Welcome, Idaho science reviewers!
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Our Instructional Model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning supports
Oklahoma remote and hybrid overview video
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Scope and sequence
GRADE |
UNIT |
| Kindergarten |
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| Grade 1 |
|
| Grade 2 |
|
| Grade 3 |
|
| Grade 4 |
|
| Grade 5 |
|
Grade |
Units |
|
Grade 6 |
|
|
Grade 7 |
|
|
Grade 8 |
|
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science;
- the standard being addressed with the activities;
- the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1
Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals
Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5
Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article
As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world.
Instructions:
Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”
Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4
Materials: Force and Motion Simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters
In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity.
Instructions
Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.
Standards:
- MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
- MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5
Materials: Flextension PDF
This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force.
Instructions:
Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Oklahoma Instructional Samplers
Video: Oklahoma Spotlight on All Learners (SPED, G & T, EL, DEI)
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning support
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Remote and Hybrid Learning
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science @Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August 2021.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide.
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Instructional Resources: More than a textbook!
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data.
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- construct explanations and arguments.
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations.
- engage in active reading and writing activities.
- participate in discussions.
- record observations.
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Spotlight on Simulations
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides.
- detailed lesson plans.
- unit and chapter overview documentation.
- differentiation strategies.
- standards alignments.
- in-context professional development.
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Classroom Slides
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- print classroom display materials.
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc).
Scope and sequence
GRADE
UNITS
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE
UNITS
Grade 6
- Launch: Microbiome
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Rock Transformations
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
Grade 7
- Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter Energy and Ecosystems
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K–8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science;
- the standard being addressed with the activities;
- the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1
Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals
Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5
Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article
As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world.
Instructions:
Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”
Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4
Materials: Force and Motion simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters
In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity.
Instructions
Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.
Standards:
- MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
- MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5
Materials: Flextension PDF
This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force.
Instructions:
Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program.
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your Oklahoma representative:
Julie Godfrey
Account Executive
jgodfrey@amplify.com
(817) 360-0527
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on experience in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, clearly expressing their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking—just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (domain model)
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Light
Middle school course structure (integrated model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Begin your review
To begin your review, click the button below to log in as a teacher.
Watch a video walkthrough
Contact your Delaware representative
Denise Donahue
Account Executive
Email: ddonahue@amplify.com
Phone: (410) 251-5855
Inspiring the next generation of Arkansas scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a proven effective core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena based learning that provides an immersive experience for students.
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Grounded in Research
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, the authors behind Amplify Science, developed the Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize approach, and gold standard research shows that it works. Our own efficacy research is pretty exciting, too.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using Modeling Tools to craft visualizations of their thinking—just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
If you need login credentials, contact your local Arkansas Account Executive, Marty Pitts, mpitts@amplify.com.
Instructional samplers
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in Grades K–5
- Phenomena in Grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in Grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Scope and Sequence for grades K–5
- Scope and Sequence for grades 6–8
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together:
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data.
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- Construct explanations and arguments.
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and Modeling Tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations.
- Engage in active reading and writing activities.
- Participate in discussions.
- Record observations.
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides.
- Detailed lesson plans.
- Unit and chapter overview documentation.
- Differentiation strategies.
- Standards alignments.
- In-context professional development.
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- Print classroom display materials.
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Scope and Sequence
Remote and hybrid learning support
Amplify provides a remote learning solution called Amplify Science @OnDemand. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science @OnDemand includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @OnDemand Videos and @OnDemand Units. These videos also provide embedded professional development for teachers as well as opportunities for students to review a lesson, if needed.
Amplify Science @OnDemand Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@OnDemand Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @OnDemand Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @OnDemand Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @OnDemand unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @OnDemand Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @OnDemand Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @OnDemand Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide.
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program.
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.
For less urgent questions:
Contact your Arkansas representative:
Marty Pitts
Senior Account Executive
mpitts@amplify.com
(214) 945-5544
Mark Ramos
Inside Account Executive
mramos@amplify.com
(737) 308-4822
A closer look at grades 6–8
Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature. Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Resources
A closer look at grades 6–8 (domain)
Amplify Science California is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the integrated model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year of our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science California. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to actively read in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Earth, Sun, and Moon
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Populations and Resources
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: What caused the mysterious crash of a biodome ecosystem?
Natural Selection
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Phase Change
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Chemical Reactions
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Light Waves
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Resources
A closer look at grades 6–8 (domain)
Amplify Science California is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the integrated model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year of our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science California. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to actively read in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Earth, Sun, and Moon
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Populations and Resources
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: What caused the mysterious crash of a biodome ecosystem?
Natural Selection
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Phase Change
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Chemical Reactions
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Light Waves
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Resources
A closer look at grades 6–8
Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature. Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Resources
A closer look at grades 6–8
Amplify Science California is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science California. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Resources
Welcome, Middle School Science Reviewers!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Science for grades 6–8. On this site, you’ll find all the resources you need to learn more about this engaging and robust NGSS program. Plus, we make it easy to experience our program firsthand with a live demo account that features our interactive learning platform.
Overview
With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts.
No matter where your students are learning—whether at school or at home—they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and make sense of real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Listen to these educators share how the program empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers every day.
EdReports All-Green
Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities.
As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer days than other programs.
Unit Sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Unit 1
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Unit 2
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Unit 3
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Unit 4
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Unit 5
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Unit 6
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Unit 7
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Unit 8
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Unit 9
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Unit 1
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Unit 2
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Unit 3
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Unit 4
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Unit 5
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart
Unit 6
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Unit 7
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Unit 8
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Unit 9
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Unit 1
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Unit 2
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Unit 3
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Unit 4
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Unit 5
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Unit 6
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Unit 7
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Unit 8
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Unit 9
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Access program
Watch the video to the right plus the ones below showing you how to navigate our digital platform. When you’re ready, follow the instructions below to log into our live demo account.
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Choose the resources you’d like to review.
- Pick your grade level from the drop-down menu.
- Scroll down to find additional grade-level resources.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 1)
This Part 1 video demonstrates how Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 2)
This Part 2 video demonstrates how to use the Futura Workspace to manage the immersive experience of the Engineering Internship units. This includes guidance on how to create student groups, how to review student work, and how to send students targeted feedback on their designs.
Navigating our reporting tools
Teachers of Amplify Science grades 6–8 have access to a feature called Reporting. When unit assessments are administered digitally, the Reporting tool enables teachers to analyze student performance on the unit assessments.
Differentiation post-assessment
Every core unit of Amplify Science 6–8 features a formal formative assessment opportunity at the mid-way point, or “Critical Juncture,” of the unit, which provides an important opportunity for differentiation.
Resources
Get in touch
Have questions? Bob McCarty is standing by and ready to help.
Robert “Bob” McCarty
Senior Account Executive
(435) 655-1731
rmccarty@amplify.com
A closer look at grades 6–8 (domain)
Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to actively read in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Earth, Sun, and Moon
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Populations and Resources
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: What caused the mysterious crash of a biodome ecosystem?
Natural Selection
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Phase Change
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Chemical Reactions
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Light Waves
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Resources
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify. This partnership extends to 2032, allowing us to continuously improve our program and provide our customers with the most up-to-date enhancements, free of charge. Get a glimpse at our latest back-to-school updates here.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Phenomena-based approach
In each Amplify Science unit, students take on the roles of scientists or engineers in order to investigate a real-world problem. Students work to define the problem and collect and make sense of evidence. Once the context is clear, students collect evidence from multiple sources and through a variety of modalities. At the end of the unit, students are presented with a brand new problem, giving them an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned over the course of the unit to a new context. This represents a shift from asking students to learn about science to supporting students in figuring out the science.
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?—ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Amplify Science: See it in action
- EdReports—Compare resources
Remote and hybrid learning support
See an example of our remote and hybrid learning support below:
- K–5 example—Balancing Forces: Chapter 2, Lesson 2.3
- 6–8 example—Force and Motion: Chapter 3, Lesson 3.2
This fall, Amplify launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science @Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science @Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available
- Overviews to send home to families
Student materials will be available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide
Benchmark Assessments
Amplify’s Benchmark Assessments are designed to help teachers measure student progress toward the three dimensions—Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Crosscutting Concepts(CCCs)—and performance expectations (PEs) of the NGSS. The assessments provide important insight into how students are progressing toward mastery of different standards ahead of high-stakes, end-of-year assessments.
The Benchmark Assessments are built to be delivered after specific units in the recommended Amplify Science scope and sequence.* They are given three or four times per year, depending on the grade level. The benchmarks are intended to show progress at various points in time across a school year, and are therefore not summative in nature. Digital items and item clusters are also tagged to specific NGSS standards, allowing customization to align with other course sequences. The assessments are available via the following platforms:
Print
PDF files: For administering Benchmark Assessments on paper
Digital platforms
- Illuminate
- SchoolCity
- Otus
- QTI (“Question and Test Interoperability”) files
Not sure whether QTI files are compatible with your assessment platform? Contact your school IT or assessment platform representative for more information.
Please note that Amplify is able to provide access to the QTI files themselves, but is not able to support the integration process. Your assessment platform provider should be able to assist with QTI file integration.
Flexible implementation
One of the key features of Amplify Science is the flexibility that it offers. We give students authentic opportunities to experience the full breadth of what it means to be a scientist or engineer. Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in our program. Like scientists, students gather evidence not just from physical models, but also from digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, data sets, and even their peers!
Simply put, real scientists don’t just get messy—they read, write, analyze, hypothesize, model, test, and communicate with purpose, too.
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Books
Beginning and young readers have unique developmental needs, and science instruction should support these students in reading more independently as they progress through sections of content, the school year, and each grade. One way Amplify Science meets these needs is by strategically deploying different modes of reading throughout each unit: Read-Aloud, Shared Reading, and Partner Reading.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data.
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- construct explanations and arguments.
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and Modeling Tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations.
- engage in Active Reading and writing activities.
- participate in discussions.
- record observations.
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Dive into a quick example of our powerful simulations
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science and is integrated
into every unit. Students actively take on the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them.
Check out these 2-minute videos to see an Amplify Science hands-on investigation in action.
- Grade 2: Hands-on investigation from Animal and Plant Relationships
- Grade 6: Hands-on investigation from Populations andResources
Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- print classroom display materials.
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.).
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans.
- unit and chapter overview documentation.
- differentiation strategies.
- standards alignments.
- in-context professional development.
Scope and Sequence
Minnesota Academic Standards in Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the NGSS, a set of standards that closely align with the K–8 Minnesota Academic Standards in Science (MASS). Therefore, most grade levels’ respective set of Amplify Science units address the necessary MASS (see K–5 reverse alignment and/or correlations for K–5 and 6–8). However, for grades 2–4, teachers should also use the resources provided in the sections below to achieve full coverage of the appropriate standards before their students move on to the next grade level. Organized by grade level, each section outlines:
- companion lesson materials that were written to support 100% alignment to the Minnesota Academic Standards in Science when used with the core Amplify Science units for the grade level
- the standard being addressed with each companion lesson; and
- the recommended placement of each companion lesson within a specific Amplify Science unit
Companion lesson: “Shelter”
Standard: 1P.4.2.2.1 Communicate solutions that use materials to provide shelter, food, or warmth needs for communities including Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities.* (P: 8, CC: 2, CI: PS1, ETS2)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 5.1 of Spinning Earth
Materials: Shelter Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Companion lesson: “Describing Climates”
Standard: 2E.4.2.1.2 Obtain and use information from multiple sources, including electronic sources, to describe climates in different regions of the world.** (P: 8, CC: 1, CI: ESS2)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 4.5 of Changing Landforms
Materials: Describing Climates Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Note: Students will further investigate the content in this standard, and revisit the book used in this companion lesson, in 3rd grade (Weather and Climate unit)
Companion lesson 1: Light and Vision
Standard: 3P.3.1.1.1 Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen. (P: 2, CC: 2, CI: PS4)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 4.5 of Environments and Survival
Materials: Light and Vision Part 1 Classroom Slides and Student Sheet; Light and Vision Part 2 Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Note: Students will further investigate the content in this standard, and revisit the book used in this companion lesson, in 4th grade (Vision and Light unit)
Companion lesson 2: Studying Stars
Standard: 3E.4.2.2.1 Gather information and communicate how Minnesota American Indian Tribes and communities and other cultures use patterns in stars to make predictions and plans. (P 8, CC: 1, CI: ESS1)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 4.4 of Weather and Climate
Materials: Studying Stars Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Note: Students will further investigate the content in this standard, and revisit the book used in this companion lesson, in 5th grade (Patterns of Earth and Sky unit)
Companion lesson 1: Salt Water and Freshwater
Standard: 4E.2.2.1.1 Interpret charts, maps and/or graphs of the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.** (P: 5, CC: 4, CI: ESS2)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 2.6 of Earth’s’ Features
Materials: Salt Water and Freshwater Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Note: Students will further investigate the content in this standard, and revisit the book used in this companion lesson, in 5th grade (The Earth System unit)
Companion lesson 2: How Raindrops Form
Standard: 4E.1.1.1.2 Ask questions about how water moves through the Earth system and identify the type of question. (P: 1, CC: 5, CI: ESS2)
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 4.5 of Earth’s’ Features
Materials: How Raindrops Form Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Note: Students will further investigate the content in this standard, and revisit the book used in this companion lesson, in 5th grade (The Earth System unit)
Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide
To familiarize yourself with navigation of the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
Ready to dive in?
Contact your Minnesota representative:
Kristi Stengel
Account Executive
kstengel@amplify.com
(612) 306-3941
Tammy Sigwarth
Account Executive
tsigwarth@amplify.com
(563) 663-0056
A powerful partnership
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Multimodal learning model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, click the button below and fill out the form for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Contact your Arkansas representative directly
Marty Pitts
Senior Account Executive
Email: mpitts@amplify.com
Phone: (214) 945-5544
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Supporting resources
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–5
- Program Components K-5
- Curriculum Unit Kits K-5
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
Scope and sequence
GRADE
UNITS
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE
UNITS
Grade 6
- Launch: Microbiome
- Metabolism
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Thermal Energy
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Rock Transformations
- Weather Patterns
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Grade 7
- Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
- Phase Change
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Light Waves
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- Evolutionary History
South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- The standard being addressed with the activities;
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Lisa Jurovaty
Account Executive (West South Carolina)
ljurovaty@amplify.com
(803) 526-1899
Cathy McMillan (East South Carolina)
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Amplify Science professional development
Amplify Science blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!
Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes^ |
| TK teachers | Transitional kindergarten program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes*^ |
| K–5 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Interactive Classroom consultation | 90 min. | Remote | Yes | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes* |
| 6–8 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Engineering Internships | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Science Seminar | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Coach | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Note for all workshops: Any single three-hour offering can be repeated on the same day with different audiences to make one full-day session. | ||||
| *When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022. | ||||
^Session will be available for IC customers after June 1, 2022.
Launch
For teachers
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–1 / K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from the Metabolism Core unit.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Interactive Classroom consultation
90 minutes
Grade band: K–5
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this remote consultation session, participants prepare to leverage Amplify Science’s new K-5 Interactive Classroom experience. The session includes a walkthrough of new digital features available to teachers and an opportunity for participants to experience these enhancements through modeled activities from an exemplar K-5 unit. The session closes with time for participants to explore the digital features and ask questions to support their planning.
*This session is designed for experienced Amplify Science users who are new to adding Interactive Classroom.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grand band: K–1, K–5, 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, an exemplar will be featured from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from Metabolism.
When delivered as a grade level session, the following units will be featured:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Transitional kindergarten program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: TK
In this session, participants dive into exploring and planning for the first TK unit, Wondering About Noises in Trees. They engage with model activities, experience key instructional routines, and plan how they’ll implement this flexible curriculum in their classrooms. Participants collaborate to build a deep understanding of the TK instructional approach and structure. They will leave ready to start instruction in their classrooms, and take away a suite of additional resources to support their preparation for other TK units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remotewelcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Administrators’ program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the principles of phenomenon-based teaching and learning, and experience the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band session (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
For teachers
The Assessment System
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn about the structure and purpose of the varied formative and summative opportunities in the Amplify Science Assessment System. Participants experience and analyze a sample formative assessment, deepen their understanding of unit learning progressions, and acquire strategies for collecting, analyzing, and responding to student assessment data. Collaborative reflections and discussions support participants’ understanding of the relationships among different types of assessments and their unit’s learning goals.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners with complex texts
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn strategies to support all students as they access the complex texts in Amplify Science units. They explore the connections among the ways professional scientists read and how Amplify Science lessons build students’ capacity as science readers. The workshop includes a model reading sequence, collaborative problem-solving around common student reading challenges, and planning time for upcoming reading lessons in participants’ units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing in science
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
K–5: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example multimodal instructional sequence that demonstrates the connections among informal daily writing and the more structured formal scientific explanations and arguments students write in each Amplify Science unit. They dig into resources for analyzing student writing then apply their learning to plan for supporting student writing in their unit.
6-8: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example instructional sequence that demonstrates the varied purposes for frequent small, informal writing opportunities in multimodal science instruction, then they analyze how each core unit’s culminating Science Seminar experience works as a scaffold to support students as they write sophisticated scientific arguments. The session closes with a guided reflection on strategies for supporting student writing.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting English learners
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore strategies to support English learners’ ability to do, talk, read, write, visualize, and construct arguments like scientists. By engaging in model activities, participants deepen their knowledge of the critical role that language and literacy play in developing scientific understanding. Participants become familiar with the research-based principles underlying the embedded supports and strategies in Amplify Science, which aid in students’ development of disciplinary literacy in science.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Guided unit internalization
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: TK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants leverage a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming unit. They apply their understanding of how students engage in three-dimensional learning throughout the unit to plan for the diverse needs of their classrooms and students.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Engineering Internships
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore and plan for the first Engineering Internship of their grade-level course. Participants are oriented to the Futura Workspace and other digital tools used with students in the internship experience. Participants also dive deeper into how students apply science concepts from core units to construct design solutions, learning engineering concepts and practices throughout the process.
Workshop will feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Science Seminar
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This session focuses on the culminating Science Seminar sequence at the end of the grades 6–8 core units, in which students apply the conceptual understanding built throughout the unit to engage in argumentation about a unique but related phenomenon. Participants experience a Science Seminar sequence from an exemplar unit as students do, then dive into a unit at their grade level to internalize the Science Seminar sequence and plan for instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This 60-minute session focuses on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet teachers’ unique options.
Topics include:
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Exploring the resources (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports A: Teacher modeling and student discourse (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports B: Multimodal instruction
- Planning an Amplify Science lesson (for K–8 teachers)
- Unit kits and materials prep (for K–5 teachers)
- Grading with Amplify Science (for K–8 teachers)
- Analyzing Student Work (for K–8 teachers)
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band:K–5 / 6–8
Grade level:K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite:Initial training or program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet teachers’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience:Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
For instructional leaders
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
These 60 minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen instructional leaders’ understanding in Amplify Science and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet instructional leaders’ unique needs.
Topic available for summer 2022: Amplify Science classroom look-fors (for K-8 leaders).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen leaders’ understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet leaders’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
For teachers
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) services: Teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Science with a coaching onsite visit for your teachers. An Amplify Science Professional Learning Specialist can visit classrooms for observation and debriefs with focused feedback and/or facilitate PLC or grade-level meetings to support teachers with planning decisions. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative and personalized approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC): Administrators
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
In our Coaching sessions, instructional leaders engage in facilitated Professional Learning Walks (PLW)—non-evaluative classroom observations of Amplify Science classrooms that focus on building capacity to identify indicators of strong implementation of the program. Classroom look-fors focus on the use of instructional resources (material access/use and the Classroom Wall), instructional delivery (unpacking the unit phenomena and multimodal instruction), and monitoring of instruction (supporting all learners and use of the Assessment System). Leaders collaboratively analyze collected data in order to identify strengths and areas for growth specific to the implementation of Amplify Science for their teaching teams. Leaders leave with an action plan for supporting their teachers based on the analysis and reflection from the PLW.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive full day onsite sessions | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days) | $1,500 |
| 1-day remote coaching session | $1,200 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 90-minute remote session | $500 |
| 60-minute remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
| Customized Amplify Science onsite or remote packages | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
A closer look at grades 6–8
Amplify Science California is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science California. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Resources
A closer look at grades 6–8 (domain)
Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.
