All resources in Oregon Science

Second Grade Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects-How Can a Dam Change the Land Around It?

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The Second Grade Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects, How Can Dams Change the Land Around Them, uses a local phenomena of impact of the Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River and a crack in that dam to understand erosion and changes in the landscape.  It is part of Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects project, a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, North Central ESD, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Development of the resources is in response to a need for research- based science lessons for elementary teachers that are integrated with English language arts, mathematics and other subjects such as social studies. The template for Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects  can serve as an organized, coherent and research-based roadmap for teachers in the development of their own NGSS aligned science lessons.  Lessons can also be useful for classrooms that have no adopted curriculum as well as to serve as enhancements for  current science curriculum. The EFSIS project brings together grade level teams of teachers to develop lessons or suites of lessons that are 1) pnenomena based, focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Module, Reading

Author: Georgia Boatman

Grade 2 - Seeds, Scat, and Habitat

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Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards. In this unit, students investigate connections between plants and animals after observing a photo of a mysterious object (scat) and create a model that is continuously revised throughout the unit. Students observe plants growing and learn about pollination and seed dispersal, then engineer a hand pollinator. Language focus is on cause and effect, patterns, and making claims.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Authors: Geoff Stonecipher, Jamie Rumage, Jennifer Mayo, Jennifer Scherzinger, Kate Yocum, Rita Januszyk, Susan Holveck

Kindergarten - Engineering a Game Solution

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Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards. Throughout this unit, students test pushes and pulls. They apply their understanding of forces to solve an engineering problem to design a game that requires players to move their tennis ball within given rules.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Authors: Geoff Stonecipher, Jamie Rumage, Jennifer Mayo, Jennifer Scherzinger, Kate Yocum, Rita Januszyk, Susan Holveck

Grade 1 - Patterns in Our Sky

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Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards. In this unit, students observe patterns of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky and learn that patterns in data can be used to make predictions. Students also relate the amount of sunlight to seasons, and lengths of day and night.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Authors: Geoff Stonecipher, Jamie Rumage, Jennifer Mayo, Jennifer Scherzinger, Kate Yocum, Rita Januszky, Susan Holveck

Grade 2 - Properties and Purpose

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Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards. In this unit, students observe glass objects, identify properties of glass and other materials, and investigate changes of materials when they are heated or cooled. They test materials to choose one to best solve an engineering problem with water bottles.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Authors: Geoff Stonecipher, Jamie Rumage, Jennifer Mayo, Jennifer Scherzinger, Kate Yocum, Rita Januszky, Susan Holveck

Using Your Schoolyard (for K-2 Educators)

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Incorporating your schoolyard into your classroom can be a powerful tool for making learning meaningful and engaging for your students. Local and relevant phenomena can engage your student’s prior understandings, better connect to their interests and identities, and help in draw in students who don’t see science, reading or writing connecting to their lives.  This online course is a series of professional development workshops for Early Elementary (K-2) educators, developed by IslandWood with funding from the OSPI ClimeTime Grant. A slide deck and accompanying handouts supplement the course outline for a complete picture. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Brad Street

Forces and Interactions (3rd Grade Physical Science Unit)

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In this Unit, students embark on a mission to create a campaign which promotes seat belt use for a teenage audience. In the context of this project, students explore NGSS PE’s 3-PS2-2, 3-PS2-1, 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-PS2-3, and 3-PS2-4 while investigating the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces acting on an object. Through a series of collect evidence to write a claim based on evidence for why seatbelts are important.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Pranjali Upadhyay

Flipping Pennies - Grade 3

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Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

Structure and Function - Grade 4

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Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

Patterns in Weather - Grade 3

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Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

Large Scale System Interactions - Grade 4

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Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

Earth Systems - Grade 5

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Elementary school lessons utilize local phenomenon and are organized by grade level. By organizing instruction around local phenomenon, students are provided with a reason to learn shifting the focus from learning about a disconnected topic to figuring out why or how something happens. #Going 3D with GRC

