Addressing the Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

Science and Engineering Practices

Among the eight Science and Engineering Practices from NGSS are the following three with direct ties to CT as called for by the MA DLCS: Developing and using models, Analyzing and interpreting data, and Using mathematics and computational thinking. Further examination of the details behind these practices help demonstrate how paying careful attention to them will help further students’ understanding from a CT perspective. The rest of this guide will explore these connections in more detail, specifically with respect to modeling and data. It is helpful to see some of the specific details behind what NGSS promotes for CT, and how that begins the path for students for a deeper CT experience that is supportive of later CS activities.

Next Generation Science Standards—Computational Thinking

Computers and digital tools can enhance the power of mathematics by

• automating calculations
• approximating solutions to problems that cannot be calculated precisely
• analyzing large data sets available to identify meaningful patterns

Students are expected to engage in computational thinking, which involves strategies for

• organizing and searching data
• creating sequences of steps called algorithms
• using and developing new simulations of natural and designed systems

When looking at how to integrate more rigorous CT into lessons, it helps to keep these practices in mind. Where good science activities, especially those written to be aligned with NGSS, address these practices, there is the best opportunity to integrate, but other opportunities certainly exist. All in all, there are three levels of integration that relate to the degree to which an existing science or mathematics unit already engages CT through the scientific/mathematical thinking that is already part of the lessons.