In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:
- Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
- Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
- Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
Scope and sequence
Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.
In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to actively read in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Units at a glance
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Earth, Sun, and Moon
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Populations and Resources
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: What caused the mysterious crash of a biodome ecosystem?
Natural Selection
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Evolutionary History
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Phase Change
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Chemical Reactions
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Light Waves
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Resources
Welcome, Utah K-8 reviewers!
Montana 6–8 Science
Peoria 6–8 Science Review
Sweetwater 6–8 Science
Inspiring the next generation of South Carolina scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide. If you need login credentials, contact Jeff Rutter, jrutter@amplify.com.
Resources to support your review
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–8
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
Scope and sequence
GRADE |
UNIT |
| Kindergarten |
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| Grade 1 |
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| Grade 2 |
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| Grade 3 |
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| Grade 4 |
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| Grade 5 |
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Grade |
Units |
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Grade 6 |
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Grade 7 |
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Grade 8 |
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South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- The standard being addressed with the activities;
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Inspiring the next generation of Massachusetts scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Evaluate Online
To review Amplify Science online, click the orange button below.
Once you’re logged in, watch our navigational guide videos to review the digital Teacher’s Guides:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Phenomenon-Based Learning
Phenomenon-based teaching and learning deeply engages students. By positioning students as scientists and giving them questions, not answers, Amplify Science delivers results in and beyond science class.
This represents a shift from asking students to learn about science to supporting students in figuring out the science.
Instructional Model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
New Program Enhancements
Amplify Science is unique because we continually add new content, tools, and resources, which will help us meet Milwaukee Public Schools’ needs as they evolve. In a world where things are changing by the minute, Amplify commits to providing MPS with the most up-to-date content throughout the life of the adoption.
We want to save you time, extend your reach, and support your efforts to deliver the types of rigorous and riveting learning experiences you know your students deserve.
Some of our latest enhancements include:
- Amplify Science@Home, a new solution to improve synchronous and asynchronous remote learning
- Classroom Slides offered in both PowerPoint and Google Slides formats, to save teachers time
- Spanish Digital Simulations and Spanish Classroom Slides, to complete our full Spanish digital suite
- Administrator Reports, which can be easily exported for integration with learning management systems
To learn more about our newest features, click here.
Science and Literacy
At Amplify, we believe science and literacy should truly integrated, and not just connected.
Even the youngest readers are supported in their journeys to obtain, evaluate, and communication information about the natural world through Read-Alouds, Shared Reading, and Partner Reading.
To learn more about Amplify Science and its commitment to literacy-rich science instruction, click here.
Spanish Resources
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, and includes multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Our Amplify Science materials were created with the same rigor of scientific accuracy, rich content and language, and literacy development, and materials were developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers.
Some of our Spanish resources include:
- Classroom Lesson Slides
- Spanish Digital Simulations
- Teacher Digital Licenses
- Student Digital Licenses
- All Student-Facing Print Materials
To see a complete list of Spanish print and digital resources, click here.
Access and Equity
Amplify Science provides all students with access to intellectually stimulating, rigorous, and culturally relevant science and engineering education. We value and build on the rich assets that each student brings to class. You can read more about our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion here.
To learn how we commit to culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, choose a link below.
- Universal Design for Learning
- Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching
- Differentiation strategies
- Lesson-level differentiation
Scope and Sequence
| GRADE | UNITS |
|
Grade 6: Earth Science |
|
| Grade 7: Life Science |
|
|
Grade 8: Physical Science |
|
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Review the program (K–5)
For K–5 units, the teacher accesses the digital curriculum or printed Teacher’s Guide for daily instruction while students read Student Books, conduct investigations using the hands-on kit materials, and record observations in their Student Investigation Notebooks. When lessons call for students to access the simulations or “sims” in grades 2–5 (about once per week), they share devices.
You can review all of Amplify Science online through this review site.
Before you dive into the digital curriculum, download and review some of these helpful resources:
You will find unit overviews and complete materials lists as well as downloadable versions of the Student Investigation Notebooks within the program itself. When you’re ready, click Preview now below. You’ll automatically be taken on a short guided tour where you can select the grade you’re interested in reviewing.
Questions come up during your review? Email scihelp@amplify.com and mention that you are a reviewer in the subject of the email.
Review the program (6–8)
For 6–8 units, the teacher accesses the digital curriculum or printed Teacher’s Guide for daily instruction while students use their Student Investigation Notebooks, the hands-on kit materials, and their digital student accounts to access simulations or “sims”, modeling tools, assessments, and more.
Before you dive into the digital curriculum, download and review some of these helpful resources:
You will find unit overviews and complete materials lists as well as downloadable versions of the Student Investigation Notebooks within the program itself. When you’re ready, click Preview now below. You’ll automatically be taken on a short guided tour where you can select the grade you’re interested in reviewing.
Questions come up during your review? Email scihelp@amplify.com and mention that you are a reviewer in the subject of the email.
Contact your Amplify representative directly
Patti Savage
Senior Account Executive
Email: psavage@amplify.com
Phone: (626) 224-3174
Inspiring the next generation of Hawaii scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a brand-new, engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, click the button below to access the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Contact your Hawaii representative directly
Laina Armbruster
Account Executive
Email: larmbruster@amplify.com
Phone: (602) 791-4135
Inspiring the next generation of Idaho scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a brand-new, engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at the University of, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Multimodal learning model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (domain model)
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Light
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, multiple components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks (K-8) | Student |
| Science articles (6-8) | Student |
| Student Books (K-5) | Student |
| Video transcripts (6-8) | Student |
| Digital simulation translation key (6-8) | Student |
| Printed classroom materials (K-8) (Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc.) | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters (K-8) | Teacher |
| Assessments (K-8) | Teacher |
Contact your Idaho representative directly
Bob McCarty
Senior Account Executive
Email: rmccarty@amplify.com
Phone: (435) 655-1731
Access the curriculum
To begin your review, click the button below for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works.
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Louisiana Standards Correlation K–5
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 6
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 7
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 8
- Louisiana recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning support
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home Unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
What’s included:
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data.
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- construct explanations and arguments.
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Louisiana-specific Materials
Louisiana Companion Student Booklet
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations.
- engage in active reading and writing activities.
- participate in discussions.
- record observations.
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Louisiana Companion Teacher Booklet (6-8)
- Classroom Slides
- detailed lesson plans.
- unit and chapter overview documentation.
- differentiation strategies.
- standards alignments.
- in-context professional development.
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- print classroom display materials.
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.).
Scope and sequence
Amplify Science Louisiana K–5 Program Brochure
GRADE
UNITS
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE
UNITS
Grade 6
- Launch: Microbiome
- Populations and Resources
Additional instruction added: Human impact on Earth systems and Louisiana’s natural resources - Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Additional instruction added: Structure and properties of matter Structure and function of cells - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship: Force and Motion
- Magnetic Fields
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Light Waves
Additional instruction added: The function of the cell nucleus
Grade 6 Louisiana Resources
- 5 Companion Lessons
- Units with Companions Lessons: Populations and Resources; Matter and Energy in Ecosystems; Light Waves
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit
Grade 7
- Metabolism
- Engineering Internship: Metabolism
- Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Traits and Reproduction
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
Grade 7 Louisiana Resources
- 8 Companion Lessons
- Units with Companions Lessons: Phase Change; Traits and Reproduction; Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate; Weather Patterns; Earth’s Changing Climate
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit, not needed in 7th grade
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship: Plate Motion
- Rock Transformations
- Thermal Energy
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
Grade 8 Louisiana Resources
- 6 Companion Lessons
- Unit with Companions Lessons: Plate Motion; Rock Transformations; Thermal Energy; Natural Selection
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit
Amplify and the Lawrence Hall of Science have created custom Amplify Science Louisiana materials for middle school students and teachers. The Louisiana edition of Amplify Science 6–8 differs from our national program in a few key ways:
- Standards cited are Louisiana State Standards for Science (LSSS) instead of NGSS
- A custom scope and sequence tailored to the LSSS is used
- Louisiana Companion Lessons are included
- Louisiana companion kits, which contain materials to accommodate the added companion lessons, are available for grades 6 and 8
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6-8
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program.
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your Louisiana representative:
Wayne Hebert
whebert@amplify.com
(337) 298-7833
Amplify Science – West Virginia – state review
Inspiring the next generation of Alabama scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Science of Reading principles that guide early literacy
Our understanding of the natural world is grounded in basic truths or laws we call scientific principles.
And we’ve got a similar set of principles for the Science of Reading.
In science, we have things like gravity, buoyancy, and the laws of motion, while the Science of Reading has universality, vocabulary, background knowledge, and so much more.
These principles, which are grounded in extensive Science of Reading research, inform our understanding of how children learn to read and guide educators in implementing best practices for science-based, effective literacy instruction.
These principles can support you in bringing the Science of Reading into your classroom and fostering literacy success for all your students.
Let’s take a look.
Science of Reading principles
We’ve identified 10 principles that touch on key Science of Reading components. Here’s a peek at the first five.
1. Science-based reading instruction supports all children.
Every child deserves access to high-quality instruction that can help them become proficient readers. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows that students’ reading scores are slipping, with 37% of fourth graders performing below the NAEP Basic level in reading in 2022. Fortunately, we have the research and tools we need to get to work reversing this trend—and more and more educators are using them. Science-based reading instruction channels decades of research into teaching methods that match the diverse needs of all students. Using the Science of Reading, we can raise those scores and support literacy development for this generation and the next.
2. Reading and writing must be taught systematically, explicitly, and cumulatively.
Humans typically learn to speak naturally, through social interaction. But reading and writing require formal instruction. According to the Simple View of Reading, reading comprehension is the product of both decoding and linguistic comprehension. Kids must be taught the relationships between sounds and letters (phonemic awareness and phonics), and how to decode words. Systematic instruction presents these skills in a logical order, explicit instruction goes beyond just “exposing” kids to words and texts, and cumulative instruction builds on skills learned before. This structured approach is essential for laying a strong foundation in literacy.
3. Proficient reading requires word recognition and language comprehension, while proficient writing requires transcription and composition skills.
Proficient readers recognize words quickly and effortlessly, allowing them to focus on understanding the text rather than decoding each word. They are then able to comprehend language using a knowledge of vocabulary, an understanding of sentence structure, and the skill of meaning-making. Likewise, proficient writers possess transcription skills, including spelling and handwriting. And as in reading, these transcription skills eventually become automatic, allowing students to expend less effort on handwriting, typing, and spelling and redirect that energy toward creating text and sharing ideas.
4. Reading and writing are mutually reinforcing processes that should be taught through integrated instruction.
When students read a variety of texts, they absorb different writing styles, structures, and vocabularies, which also serve as models for their own writing. Writing about what they read also helps students deepen their capacity for both comprehension and expression. Integrated instruction might include activities like reading a historical novel and writing diary entries from the perspective of a character, or researching a scientific topic and creating an informative brochure.
5. Background knowledge and vocabulary are critical to both reading comprehension and writing composition.
Background knowledge is like Velcro to which new texts, and new knowledge itself, can stick. A robust vocabulary is crucial for reading comprehension, because it allows students to understand and engage with more complex material. In writing, a rich vocabulary lets students express their ideas more precisely and vividly. Integrated activities such as book clubs or writing workshops can build background knowledge, vocabulary, and the natural interplay between reading and writing, fostering a holistic—and science-backed—approach to literacy development.
You’re part of a larger community—one made up of educators and researchers invested in deepening our understanding of how kids learn to read and write, and how to bring those approaches into the classroom. Start every day inspired and grounded in this community with our Science of Reading principles placemat.
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Scope and sequence
GRADE
UNITS
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE
UNITS
Grade 6
- Launch: Microbiome
- Metabolism
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Thermal Energy
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Rock Transformations
- Weather Patterns
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Grade 7
- Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
- Phase Change
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Light Waves
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- Evolutionary History
Charlotte of diocese standards alignment
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support the students of the Charlotte of Diocese.
Organized by grade level, each section below will show:
- The standard being addressed with the activities;
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
What’s included
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jennifer Eason
Senior Account Executive
jeason@amplify.com
Tom Gantt
District Manager
tgantt@amplify.com
Welcome, Idaho K-8 Science Reviewers!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Science. On this site, you’ll find all the resources you need to learn more about this engaging and robust NGSS program. Below, you will also have the opportunity experience our program firsthand with a demo account to access the digital platform.
Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports. Read the review on EdReports.
Overview
With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the roles of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and make sense of real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Listen to these educators share how the program empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers every day.
Grades K–5
Grades 6–8
Amplify Science Grades K-5 Tour for Idaho Educators
Amplify Science Grades 6-8 Tour for Idaho Evaluators
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more.
Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our program to address 100 percent of the NGSS and Idaho Standards in fewer days than other programs:
- In just 120 lessons at grades 6–8
- In just 66 lessons at grades K–2
- In just 88 lessons at grades 3–5
Unit types
Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.
Investigation units
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering Design units
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units
Argumentation units are introduced at grade 3 and provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Launch units
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Idaho Science Standards Alignment
Amplify Science was built from the ground up to fully embrace the instructional shifts outlined in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), the same framework on which Idaho Science Content Standards were founded. Most grade levels’ respective set of Amplify Science units therefore fully address the necessary Idaho Science Content Standards (see correlation). Grade 1 teachers should plan to also use the companion mini-lesson provided below to achieve full standards coverage for their grade.
Grade 1 Companion
Standard: 1-LS-1.3 Use classification supported by evidence to differentiate between living and non-living things.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 1.1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit.
Resources: Classroom Slides
Science (Middle School Physical Science) Evaluation Form
Science (Middle School Life Science) Evaluation Form
Science Evaluation Form Middle School Earth and Space Science
Needs of Plants and Animals
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Scientists
Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden since vegetables were planted.
Pushes and Pulls
Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering design
Student role: Pinball engineers
Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.
Sunlight and Weather
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Weather scientists
Phenomenon: Students at Carver Elementary School are too cold during morning recess, while students at Woodland Elementary School are too hot during afternoon recess.
Animal and Plant Defenses
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle lives in an aquarium and will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite ocean predators.
Light and Sound
Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering design
Student role: Light and sound engineers
Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.
Spinning Earth
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Sky scientists
Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone.
Plant and Animal Relationships
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Plant scientists
Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.
Properties of Materials
Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering design
Student role: Glue engineers
Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.
Changing Landforms
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: The cliff that Oceanside Recreation Center is situated on appears to be receding over time.
Balancing Forces
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Engineers
Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.
Inheritance and Traits
strong>Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Wildlife biologists
Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack.
Environments and Survival
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering design
Student role: Biomimicry engineers
Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.
Weather and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Argumentation
Student role: Meteorologists
Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.
Energy Conversions
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering design
Student role: System engineers
Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.
Vision and Light
Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Conservation biologists
Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.
Waves, Energy, and Information
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.
Patterns of Earth and Sky
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Investigation
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.
Earth’s Features
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Argumentation
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.
Modeling Matter
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Modeling
Student role: Food scientists
Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.
The Earth System
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering Design
Student role: Water resource engineers
Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.
Ecosystem Restoration
Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Argumentation
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Access program
In addition to the grade-level sample boxes that we provided, we’ve also created custom demo accounts just for Idaho reviewers.
To access the digital portion of the program, click the link below, select “Log In with Amplify,” and then refer to the Start here digital access flyer for your personalized login credentials.
Tutorial videos
Check out these videos for support on how to navigate the Amplify Science curriculum website, teacher’s guide, materials kits, and more!
Resources
Welcome, Ohio educators!
Designed from the ground up to teach students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers, Amplify Science combines literacy-rich activities with hands-on learning and digital tools to engage students in exploring compelling phenomena in every unit.
Overview
Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Newly crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Hear what these educators have to say about the program. >
Approach to literacy
[Video] Literacy in action (K–5)
Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.
[Video] Literacy in action (6–8)
Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.
Literacy-rich science instruction (K–5)
Immersing young students in reading, writing, and arguing like real scientists and engineers.
Elementary school
Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >
In Grades K–3 we recommend the national grade level units of Amplify Science to provide students with the appropriate grade level literacy and background knowledge. Individual units are available to purchase.
When you’re ready:
- Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
- Download some helpful resources to support your review.
- Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
Unit 1
Needs of Plants and Animals
Student role: Scientists
Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden ever since vegetables were planted.
Unit 2
Pushes and Pulls
Student role: Pinball engineers
Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.
Unit 3
Sunlight and Weather
Student role: Weather scientists
Phenomenon: Students at one school are too cold during morning recess, while students at another are too hot during afternoon recess.
Unit 1
Animal and Plant Defenses
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite predators.
Unit 2
Light and Sound
Student role: Light and sound engineers
Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.
Unit 3
Spinning Earth
Student role: Sky scientists
Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone at night.
Unit 1
Plant and Animal Relationships
Student role: Plant scientists
Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.
Unit 2
Properties of Materials
Student role: Glue engineers
Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.
Unit 3
Changing Landforms
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: The cliff on which Oceanside Recreation Center is situated appears to be receding.
Unit 1
Balancing Forces
Student role: Engineers
Phenomenon: The fictional town of Faraday is getting a new train. Unlike typical trains, this one floats, which is causing some concern among the town’s citizens.
Unit 2
Inheritance and Traits
Student role: Wildlife biologists
Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park has some traits in common with one wolf pack in the park and other traits in common with a different pack.
Unit 3
Environments and Survival
Student role: Biomimicry engineers
Phenomenon: Over 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed. Populations with yellow shells have decreased, while those with banded shells have increased.
Unit 4
Weather and Climate
Student role: Meteorologists
Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.
Unit 1
Energy Conversions
Student role: System engineers
Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. Their electrical system seems to be failing.
Unit 2
Earth’s Features
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.
Unit 3
Modeling Matter
Student role: Food scientists
Phenomenon: Some ingredients dissolve in a salad dressing while others, like oil and vinegar, appear to separate.
Unit 4
The Earth System
Student role: Water resource engineers
Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.
Unit 1
Patterns of Earth and Sky
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times of the day, but it appears to be missing a piece.
Unit 2
Vision and Light
Student role: Conservation biologists
Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.
Unit 3
Waves, Energy, and Information
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park communicate with their calves despite the distance between them.
Unit 4
Ecosystem Restoration
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing or thriving.
Middle school
Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >
When you’re ready:
- Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
- Download some helpful resources to support your review.
- Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
CORE
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
CORE
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
CORE
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
LAUNCH
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
CORE
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
LAUNCH
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP
Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)
Domains: Life Science, Coding Science
Unit type: Coding Science Internship
Student role: Coding science interns
Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.
CORE
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
CORE
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
CORE
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
CORE
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
CORE
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
CORE
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
CORE
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
CORE
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP
Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)
Domains: Life Science, Coding Science
Unit type: Coding Science Internship
Student role: Coding science interns
Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.
LAUNCH
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
CORE
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
CORE
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
CORE
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
CORE
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
CORE
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
CORE
Rock Transformations (optional)
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
CORE
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP
Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)
Domains: Life Science, Coding Science
Unit type: Coding Science Internship
Student role: Coding science interns
Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.
Resources to support your review
Select a topic below to explore helpful resources with more information about Amplify Science, the program’s development, and pedagogy.
[Video] Planning in action (K–5)
Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.
[Video] Planning in action (6–8)
Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (K–5)
Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (6–8)
Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.
Summary of Investigations (K–5) coming soon
Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.
Summary of Investigations (6–8) coming soon
Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.
Remote and hybrid learning guide
Amplify is here to help! Amplify Science will soon feature product enhancements and new resources that will help manage the new landscape of back-to-school 2020.
Students ready for more
Learn how we make learning more rigorous for students ready for a challenge.
NGSS Benchmark assessments
Learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards Benchmark assessments created by Amplify.
Ready to explore with digital access and physical samples?
Start your digital review and request physical samples with these three easy steps.
- Note these Ohio specific login credentials for your digital access.
