Designed for NGSS
Standards correlation is a necessary part of teaching, both in lesson preparation and in giving assessments in the classroom. Rather than spend countless hours exploring standards and ensuring they align with your lessons and activities for your science classes, we’ve created science curriculum that is designed to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Minnesota science standards align with NGSS, so why shouldn’t your curriculum programs? We even give you access to NGSS correlations so you can see precisely where each standard is applied within the curriculum.
Explaining Phenomena
Phenomenon-based storylines provide real-world problems for students to connect their learning with their own experiences. Investigations, reading notes, and key science concepts enable students to explore, explain, and make sense of phenomena.
Designing Solutions
Engineering Challenges and investigations engage students to design solutions directly relating to Disciplinary Core Ideas.
Three Dimensional Learning
Each and every lesson focuses on at least one Science and Engineering Practice, one Disciplinary Core Idea, and one Crosscutting Concept. Each dimension is selected to support learning as it relates to the Performance Expectation.
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Anchoring Phenomena and Storylines
Starting each unit with a clear goal is a great way to encourage personal responsibility and proper focus throughout the entirety of a unit. Anchoring phenomena states the goal of the lesson from the beginning so that students know what they are expected to gain from a unit.
Anchoring phenomena prompts engagement by encouraging students to make connections with the world around them, then later ties back during the Performance Assessment. Additionally, each lesson has its own phenomena which work together as part of the storyline to build conceptual understanding of the anchoring phenomenon. Anchoring phenomena are introduced with an embedded video, such as this example.
Lesson-Level Phenomena
Breaking down the unit phenomena into smaller, lesson-level phenomena helps students better manage the material. These lesson-based phenomena will help students stay on track and remain focused as they work through a lesson and master scientific concepts.
3-Dimensional Lesson Investigations
In order to best prepare your students for the real world and help them have a comprehensive understanding of science, NGSS has created the three dimensions of science learning. These help ensure that students explore and learn about different scientific fields and gain an understanding of a variety of scientific concepts. The three dimensions are disciplinary core ideas, which teaches foundational scientific knowledge that applies to all science disciplines, science and engineering practices, which provides hands-on experiences so students can do what real scientists do on a daily basis, and crosscutting concepts, which involves making connections across scientific disciplines.
Bead a bracelet to replicate how mutations can change the structure and thus the function of a protein.
Grow plants with and without water or light to determine what plants need to grow.
Develop a model that shows the relationship between particle motion and states of matter.
Engineering Challenges
Hands-on experiences and real-life learning are vital in Minnesota science classes. Utilizing teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving are just some benefits of TCI’s engineering challenges.
Design, build, test, and modify a structure for dispersing seeds that mimic how plants disperse seeds in nature.
Build an earthquake table and then design the tallest structure possible while still being quake-resistant.
Lesson-level Assessment
Upon completion of each lesson, our ready-made assessments are available for you to use as you see fit to assess your students’ understanding of Minnesota state science standards and NGSS.
NGSS has changed how students are assessed. Lesson Assessments include a variety of selected response and constructed response questions that incorporate the 3-Dimensions, core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts. You’ll be provided with completed answer guides and rubrics. View how tightly we align with the NGSS correlations. Questions are designed to mimic the state test format. Students practice taking assessments online to prepare for state tests.
Performance Assessment
Performance assessments involve demonstrating skills that are taught throughout the curriculum programs. They allow students to show their understanding and application of particular concepts.
Each unit of Bring Science Alive! includes a Performance Assessment. The activities, written and oral assignments allow teachers to assess student understanding of science contents within the context of the phenomenon discussed during the unit storyline. By using a performance task, teachers can assess across three-dimensions a student’s ability to engage in Science and Engineering Practices, apply Crosscutting Concepts and to understand Disciplinary Core Ideas. The Performance Assessment not only allows teachers to assess student learning but gives students a chance to demonstrate their learning in a meaningful way.
Everything You Need in One Place
Teaching science is hard enough as is, so we’ve done our best to make using our curriculum as easy and simple as possible. We’ve put everything we’ve created in one place for easy access and to minimize the time spent preparing for class. Not only is every part of our science programs based on Minnesota state science standards and in line with NGSS, but our endless features and all-inclusive programs allow you to streamline lesson preparation, test creation, in-class activity planning, and more.
Teacher Resources
Ready-to-teach lesson presentations, complete student resources, customizable 3-Dimensional assessments, and more are at your fingertips.
Student Resources: Print and Digital
We know sometimes it’s easier to have a physical copy. Our bundle makes it easy to keep a 21st-century classroom while using our textbook.
Materials
It can get busy preparing lessons and activities, grading, and staying ahead of your plans. This is why our Bring Science Alive! Materials Kits are prepared in advance for you, neatly organized to be integrated into each lesson.
See Our Science Programs
Not only do we want to make your job as a teacher easier and more enjoyable, but we want to engage students and help them get excited about learning science. Our Bring Science Alive! programs seek to make science come to life in the classroom with engaging lessons and presentations, fascinating and fun activities, and easy-to-use interactive materials. TCI’s elementary school science curriculum is designed with each grade level in mind and aims to equip young scientists with the foundational knowledge necessary to help them love science and grow in their scientific understanding with each passing year. Our middle school science curriculum focuses on the incredibly important fields of life science, physical science, and earth science to best prepare middle school students for high school science classes and beyond.
Teaching for the 21st-Century
Embrace our interactive platform, easy-to-use software, teacher and student resources, and more. Utilize technology to its fullest potential by enjoying digital and print textbooks, lesson games, interactive tutorials, and countless other features that bring your classroom into the technology age.
Our Advisory Board
Our advisory board consists of nationally-known experts in science and individuals passionate about improving the educational experience for students, teachers, and school administrators. We are fortunate that our board of advisors are forward-thinking educators who help our team curate the best content possible for your school and students. What they help to guide is in creating the best educational platform and path for a child’s first days in education until their last, before they pursue higher education or step into the real world to pursue their careers and passions. With our advisory board at our side, TCI continues to push forward to create a larger impact in the education we provide for all of our students across the country.
Science Curriculum by TCI
Every aspect of the science curriculum by TCI is based on Minnesota state standards and NGSS, meaning your job is simpler, more enjoyable, and more effective. You and your students are sure to love TCI’s reinvented version of science education.
