the Shift to 3D Science Instruction
Science in St. Vrain
Science in St. Vrain is vertically aligned K-12 balancing hands on experiences with the use of technology. In our elementary schools students are introduced to science through hands on learning. Our secondary science instruction is spiraled in middle school with students being introduced to Earth, life and physical science concepts in each grade level and we follow the recommended pathway of Biology - Chemistry - Physics when possible in high school.
The K-12 Unit Plans were created by teachers for teachers. Each Unit Plan takes our adopted instructional resources and align its scope and sequence with the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards and Three-Dimensional Science Instruction.
District Technology Services
Additional Learning Resources
Teaching About Climate
Equity in Science Education
Instructional Materials - Guides & Resources
St Vrain Science Resources
SAVVAS Foundational Resources (Biology & Chemistry)
Getting Started with PASCO
PASCO High School
SchoolAI
PASCO Science Probes
Gizmos Science Simulations
Nearpod Science Presentations
Explain Everything Science Whiteboard
Data Puzzles
Literacy Connections & Driving Question Boards
Nonfiction Science Literacy Resources
Multilingual Learner Language Expectations
Graphic Organizers / Thinking Maps
Driving Question Boards
Assessment & SAT Resources
3D Assessment Examples & Task
NGSS 9-12 Assessment Task (Check Teacher Notes for Task aligned to specific units)
Stanford 3D Short Performance Assessments (Check Teacher Notes for Task aligned to specific units)
Science Discourse / Leveled Language Frames
Promoting Student Discourse in Science
The new 2020 Colorado Science Standards call for shifts in instructional practices. One that you will notice is the idea of “less sage on the stage and more guide on the side.” While such a metaphor can be applied to a variety of science classroom settings, one that first comes to mind is the role of students and educators in scientific discourse. Below are a collection of professional growth resources that explore this instructional strategy in depth.
Overview - What is Student Discourse?
Talk Science Primer - What is Academically Productive Talk?
Self Evaluation: Levels of Classroom Discourse use this rubric to complete a self evaluation and identify goals answering the questions below.
Self-evaluate your teaching in general and circle on the rubric.
Identify an area of success to celebrate. What makes it successful? What should I keep doing?
Identify an area that you would like to improve. If our goal is to be around level 3, what can I do to move towards level 3?
How Can I Get My Students to Learn Science by Productively Talking with Each Other? Through the lens of equity in the classroom, review the following reflection questions.
What do you think productive classroom talk looks like? What is your role in supporting that talk at different phases of student investigations?
What explicit and implicit social norms are at play in your classroom, and how can you effectively shift these to support productive talk?
What cultural styles of talk and sensemaking are present in your community of students that you should make room for in science learning conversations
St Vrain Leveled Language Frames
A collection of K-12 language frames to support student work around the following: argue/defend, citing evidence, character descriptions, compare and contrast, cause and effect, design thinking, elaborating, explaining the thinking process, inferencing, inquiry based questions, main ideas, problem solving, reflecting, sequencing, supporting opinions, stating reasons and summarization.
Inquiry-based science and english language development - From the Institute for Inquiry. Great information that dives deep into science talk, science writing and includes a classroom video library of best practices. (Talking in Collaborative Groups, Clarifying Expectations, Focusing on Goals, Shifting between languages, Challenging Student Thinking and Scaffolding writing task)
Additional Resources
Teaching Video: Scaffolds to Make Student Ideas Public
Teaching Video: Using Back Pocket Questions
One District’s Path to Improving Student Discourse - NSTA case study.
Collaborative thinking Blog - science discourse Great links, videos and resources about student discourse in the sciences, including student examples