Username: t.ohscience@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1 - Click Review now.
- Complete the form and select Log in with Amplify to input the Ohio specific login.
Contact an Amplify representative
For any questions, fill out the form to the right and a member of our sales team will reach out to you soon.
Katie Cannon
Senior Account Executive
Casie Rayes
Account executive
Matt Paupore
Senior Account Executive
Welcome, Nebraska educators!
Designed from the ground up for the NGSS to teach students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers, Amplify Science combines literacy-rich activities with hands-on learning and digital tools to engage students in exploring compelling phenomena in every unit.
Overview
Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Newly crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Hear what these educators have to say about the program. >
Explore your grade level
Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >
Then select your grade level below to learn more about how we make this type of rich learning accessible to all students at every grade.
Elementary school
When you’re ready:
- Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
- Download some helpful resources to support your review.
- Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
Unit 1
Needs of Plants and Animals
Student role: Scientists
Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden ever since vegetables were planted.
Unit 2
Pushes and Pulls
Student role: Pinball engineers
Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.
Unit 3
Sunlight and Weather
Student role: Weather scientists
Phenomenon: Students at one school are too cold during morning recess, while students at another are too hot during afternoon recess.
Unit 1
Animal and Plant Defenses
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite predators.
Unit 2
Light and Sound
Student role: Light and sound engineers
Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.
Unit 3
Spinning Earth
Student role: Sky scientists
Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone at night.
Unit 1
Plant and Animal Relationships
Student role: Plant scientists
Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.
Unit 2
Properties of Materials
Student role: Glue engineers
Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.
Unit 3
Changing Landforms
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: The cliff on which Oceanside Recreation Center is situated appears to be receding.
Unit 1
Balancing Forces
Student role: Engineers
Phenomenon: The fictional town of Faraday is getting a new train. Unlike typical trains, this one floats, which is causing some concern among the town’s citizens.
Unit 2
Inheritance and Traits
Student role: Wildlife biologists
Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park has some traits in common with one wolf pack in the park and other traits in common with a different pack.
Unit 3
Environments and Survival
Student role: Biomimicry engineers
Phenomenon: Over 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed. Populations with yellow shells have decreased, while those with banded shells have increased.
Unit 4
Weather and Climate
Student role: Meteorologists
Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.
Unit 1
Energy Conversions
Student role: System engineers
Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. Their electrical system seems to be failing.
Unit 2
Vision and Light
Student role: Conservation biologists
Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.
Unit 3
Earth’s Features
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.
Unit 4
Waves, Energy, and Information
Student role: Marine scientists
Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park communicate with their calves despite the distance between them.
Unit 1
Patterns of Earth and Sky
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times of the day, but it appears to be missing a piece.
Unit 2
Modeling Matter
Student role: Food scientists
Phenomenon: Some ingredients dissolve in a salad dressing while others, like oil and vinegar, appear to separate
Unit 3
The Earth System
Student role: Water resource engineers
Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.
Unit 4
Ecosystem Restoration
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing or thriving.
Middle school
When you’re ready:
- Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
- Download some helpful resources to support your review.
- Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
LAUNCH
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
CORE
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
CORE
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
CORE
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
CORE
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
CORE
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
CORE
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Engineering Internship
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
LAUNCH
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
CORE
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
CORE
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
CORE
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
CORE
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
CORE
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
CORE
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
LAUNCH
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
CORE
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
CORE
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
CORE
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
CORE
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
CORE
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
CORE
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Resources to support your review
Select a topic below to explore helpful resources with more information about Amplify Science, the program’s development, and pedagogy.
[Video] Planning in action (K–5)
Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.
[Video] Planning in action (6–8)
Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (K–5)
Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (6–8)
Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.
Students ready for more
Learn how we make learning more rigorous for students ready for a challenge.
[Video] Literacy in action (K–5)
Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence
[Video] Literacy in action (6–8)
Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.
Literacy-rich science instruction (K–5)
Immersing young students in reading, writing, and arguing like real scientists and engineers.
NGSS Benchmark assessments
Learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards Benchmark assessments created by Amplify.
Remote and hybrid learning guide
Amplify is here to help! Amplify Science will soon feature product enhancements and new resources that will help manage the new landscape of back-to-school 2020.
Ready to start exploring with digital access?
Contact an Amplify representative
Laina Armbruster
larmbruster@amplify.com
(602) 791-4135
Bob McCarty
rmccarty@amplify.com
(435) 655-1731
Kristin McDonald
kmcdonald@amplify.com
(515) 240-0244
S3-04: Using AI and ChatGPT in the science classroom
In the latest episode of the Science Connections podcast, we explore AI in education and its impact on students. Listen as I sit down with teachers Donnie Piercey and Jennifer Roberts to discuss ChatGPT and how we can use it to build science and literacy skills in K–12 classrooms while preparing students for the real world.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Jennifer Roberts (00:00:00):
If a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world.
Eric Cross (00:00:07):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross.
Eric Cross (00:00:12):
This season of the podcast, we’re making the case for everyone’s favorite underdog, science. Recently we’ve been highlighting the magic that can come from integrating science and literacy. So if you haven’t checked out those recent episodes, definitely go back in your feed after you’re done with this one. This time around, we’re going to deep dive into what artificial intelligence means for literacy instruction, and how science can be a force for good, in responsibly exposing students to AI. To help me out, I’m joined by two extremely accomplished educators. Jen Roberts, a veteran high-school English teacher from San Diego, who among many things runs the website LitAndTech.com. And I’m also joined by fifth-grade teacher Donnie Piercey. In addition to being Kentucky’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, Donnie also has an upcoming book about bringing AI into the classroom. Whether you’ve never heard of ChatGPT or whether you’re already using it every day, I think you’ll find this a valuable discussion about the intersection of science, English, and technology. Here’s Jen and Donnie.
Eric Cross (00:01:17):
So first off, welcome to the show. It’s good to see you all. What I wanna do is kind of start off by introducing both of you. And so we’ll just go K–12. So <laugh>, Donnie.
Jennifer Roberts (00:01:30):
Donnie goes first.
Eric Cross (00:01:31):
Donnie’s gonna go first. Donnie out in Kentucky. Just a little background. What do you teach; how long you’ve been in the classroom; and what are you having fun with right now?
Donnie Piercey (00:01:38):
Yeah, so my name is Donnie Piercey. I’m a fifth-grade teacher from Kentucky. Live and teach right here in Lexington, Kentucky, right in the center of the state. I’m the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. But I’ve been teaching elementary school for the past … I think this is year 16 or 17. It’s long enough where I’ve lost count, and I can’t even count on fingers anymore. My friends like to joke that I’ve taught long enough where now I can count down. You know, it’s like, “All right, only so many more years left.” But yeah, teach all subjects. Science definitely is one of the subjects that I don’t just try to squeeze into my day, but make sure that … it’s not even a devoted subject, but one that I definitely try to — don’t just have that set time, but also try to do some cross-curricular stuff with it. So definitely the rise of AI in these past few months, which feels like years by this point, has definitely played quite the role, in not just changing the way that I’ve been teaching science, but really all my subjects. So, excited to chat with y’all about it.
Eric Cross (00:02:47):
Nice. I’m excited that you’re here. And Jen?
Jennifer Roberts (00:02:51):
Hi, I’m Jen Roberts. I teach ninth-grade English at Point Loma High School, and that’s where I usually stop when I introduce myself. But for your sake—
Eric Cross (00:03:00):
I will keep introducing you if you stop there. <laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:04):
I am nationally board-certified in English Language Arts for early adolescence. I am the co-author of a book called Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning, from Stenhouse, with my fabulous co-author Diana Neebe. Shout out to Diana. I blog at LitAndTech.com about teaching and technology and literacy and the intersection of those things. And I’m looking forward to talking about how AI is showing up in my classroom and the fun things I’m doing with it.
Donnie Piercey (00:03:31):
And one of us is actually secretly a robot, and you have to guess which one.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:35):
Have to guess which one. Yes. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:03:37):
That would be super-meta. And you were the CUE — Computer-Using Educator — outstanding teacher or educator? Whatever. Either one. Of the year.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:45):
I was the CUE ’22 Outstanding Educator. Yes. And I’ve won a few other things as well.
Eric Cross (00:03:53):
The gaming backpack.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:54):
I’ve won a gaming backpack recently! Yes. I once won an iPad in a Twitter chat.
Eric Cross (00:03:58):
What?
Donnie Piercey (00:03:58):
What’s a gaming backpack? Hold on. We need to talk about that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:01):
We will talk about that. <laugh> And then, I was once a finalist for county Teacher of the Year. That’s as close as I got to Donnie. Donnie was the Kentucky Teacher of the Year. He got to go to the White House and stuff. That was exciting.
Donnie Piercey (00:04:13):
<laugh> I mean, to be fair, there’s only three million people in Kentucky, and about what, 50 million people that live in California? <Laugh> So odds are definitely stacked in my favor, I think.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:23):
So you’re saying we’re even there? Is that, is that what you’re going for?
Donnie Piercey (00:04:25):
Yeah, evens out. Evens out.
Eric Cross (00:04:27):
So I’ve been looking forward to talking to you both for a while now, and talking about artificial intelligence. It’s like the big thing. And both of you, at different ends of the spectrum and in my life, have contributed to this. Donnie, you’ve been sharing so much great information online about how you’re using AI in elementary. Jen, you are the reason I got into education technology years ago, right when I was becoming a teacher. And so being able to talk with you both about it excites me a lot. So first off, for the listeners who may not have any experience with it — and there’s still a lot of people out there who have not been exposed to it, haven’t got their feet wet with it yet — I’m hoping we could start off maybe with an explanation of … we could do AI, ChatGPT, I know that’s the big one. But simply explaining what it is, just for the new person. And whoever wants to start off can tell us about it. Or maybe we’ll start … we’ll, let’s actually, let’s do this: Let’s continue going like K–12? So Donnie, maybe you could … what’s your pitch to the new person of, “Hey, this is what it is”?
Donnie Piercey (00:05:31):
All right. So, AI, artificial intelligence, probably the way that most people are exposed to it, at least since November when it launched, is through ChatGPT. Where if you Google it, you know it’s made by a company called OpenAI. The best way to describe what it is … when you go there for the first time, make an account, it’s free. You have like a little search window, looks like a Google search bar. And instead of searching for information, you can ask it to create stuff for you. So for example, like on Google search, you might type in a question like, “Who was the 19th president of the United States?” Where on ChatGPT, instead of just searching for information, it creates stuff for you. So you could say, you could ask it to, “Hey, write a poem about the 19th president of the United States.” Or, “Write a short little essay comparing, I don’t know, Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.” And it would do that for you. You know, that’s most people’s first exposure to AI, at least in these past few months. Instead of … you know, it’s artificial intelligence, but it’s not just chatbots. There’s lots of other AI that exist out there.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:47):
And I think that’s the thing: that people don’t realize how much AI is already in their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:06:51):
For sure. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:52):
You know, they just haven’t seen … the term that I see being used a lot now is “generative AI.” AI that can produce something. It can produce writing, it can produce art, it can produce a script, it can produce a character. But the AI that has been helping you pick what to watch next on Netflix and the AI that’s helping Google help you get where you wanna go on Google Maps faster, those are forms of artificial intelligence as well.
Donnie Piercey (00:07:21):
Yeah. I mean, even those, when you get that that message in Gmail, and instead of having to type out that response that says, “Yeah, that sounds great,” you can just click the little button that says, “Yeah, that sounds great.” I mean, that’s been in Gmail for years, but that’s artificial intelligence too.
Eric Cross (00:07:39):
Absolutely. So why is it important, do you think, for educators to, to be familiar with it? Like, why are we all so excited about it?
Jennifer Roberts (00:07:47):
So, educators need to know what kids are into, and kids are obviously into ChatGPT. And anyone who’s an educator right now has probably already had something cross their desk — or more likely their computer screen — that was written by AI and passed off as a student’s own work. And that is, of course, the great fear among teachers everywhere, that this is what kids are just gonna do these days and they won’t be able to catch it and children won’t be doing their own work and this and this. But I think the big reason teachers need to know what’s going on is because teachers need to be futurists. Our clientele will live in the future. We teach kids, kids will become adults, adults will live in the world. And so if we’re not thinking about and trying to predict on some level what’s gonna happen 5, 10, 15 years from now … we might be wrong, but what if we’re right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:08:38):
And if we’re not at least trying to think about what is their future world gonna look like, then we’re not serving our students well. I did a whole night talk on that. So I think ChatGPT is part of that. I teach seniors. I had this moment of realization I felt a few months ago. I’m like, “This is gonna be the world they graduate into. They need to know what this is before they leave me.” If I don’t teach them how to use this well, and not the way they’re using it — which is to copy and paste the teacher’s assignment and drop it into ChatGPT and take whatever it spits out and turning that in without even looking at it — if I don’t teach ’em how to use it critically, if I don’t teach them how to write effective prompts, if I don’t teach them how to use the AI as a tool, as a collaborator, then they’re gonna graduate into a world where they lose out to people who do know how to do that. And I think the advantage goes to kids who have access and knowledge of what’s in front of them and what’s available, and can use all of the tools at their disposal. Because when you’re writing in school and you write with a collaborator, that could be considered cheating. But when you do that out in the adult world, that’s considered doing a good job. <Laugh> Being a team player. <Laugh> You know, adults don’t work alone for the most part. And adults are expected to churn out beautiful, perfect content no matter how they got there. So if I’m not teaching my kids how to use this, they’re not being ready. They’re not gonna be ready to be the adults that I want them to be.
Donnie Piercey (00:10:07):
A hundred percent agree. And I also believe … as you know, I teach elementary school. I also don’t think anybody is saying that on the first day of kindergarten, you hand a kid a Chromebook and load up an AI chatbot or ChatGPT and say, Hey, this thing’s gonna do all your work for you for the next 12 years; just coast through life. You don’t have to think creatively. You don’t have to learn how to develop a paragraph or learn how to write a speech or develop an idea. Like, I don’t think anybody’s saying that, because as an elementary school teacher, there’s many days when I’m like, “Y’all, we’re just putting the Chromebooks away today and we’re just gonna go old-school. We’re just gonna maybe just jot down five quick ideas and stand up and present those ideas to the class.”
Donnie Piercey (00:10:54):
Because while AI definitely will, like you were saying, Jen, play a significant role in the lives of our students who are, not just graduating, but the 10- and 11-year-olds in my classroom this year. A significant role in their lives. It’s also really important to recognize that we’re not saying that this means that “Hey, kids don’t have to work anymore.” They still have to put forth that effort. There’s still — one of the ways that you become a good writer is by trial and error. And sometimes that trial and error comes through talking to a teacher or talking like you were saying to a peer or collaborating with a peer and saying to them, “Well, this sentence here, this paragraph here, really doesn’t make sense.” And I do believe one of the ways — especially as AI starts to become more fine-tuned and starts to be embedded more and more in tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word — is it’s almost going to be a tutor to students.
Donnie Piercey (00:11:56):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Where I could very easily see in a few years, or maybe a few months, who knows what Google or any of these other big companies has rolling out, where a student could highlight a paragraph that they wrote simply, and then say, “Hey, proofread this for me,” or “Check for coherence.” Or even just ask a simple question: “Does this paragraph make sense?” Because you can already do that. You can copy a paragraph over into a chatbot and say, “Hey, does this make sense?” You know, “Rate my idea from one to 10,” and it’ll do that for ’em.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:26):
We did that last week <laugh>.
Donnie Piercey (00:12:28):
Yeah. Right. I mean, that’s the thing. That technology exists now. It’s just not totally embedded yet. But based on what I’ve read and what I’ve seen, that’s gonna happen sooner rather than later. And it’s really, really important that we teach our students that, “No, you’re not just gonna use this, this tool to cheat, but you can use this tool to help you become a more creative student.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:50):
This is the use case in my classroom. Can I talk about that? You ready for that?
Eric Cross (00:12:53):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:54):
OK.
Eric Cross (00:12:54):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:55):
So my ninth graders are writing a comparative analysis essay, where I took them to the student art gallery and I made them pick two pieces of completely unknown student art and take notes on it, so they could go back and write this essay. And as soon as we got back to class, I said, can ChatGPT write this for you? And they all kind of froze ’cause I didn’t tell them what ChatGPT was. And they weren’t sure if they were allowed to know or not. And finally one of them kind of bravely raised his hand and said, “No.” And I said, “Why not?” And he said, “Well, the AI hasn’t seen the art. How can it write an essay about art when the art is completely original that we just went and looked at?” I said, “It’s almost like I planned it that way, isn’t it?” And they laughed nervously. And then I said, “Does that mean it can’t help us with this assignment?” And they said, “Well, no — of course it can’t help us, because it has not seen the art.” And I said, “Well. …” And I open ChatGPT, and I typed in what they were trying to do: “I need to write a comparative analysis essay comparing two pieces of student art on these reasons. And I need to choose which one did it better, basically. Can you help me with an outline?” and ChatGPT produced a lovely outline. And I looked at that with my students and we looked at it together and I said, “This is what it gave us. Would this be helpful to you?” And they’re like, “Yeah, that would be helpful to us.” So we — to be clear here, I was the only one using ChatGPT in the room. They were not actually using it. We were using it together. I copied and pasted the outline that it gave us and put it in their learning management system where they could access it so they could use the outline that the robot provided, and then they could use that to make their own writing better. So then I let them write for a little while, and, after they’d written for a little while, I said, “Does anybody wanna let me share your first paragraph with ChatGPT and see what it thinks of how you’re doing?” And a brave student raised his hand and we took his paragraph and we put it in ChatGPT, and it spit back advice. We said, “This is what I have so far for my first paragraph. Do you have any advice for me?” And we gave it the writing, and the first piece of advice it gave back was very generic, you know, “Add a hook,” you know, like kind of thing. But after that, it started to get more specific about things he was actually doing in his writing. And it started to give him some feedback. And we looked at that together as a class. And I said, “Does any of that feedback help you?” And he said, “Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m gonna go add some revisions to my paragraph.” And other students did too. They looked at the feedback he got and used that to improve their writing. And so everybody went and revised. And I said, “Look, if you take what the robot gives you and you copy and paste it, and you turn it in as your own work, it’s gonna get flagged for plagiarism. And that’s not gonna go well. But if it gives you writing advice the same way I would give you writing advice, and you decide that advice is good, and you take that advice and you incorporate it into your own writing yourself, then the robot’s making you better, but you’re still the one doing your own writing.” And the writing they turned in from that assignment was, was better. It wasn’t written by ChatGPT; it was still about the student art that they found in the gallery. But I showed them a path. Like, it can help you with an outline, it can help you with feedback. Right? These are fair ways to use it that’s gonna make you better. And they really liked that. They really liked — no one had shown them that before. The idea that you don’t just take the teacher’s prompt and give it to it … like, these are new uses to students and worked well.
Eric Cross (00:16:17):
So right now, you both just laid out these ways that you’re using it. And I do this with people that I’m trying to introduce to ChatGPT or AI. ‘Cause I get excited. Anyone could write a 500-word persuasive essay on the use of color in The Great Gatsby or The Outsiders, and they can get something back within seconds. But for a lot of educators, it might feel like the sky is falling.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:43):
Oh, understandably! Understandably. I mean, that totally makes sense.
