Each quarter I'll share some of my favorite free resources that I've used to implement NGSS. With the adoption of three-dimensional learning (Science & Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts), science education is more complex than ever. The following resources have helped me navigate this new territory:
Videos about All Three Dimensions of NGSS
Bozeman Science is one of my most visited bookmarks! These videos, created by Paul Andersen, are a great resource for learning about the practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas that make up the NGSS standards. This is a great place to start when building teacher background knowledge!
Sample NGSS Assessments
What does assessment look like with NGSS? The Next Generation Science Assessment team is working to develop technology-enhanced assessment tasks, rubrics, and instructional resources in physical science and life science for middle school classrooms. These rigorous assessment items are searchable by NGSS Performance Expectation and incorporate the three dimensions. These assessment items have helped to keep my lessons focused and aligned.
Using Data - Scientific Practices
Get your students to analyze quantitative data and make claims based on evidence by using authentic data provided by Data Nuggets. These engaging activities show how real scientists complete research by including data and videos of their experiments. Activities are ranked from a difficulty of 1 (elementary+) to 4 (college). If that wasn't enough, each activity is differentiated so that students can either analyze graphs that are already provided or creating their own from a set of data.
Problem-Based Engineering Units
I don't know about you, but before the adoption of NGSS, I never imagined that my 5th graders would be doing something as rigorous as designing a biopolymer to be used as an alternative to plastics, but that's exactly the type of project that this resource provides. The Teaching Channel has partnered with Boeing to create problem-based engineering modules. Each module is approximately two weeks and includes detailed teacher lesson plans and students worksheets for each day. I love the real life application and incorporation of the core ideas and crosscutting concepts included in each module!
Which of these resources is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!