1An Introduction to the

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

ANDREA FERBER

ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SPECIALIST, ESC WEST

aaf0418@lausd.net

2Objectives• Learn about the rationale for adopting the NGSS

• Understand how the NGSS are different from the California Science Standards

• Become familiar with how the NGSS are organized

• Learn about how the NGSS are connected to the CCSS

• Understand what teachers can do now to prepare for full implementation of the NGSS

3Engineering Design Task

• Cut a hole in an index card that is large enough to pass your entire body through

• Your finished product needs to be a continuous piece of paper that has not been reattached in any way

• Work with a partner to accomplish this task • You have 20 minutes

4Engineering Design Task

Solution Steps

1. Cut a slit down the middle of the index card.

5Engineering Design Task

Solution Steps

2. Beginning at one end of the slit, make alternating cuts from the inside and outside on one side of the card.

6Engineering Design Task

Solution Steps

3. Continue making cuts until you read the other end of the slit.

7Engineering Design Task

Solution Steps

4. Mirror the cuts on the other side of the card.

8Engineering Practices

• The engineering practices are a natural extension of science practices.

• Science instruction often includes opportunities for students to engage in engineering practices.

9Engineering Design (3 Components)

1. Defining the problem

2. Designing solutions

3. Optimizing the design solution

10Engineering Design in Grades K-2

• Engineering design in the earliest grades introduces students to “problems” as situations that people want to change.

• Students can use tools and materials to solve simple problems, use different representations to convey solutions, and compare different solutions to a problem and determine which is best.

11Engineering Design in Grades 3-5

• In the upper elementary grades, engineering design engages students in more formalized problem solving.

• Students define a problem using criteria for success and constraints or limits of possible solutions.

• Generating and testing solutions also becomes more rigorous as the students learn to optimize solutions by revising them several times to obtain the best possible design.

12Engineering Design for Elementary Grades• Students in the elementary grades are

not expected to come up with original solutions, although original solutions are always welcome.

• Emphasis is on thinking through the needs or goals that need to be met, and which solutions best meet those needs and goals.

13Current CA Science Standards

Grade 1 Earth ScienceStudents know…

…that the weather changes from day to day but that trends in temperature or of rain (or snow) tend to be predictable during a season.

14Current CA Science Standards

Grade 1 Investigation and ExperimentationStudents will…

…record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.

15Current CA Science Standards

Grade 4 Life ScienceStudents know…

…producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.

16Current CA Science Standards

Grade 4 Investigation and ExperimentationStudents will…

…formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships

17Organization of the NGSS

18NGSS - Three DimensionsDimension 1 - Scientific and Engineering

Practices

1. Asking questions and defining problems

2. Developing and using models

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking

6. Developing explanations and designing solutions

7. Engaging in argument

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

19NGSS - Three Dimensions

Four Domains

• Physical Sciences

• Life Sciences

• Earth and Space Sciences

• Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science

Dimension 2 – Disciplinary Core Ideas

20NGSS - Three Dimensions

1. PATTERNS

2. CAUSE AND EFFECT

3. SCALE, PROPORTION AND QUANTITY

4. SYSTEMS AND SYSTEM MODELS

5. ENERGY AND MATTER

6. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

7. STABILITY AND CHANGE

Dimension 3 – Crosscutting Concepts

21Organization of the NGSS

22NGSS - Three DimensionsIntegrating the Dimensions Disciplinary

Core IdeasPractices

Crosscutting Concepts

23Organization of the NGSS

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS ARE STATEMENTS THAT DESCRIBE WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO AT THE END OF INSTRUCTION AND INCORPORATE ONE OR MORE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES, DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS, AND CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS.

24Performance Expectations

Because Performance Expectations and the foundation boxes in the NGSS describe learning outcomes, they are the basis for using backward design for the development or adaptation of curriculum and instruction. Simply stated, the performance expectation can and should be the starting point of backward design.

ROGER BYBEE, NGSS WRITING LEADERSHIP TEAM

25Black Boxes

I found some black boxes. Each one has a round object inside. They are permanently glued and taped shut, so I can’t open them. Can you help me figure out what the inside of the these boxes look like?

26Black Boxes

Focus Question #1

What does the inside of your box look like? • Work in teams of two• Write a short description of what you think

the inside of the black box looks like and include a detailed drawing with labeled parts

• Focus on shape and location

27Black Boxes

Sharing Ideas

Locate the chart paper for your box (A-D) and draw your team’s idea of what the inside of your black box looks like.