Eric Cross (00:16:49):
What would you say to them? Donnie, go ahead.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:51):
Yeah. Well, I feel like every teacher kind of goes through the same experience when they see like a generative chatbot. I mean, all these major companies are gonna start incorporating AI, the generative AI piece. And a lot of times, when they see it for the first time, two things. First they’ll say “Oh, but I’ll know that that’s not my students’ writing.” Which, frankly, I think is a good thing, because that tells me that the teachers know their students’ writing. They’ve seen them write in person. They’ve conferenced with them one-on-one. And if a student were to turn something in to me, who I know might be a struggling writer, maybe it’s not their strength, and all of a sudden they’re turning in this10-page dissertation-worthy thesis written at a PhD level, I’m like, “All right, man, you’re nine. Can we talk about where this came from?” <laugh> But I also don’t think that at like the heart, I don’t feel like kids want to cheat. I really don’t. I feel like sometimes like kids are in a situation where they’re like, “OK, I’ve got nothing left. I gotta get this assignment done.” And when those kind of things happen, that’s when we as teachers, we have those one-on-one conversations. Even when I showed my students ChatGPT and even some of the AI image-generating stuff for the first time, and I talked to them about, “What do y’all think about this?” Because, you know, they’re under 13. In my district, ChatGPT is blocked for students. Staff, we have access to it. And that’s just because one, it’s so new, and at the same time, we need to figure out, “What’s the best way they can go about using this tool?” But when we were talking about it as a class, you know, I didn’t want to ignore the elephant in the room. So I asked them, I said, “Hey, do you feel like this is something that you all would use to. …” I mean, I used the word. I said “cheat.” And to be honest, the majority of the students in my class, they were taken aback. They’re like, “What? You think we just would cheat all the time?” Right? <Laugh> And I’m like, “Oh, well good. I’m glad to know that integrity is still alive and well.” But yeah, that’s definitely my thoughts on it, as far as not only the student integrity piece — I think that that’s the big thing that you need to just bring up with your students. Because again, I like to think that I’ve seen my students write enough that if they were going to turn something in that wasn’t their voice, or it didn’t sound like them, like I could have that conversation. And don’t be surprised, too, if in the next … I don’t know, one month to a year, there’s lots of AI detectors that exist. A lot of them are these like third-party things. You can go ahead, but I would not be surprised if in the next year or so, like you start to see those AI detectors be built into Google Docs, into Microsoft Word, into even Canva. And honestly, it’s almost like a fail-safe button for teachers, that we could say “All right, this is telling me that this is 99% probably written by AI.” So you can have that conversation with a student that way.
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:03):
I mean, if you’re worried about it, Formative, right now, will even tell you if something is copy-and-pasted into the boxes that they give you for students to write in. I find that kids who cheat are desperate, you know. Especially at the high school level. They’re panic mode. And, and usually their panic comes from, “I have no idea how to even start this assignment.” And so part of what I wanna use ChatGPT for is to lower that barrier for them. Like, you’ve got an assignment, you don’t know where to start. Tell the robot, tell ChatGPT, about the assignment and ask it for a list of steps. You know, ask it for an outline. Ask it for a time management plan. I see so much tremendous potential for this to help many of my students with IEPs who have executive functioning issues.
Donnie Piercey (00:20:49):
Oh, a hundred percent, right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:51):
Yes, a hundred percent. This can be their personal assistant who, you know, instead of me sitting with them one-on-one and saying, you know, “This is the task you need to do, let’s break it down into these six discrete chunks,” the artificial intelligence can do that for them. And it can do that for teachers too. <laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:21:09):
Jen, I was just thinking about, how long until we see like the phrase artificial intelligence written onto a student’s IEP? I could see that happening very, very soon.
Jennifer Roberts (00:21:20):
Right? They should be able to use that. And then, also, of course, all of its amazing beneficials for teachers. I had to completely rewrite a unit of my curriculum. I knew what I wanted to do. I had some ideas of things I wanted to put in there. And I resorted to, I went to EducationCopilot.com and typed in my stuff that I had: You know, what standards I wanted to cover, what outcomes I was hoping for mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it generated an eight-week unit for me. And I actually told it then to go back and do it as a 12-week unit so that I’d have more stuff in there to go and cherry-pick to decide what I really wanted to do. But it gave me ideas. It gave me places to start. It saved me an hour of just brainstorming. And I don’t think that was cheating. I still got to go in and decide which ideas were valid. And I still got to … you know, I mean, I’m a teacher. Can I get accused of cheating? I don’t think that’s a thing. It’s—
Eric Cross (00:22:18):
That’s collaborating! It’s collaborating!
Donnie Piercey (00:22:20):
Collaborating! It’s a feature! It’s a feature.
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:22):
It’s Tony Stark talking to Jarvis. You know, they’re figuring it out together.
Donnie Piercey (00:22:26):
Oh, when you use the AI, Jennifer, do you call yours Jarvis? In my class we call him Jeeves. ‘Cause remember Ask Jeeves?
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:33):
I think Eric calls it Jarvis.
Eric Cross (00:22:35):
Yeah. Jarvis is gonna be the AI’s name when, when I can get that fully functioning. There are some things that you had said, I just wanna circle back on. Donnie, Jen — so what I heard was like, best intentions. The part you said about integrity and students wanting to cheat … even the mindset that we go in assuming our students, what they would want to do and assuming best intentions, really kind of frames how you look at this kind of technology. And then Jen, you kind of brought up why students cheat, and realizing that either they don’t feel equipped, or maybe it’s time management, or something else. But most people — and I believe this as an educator — most students want to learn, and they want to be able to perform and achieve. And when they cheat, it’s because they didn’t feel like they could, for whatever reason. Whether it’s it’s outside factors, whether it’s something internal, motivation, whatever it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:24):
Or they were very disconnected and just didn’t care.
Eric Cross (00:23:27):
Sure.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:27):
This is just busy work the teacher’s giving me, so I’m gonna give it very little of my time and energy. But I think, yeah, it can be that. But if the kid cares about it, if they wanna learn, they wanna learn, you know?
Eric Cross (00:23:40):
Right.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:40):
This is the day of the internet. Any kid can learn anything they really want to learn. And we see that all the time in our classes. The kid who has zero interest in what I’m teaching in English, but he is an expert coder, and that’s what he wants to spend his time learning. He’s like, “Can I read this C++ book as my independent reading book?” And I’m like, “You know, actually, you can. Go ahead.” <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:24:01):
Yeah. And for both of you, saying that this makes content more accessible … and I think Donnie, or Jen, you said something about IEPs. I actually put in having it write an IEP to see what would happen. I gave it a prompt for a student’s ability level and I asked it to create a plan. And then I asked it to create a rationale. And it did! And it was good! I went through and vetted it. And right now … you know, a lot of it is funny, ’cause the conversation I’m having with different teachers is kind of like the Wikipedia one. Remember when Wikipedia first got out and everyone was like trying to discourage everybody from using it, because, well, it could be changed by anybody? And now everyone’s like, “Oh, check Wikipedia, and then steal the sources, ’cause they’re already done for you.” Like, the mindset has shifted since then. And I was talking to someone and they said, “Well. …” And I said, “We can use AI, it could be a tutor, these other things. …” And they said, “Yeah, but what happens?” And then insert apocalyptic scenario. Like, what happens if you don’t have access to wifi? And it reminded me of, for some reason, cooking classes. So in the 1700s you probably had to be able to farm to be able to generate your food. Right? Like, you had to get it from somewhere. But if you take a culinary class now, you just go to the grocery store. And someone might say, “Well, but you should know how to farm, ’cause what if there was this worldwide apocalypse and nobody could go to the grocery stores?” <Laugh> And you’re like, “Well, balance of probability though.” You know, it’s like we’ve been really been living in these iterations of life, and I think this next step for some folks … like, we don’t even realize, even like something like bank statements, right? So many folks are paperless. And there’s always a what-if scenario. What if you need it and the internet goes down. But we get so used to to to technology advancing and making our lives different. This kind of seems like that next iteration. And I wanna ask you this question: Are we looking at like the next calculator? The next internet, with this tech? Or do you think it’s too early to say?
Donnie Piercey (00:26:01):
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people compare ChatGPT to a calculator. I’ve seen that pop up on social media. There’s, “Oh well, no, this is like when the calculator was invented. Everyone was up in arms about how ‘that’s not what math students should do.’ Math should be pencil and paper, math should be this.’” However, you can give a kid a calculator and you can give ’em a word problem and they can punch in all the numbers, but they could do the wrong operation or they could put the decimal point in the wrong place, ’cause the student is still the one who’s controlling what’s on the calculator. Where with AI, all you gotta do is just copy it and then paste it into the bot and it’ll spit out whatever the question asked it for. Whether it was, you know, a 500-word rationale or proof for something in geometry, or if it’s analyzing data on a chart, it’ll do all that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:27:00):
Yes. But it’s not that magical. It’s back to what Eric did with the IEP. He put in a prompt and then he knew enough to ask for a rationale and then he knew enough about IEPs to critically read the results he got and make sure they actually worked for what he needed. He had to know all that. He was an expert using it to do an expert thing. My husband’s a computer scientist; he got ChatGPT to help him write an app, and it was a new programming language to him, and he could put in the data and he could ask for things that I would’ve never thought to ask for. But because he knows the language of computer science, he knew what to ask for. And when it gave him results that were bad, he could see that, and he could say, “Yes, but do it again, but without this,” or “make this part more efficient.” He, again, knew what to ask for. So I think the generative AI is, as a partner with humans, a powerful thing. But if the human doesn’t know what they’re doing, yeah. You’re still not gonna get great results.
Donnie Piercey (00:28:03):
<laugh> And I think that’s why I’m coming at this from the elementary school perspective, right? Because in K–5 students are still learning, like, “Hey, where does the decimal point go?” They’re still learning, you know, if you’re dividing by a two-digit number, where does the first digit go, if you go in the old long-division algorithm? And so they’re still acquiring that base-level knowledge that … I don’t know, maybe this is similar to in Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum says, “It didn’t take any knowledge to attain,” you know, “they stood on the shoulders of geniuses,” that whole thing. Like they had to acquire the knowledge for themselves, was his whole point. And so that’s why I don’t think it’s exactly the same as the calculator. It is definitely going to change things, in a similar way that the calculator did. But to me it’s just a whole new animal. And I don’t know if it’s going to be like the next internet, Eric — if you’re gonna get little devices that have AI built into it, like a Star Wars kind of thing, like a droid or something that follows you around — all that would be kind of cool, not gonna lie. But whether it’s something that you’ll access through the internet, something that’s built into your TV, that part I don’t know. But I do know that there’s a reason why all of these apps and all these companies are investing so much — not just energy, but time and money into it. Because they’re recognizing. “OK, this really has the potential to change things.” But if used well, and used safely, to change people’s lives for the better.
Eric Cross (00:29:41):
So I definitely hear that you both agree with the statement that if AI ChatGPT was used in the classroom, it could be a force for good. And literacy development. And I wanna shift gears a bit and then come back to the AI. So with that said — and we’re gonna get into some best practices in a minute — in Science Connections right now in this season, we’re making the case for how science can do more in classrooms and in schools. And so I’m I’m curious about what both of you think about the role in science fostering a better future when it comes to AI and education. And this season we’re really talking a lot about literacy. You know, in schools, so often it’s taught in a siloed way. And Donnie, you’re doing multi-subject. Jen, you’re single-subject: English. And we’ve really been trying to make this case for how science can actually support literacy, and these skills that students are trying to develop. So we’re going a little old-school, kind of diving into your content specialty, but maybe even pre-AI, or maybe AI has a component in this. But Don, maybe we’ll start with you. How has science been a way that has been helpful for your own literacy instruction? I know you do a lot of science, because I see your Google Earth stuff and the thing you did with the solar systems back in the day. And I think —.
Donnie Piercey (00:30:54):
Oh my gosh! You remember my <laugh> … wow.
Eric Cross (00:30:58):
That was amazing!
Donnie Piercey (00:31:00):
We haven’t done that since the pandemic. But I had my students go out, and using Google Earth, we built a scale model. Each of the students partnered up and they planned out on Google Earth a scale model of the solar system. They picked an object from around their house and we talked about like, “Don’t pick something bigger than a beach ball, or else, you know, your Neptune’s gonna end up like 10 miles away.” But you know, they just picked like a small ball, like a basketball, soccer ball, something like that. Or football, for international friends. And then we calculated the size of every other planet. And then on Google Earth, using their front lawn as where the sun was, then we went and we calculated where other planets would be, and then we actually drove to those locations and like held up the objects that would represent Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, and all that. But it was a lot of fun.
Eric Cross (00:31:59):
And is that still accessible? ‘Cause I know you have some websites that you put resources out there.
Donnie Piercey (00:32:03):
Yeah. Yeah, I can … I wanna say on my Resources page — Resources.MrPiercey.com — I’ve got a link on there to a couple of student examples that I can share. And if not, when we get off this call, I’m gonna go on and put them on there <laugh> so people can find it. I’ll even throw on there just the assignment itself. So if you wanted to copy that and do that with your students, you could.
Eric Cross (00:32:27):
Donnie, the reason why I brought that up is because I saw that you had posted that or shared it a long time ago, and I just thought it was the coolest thing that you could totally do with middle-school students or high-school students. Jen, when I became a teacher, you said, “We’re all teachers of literacy.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:32:43):
<laugh> Yeah. I think we forgot to tell them that I was one of your professors.
Eric Cross (00:32:47):
Yes. <Jennifer laughs> One of the people who’ve definitely influenced and shaped my teaching. And that statement has never left my mind: that we’re all teachers of literacy. And I want to ask you, at the high-school level, how can science educators, or how can science — how have you seen it, or how does it, support literacy, when it’s done right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:33:09):
Like I said, I think we’re all teachers of literacy, but I think literacy is bigger than just reading and writing. I don’t think someone is literate if they can’t talk somewhat knowledgeably about what’s happening with climate change. I don’t think someone’s literate if they don’t know what’s going on in the world. And I think so much of what’s going on in the world has to do with science. We’re doing that all the time. If I could teach English just by giving kids articles about science, things to read, that would make my day. Right? We would never read another piece of fiction again. It would all be, you know, what’s happening to the ice sheet in Greenland. My students thrive on reading non-fiction. And then whenever that non-fiction touches on science is even more interesting. And whenever I can get them writing about data, particularly their own data that they collected, I think that’s building those science literacy skills as well. So I think science and English blend together very, very well. I think the literacy aspects of that are fantastic. There are more subject-specific vocabulary words, advanced vocabulary words, in science than any other discipline. And I don’t see why those shouldn’t come up in English as well. You know, my seniors will do a unit at the end of the year on the new space race. Unless I replace it with a unit about generative AI, which I’m seriously considering doing, ’cause I think they really need to learn about bias in AI algorithms and things like that. And I would like to have them read a whole bunch about that stuff. And I wanna give them the open letter that all those CEOs signed that said that AI research should slow down, and make them part of that live conversation about what’s happening in that field. So science comes into that. You know, when we read Into the Wild, we start talking about a whole bunch of scientific concepts. And when it rains in Southern California, we pull up weather maps and look at radar and talk about that and how that works.
Donnie Piercey (00:34:59):
That’s like once every 10 years, Jen? <Laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:02):
Well, actually, this year it rained a lot. It rained a lot in San Diego. Which is actually very high-interest for them. ‘Cause they wanna know, is it gonna be raining at lunchtime?
Eric Cross (00:35:12):
Jen, you said something … you have your students writing about data?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:16):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (00:35:17):
Can you tell me more about that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:19):
So, this is something we’ve done with the ninth grade team for a long time now, is writing about their own data. So it started with a unit about stereotypes and stereotype threat. And they would collect data individually and then they would enter that data into a Google form and then we would give them the spreadsheet of the aggregate data from the whole ninth grade. And then we morphed that unit into one about academic honesty, and they filled out a survey at the beginning of the unit about their feelings about academic honesty and about experiences with academic honesty and cheating and homework and things like that. And then we would do the unit. We’d do all the readings in the unit. And they’d have these “aha” moments about things that were happening at other schools. And then at the end of the unit, we would give them back their own aggregate data and ask them to write about whether or not academic honesty was an issue at our school. And then to support that answer with evidence from their own dataset. So they had that spreadsheet to comb through and figure out, you know, where am I gonna stand on this? We give them the multiple-choice questions we gave them as the graphs, in Google Slides, so that they could write about them and talk about them, too. So yeah, getting kids to write about data. And the the sentence frames we gave them were sentence frames out of, They Say, I Say, from the chapter on writing about science. And <laugh> as they write this stuff, they’re like, “I feel so smart writing this way.” And I’m like, “I know, ’cause you’re writing about big important topics!” Right? And writing about their own data come to think of it is another great way to make an assignment both very personal to them, but also make it ChatGPT-proof, you know, if you’re looking for something that kids can’t just hand to the robot, the robot doesn’t have that data set.
Eric Cross (00:37:08):
Absolutely. And Donnie, at the elementary level, do you, do you make connections between science and literacy? In your class? You talked about with math, definitely with the solar system, but now, I’m curious, what are your newer projects? What have you been working on lately?
Jennifer Roberts (00:37:23):
What’s up now, Donnie?
Eric Cross (00:37:24):
Yeah, what are you doing?
Donnie Piercey (00:37:25):
Oh, man. Well, let me think. I’m just trying to think of some fun projects that we’ve done this year. Science that we can tie in Literacy and also some student creation. Just recently we had a … so I’ve wanted to expose my students to famous scientists that weren’t just white dudes from Europe. So for this year, what I did — and I actually used AI for this — I went into ChatGPT and I asked for 64 famous scientists and it listed them all off. And then I asked it, like, how many of these were white? And I think it said like 61 of them. You know, it had like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and a couple of other … I didn’t know who they were. So I’m like, “All right, so we need to make this more diverse and make this more equitable.” ‘Cause you know, with the student population in my classroom, try to find equal representation to make sure they can see themselves in some of these scientists. So, eventually got it narrowed down to where I had about 64 scientists. Half are women, half are men from all continents except Antarctica. I assigned these scientists to my students. Some got two; some got three. And their assignment was to go and one, do some individual research on this person, find out what they were famous for, what they were most well-known for, turn it actually into a persuasive piece, where I said, “Hey, you’re gonna have one slide.” And I’ll tell you why I gave him one slide in a minute. On that one slide, you’ve gotta convince the person who sees it that this scientist is the most important scientist since the dawn of creation. I said, “You could use images, text — I don’t care if they were famous for something that you didn’t even understand what it was. It’s a persuasive piece. You’re 10. Go all out. Add gifs, do that whole thing.
Eric Cross (00:39:21):
This is awesome.
Jennifer Roberts (00:39:21):
I wanna do this project.
Donnie Piercey (00:39:23):
And if you picked up on the number 64, and I did this in March, so what we did was throughout the weeks of March Madness of the women’s and men’s NCAA tournament, whenever a game was going on, we had another round of voting. I just paired ’em up. I was gonna like seed them, like 1 to 64 — that’s just way too much work for me <laugh>. So I just kind of did random kind of thing. But all the students had to do — they just saw the slides side-by-side, and the only question they had was, “Based on what you see here, who is the most important scientist? This person or this person?” And it eventually came down to Carl Sagan going up against Marie Curie.
Eric Cross (00:40:04):
OK, that’s a good matchup.
Donnie Piercey (00:40:06):
Yeah, well, the Marie Curie slide, they just liked the radium piece. So they added like some green glowing gifs. And I said, “Guys, it doesn’t always grow glow green.” But whatever. Anyway, eventually Carl Sagan, in case you wanted to know, according to the 10-year-olds in my classroom, is the most important scientist in the history of the world. So I don’t know if I agree with that per se — I think maybe Newton or somebody else might have had something else to say about it — but fun assignment. It was a unique way to expose my students to a bunch of ideas. I remember the student that I assigned Newton, the only thing that that she knew about Isaac Newton was “Didn’t he get hit in the head with an apple?” And I said, “Well, not exactly, I think you might have read or maybe seen too many like old-school cartoons or whatever.” But she ended up doing some research. She’s like, “Oh, I’ve heard of that before! That equal and opposite reaction thing.” Didn’t know what it meant. I had another student that just got really … you know, if you’ve ever been on one of those YouTube kicks where it’s just, you go like nine levels deep onto like, “What does this theorem mean?” Student sits in back of my classroom, I walked by one day and he’s just watching something on like the fifth dimension and what it might be. And I said, “Oh, your scientist got you started on that.” So definitely was a lot of fun. Unique way to combine reading, writing, but also expose my students to some ideas. And we’re definitely gonna do it again. I’ve actually done this assignment before. I picked 64 random elements on the periodic table. But their only slide that they have to make is “What’s your element? What is it used for? And then, why is this the most important element since the dawn of creation?” <Laugh> And, you know, there’s always that student that gets hydrogen. They’re just like “Sweet!” Right? They get excited about that one. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:41:59):
Explosions.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:00):
Yeah. But then, for that kid who likes a challenge, or that student with the “gifted” label, you give them, like, einsteinium or palladium. Some of the more challenging ones. And they go all out with this. I didn’t use AI for that one, but it was kind of fun, and I figured it’d be neat to share an idea that another teacher could try.