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

Anchoring Phenomenon Routine for Third Grade Weather and Climate

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The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine is the launch to student investigation around the anchoring phenomenon. This phenomenon will be the one that students will describe and explain, using disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts in investigations. The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine will encourage thoughtful consideration of the phenomenon, initial models, connections to related phenomenon, discussions about the phenomenon and the creation of the KLEWS chart used for documenting student learning. In an Anchoring Phenomenon Routine, ​students​: ● Are presented with a phenomenon or design problem ● Write and discuss what they notice and wonder about from the initial presentation ● Create and compare initial models of the phenomenon or problem ● Identify related experiences and knowledge that they could draw upon to explain the phenomenon or solve the problem ● Construct a KLEWS Chart ● Identify potential investigations to answer the questions on the KLEWS Chart, adding the questions to the chart

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment

Authors: Michigan Mathematics & Science Leadership Network, Michigan Science Teachers Association

Anchoring Phenomenon Routine for Grade 4 - Structure, Function, and Information Processing

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The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine is the launch to student investigation around the anchoring phenomenon. This phenomenon will be the one that students will describe and explain, using disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts in investigations. The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine will encourage thoughtful consideration of the phenomenon, initial models, connections to related phenomenon, discussions about the phenomenon and the creation of the KLEWS chart used for documenting student learning. In an Anchoring Phenomenon Routine, ​students​: ● ​Are presented with a phenomenon or design problem ● ​Write and discuss what they notice and wonder about from the initial presentation ● ​Create and compare initial models of the phenomenon or problem ● ​Identify related experiences and knowledge that they could draw upon to explain the phenomenon or solve the problem ● ​Construct a KLEWS Chart ● ​Identify potential investigations to answer the questions on the KLEWS Chart, adding the questions to the chart

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment

Authors: Michigan Mathematics & Science Leadership, Michigan Science Teachers Association

Anchoring Phenomenon Routine for Grade 5 - Space Systems Systems, Stars and the Solar System

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The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine is the launch to student investigation around the anchoring phenomenon. This phenomenon will be the one that students will describe and explain, using disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts in investigations. The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine will encourage thoughtful consideration of the phenomenon, initial models, connections to related phenomenon, discussions about the phenomenon and the creation of the KLEWS chart used for documenting student learning. In an Anchoring Phenomenon Routine, ​students​: ● ​Are presented with a phenomenon or design problem ● ​Write and discuss what they notice and wonder about from the initial presentation ● ​Create and compare initial models of the phenomenon or problem ● ​Identify related experiences and knowledge that they could draw upon to explain the phenomenon or solve the problem ● ​Construct a KLEWS Chart ● ​Identify potential investigations to answer the questions on the KLEWS Chart, adding the questions to the chart

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment

Authors: Michigan Mathematics & Science Leadership Network, Michigan Science Teachers Association

Three I's of a Scientist - Explore Science Club Lesson Plan

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Let's practice thinking like a scientist! Check out the video from Dr. Tavis Forrester, Research Wildlife Biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Then, in the Discovery Challenge video, we'll unlock mysteries that surround us by using the 3 I's of Scientist - I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of. Lesson Credit: BEETLESproject.org. This lesson introduces NGSS standards, and those standards are listed in the lesson. Videos are part of the Explore Science Club series, an asynchronous online learning program using YouTube videos that connects elementary and middle school students to STEM professionals through hands-on lessons where students explore science and engineering practices related to the highlighted careers. There is an option to use FlipGrid, an online video recording platform for students to share their discoveries

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: Carrie Caselton Lowe

Crash Force Bang! Explore Science Club Lesson Plan

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Let's explore some science and math around why seatbelts work. Check out the career video from Billie Jo Deal, Transportation Safety Coordinator from the Oregon Department of Transportation, about how she works to keep people safe on the roads. Then, in the Discovery Challenge, we build crash models and calculate restraining forces. This lesson introduces NGSS standards, and those standards are listed in the lesson. Videos are part of the Explore Science Club series, an asynchronous online learning program using YouTube videos that connects elementary and middle school students to STEM professionals through hands-on lessons where students explore science and engineering practices related to the highlighted careers. There is an option to use FlipGrid, an online video recording platform for students to share their discoveries More info: www.go-stem.org

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Carrie Caselton Lowe

PEI SOLS 5th grade Forests: Forest Ecosystem Benefits

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The goal of the fifth grade Forests: Forest Ecosystem Benefits storyline is to build on students’ previous knowledge of plant/animal needs, ecosystems, and protection of Earth’s resources. In this storyline students develop an understanding of forest ecosystems, tree benefits including carbon sequestration, and what trees need to grow/gain mass. 

Material Type: Unit of Study

Author: Pacific Education Institute