Curriculum Resources
Curriculum Resources
"The framework is designed to help realize a vision for education in the sciences and engineering in which students, over multiple years of school, actively engage in scientific and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of the core ideas in these fields." - A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas
The most significant shift in our shared vision of science education is in our instructional delivery. The Michigan Science Standards are three-dimensional performance expectations. We are explicitly shifting away from the misconception that science is simply a body of knowledge to be learned. In the process, we are moving towards an understanding that science is the totality of endeavors in which we gain new understandings of our natural and synthetic worlds. To meet this vision, Michigan science education should integrate the three main components of our performance expectations: disciplinary core ideas - the content, scientific & engineering principles - the performance, and the crosscutting concepts - the connections. We like to think of it this way. Students will work to figure out the content, by doing the practices, while always considering the crosscutting concepts.
Evaluating Curricula
This link will direct you to a page with several evaluation tools. The NGSS lesson screener provides criteria for a quick look at the degree to which lessons and units are designed for the NGSS. Need a more robust evaluation? Try the EQuIP rubric for science. Or, browse through the other supports.
Example Curricula
This collection of curricula contains 3-dimensional or “nearly” 3-dimensional science instructional examples. They should be thought of as guidance. They are not recommendations. We firmly believe that every curriculum must be analyzed and supplemented at the local level to best fit the needs and interests of your students. The examples on the connected page could be used for 3-dimensional professional learning purposes, gaining additional phenomena or instructional ideas, or even piloting units or whole programs in the classroom.