Eric Cross (00:42:20):
Well you probably have at least two teachers right now that are gonna go and try that. And we’re both looking at you. So.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:24):
Go for it.
Eric Cross (00:42:25):
Thanks for that idea. I’m imagining my students coming in with jerseys with “neon.”
Donnie Piercey (00:42:29):
Oh yeah. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:42:30):
“Neon” on it. Just all ’80s out.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:33):
The game behind it, too, is you tell kids — again, this is just so the 10-year-olds in my class don’t get their feelings hurt — but I say, “Hey, and if your element gets knocked out, you just have to start cheering for whoever beats you in the tournament.” So by the end, you kind of got half the class cheering for one and half the class cheering for whatever.
Jennifer Roberts (00:42:53):
So the only thing I got outta that whole story that I’ve got for you is, as a child I met Carl Sagan. That’s all I got.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:02):
For real?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:02):
For real.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:03):
So did he talk with that cadence and tone?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:06):
Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:06):
Like in real life? Wow.
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:07):
Yes. My father was one of the cinematographers on the original Cosmos. And I got to go to the set a few times.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:14):
That’s incredible!
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:15):
I did not appreciate what I was seeing as a child. But as an adult, I’m like, “That was cool. I was there.”
Donnie Piercey (00:43:20):
“You can see my shadow off in the distance.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:23):
I mean, maybe that’s part of why I’ve always had an interest in science. I’ve always had fantastic science teachers. Every science teacher I ever had was amazing.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:31):
I credit mine to Mr. Wizard. I don’t know if you ever watched Mr. Wizard and Beakman’s World?
Eric Cross (00:43:35):
I remember Mr. Wizard. Yep. Yep. I definitely remember Mr. Wizard, Beakman’s World, all those. That was on Nickelodeon back in the day. I had to get up early to watch that one. But there’s a YouTube video—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:44):
Six am!
Eric Cross (00:43:44):
<laugh> It was! It was super-early! But there was one, Don, I don’t know if you’ve seen this on YouTube, but it said “Mr. Wizard Is Mean,” and it’s just clips of when he’s—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:56):
Yelling at kids!
Eric Cross (00:43:56):
Chastising. Or being really direct. It’s just one after another.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:02):
He always asked ’em a question and if the kid, you know, didn’t answer it right, he’d be like, “Well, you’re not right, but you’re wrong.” You know, whatever. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:44:14):
I have to make sure I’m not subconsciously saying Mr. Wizard quotes when I’m talking in the classroom, when things are happening. But yeah, that video’s hilarious. So I just want to bring us back to AI, and ask this question: Do you think science has a special role to play when it comes to teaching kids about AI responsibly? Does science have a special role in that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:36):
I think the responsible piece of AI I wanna teach my students about is the part about the bias in the algorithms and the bias in the training. And I want them to understand how it works, well enough to make informed decisions about how it impacts their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:56):
Hmm.
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:57):
Because I do have concerns about a tool that was trained on the internet. And the answers it gives you is the average of the internet. And do we trust the internet? And the answer from kids is always, “Well sorta, no.” <Laugh> So I want them to understand the social science behind that.
Donnie Piercey (00:45:18):
Yeah. And just along that same point, having the students recognize that just because, you know, you copy-and-paste a question in, the answer it spits out might not always be correct. So, teaching them that just like you would with a source that you find about a topic that you’re researching, you’ve gotta fact-check.
Jennifer Roberts (00:45:44):
It’s just like being a good scientist. A good scientist wouldn’t always accept a single result or the first result. You know, you would look at multiple angles. You would try things different ways. Last week I took the article my seniors were reading about victim compensation after 9-11, and in front of them, I gave ChatGPT, I said, “Are you familiar with this article by Amanda Ripley? And ChatGPT came back and said, “Oh yes, this was written in the Atlantic in 2020 and it’s about these things, blah, blah blah.” And my students looked at that and went, “That’s not the article we read.” And I said, “I know. It got it wrong. That’s amazing!” Yeah. And I was so happy that it got it wrong! ‘Cause I wanted them to see that happen.
Donnie Piercey (00:46:21):
And I guess one of the big science questions there, or one of the big science components there, is that idea of inquiry. Right? It’s almost like you have to teach students how to ask those deep questions about what AI spits out.
Eric Cross (00:46:35):
All of those tips are great. And it leads me to this last question I want to ask. New teachers that are out there — it actually doesn’t even matter; new teachers, experienced teachers, all of us are kind of new at different levels of this race. We’re all kind of starting it together. I mean, it hit mainstream. We’re all getting exposed to it. You all really dive into it. When tech comes out, I know you two really like, “OK, how can we use this to transform education and do awesome things for kids?”
Donnie Piercey (00:47:04):
Usually, when new tech comes out, “How can this make my life easier?” is usually the question. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:09):
“How can I save myself time with this?” Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:47:11):
“How can this result in me watching more TV and you know, less grading,” sometimes.
Eric Cross (00:47:16):
And I start there like you, but then I end up more time that I fill with another project. And I need to learn how to stop doing that. I’m like, “Oh! I got more free time! … to go take on this other task.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:28):
Oh, all of my tech adoption is driven by “how can I work less?”
Eric Cross (00:47:32):
So you’re you’re talking to a new teacher, teacher’s getting exposed to this, they’re starting the school year or they’re just getting their feet wet with it. What advice would you give them about AI, incorporated into content or even just best practices? Where you’re at right now in your own journey, and someone’s asking you about it —what would you share with ’em? And Jen, I want to start with you.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:53):
So, the first thing I did is I was in the middle of grading, you know, 62 essays from my seniors about Into the Wild, when ChatGPT became a thing last November. And I wanted to see what would happen. So the first thing I did was take the prompt that I had given my students and gave it to ChatGPT, ’cause I had just graded a whole bunch of those essays and my brain was very attuned to what my rubric was doing and what I was expecting as the outcome. So I could take what ChatGPT gave me as that quote unquote “essay” and evaluate it critically. And I was ready to do that. So my first advice is take something you’re already asking students to do and ask ChatGPT to do the same thing. So that as you look at the student results, you can compare that to what ChatGPTgives you. If what you’re finding is that ChatGPT can generate something that would earn a decent grade from you, you might need to change that assignment. And it doesn’t need to be a big change, but it might need a tweak or something, so that it, it does rely on the student voice, the students to do something more personal. I’m finding very helpful in my classroom is having my kids do projects where they are recording themselves on — I like Flip. So they’re writing a scene together and they’re having to record the scene together. And I’m emphasizing more of the speaking roles than the writing roles necessarily. So yes, first, take something you’re already doing, paste in to ChatGPT, see what the results are, see how that fits with what your students are doing, and then do that for every assignment you give and just sort of see what comes out of that, and see which assignments are failing and which assignments are working. ‘Cause that’s gonna give you a sense, when you do see one of those results from your students, you’ll be able to recognize it. But it’ll also help you tweak your assignments and decide, “How can I make this a little more original or a little bit more authentic for my students?” And if the robot, if the AI, can’t generate a response, what could the AI do that would be helpful to your students? Would be my next question. So can you use the AI to help them generate an outline? Can you use the AI to help them generate a list of steps to help them get started? And when you’re comfortable enough doing that by yourself, then don’t be afraid to open it in front of your class. If it’s not blocked at your school site, which I hope it’s not. Because I think the advantage goes to kids who have access to this in the long run, or at least see what it is and know what it is. Right? Because if a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world. So give them a chance to see you using it. Model effectively using it. I have a blog post about that. I just wrote it. LitAndTech.com. You can check that out. “Introducing 9th graders to ChatGPT.” How it went, right? There’s a chart there you can have. It’s my very first draft of this, but it seems to be very popular. So, you know, show students how it can be used as their mentor. If I can’t come read your paragraph because I have 36 kids in my classroom and I cannot stop and read everybody’s first paragraph, can you, if you want to, give your first paragraph to ChatGPT and ask for advice? And will that advice be helpful to you? So showing students how it can be used responsibly is, I think, something every teacher should be doing right now. And don’t hold back just because you’re afraid you’re gonna be teaching them what this is. They know what this is. Right?
Donnie Piercey (00:51:13):
They know what it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:51:13):
Especially if you teach high school. They know what it is. I’ve had parents thank me for showing them how to use it responsibly. You know, this can actually be a really useful tool, but if you’re trying to make it do your work for you, it will probably fail you. If you’re trying to use it to help you do your work, it will probably be helpful. Sort of the way I’m breaking it down for them at this point. You want the great metaphor? The great metaphor is if you build a robot and send it to the top of a mountain, did you climb that mountain? No. If you build a robot and ask it to help you get to the top of the mountain, and you and the robot go together, did you climb that mountain? Yes.
Eric Cross (00:51:53):
I like that. I’m thinking through this. I’m processing that now.
Donnie Piercey (00:51:57):
Me too.
Eric Cross (00:51:59):
Yeah. I just imagine a robot holding my hand climbing Mount Everest and I’m like, “Yeah, I did it.”
Donnie Piercey (00:52:04):
If I got a robot though, like I would have to dress it like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2. Like I would just have to.
Eric Cross (00:52:10):
Of course.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:10):
Of course.
Eric Cross (00:52:13):
Donnie, same question. Advice. Teachers getting immersed into it. Tips. What would you say?
Donnie Piercey (00:52:20):
So, I would definitely agree with everything that Jen said. Just, if anything else, to familiarize yourself with it. Almost like pretend like it’s a student in your classroom and it’s answering questions, just so that way you can see what it can do. And you’re kind of training yourself, like, “Oh, well, if I ever need examples, exemplars.” If you’re in a writing piece and you don’t wanna sit there and write out four different types of student responses — you know, advanced writer, beginning writer, whatever — great way to to do that is you just—
Jennifer Roberts (00:52:48):
Oh yeah. We did that.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:48):
—copy the prompt in and give a beautifully written piece that a fifth grader would be impressed with. Boom. It’ll do it for you. In my classroom, the way that I approach it is I kinda look at AI as almost like this butler that I don’t have to pay. That if I need it to do something for me, it’s just bookmarked. I can click it. And I mean, sometimes I just talk to it like it’s a person. And it’s almost like, in the chat window, I’m just rambling at it, what I’m trying to do. And it’s almost like I’m talking to a coworker, and I’m trying to hedge out some ideas for a lesson. Simple example: For a science lesson, if you’re trying to come up with … let’s say you’re a fifth-grade — or, sorry, I teach fifth grade. Say you’re a seventh-grade science teacher. And you’re trying to teach the students in your class about Newton’s third law of motion. You know, every action [has an ] equal and opposite reaction. Look around your room. See what you have. Maybe look around and you’re like, “All right, I got a whiteboard, microscope, I’ve got magnets, a cylinder. …” And you just copy all this stuff into ChatGPT. Say, like, “Hey, I have all of these items. Cotton balls, peanut butter, whatever.” And say, “I’m trying to teach students Newton’s third law of motion. Give me some ideas of some ways I could teach it using some of these materials.” And it’ll do it! It’ll give you like five to 10 ideas!
Jennifer Roberts (00:54:15):
And then tell it what your students are into. Like, my students are really into basketball. Can you work that into this lesson?
Donnie Piercey (00:54:21):
Yeah! They’re into the Avengers! Hey, find some way to tie Spider-Man into this. You know, that was a pun that didn’t go so well. But, you know <laugh> figure out some way that you could incorporate this and it’ll do it. And Eric, like you said, it won’t be perfect. Right? But if anything else, if you’re a starting teacher and you’re trying to brainstorm ideas — try it.
Eric Cross (00:54:44):
And Donnie, as you were saying that, I was thinking — first, I imagined Spider-Man shooting cotton balls with peanut butter all over them — and then my mind went to having students have these items, like you were saying. And then they create labs, working alongside AI. To do inquiry. To create a lab about something, and then going and performing and collecting data. OK, that’s — now I wanna go do that tomorrow!
Donnie Piercey (00:55:10):
Listen, it is so easy to do. If you have an extra computer in your classroom. … We were talking about Jarvis and Iron Man and Tony Stark earlier. Make a new chat in ChatGPT. Tell it, “I want you to pretend that you are Tony Stark. Only answer questions as if you are Tony Stark.” Or “Pretend you’re Jarvis.” Whatever. “Stay in character the whole time. I’m going to have sixth grade students come up to you and ask you questions about science or forces of nature, and only answer questions like you’re Iron Man.” And guess what? You keep that station in your classroom. Students are working on a project — you know, in elementary school, a lot of times we’ll have that, “ask three before me” — you’re supposed to ask three friends before you go and bug the teacher. Well, maybe one of those “three before me” can be that little computer station, where they go up and ask Tony Stark a question, and then it answers them as Jarvis or Iron Man. I mean, we’re really just scratching the surface with all this AI stuff. And as more and more companies and more and more creatives are gonna start to realize everything that it can do, we’re gonna start to see it more and more. And hopefully we as teachers can really figure out how to use this tool to, of course, help students, but also help them be creative and explore and learn on their own.
Eric Cross (00:56:35):
That’s amazing. And just both of you are just dropping gems right now. And I wanna wrap up by saying — and I’ve said this before on earlier podcasts I’ve done — but at this phase in my life, the people that I’m the biggest fans of are teachers. And it’s true. I don’t mean that in a cliche way. When I watch celebrities and things like that, when I watch professional sports, that doesn’t fill me the way it used to when I was a kid. At this point, as a professional, I get inspired by other educators who are just doing awesome things. And when I think about educators who are doing that, you two are on that list of people that make me better. And when I get better, I can do better things for my kids. And so, one, I want to thank you for staying in the classroom and continue to support students. They’re so lucky to have you both. The second thing I wanted to say is, Jen, I wanna start with you. Where can people — and I know we said at the beginning — but where can people find the stuff that you put out? You got blogs, your social, your book.
Jennifer Roberts (00:57:28):
I got lots of social. Twitter, I’m JenRoberts1 on Twitter. And then my blog is LitAndTech.com. And then I’m on lots of the new social too, the Mastodons, the Spoutables, the Posts — those kinds of things — as just Jen Roberts, because I got in early and I got my real name without a 1. And there was some other one I’m on recently that I’ve forgotten about. But there’s lots of ’em. They’re fun. And I’m Jen Roberts. You can find me there.
Donnie Piercey (00:57:56):
And I’m SergeantPepperD on AOL, if anyone’s interested.
Eric Cross (00:58:00):
If you wanna hit Donnie up on AIM. <Laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:58:03):
SergeantPepperD.
Jennifer Roberts (00:58:04):
You know, speaking of rock stars and people who do amazing things, I did write a blog post about using ChatGPT in the classroom, but I hear Donnie wrote a whole book.
Eric Cross (00:58:13):
Oh yeah. So, Donnie! Donnie, that’s a great segue. Thanks Jen. Donnie, how do people find out more? And can you tell us about this book you wrote, that’s coming out in the summer?
Donnie Piercey (00:58:22):
Yeah, so the book I wrote is called 50 Strategies for Integrating AI Into the Classroom. It’s published by Teacher Created Materials. They reached out to me. They had seen some of the stuff that I was doing, not just with ChatGPT, but also some image-generating AI stuff. You know, I got featured on Good Morning America, which was kind of cool. And they saw that and they said, ‘Hey, that looks really neat.” Reached out to me and asked me to write a book. And the idea behind the book, that launches this summer, it’s just 50 ideas, 50 prompts, different things that, as a classroom teacher, that you can do. So, you know, I think there’s so many AI books that are out there now. A lot of them are big ideas, which I think are important. Definitely important discussions that need to be, have around, the ethics of AI. What’s the role that AI should play in the classroom. But I just wanted to write a book, kind of like the discussion that, that Jen and I were just having, which is like, “Can we just share a whole bunch of ideas, different things that we could try with our students?” So definitely check it out. And I appreciate you giving me a shout-out too. That was cool, Eric. Thank you.
Eric Cross (00:59:35):
Of course. Definitely. And Donnie, your Twitter is again. …
Donnie Piercey (00:59:39):
Oh, @MrPiercey, M R P I E R C E Y.
Eric Cross (00:59:44):
Follow Donnie. Follow Jen. Tons of stuff on there. Both of you, thank you so much. For your time, for talking about students and how we can take care of them, science, literacy, AI. I hope we can talk about this again. I feel like even if in just six months, we might be saying different things. In a year, the landscape might completely change. And that makes it really fun. But thank you both for being on the show.
Jennifer Roberts (01:00:04):
Thank you for having us, Eric.
Donnie Piercey (01:00:05):
Thank you so much, Eric. We appreciate it, bud.
Eric Cross (01:00:10):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Jen Roberts and Donnie Piercey. Jen Roberts is a veteran English teacher at San Diego’s Point Loma High School and author of the book Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. You can keep up with her at LitAndTech.com. And Donnie Piercey is a fifth-grade teacher from Lexington, Kentucky. He hosts the podcast Teachers Passing Notes. Stay up-to-date with him at Resources.MrPiercey.com. And let us know what you think of this episode in our Facebook discussion group, Science Connections: The Community. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And as always, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more people and AI robots find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows on our podcast hub, Amplify.com/hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guests
Jen Roberts is a Nationally Board Certified high school English teacher with 25+ years of experience teaching Social Science and English Language Arts in grades 7-12. She has had 1:1 laptops for her students since 2008 and is the co-author of Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. A Google for Education Certified Innovator since 2011, Jen was named the CUE Outstanding Educator in 2022. Her interests include literacy instruction, standards based grading, and leveraging Google tools to make her teaching more efficient and effective.
Donnie Piercey, the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, is a fifth-grade teacher in Lexington, Kentucky. With a passion for utilizing technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement, he has been teaching since 2007. In addition to being in the classroom, he runs a podcast, Teachers Passing Notes that is produced by the Peabody Award winning GZMShows, and holds several recognitions, including a National Geographic Fellowship to Antarctica in 2018. His most recent work in Artificial Intelligence has not gone unnoticed, earning him multiple appearances on Good Morning America, the Associated Press, and PBS. His upcoming book, “50 Strategies for Integrating AI in the Classroom” published by Teacher Created Materials, is written for educators looking for practical classroom approaches to using AI. All told, Donnie has been invited to keynote and present at schools in thirty-three states and on five continents.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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Review Materials
Teacher Reference Guides
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides. Before you panic, rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Digital Lessons: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Read this help article to learn more.
Hands-on kits
Every unit of our program includes a dedicated hands-on materials kit. Due to the amount of materials involved, we provided your committee two sample kits per grade level. Our unit-specific kits make material management easy for teachers—they grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease. Plus, items needed for multiple units are duplicated and found in each tub.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give you enough non-consumable materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Overview
Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Cohesive units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Hands-on investigations
Literacy integration
Simulations and modeling tools
Classroom discussions
EdReports All-Green
Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities.
As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer days than other programs.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 2)
This Part 2 video demonstrates how to use the Futura Workspace to manage the immersive experience of the Engineering Internship units. This includes guidance on how to create student groups, how to review student work, and how to send students targeted feedback on their designs.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Unit 1
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Unit 2
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Unit 3
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Unit 4
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Unit 5
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Unit 6
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Unit 7
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Unit 8
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Unit 9
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Unit 1
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Unit 2
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Unit 3
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Unit 4
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Unit 5
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Unit 6
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Unit 7
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Unit 8
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Unit 9
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Unit 1
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Unit 2
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Unit 3
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Unit 4
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Unit 5
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Unit 6
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Unit 7
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Unit 8
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Unit 9
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Access program
Watch the video to the right plus the ones below showing you how to navigate our digital platform. When you’re ready, follow the instructions below to log into our live demo account.
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- To explore as a teacher, enter this username (t1.washoemssci@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password ( Amplify1-washoemssci).
- To explore as a student, enter this username (s1.washoemssci@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password ( Amplify1-washoemssci).