28Black Boxes

Collaboration & Consensus

Get together with another team that has the same black box (A-D) and come to consensus about what the inside of your black box looks like.

29Black Boxes

Consensus Drawing

Choose a representative from your combined group of four to draw a revised plan of your black box.

30Black Boxes

Focus Question #2

How did working with other scientists change your original thinking about your black box?

31Black Boxes

Debriefing the Experience• The term “black box” is a general term scientists

and engineers use to describe a system that works in mysterious or unknown ways.

• For most people, a TV is a black box. Electricity goes in and a picture miraculously appears on the screen. A cell phone is another example of a black box.

• What are other examples of black boxes?

32Black Boxes

Debriefing the Experience• Which Science and Engineering Practices were

involved?• Which Crosscutting Concepts were involved?• How does this activity connect to CCSS ELA and

math standards and practices?

33Why New Standards?

The U.S. ranks 27th out of 29 developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science and engineering.

SOURCE: NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

34Why New Standards?

Nearly 90 percent of high school graduates say

they’re not interested in a career or a college

major involving science, technology, engineering

or math, known collectively as STEM, according

to a survey of more than a million students who

take the ACT test.SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES

35Why New Standards?

The number of students who want to pursue engineering or computer science jobs is actually falling, precipitously, at just the moment when the need for those workers is soaring.

SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES

36

What is the Origin of the NGSS?

37NGSS Flowchart

National Framework

NGSS Standards

Instruction

State Curricula

State Assessments

Professional Development

38Timeline for Implementation

• The current California Science Standards will continue to be in effect for 2014-15 and 2015-16

• Formal instructional shifts will begin in 2016-17• Full implementation will begin in 2017-18 with

anticipated adoption of new instructional materials

• The CST will continue to be administered in grade 5 during 2014-15 (possibly through 2016-17)

39Connections to the CCSS

• The timing of the release of NGSS comes as most states are implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

• The NGSS are aligned with the CCSS to ensure a symbiotic pace of learning in all content areas. The three sets of standards overlap in meaningful and substantive ways and offer an opportunity to give all students equitable access to learning standards.

SOURCE: NGSS APPENDIX A

40Practices in Mathematics, Science, and English Language

Arts*Math Science ELA

M1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

M2.  Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

M3.  Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

M4.  Model with mathematics.

M5.  Use appropriate tools strategically.

M6.  Attend to precision.

M7.  Look for and make use of structure.

M8.  Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

S1.  Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).

S2.  Developing and using models.

S3.  Planning and carrying out investigations.

S4.  Analyzing and interpreting data.

S5.  Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.

S6.  Constructing explanations  (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).

S7.  Engaging in argument from evidence.

S8.  Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.

E1.  They demonstrate independence.

E2.  They build strong content knowledge.

E3.  They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.

E4.  They comprehend as well as critique.

E5.  They value evidence.

E6.  They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.

E7.  They come to understanding other perspectives and cultures.

* The Common Core English Language Arts uses the term “student capacities” rather than the  term “practices” used in Common Core Mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards. 

41Connections to the CCSS

42

STEPHEN PRUITT, ACHIEVE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND LEAD DEVELOPER OF THE NGSS

“…continue to teach what you are currently teaching, but endeavor to modify how you teach it—align instruction with the guidance provided in the Framework regarding implementation of the scientific and engineering practices.”

What Can Teachers Do Right Now?

43Summary• We are all learning this together.• Engineering design in science will be new for CA.• Feel free to do more research by reading the

Framework and the NGSS.• Locate and examine NGSS science lessons on the

Internet to see how the three dimensions work together with the Performance Expectations.

• Begin to integrate the Scientific and Engineering Practices into your science lessons.

44

Resources for Further Research and Learning• The Next Generation Science Standards: http://

www.nextgenscience.org

• A Framework for K-12 Science Education http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13165

• NGSS Videos from Paul Anderson (Bozeman Science)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9SrSBGDNfU

45Please complete evaluation before you

leave! Go to ESC West Instructional Center CCSS page and click on yellow “evaluation”

post-it. THANK YOU!!!

ANDREA FERBER, Elementary Science SpecialistESC WEST Email: aaf0418@lausd.net