- Choose your grade level from the drop-down menu.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 1)
This Part 1 video demonstrates how Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 2)
This Part 2 video demonstrates how to use the Futura Workspace to manage the immersive experience of the Engineering Internship units. This includes guidance on how to create student groups, how to review student work, and how to send students targeted feedback on their designs.
Navigating our reporting tools
Teachers of Amplify Science grades 6–8 have access to a feature called Reporting. When unit assessments are administered digitally, the Reporting tool enables teachers to analyze student performance on the unit assessments.
Differentiation post-assessment
Every core unit of Amplify Science 6–8 features a formal formative assessment opportunity at the mid-way point, or Critical Juncture, of the unit, which provides an important opportunity for differentiation.
Resources
Overview
With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts.
No matter where your students are learning, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and make sense of real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Watch the videos below to learn how the program empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers every day.
Grades 6–8
EdReports All-Green
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities.
As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer days than other programs.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Unit 1
Geology on Mars
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Planetary geologists
Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.
Unit 2
Plate Motion
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.
Unit 3
Plate Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.
Unit 4
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Unit 5
Earth, Moon, and Sun
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Astronomers
Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.
Unit 6
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.
Unit 7
Weather Patterns
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic meteorologists
Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.
Unit 8
Earth’s Changing Climate
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Climatologists
Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.
Unit 9
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Civil engineers
Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Rock Transformations
Domain: Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Geologists
Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Unit 1
Microbiome
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Microbiological researchers
Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.
Unit 2
Metabolism
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Medical researchers
Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.
Unit 3
Metabolism Engineering Internship
Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Food engineers
Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.
Unit 4
Traits and Reproduction
Domain: Life Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biomedical students
Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.
Unit 5
Populations and Resources
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.
Unit 6
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Ecologists
Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.
Unit 7
Natural Selection
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Biologists
Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.
Unit 8
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Clinical engineers
Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.
Unit 9
Evolutionary History
Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Paleontologists
Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.
Unit 1
Harnessing Human Energy
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design
Unit type: Launch
Student role: Energy scientists
Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.
Unit 2
Force and Motion
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.
Unit 3
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Mechanical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.
Unit 4
Magnetic Fields
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Physicists
Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.
Unit 5
Thermal Energy
Domain: Physical Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Thermal scientists
Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.
Unit 6
Phase Change
Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Chemists
Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.
Unit 7
Phase Change Engineering Internship
Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science
Unit type: Engineering internship
Student role: Chemical engineering interns
Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.
Unit 8
Chemical Reactions
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Forensic chemists
Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.
Unit 9
Light Waves
Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science
Unit type: Core
Student role: Spectroscopists
Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.
Access program
Watch the video to the right plus the ones below showing you how to navigate our digital platform. When you’re ready, follow the instructions below to log into our live demo account.
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- To explore as a teacher, enter this username (t1.cartwrightsd@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password (Amplify1-cartwrightsd).
- To explore as a student, enter this username (s1.cartwrightsd@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password (Amplify1-cartwrightsd).
- Choose your grade level from the drop-down menu.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 1)
This Part 1 video demonstrates how Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 2)
This Part 2 video demonstrates how to use the Futura Workspace to manage the immersive experience of the Engineering Internship units. This includes guidance on how to create student groups, how to review student work, and how to send students targeted feedback on their designs.
Navigating a Launch Unit
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of the program. The goal of a Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year.
Navigating a Core Unit
Core units introduce a real-world problem and support students as they figure out the anchoring phenomenon and gain an understanding of the unit’s DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs.
Navigating our reporting tools
Teachers of Amplify Science grades 6–8 have access to a feature called Reporting. When unit assessments are administered digitally, the Reporting tool enables teachers to analyze student performance on the unit assessments.
Differentiation post-assessment
Every core unit of Amplify Science 6–8 features a formal formative assessment opportunity at the mid-way point, or Critical Juncture, of the unit, which provides an important opportunity for differentiation.
Navigating an Engineering Internship
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Navigating Classwork and Reporting
Classwork is our new online grading tool that gives you quick and easy access to unreviewed work, student portfolios of work, and automatically generated differentiation groups.
Resources
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
Amplify Science physical samples can be found at the Hamersley Library at Western Oregon University. There you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the teacher username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the student username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
Research behind Amplify Science
Program structure for grades 6–8
Amplify Science – Prince George
S1-04: Connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom: Ryan Rudkin
In this special episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with veteran middle school teacher Ryan Rudkin. Ryan shares her expertise after almost two decades in the classroom, discussing ways to incorporate aspects of problem-based learning into the K–8 science classroom. Eric and Ryan talk about how to increase parent engagement, involve community members, and add excitement to lessons.
Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:00):
I know there’s other goals in mind, you know, standards and test scores. But at the end of the day, I wanna come back and I want them to come back.
Eric Cross (00:35):
My name’s Eric Cross, host of our science podcast, and I am with Ryan Rudkin, middle-school teacher out here in California just to the north up near Sacramento? El Dorado Hills?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:46):
Yeah. 20 miles east of Sacramento.
Eric Cross (00:49):
Nice. And I am down here in San Diego. And so Ryan, to start off, what I wanna do is ask you about your origin story, like a superhero. So how did you become a middle-school science teacher to become part of this elite profession of science folks that get to do awesome things with kids?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (01:08):
I would agree with you that it is definitely an elite profession. I got my credential and I thought I was gonna teach third or fourth grade elementary school. And the second day I got called for a sub job for middle school. And I just thought, “We’ll take it,” you know? And by second period, I knew: This is where I belong. The kids, middle school, students are just a species of their own. And you have to appreciate them. And if you do appreciate them, then you’re in the right spot. And I quickly looked at my coursework and I was able to get authorizations in science, history, and English, and I love science. So I chose science. And the rest is history. It’s been a wild ride and I wouldn’t have changed or asked for anything different. I love it.
Eric Cross (02:02):
I definitely agree with you. So, your history—you’ve been in various middle-school classrooms. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What classrooms have you been in? What disciplines of science have you taught or are currently teaching?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:14):
I was hired for seventh grade life science, and then I did that for a few years and then I got moved into eighth physical science, and I was there for 12 years. Love eighth grade science. I love eighth graders. Chemistry and physics are my favorite. There’s just so much opportunity for just awesome labs, great conversations, student discourse, all of that. And then the past three years I’ve been in sixth grade and now we’re integrated. So,a sixth grade integrated science and I also teach social studies and a technology design class.
Eric Cross (02:52):
Oh, nice. What do you do in your technology design class? That sounds cool.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:56):
Right now it’s mostly internet media and we use WeVideo, it’s an editing-video program, and we produce and put on our school weekly news bulletin. And then we weave in other projects. We do some interdisciplinary projects. Right now my students are working on a mythology God, Goddess, and Monster project that relates to our social studies curriculum. And we’re learning about Greece. So yeah, we just try to give them added projects and they’re using the WeVideo platform. By sixth grade, they’re coming to us now with wonderful skills with all the tech. I mean, if I need help, I ask them like, “How do you do something on Google Docs?” Or, “How do you do something on Drive?” The kids are definitely tech-savvy.
Eric Cross (03:49):
They must love being the teacher in the classroom. They get to—it kind of switches power roles, where they get to teach the teacher something.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (03:56):
Yes. And especially WeVideo, sometimes we’ve had some hiccups, and the kids show everybody, and that’s part of the design class. They’re trying to solve—we’re teaching them how to solve their own problems. So if there’s any kind of issue with anything with the technology, honestly, I usually tell them, “Go ask a friend,” or we kind of shout out, “Hey, who knows how to troubleshoot this?” And the kids are eager to help each other, which is nice.
Eric Cross (04:21):
And they have this authentic experience where they’re actually doing real problem-solving, as opposed to something that we manufactured. Like, those are real things that we have to deal with in life. And that’s exactly like how we solve it, right? We just go ask people! We look it up, and the ahas are genuine too. Throughout!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (04:36):
Yes, especially thinking on the fly. Especially yesterday, I was in the middle of teaching and my laptop froze, and it’s like, “OK, everybodytake a couple minutes, you know, work on this, this, or that while I switch out laptops!” And so I’m modeling, too, how to solve my own problems. And I think it teaches the kids how to do that too.
Eric Cross (04:59):
I’ve always thought it was interesting that when teachers get to teach in real time, how do we handle stress and frustration when it’s really happening? And I think the tech—at times, failure is the real one where you feel this chill or this sweat that kind of comes over you and you’re trying to present or cast or the video won’t play and things like that. I think I’ve done enough times in my years of teaching where now my students know what to do, or they want to come up and help, and we’re good with it. But I remember in the beginning when those things would kind of glitch or go wrong or the wifi goes down, and you’re like, OK, what do we need now?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (05:33):
I think it’s honestly, after the fact, when I think in the moment, I’m not thinking of feeling stressed, but just afterwards, then I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this has just been a wild day.” But yeah, you just have to kind of go with it. And that’s just the beast of middle school. I just added to the list of why we love it.
Eric Cross (05:53):
You said something about interdisciplinary work, and I wanna kind of ask about that. Because it sounds like you’ve had your hand in several different areas of science and grade levels. Working, doing design courses, working with tech. Are there certain lessons that are your favorites to teach? The ones that you really enjoy, or that no matter what, you’re like, “We need to do this; this is such a rich experience for students”?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (06:17):
Yeah. I definitely try to do lessons or activities along the way. I like to do projects at the end of my units. When I taught physics, we did a project and it was mainly an assessment tool called the Wheeling and Dealing. The kids, they would all get a different car. And then they to sell their car. And so they had to pretend to be a car salesman, and they did that with their knowledge of the physics unit. So everything we did on forces and speed and motion. So I like doing culminating projects like that. And you’re kind of tricking them into assessing them.
Eric Cross (06:57):
When I think about your car salesman project, I’m thinking of a bunch of students, but they’re like on Shark Tank, but they’re just littler versions. And they’re doing these sales pitches, but they’re speaking in scientific terms as they’re trying to do it. Do you record these or do they just exist in the classroom?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:12):
No…And that was a long time ago, when I taught eighth grade. I wish I had; I wish I had recorded. That was definitely—it was fun, ’cause the kids, they would get their little piece of paper and they—some of ’em didn’t know what car it was. And so they’re like “A Boo… A Boo-gatti? What’s a Boo-gatti?” And then someone from across the room would be like, “Ooh, I want it! Here, I’ll trade you my Ford Focus!” And <laugh> so they would kind of wheel-and-deal which car they would…and then once they got their choice, then they would do the project.
Eric Cross (07:44):
So they’re really embodying this persona of a car salesman. The wheeling and doing back-and-forth and trying to trade a Bugatti for a Ford Focus. <Laugh>
Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:53):
I know. <Laugh> I like to make my class, my learning environment, enjoyable. You know, I gotta be there; they gotta be there. So I know there’s other goals in mind—you know, standards and test scores—but at the end of the day, I wanna come back, and I want them to come back. And I just have that as a priority.
Eric Cross (08:18):
Well, based on the projects that you’re doing and the way that you approach education with students, I can see why middle-school students would want to come back, even if they had the option not to. Just because of the cool things that you’re doing. Now we’re on this—hopefully, fingers crossed—tail end of COVID in the classroom and schools, and I know it’s impacted all of us differently. Has student engagement changed since COVID and if so, how, and what have you done in these last two years to maybe adjust your approach, to continue that engagement and that richness that you provide for your kids?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (08:57):
I definitely—I think for me, I recognize that when the students are in my classroom, I want them to, I dunno, for lack of a better word, just escape the noise at home. And I know we’ve always had students that are going through divorce situations or their dog died, other things, but I think with COVID, it’s definitely been compounded. And just creating a safe place for the kids to want to be and…it’s hard. We’ve had a lot of students that have been out, absent, for various reasons and on quarantine. And they’re struggling with doing work from home, ’cause their parents are stressed and their parents are dealing with their work issues. And so I think just having grace for the kids and just keeping…I don’t know, I guess like I said, I’ve always had student engagement as top of my list.
Eric Cross (10:06):
It sounds like—the things I hear you say really have to do with who these students are as people.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:12):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (10:13):
And then as a second, who they are as students. How do relationships fit into your engagement? ‘Cause I’m hearing this connection that you seem to be making with kids as you’re talking about things that are beyond academics: their home life, how they’re impacted.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:28):
Yes.
Eric Cross (10:28):
Is there anything that you do to build these relationships, or to connect with your students, to make them feel wanted or feel connected to the classroom or to you?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:37):
Yeah, I do. I do a few things to build those connections. And again, this timeframe in their life is so out of their control, their peer relationships, relationships with their parents. And when they’re in my classroom, I want them to feel loved and appreciated. Something I do it’s called Phone Fridays. And in one of the social media groups, someone posted about it, and I’ve been doing it for over a year now, actually. So on Fridays I call parents and give good news. And so I’ll pick maybe one or two students. And it could be academic reasons. It could be behavior, I’ve seen a slight improvement of behavior. Maybe a role model in the classroom. And my goal is to get everybody every trimester. So everybody gets a phone call by the end of the trimester. And it’s funny ’cause sometimes the parents are a little like “Uh-oh”! When they pick up, they see the caller ID, and their school’s calling. ‘Cause Some kids don’t get good calls. So it’s a really—I would say every single parent that I’ve called, I usually get a follow-up email, either to me or my admin, just saying it’s such a cool idea I do this; thank you so much. And yeah, I just call and give good news and just put ’em on the spot. And usually the kids are a little embarrassed, but you can tell, even though they’re kind of—I think they’re faking it, that they’re embarrassed! ‘Cause You know that they got the Phone Friday, and everybody’s like, “Who’s gonna get the phone Friday?!” And so it’s a very big deal in my class.
Eric Cross (12:07):
What a great way to—I mean, it seems like that hits on so many levels. You’re making these positive calls home. You’re praising publicly, which a lot of times can happen where students can get criticized or redirected publicly and then praised privately, which is a lot of times the reverse what we should be doing. But here you are praising them publicly. And then you’re not only building a relationship with yourself, but you’re also connecting them with their parent or whoever is caring for them, because now when they go home, there’s this, “Hey, your teacher called; you’re doing awesome!” So it’s this kind of triangle that’s forming there. I think that’s super-cool and a great thing for teachers to do.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (12:45):
It takes, you know, the last five minutes of my class. I do it every class. And then I have a system. Like I said, I keep track of all the kids. That way, by the end of the trimester I’ve gotten everybody. Sometimes I let the students, whoever I call first, then I let them pick a peer and I tell them, “OK, we have to have a solid reason. Why are we calling?” And a couple times they’ll have a student, like one of my energized ones, they’ll raise their hand. “How About me? How about me?” And I and the kids kind of laugh a little and I said, “Well, how about this? Let’s make a goal. How about next week we’re gonna make a goal and we’re gonna have a reason to call home.” So just working on the kids that need a little push in the right direction. That’s other reasoning to it. But yeah, it’s fun. I love it.
Eric Cross (13:33):
And you have the community. You have this goal setting. We were talking a little earlier about this transition—so you’re becoming this…your school’s going through the IB process, is that right?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (13:44):
Yes.
Eric Cross (13:44):
And we were talking about the ATL skills and one of them is goal-setting management. You already kind of organically do this in your classroom, which is really neat. I know being an IB teacher, a lot of times I find the things that I’ve already been doing and find, “Oh, this is actually an approach to learning!” or “This is something that has a title!” I just thought it was just being helpful! Ah…So the kids are connected. You have this process where you’re calling parents; it’s working; students are involved, so it’s building this community. Now you’re engaging students. Do you have any favorite student engagement tools that you use in your classroom or when you’re teaching that you feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck? There’s so many things out there these days. And so many approaches, tools, web apps. Do you have any favorites that you use?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (14:40):
No. Nothing comes up top of my mind right now. Mostly just projects, like I said. And being excited. I think having my students see me excited about something…and I’m honest when we’re doing something that’s not quite my favorite, then I’m honest about that too. But just having my—like, we just started thermal energy this week and I told my students, I said, “OK guys, I’m gonna weave in some chemistry in there. I’m gonna weave in some particle motion,” and they’re like, “Oh! That’s when you taught eighth grade, huh!” Cause I talk a lot about when I taught eighth grade before. I don’t know, just showing my own enthusiasm, I think, is a good payoff to me. That’s a bang for your buck. Other things…I try to give ’em cool videos and Mark Grober, he’s definitely a favorite of mine I like to show my students. I like to bring in guest speakers from our community. When I taught eighth grade for physics, I always brought in a local CHP officer and they would bring in the radar and lidar guns and the kids would mark off the parking lot and they would calculate their speed. And then they would verify it with the radar gun. Two years ago when I taught math, I brought in a local landscaper company, a father-and-son outfit, and they showed the kids how they would do bids on jobs. And so, relate it to our chapter on volume and area. So just making that connection with real life. Plus it’s just a nice opportunity, too, for the community to come in. With our design class, put on our newscast. And then one of our units in our sixth grade curriculum is weather. And so I brought in a local weatheruh, chief meteorologist. And he actually talked to the students about his job as a meteorologist and then also being on the news and putting on a newscast. So we got him on our green screen and did a little like Mark Finan, you know, little cameo on our newscast for the week for school. So that was kind of cool.
Eric Cross (16:45):
They must have been excited.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:47):
Yeah. They’re pretty starstruck by him. So that was pretty fun.
Eric Cross (16:51):
This person was on their local news? So they would know him?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:56):
Yeah, he’s on Channel 3 out of Sacramento. Yeah. KCRA Channel 3, Mark Finan.
Eric Cross (17:00):
So all these guest speakers that you have…how do you reach out to these people? And you sound like you get a lot of success. Do you ever get nos? Like if I’m sitting here listening and that inspires me, but you’re getting celebrities and you see a few people…like, how do you reach out to them? And does everybody say yes? How does it go?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (17:21):
Well, usually at my back-to-school night, I always ask the parents if they have a career or hobby that could lend itself to the curriculum. And so sometimes I’ll hear about—students will talk about, like, “My mom’s a doctor.” And so I’ll reach out to parents and just say, “Hey, you know, your kiddo said, you’re a doctor. May I ask what type?” And most of the time the nos that I’ve received are just because of schedule conflicts. You just have to get creative! Look in your community and see what you have. People want to come and talk to kids. I’ve had some presentations that the person is so intelligent and amazing, but they just, weren’t very kid-friendly. I mean, that happens. Butsomeone knows someone. And just ask! I mean, it doesn’t hurt to ask to have ’em come out, come hang out for the day, with my students. Andone time I had a nurse practitioner she was in the cardiac unit. And so she brought in hearts and led a heart dissection with my students. And we did a station set-up. I’ve had elaborate ones like that, or just a mom come in to tell my students about her job as a nutritionist and relate it to our unit on metabolism. And so just did like a little 15-minute Q&A with the kids on nutrition. And I would just say, look at your community and/or post on social media. I always do that. Post in your school’s PTA groups. So the parents know someone, that’s for sure. Or someone’s retired. One time I had—I think he was a grandfather of one of the kids—he was into rocks. And he had a bunch of meteorites <laugh> and brought in his meteorites.
Eric Cross (19:15):
Bring in your rocks!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:15):
I know! Right? And he <laugh> just brought in his meteorite collection! I was like, sure, come on in!
Eric Cross (19:23):
That’s one of the things I love about being a middle-school teacher is that my students have such varied interests and I’ll get the Rock Kid every once in a while and he’ll come in and he’ll have all these rocks and crystals. And a lot of times there’s a grandfather that’s responsible for this inherited geologic treasure that they have.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:45):
Yeah, something like that—I mean rocks are not my favorites, but I don’t really tell the kids that. I was like, “Sure, yeah, come on in! We can have a whole-day lesson on rocks!”
Eric Cross (19:55):
<Weakly> “This is great!”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:58):
Just utilizing your resources. That’s all it’s about.
Eric Cross (20:02):
Well, I think the back-to-school night was really helpful. That’s something that’s super doable. You have a bunch of parents and you just simply ask, “Who do you know? What do you do?” And then just collecting that and then just asking people to come in. I’ve I’ve been reluctant to do it more often than I’ve wanted to, because I haven’t figured out—and maybe you can help me with this—I have three class periods a day plus other class periods that are not necessarily science. And I don’t want to dominate a person’s schedule. Do they tend to be willing to stay all day? Or do you do, one class gets it, and you record it? Like, how do you balance out the speakers with your school schedule?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:39):
Mostly they’ll they’ll just come for the whole day. When I taught eighth grade, I had five classes, so that was easy. That was an all-day thing. And then usually I’ll offer to call lunch, have lunch delivered, or snacks during the day. I mean—
Eric Cross (20:53):
Feeding them is key.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:54):
Yeah. Just something kind of nice. Donuts in the morning. I mean, you’d be very surprised. Most people that are in the field or retired, like I said, they’re more than willing to come. And even if they have to wait an hour, while you teach another class that doesn’t pertain to it, then they’ll either leave or come back or just hang out in the back and pretend to be a student during that history class that you have.
Eric Cross (21:20):
It’s my own limiting belief where I feel guilty. I don’t think about it. I need to think about it through the perspective that you do, that these people WANT to talk. I just assume everybody’s so busy. But I do know, the times I’ve had speakers come out, at the end of the day, they’re so energized or they’re so happy or they’re so grateful. ‘Cause They’re like, “This is what it’s like to teach every day?” I’m like, “Yeah, this is what it’s like.”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (21:42):
I think too, a lot of parents…usually being being in the stops at elementary. A Lot of parents don’t get the opportunity to come help out in the classroom, because the middle school kids, you know, it’s not very cool or it’s just not needed like in the elementary classes. So a lot of times, like I said, you’d be surprised. A lot of the parents they’re more than happy to come and hang out. And again, some students, they don’t want their mom or dad to be there, but then I talk it up. I’m like, “Everyone’s gonna be so like impressed that your dad’s a doctor,” or “your mom’s a doctor” or —so then I kind of like downplay it. Like, “Oh, whatever, you’re you’re faking it. It’ll be fine. Don’t be embarrassed.” Leading up to their parent coming into the classroom.
Eric Cross (22:36):
Right. Kind of redirect that energy toward something positive. With guest speakers, projects, pacing, all these awesome things that you have going on, how do you find balance as a teacher, as a person? And what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers? We work in a profession that will take as much as you give it. And you fall asleep at night worrying about other people’s kids and we love it. And teachers by personality can just give and give and give and give. But in order for us to last—I’m thinking about those new teachers who are going into it, who are gonna go in and be there before the sun gets up and stay after the sun gets down. How do you maintain balance, taking care of yourself? You’ve been in education for—how long have you been teaching for?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:29):
Sixteen. This is my 16th year.
Eric Cross (23:31):
Enough to be that veteran. So how do you find balance? And then, what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:39):
I would say each year, pick one or two things to add on. You can’t add on 10 things, even though you’re gonna find 10 things that are awesome. But just make a little list, put ’em in a file, and every year, just get good at what you do and then just add on one or two things. And reflect on what’s not going well that you can get rid of to make room to add something else. Try to be patient with yourself. And don’t reinvent the wheel. There’s so many things out there that you can borrow and make it your own. Again, I think that’s a time-saver, just leaning on your colleagues. And take lots of notes, because then when you do it again next year, you can refresh yourself and, “Oh yeah, this lesson, wasn’t the best…” What can you add in to make it a little bit better? And yeah, I would say just take on one or two things each year. And then by the time you get to, you know, being a veteran, you can do all these awesome things and it’ll feel natural ’cause you’ve been practicing and just adding in one thing at a time. I coached Science Olympiad a bunch of years ago, and Science Olympiad is so rewarding. It’s just so amazing.
Eric Cross (24:59):
What is Science Olympiad, for the people who’ve never heard of it?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (25:03):
Oh, Science Olympiad is so awesome. Google it. I think it’s just ScienceOlympiad.org. It’s 23 different events across all disciplines of science, different topics. And then you have a team of 15 students. And so your 15 students have to cover the 23 events. So for example, if the student’s on the anatomy team, usually there’s a team of two kids they’re gonna study and learn. They provide all the rules and the guidelines. So the students learn and study whatever the parameters are for that year. And then they take a test. And then they compete against other schools. And there’s build events, the engineering events, they can build things like trebuchets matchbox cars or mousetrap cars. Oh gosh, there’s all kinds of things. There’s like a Rube Goldberg device. It changes every year. And it’s so rewarding to see the kids; they pick their area of science that they love. And sometimes you have to put them on an event that they don’t know, and then they end up loving it. It’s so rewarding as a teacher to see these kids that are just on fire and you know that one day they’re gonna go off and do amazing things. They just commit. They commit to their event. And then they blow it outta the water and they win medals and just the recognition…it’s super, it’s just an amazing program.
Eric Cross (26:42):
One of the competitions that’s really low-tech that I’ve taken into my classroom is Write It, Do It. Have you done that one before?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (26:50):
Oh, yes. Yeah. That’s one. Yep.
Eric Cross (26:52):
It’s such a low-tech, simple one to do, but it teaches such great skills. And for those people who haven’t heard of the Write It, Do It project, you create kinda some abstract art out of random crafts. That’s very difficult to describe. You have pipe cleaners and foam and balls and you know, all these different things. And you make it. And then one person on the team is the writer, and they look at it and they write the procedures, and then their teammate, who’s in a different room and doesn’t get to see it, gets all the materials to build it and the procedures, and they have to rebuild it as closely as possible to the actual original. Even though they don’t get to see the original. So they have to rely on their partner’s ability to write procedures step-by-step. And it was fun to watch my students become teammates in that. And they learned how to communicate in a really fun competition. So I expanded it to do it with all of my students as an activity, just to teach them how write descriptively, to write procedurally, to be technical writers. And it’s, it’s fun! It’s fun to see what they build based on what the students say. <Laugh> And it’s also fun to watch them interact with each other, which for seventh graders, usually it’s conflict. <Laugh> But, like, playful conflict. <Laugh> It’s pretty funny to see what they build.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:11):
They’re like, “Man, what are you talking about? That doesn’t mean this; it means this!”
Eric Cross (28:16):
<Laugh> I know part of me feels guilty, but not enough to stop the project. ‘Cause I know for some of ’em, it’s gonna be a really trial by fire being able to practice their skills with writing procedures.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:27):
But they’re learning among themselves how to provide more details and to be more thorough with their writing and and their thoughts, put their thoughts onto paper. So yeah, that’s a funny event. Definitely.
Eric Cross (28:41):
Earlier you had mentioned something about connecting your kids with kids and students outside of your classroom. What is it that you do with that? Because I thought that was a really cool project. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:57):
Yes, I’ve done—they haven’t had it in a few years, but there’s something called the Pringles Challenge. And if you Google that, I’m sure it’s on the Internet still. So you sign your class up, or your classes, and you get partnered with another school somewhere in the U.S., someplace else. And you decide individually teams, whatever they build. And they make a package to ship a single Pringle chip through the mail. And then you actually mail a Pringle chip through the mail. And then your partner team or partner school, they send their chips to you and then you open everything and then you can take pictures and video. And then there was a whole scoring process where you would score when you receive the chips. And then you input all the data on the website so you can see like how your—and most schools would trade pictures, so that the kids found out how their chip survived. March Mammal Madness is so much fun. Again, Google that.
Eric Cross (30:01):
Did you say March Mammal Madness?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:02):
Yes.
Eric Cross (30:03):
Like March Madness, with mammals?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:05):
Yes.
Eric Cross (30:05):
- What is this?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:06):
It starts up in March. And you can sign your students up. And that one—it’s not too interactive with other schools, but this is opportunity to get the kids interacting within your site or within your district. Or if you have teacher friends at other schools. There’s like 60…I think it’s 64 animals? And they have this massive bracket that they post. And then you can have the students, I did it—it would be very time-consuming to have the kids individually research each animal. So I just gave one animal per student and so as a class we researched all the animals and then, I think it’s every three days or so, they have these bouts. And it’s all posted on YouTube. Google it. It’s kind of fun.
Eric Cross (30:56):
I’ve already got the website up, ready to go! Folks, everybody who needs to Google this: <articulates carefully> March Mammal Madness. And is it Arizona State University? Is that the main site, ASU?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:04):
Yes.
Eric Cross (31:04):
So people, listen to this. Check it out. March Mammal Madness. Look, I’m doing this! I’m already,—you’ve already sold me on this.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:14):
It is so much fun, oh my gosh. And then, then the kids—each round, they pick their pick, just like basketball. They do their picks and then you wait for the video. And they do it live on—I think it’s live on Instagram, or the next day on YouTube. And then the kids get all excited. And then usually the kids, whatever animal they got as their research animal, they’re rooting for that one to win, the whole thing.
Eric Cross (31:42):
But we still have time; we still have time to—
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:45):
You can jump in anytime. Even if it’s already started, you can jump into it. It usually lasts—I believe it’s a two-week from beginning to end. When they do the first round, the wild card, and then all the way to the winner, I believe it’s a two-week process. Oh, maybe three, actually.
Eric Cross (31:59):
I’m already seeing this lead-up to the video being watched in class to see…I’m already thinking about like, “How do I prevent my students from finding the video?” Or like, “When does it go live so that I could be the one to show them so they didn’t go find it early?”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (32:13):
It takes time out of the class, but I believe it’s one of those things where you have to just…it takes 10 minutes out of the class, but it’s important. So when they each round and then the next day, they release the YouTube video. Last year, when it got down to the final round, we were on spring break. And so I told my students, “You guys, let’s do some optional Zooms. And so I had a bunch of kids log on and we all watched the videos together. So that was kind of fun. And then this year, the other thing, the first time I’ve ever done this and it’s going really well is—on social media, I was talking with one of the teachers from Ohio who teaches science and she and I decided we’re gonna do penpals for our students this year. Paper-And-Pen penpals. So that’s been a lot of fun. We just partnered up all the students, her students and my students, and once a month we send and receive the letters to each other. So that’s been a really cool experience.
Eric Cross (33:14):
If you keep doing that, and you need more teachers to be involved, can my students be penpals with your students?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:20):
Yeah!
Eric Cross (33:20):
If you open it up to more people? I think that, to get a letter, old-school? Letter in the mail? It would be so exciting.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:28):
It is. We mail them, the teacher and I, we just put them all together in one package. But yeah, it’s an actual handwritten letter.
Eric Cross (33:37):
The only letters I feel like I get in the mail now are bills.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:42):
Right? Exactly.
Eric Cross (33:42):
But I feel like the digital version of that is if someone calls me, it’s probably bad news. I don’t know if I’m the only one that’s like that, but I’m like, “Who’s calling me? Why aren’t you texting me? What’s going on? Text me first, then call! I need to know who’s going on, and if you’re unknown, you’re going to voicemail.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:00):
Exactly. The penpals has been a lot of fun.
Eric Cross (34:03):
You’ve been in education for a while. You’re on the other side of what it’s like to be a student in the classroom. Which can be surreal in itself, when we think about our own experiences as being a student. Is there a teacher or a learning experience that’s had an impact on you while you were a student in school that really stands out to you? And you can interpret the question however you want. But is there someone that’s memorable or an experience that’s memorable that you still carry with you today?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:32):
Definitely. My favorite teacher, and we actually still keep in contact on social media is Mrs. Sheldon. She was my fifth and sixth grade teacher. I had the pleasure when I was in elementary school, I was in an all-day contained GATE class—Gifted and Talented Education class. I vividly remember doing so many amazing projects. We built this big, giant—she brought in a big ol’, like, TV box. It was big, big, big. And you could stick like three kids inside there, standing up shoulder-to-shoulder. And we built this big dragon. The head, and we had the whole rest of the class in a big sheet behind us, and we would do a little parade around the school. And she had that thing for years after. They had to repair it every year, and they would do the little parade around school. She did a lot of traveling and when we would go on vacation and then come back, that was always the big deal: “Where did Mrs Sheldon go?” And she had sand from Egypt and pictures from the rainforest. And later when I became a teacher and then I looked her up and we reconnected I did ask her, “Did you go to those places? Or did you, like, lie about it? <Laugh> To get us engaged?
Eric Cross (35:52):
You went for the real questions!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (35:54):
I did. And she laughed and thought that was funny. And she did travel for real. But yeah, she’s an amazing woman. We still keep in contact. And I remember, you know, little things…like we would be out there doing our PE time and she’d have her long skirt, you know, dress on, with her tennies, and she’s out there playing kickball with us. Just a very kindhearted, smart, amazing woman. I’m very fortunate and I’m grateful that we are able to keep in contact. Love social media for that reason. So.
Eric Cross (36:33):
Yeah. And that’s Miss Sheldon?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (36:35):
Mrs. Sheldon. Marlene Sheldon. Yeah.
Eric Cross (36:37):
Shout-Out to Marlene Sheldon influencing the next generation of teachers, with engagement with your world travels and all those different things.
Eric Cross (37:04):
Ryan, thank you so much for one, serving our students. And in the classroom, our middle-school students who need us. I think that middle school especially, elementary school, those years are when students are really starting to decide, “What am I good at?” And the experiences that we create for our students really shape what they believe they can do. These really cool, engaging experiences, these projects that you’re giving them, whether they’re doing these car sales, Shark Tanks, or they’re doing penpals, or you have guest speakers, or they’re designing planets. These are things that students don’t forget. And then when they move on to higher grades, they remember more than anything, I think, how they felt about something. And it sounds like you’re crafting these awesome experiences. And so I just wanna thank you for your time. I know as a teacher it’s very short. And I thank you for being on the podcast with us.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (38:04):
Thank you. This has been a great experience. I just—I really enjoy my students. And I feel very, very grateful and very blessed for finding where I belong.
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Meet the guest
Ryan Rudkin is a middle school science educator near Sacremento, California. Although she originally thought she would teach elementary students, Ryan connected with middle school and never looked back. Now in her 16th year in the classroom, Ryan also supports teachers in her district with professional development. Ryan’s favorite part of teaching science is seeing students grapple with concepts and explore phenomena.
About Science Connections: The podcast
Welcome to Science Connections: The Podcast! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Oregon students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
S1-06: Supporting students with a creative twist: A conversation with Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield
In this episode, Eric sits down with the Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield. Shad shares his experience teaching during the first year of the pandemic, where Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. Shad also explains ways he connects with his students to celebrate student success, as well as large-scale efforts he leads within his school to cultivate the love of learning science content. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Shad Lacefield (00:00):
When you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids,Eric Cross (00:13):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host. Eric Cross. My guest today is Shad Layfield. Shad is a teacher at garden Springs elementary and a part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky during the first year of the pandemic, Mr. Layfield dressed up in over a hundred costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader visits, where he visited students at their homes, dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes and keep them encouraged. During a challenging time. In this episode, we discuss how creativity impacts engagement, transferring lessons learned from distance teaching back to in-person instruction, and how upper grades can apply the same principles to improve student learning. I hope you enjoy this discussion with shad lays field. So you’ve been in fourth grade for four years, and then you were in second grade and fifth grade. And so like how long have you been teaching for like total?
Shad Lacefield (01:09):
So this is my 15th year teaching.
Eric Cross (01:12):
Really? Yeah. You’ve been in the game for a while.
Shad Lacefield (01:15):
Yeah. Yep. It, it doesn’t, and it’s always surprising to parents too during that, that first like, come in and meet your teacher. And I walk in, I’m like, yeah, I’ve been teaching for 15 years and every time it gets ’em, they’re like no way. And I’m like, yeah,
Eric Cross (01:28):
That’s, that’s a good thing though. That’s a good thing. Right?
Eric Cross (01:31):
You know? So like, well the energy and then, and you’re just how you’re perceived. Like you’re, they’re just, I don’t know. It’s something about work with young people. Like it keeps you young.
Shad Lacefield (01:39):
That’s what it is. Absolutely.
Eric Cross (01:41):
So how did, how, like, what’s your origin story? Like, how did you become a teacher? Like what, what was it? Was it something like you knew second career, like right outta school? Like how did you end up in the classroom?
Shad Lacefield (01:53):
Yeah. No, and I love this question cause I’m a big Marvel and, and superhero. So origin stories are all, I love a good origin story. So I grew up on a 13 acre farm in a little bitty town called Gustin, Kentucky, and very early on, like we were instilled my parents, amazing, amazing parents. But they really instilled like a, a super important work ethic in our lives of like, it’s, it’s all about hard work and it’s important that you’re working hard in whatever it is that you do. And I’m one of six kids as well in my family.
Eric Cross (02:24):
Where are you in the–
Shad Lacefield (02:25):
I’m second to last.
Eric Cross (02:26):
Second to last. Okay. So you’re the second youngest.
Shad Lacefield (02:29):
Yes. Okay. And and so, and so growing up, like with that, like, you know, I worked in tobacco, I worked in hay, you know, we did things being on the farm and stuff like that. And within my family as well, there’s four boys. And so when I decided to go to college I was the first guy in my family to go to college. And the first and only boy that ended up going to college. And so it was like this big deal, like, oh, you know, we got one of our boys gonna go to college. So what is he gonna be? And I was like, well, if I’m gonna put forth the, the time and effort and then the financial strain that it would cause cuz we were not poor at all. My dad worked two jobs to make sure, but I really felt the responsibility of like, if I’m gonna go, I’m gonna work in a profession.
Shad Lacefield (03:09):
That’s gonna make a lot of money. And here I am as a teacher now. So I didn’t go to college to be a teacher. I actually was pre dentistry. I thought, now here’s a profession. You can, a lot of money. You don’t work weekends or holidays, you know, I can still be the doctor thing. And so I’m gonna be pre dentistry. But like all good origin stories. There was a, there was a flip. So in my first year I started working at the most majestic place that you will ever go. It’s called Squire, boon, caverns. It’s a cave in Southern Indiana. And it’s an amazingly beautiful little place. You have to like one lane highway, like road to go back there up and down. Like you, you think you’re never gonna make it. And if it rains too much, the bridge will flood and you actually can’t even get back there.
Shad Lacefield (03:52):
So that’s how we’re talking like way back in the sticks. But once you get back, back there totally worth it. And as part of the job you were a tour I also did grist mill demonstrations and gym mining adventures, or, you know, as they’re gym mining and stuff like that. And within that, I started working with school aged kids and on very large tours and stuff. And my manager at the time, Claudia, I’m still great friends with and we still take our kids back there. Every summer she, to me, you’re really good with kids. Like you’re really good with kids. We have this scout program that’s on the weekends. And then during the summers and you would be teaching kindergarten through eighth grade kids, geology and forestry. What do you think about doing that? And I said, well, right, let’s try that out. And then I got the teaching bug and it hit and I was like, oh my gosh, like I don’t wanna spend my life doing something that is all about money or, or that is like, this is where it’s at. Like, I love this, I enjoy this. I enjoy the response that I get when I’m talking. And kids are excited about learning and getting new information and learning new stuff. And so then I change my major and here I am now, all these years later teaching instead of being a dentist,
Eric Cross (05:04):
Are there, are there days, do you ever have days where you’re like, you know, dentistry, it’s still an option. Like I can, I can go back.
Shad Lacefield (05:12):
Oh, rare, rare occasions. Rarely. Yeah.
Eric Cross (05:16):
Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Fair enough. I, I, I always joke and say that like we have, you know, sometimes I have my, my alternate job on the hard days, which is for me, it’s working at the gap where I just want to fold clothes and go home at the end of the day, you know, on those really rough days. And you know, it’s never the kids, right. It’s always other things. The kids are like the great part. And then there’s all these other things. And I just wanna work at the gap. I just wanna work at the gap. Fold some clothes. Yes, sir. Yes. Ma’am absolutely. I can find that size for you. And then I just go home cause about their job when they go home at the end of the day, when you work at the gap, at least sorry, gap workers. I’m sure hard of that, but my perception in my mind is that you close up shop and then you’re done. Yeah,
Shad Lacefield (05:52):
Absolutely. Like you said, they can turn it, like it’s a turnoff at the end. Exactly. As teachers we know, like you don’t ever turn it off, it’s always there.
Eric Cross (06:00):
Yeah. So one of the things that I was super excited about when I, when I first heard about you is I went on your website and there’s so many things I feel like I can just talk about your website and just the, the content that you’ve produced. I, I, there’s so many directions I can go. But one, one of the things I want to ask you is, is about that. Now, one of the things that’s on there, and this is coming from a fellow star wars, Fisha who finished Bobba FET and the Mandalorian recently and is Jones in four OB one to come out.
Shad Lacefield (06:33):
Oh, so yes,
Eric Cross (06:35):
I live in Southern California next to Disneyland visited Galaxy’s edge star wars. You have these things called VA Vader visits. And so what do you do in those? And like, where did you get the idea for these Vader visits?
Shad Lacefield (06:50):
So the costumes were bringing the kids into the classroom. But when they left my room because you would, we only had them for a certain amount of time. There was still a lot of extra work that they needed to get done. And what I was seeing was I could get them to come in and they were really engaged during my lesson. But then afterwards, when it came to work completion or getting things done, there was, it was starting to fall off. As you know, we were experiencing, you know, more and more craziness of what’s going on. So then as an incentive, I decided if you have everything turned in, by the end of the day, I’m gonna dress up in my Darth Vader outfit, full costume, the, you know, the, the full helmet, like everything. And I’m gonna show up to your house and we’re gonna hang out and play any game at all that you wanna play.
Shad Lacefield (07:34):
So then it was a way of rewarding. My kids for getting everything turned in. But same time I felt like it would also help me build a relationship with them. That was a very challenging part of online learning. Like, again, I want you to feel like you’re a part of my classroom. I wanna feel like I’m invested in you and wanna learn about you. And it was a commitment because some of those kids put me through the ringer, whether it was we’re gonna do gymnastics on a trampoline. And again, I’m in full costume doing gymnast on the trampoline, or we’re doing soccer drills with their soccer coach at their house playing football games. I mean, all kinds of stuff. I made a Yachty game for a kid that loves Harry Potter. And it was really a big part of getting work turned in because, and it’s the crazy thought they wanted to spend time with me. Like that’s what it was. And so it was like, yeah, absolutely. I’ll keep dressing up. I did over 50 plus Vater visits. It wasn’t just for my homeroom. It was for all of fourth grade. So I went over 50 visits and it was cool to see kids in their home and talk to them and meet their parents. It was a great opportunity for me to engage with parents as well. How is online learning, going, what can I do to support you? Do you guys have any questions and stuff like that? So
Eric Cross (08:39):
This thing of relationships is like leading to work completion, which isn’t, which isn’t always the, the thing that we think to as educators of like how, you know, work completion. A lot of times we think of like structures or you know, certain protocols that you do in class get work completion, but here you are addressing as Darth Vader. And, and you said students were turning in more work because they’re connected to, you saw an increase in, in yeah. Engagement.
Shad Lacefield (09:07):
And absolutely. And, and I remember even saying that to myself, like this is, this is what’s getting them. But it, it was, and as part of the Vader visit as well with the videos we recorded all of them and I said, I’m gonna make you a YouTube star. And so I would, I, I recorded them. I put ’em on my YouTube channel. And so a lot of the videos that are on my website, all those Vader visits are like the kids showing off and playing against the teacher. And I promise you, I didn’t take it easy on any one of those kids. Like when it was like a verse match, I went all out and I told ’em. I was like, if you beat me, you know, it’s gonna be like, you earned it.
Eric Cross (09:38):
What a great way to leverage, just what, what is relevant to our students? Like you used your platform and then now you’re showcasing them on your, you know, your platform or what you were using. And then they’re seeing each other. And I could just see, regardless of the grade level, like just students, like beam from, from getting that kind of positive praise through, through, you know a medium that doesn’t, that tends to be more of a, just content consumption, but you’re kind of watching other folks do stuff, but now it’s about them. Like, and they’re, they’re getting that attention directly. Now I have to ask about the Vader costume. Did you, did you buy it for this event or did you already have that Darth Vader costume in your closet?
Shad Lacefield (10:19):
I had parts of the costume, but not the complete costume. And honestly, the very first Vader visit I had, I had the Vader mask that makes sounds, and like you could talk and it makes you sound like Vader.
Eric Cross (10:29):
My dark saber is on order. Yes. And it keeps getting delayed from best buy. It’s supposed to arrive in April, but I do have dark staple and order that I ordered back in November. So the best to your point, I don’t know who doesn’t have one, I’m waiting for mine though.
Shad Lacefield (10:42):
There you go, come on. Best buy come through for us. So
Eric Cross (10:44):
You, you did all this investment in time and, and you created all this content, but then we went back in person. Were, were you able to bring this back into the classroom or any of the things that you had generated during distance learning back in the classroom? Or are you, are you using some of the things that you learned? Like what, or is it just completely separate and you’re just doing something completely different. Now
Shad Lacefield (11:04):
That’s a great question. So I still try to dress up at least once every week, if not once every other week just to make whatever we’re doing fun, cuz I already have costumes that were connected to the content that I was doing. So had I had made a character called captain Soundwave that will use when I’m teaching my amplify lessons over sound. And so then I, you know, I have that or I would have, you know, specific characters that were designed for certain lessons that I would do. And so I still
Eric Cross (11:32):
Lemme interrupt you real quick. Where did you get these character ideas from? Cause they are super creative. I clicked on one random one. And you have had like a, a knitted like skull cap and like some blue shiny like cloak and I like who is this guy? I think, is that him? Is that captain sound wave? That’s
Shad Lacefield (11:48):
That’s hilarious. That was, that was my attempted Elsa. Oh, that was yeah. Started buying more and more costumes and and making characters and putting costumes together. And so yeah, it just ends up being this thing where you never know when I’m gonna show up in a completely random costume and be like today, we’re getting ready to learn about how sedimentary rocks form. And I dressed in my rock outfit, which is the old school rock with the turtleneck and the gold chain with,
Eric Cross (12:16):
Wait, do you have a Fanny pack too?
Shad Lacefield (12:17):
I have a Fanny pack. Yes you have. Yep. You nailed it. And they’re like, what does this guy
Eric Cross (12:22):
Do? He raise the one eyebrow. Can you do the, the rock eyebrow? Oh yeah, you got this. Oh, people on the podcast. Can’t see. Chad’s got it down. He’s got it down. He’s got the, he’s got the eyebrow going. Okay, so you, so I feel like I can go on a tangent and talk about all your costumes that you have, but the thinking about this. So tons of engagement, younger people now taking like some of the principles that you’ve learned from this, how can, how can upper grades like bring this joy to their classroom? Like middle school students, you know, older kids sometimes, you know, they can, they’re still kids, but you know, they might not be the same thing as fourth graders. Like would you, do you have any ideas of like how teachers and upper grades can kind of take these elements that you’ve done and, and apply them?
Shad Lacefield (13:04):
Absolutely. So some of the things that you had talked about, like with YouTube can also be applied to like TikTok videos and things like that, that kids are, are willing to watch and, and be engaged in. And so those things, I feel like I’ve seen other middle and high school teachers really utilize in their classroom. But honestly, and this is a new initiative that we’ve started in our district. Minecraft has been something that a lot of kids play and are really engaged in and has shown an amazing engagement for all of our kids when it comes to science engagement, particularly. And so with that, so there’s 126 million active Minecraft players right now in the world. And Minecraft is one of the largest selling video games. The average age, cuz they’re always like, oh, Minecraft is for kids who actually the average age is like 24.
Shad Lacefield (13:51):
So a lot of the older kids are playing Minecraft as well with the younger kids. And with that in mind, it was a way when I looked at Minecraft and specifically like Minecraft educational edition came out and it was during COVID and it was free. So if you had a school email or it’s like the, what the go 365 account, you could get it for free and all of our kids got it for free. And so then, then we went from playing Minecraft on the computer as like a fun game to me looking at it and saying like, wait a minute. I feel like when I’m doing energy conversions, we can take Redstone and Minecraft and kids can now show how a simple system using different parts and devices can work and understand even more con creates how energy is converted from one form to another.
Shad Lacefield (14:39):
And so let’s make this a, a, a, an actual activity. Let’s take what I’m teaching in the classroom. And if they get done early as an enrichment piece, because there’s not a ton of science and enrichment activities at times for kids to be able to do, like, what do I do when I’m done, Minecraft ended up being that. And so I could have these elaborate worlds that I would build for them that they could then go and play and be super engaged in and show me way more on this Minecraft world, what they knew than what they were writing on paper sometimes, cuz I, you know, you’d get like a sentences out of them on paper, but then all of a sudden when they would build this elaborate system and you just had them record and talk, it was like, oh my gosh, you understand way more than I was thinking that you did with that last exit slip, an assessment that we did.
Shad Lacefield (15:25):
And so like, this is awesome. So then I went to my district and I actually proposed an idea what if we did tire Minecraft build challenges for the whole district? So our district has 37 elementary schools and I was like, I think this could be something that, you know, as we’re looking for science, curriculum engagement and making kids excited about learning science and stuff again, cuz that was always the hard part. I feel like sometimes with COVID everything kids lost this love of, of being in the classroom and, and, and learning and that it was like, you know, getting them to come back into the classroom and, and finding, learning fun again. It was like this, this started to get ’em excited and like, yeah, I get to play in Minecraft and I’m learning at the same time. And it was working for all kinds of content areas.
Shad Lacefield (16:07):
We’re doing a blast off to, to Mars. We it’s called blast off to us. We’re partnering with CLO of the future. They’re working with SpaceX. Our kids will actually get to send postcards to space and yes, it’s, it’s a super cool thing. And I love my district and all of the office of technology, individuals, Ashley Josh and Kelly for putting this together. And so it asks this question if you could a community in space, what would it be like? And the goal is that kids will write on the back what they want. And then we send this postcard off to space, they stamp it saying it’s been in space and the kids get to have it back and, and be able to use it. But what, what we decided, what we could do with Minecraft is what if they actually built the colony on Mars, like really research put time and effort into reading scientific articles about plants and how plants would grow and, and water and, and structures and apply all of that in a massive build challenge. And then that be, you know what we’re doing? That can be the answer to the question. And so it’s not just a couple sentences on a postcard, but it’s like a week or two week unit that pulls all this scientific content and standards that we’re working with and really allows kids to show so much creativity like on my Twitter I’ve been posting like pictures and stuff like that of some of the students builds. And I’m gonna continue to do that throughout the build challenge.
Eric Cross (17:26):
Now, are you using Minecraft EDU?
Shad Lacefield (17:28):
Yes. That is correct.
Eric Cross (17:29):
I love Minecraft EDU. Like it, it, you talking about it inspires me to, to try to dive back into it. One of the things sometimes I feel limited by is the time that I have and the things that we’re trying to cover. And it’s almost, it almost feels like we’re doing something wrong using a video game to teach, but it’s such a great educational tool. Like you said, you just said that students are able to show what they know in, in a way by creating something that’s different than if they would’ve just written it, but they’re actually creating, and this is one of the things, I guess you kind of hit on this, but I wanted to probe it a little more. Is do you have your students creating content like you do? Cause I kind of heard that they, you were, did you say that they were explaining or doing a video recording or describing it? How are they, how are they, how are they doing that work?
Shad Lacefield (18:17):
Yeah. So what they actually do is they’ll write a script and they will use Screencastify to record and then upload to Flipgrid. And then that way they can actually show their build to all of fourth grade. Since we weren’t allowed to be in the same class, like we were all departmentalized, so then we will have voting challenges. So after you record, you get to see everyone’s videos, you get to like and comment and leave feedback on their builds. So you can see what the other kids created. And then then from those initial videos and voting, we selected a certain of kids that then go on to the district level for our Minecraft build challenge. And then those videos are viewed by administration and other teachers to vote again. And then you end up having grade level winners and then an overall winner, which shout out to my boy in fourth grade, who was our overall winner, Eli, super proud of him.
Shad Lacefield (19:07):
He, he made this really, really space saving system, which was hidden stairs that ran off of Redstone and used motion, energy. And again, in his video, he talks about like how motion energy has changed to electrical energy and then back into motion through the process of how this hidden staircase would be in the wall. And then you’d be able to use this lever to then release that staircase. So you could go up and down but it was just, and again, when you, when you let kids talk about energy conversions and you let them build all of a sudden, you have kids making security systems for banks. Another kid that made a feeding system for kids for animals at the zoo, and it was just like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that this was what you guys could run out and do. When I, when I taught you how energy conversions work, that this is what you could produce and come over, like this is mind blowing. I love it,
Eric Cross (19:56):
What our kids can do and what they can create always kind of blows us away when we give them an opportunity to kind of have that freedom to, to create and take their knowledge and actually do something with it versus channel it into what, show me what, you know, but only do it like this. This is, this is the lane that you have to stay in. How do you get these ideas and, and stay, stay relevant? Like so many of the things like you’re touching, like pop culture, you, you have this hand in education technology, you have you’re, you’re doing video editing. Like where are you drawing from? Cause I’m just thinking like, as a teacher listening to this, that might be newer. And they go to the side like, oh my gosh, this, this guy is doing these so many things like where are you drawing from for inspiration or ideas?
Shad Lacefield (20:39):
I think a lot of it is like you say, when, when you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids to figure out, you know, what’s going on. Because I was not a big Minecraft person. It was the group that came in that really challenged me to do Minecraft because it, it showed up on their Chromebooks one day and all of a sudden it’s like, oh, we can play Minecraft all the time. And I said, no, you can’t play Minecraft until that I’ve had training. And I know what’s going on because I’m super nervous about this new thing. And I wanna make sure you guys aren’t doing something that you’re not supposed to.
Shad Lacefield (21:13):
And like, they hounded me hardcore about you better do you need to do that training, Mr. Lacefield, you need to, we wanna play Minecraft. You better be doing this. Right. And so I was like, all right, man, I’ll, I’ll invest. I’ll, I’ll put some time into this training. And I’m so glad that I did yeah, again, that’s it just like building relationships and having those conversations help you realize like, what’s, what’s what are they interested in? What what’s going on and what would be really funny, even connecting that back to the costumes. What would it be really funny if I showed up in you know, today, princess Jasmine.
Eric Cross (21:42):
Yeah.
Shad Lacefield (21:43):
Been yes. Done that. That’s a great one. I,
Eric Cross (21:45):
I, I just went to the social studies page. I, and I stop laughing while you were talking. Cause I saw the princess Jasmine.
Shad Lacefield (21:52):
Oh yeah. Folks.
Eric Cross (21:53):
I’m telling you, you have to go, you have to go to his videos and see what he’s done. I mean, they’re just, they’re just amazing with my middle school students. They, I, I find myself having to be into things that I’m not normally into. And we have these intergenerational relationships, right? Like I think teachers are unique in this I aspect where I can connect with a 12 year old with what 12 year olds are in no matter where this 12 year old’s from. Cuz I get 12 year old culture. But sometimes when I go back into my adult world, like I forget that like, Hey yeah, haven’t watched a new anime you know, or, or whatever, you know, up
Shad Lacefield (22:26):
That. Yeah. No said too. And a kid will show up wearing a, a shirt to school and I’m like, I wasn’t the world’s that like, I’ve never even seen that before. And you’re like, okay, I’m gonna have to learn what that is cuz that yeah.
Eric Cross (22:38):
And then the next student asks you about, Hey, do you like, do you like these this game? I’m like, yeah, yeah, let me go Google that game real quick. Yeah, I’m totally into it. I’m downloading on my phone real quick. And, and now I’m connected to all kinds of obscure random interests, but to your, to what you said, it like, it helps keep us fresh, right? With I, with ideas, there, there is something that is super practical that you’ve done that you’ve created that I’ve encouraged teachers to do. And I think you really nailed it. On your site, you have these video tutorials. When I look at those, I, I think about how much time you must have saved yourself of not having to explain the same exact thing multiple times. Because you’ve created this virtual help section that allows students to log in amplify earth, check, Flipgrid, whatever. Like do you, when you’re, when you’re teaching students, do you, do you use those in direct students there so they can kind of support themselves? Or is that, what, how did that come to be when you, when you made these, these virtual tools? Because I could just imagine these are time savers for you.
Shad Lacefield (23:49):
Absolutely. Cuz again, like you said, it’s it saves on time. So a lot of when you have kids that are already visual learners as well, and they love watching YouTube and they learn stuff from YouTube, why not? I mean, make the video and then attach it to my Google classroom, keeping everything online. Everyone always has access. And by still having those videos, it allows kids to hear the directions multiple time, but on their time and at their pace. So then it’s posted on the assignment. So even though I probably still will give those directions verbally out loud if a kid forgets and maybe they feel a little nervous about asking in front of their peers, like, oh, how do I do this again? Or, oh, I don’t remember how to do that. That video is linked on there. So that way they can go back and watch it.
Eric Cross (24:28):
It’s almost like a little co-teacher that you have like a little aide that’s like, but it’s you, but it’s like a mini you who’s helping you out. I found that putting sometimes those tutorial videos on ed puzzle, where at different points in time, you can set it up so that at a certain timestamp, it asks a question and you can control it. So they can’t move faster past it until they respond to the question and you have the question be about whatever you just said. And then it, it syncs with Google classroom. So you can import all the grades and you can see how far through the video they got. But that was one other layer that I was able to do. So I can have some accountability and make sure that okay, everybody watched it and they answered all five questions of like, how do you do this?
Shad Lacefield (25:07):
Oh, see, now you’re sharing stuff with me, Eric, because I, I’m not as familiar with ed puzzle. I’ve used like near pod and per deck, but I mean just you saying that I’m like, okay, I need to check out ed puzzle and, and see what, what this is all about. Cause that sounds awesome.
Eric Cross (25:20):
Hey, I shared something with Chad and it it’s useful. I’m I’m feeling good right now. I’m feel I’m feeling good. So as we, as we kind of wind down one, couple questions I wanna ask. One of ’em is you’ve been in teaching for, for 15 years and I, I talk to you like right now and I get this energy and this vibe that’s just so upbeat, so positive. How do you stay fresh, fresh. And how did you stay fresh during a time when things have been so hard, you know, and it, and still is for so many educators, how do you stay encouraged? Like what, what have you done and, and to stay in, in education for, for this long,
Shad Lacefield (26:00):
I think it, it even goes back to like when I made my initial decision to switch my major to education, like I, I really felt like I found so thing that I thoroughly loved and enjoyed, and I always feel like you go through seasons. Like, and I definitely, when, when COVID hit, like you went through a season of where you start to feel again, that pressure like do I really like doing this as much as I thought that I like doing this and am I ready for this next thing? And then I just go back to just the, well, why did I do this to begin with? And, and it gets me, you know, excited to be like, I did it for the kids, like, and it’s about the kids. And I get joy when they’re laughing and smiling. So again, with the videos, it’s like, how can I make ’em laugh and smile because if they’re laughing and smiling and having a good time, I’m gonna get, you know, jacked and ready to start teaching again.
Eric Cross (26:48):
And I just hear that so much in what you’re saying is you’re serving your kids is, is being more than that building the relationship, that connection. And then through all that, the learning happens. The last question I wanna ask you is who’s one teacher that created a memorable experience for you or inspired you. Is it someone that you remember when you were in school or learn experience that just, that stands out to you to this day? Cuz as teachers, we remember thi like our kids remember us and it’s weird to be in that position to think that we’re gonna be that person. So is there anybody or anything that stands out to you that you remember from a, a teacher and experience?
Shad Lacefield (27:27):
Gosh, I have, I have a lot that you know, from my fifth grade science teacher, Mr. Goodman, who we did the ecology meet and the ecology team, and we went to OT Creek park and we competed against other schools about science, connected materials to my physics teacher in high school that let us build boats out of cardboard and take it to the only hotel in our town and the pool. And we had like boat races with the cardboard boats that we did. But really I, I go back to Squire boon and Claudia my manager and I remember not only was, she’s such a, a pivotal like getting me into teaching. But I remember the, the curriculum that we were using at the time that I was. And again, it goes back to what if I was to teach that curriculum, I would not still be a teacher because again, as sometimes you experience with curriculum, it can be boring and not engaging. And I was already putting my own flare on it at SQUI boon during the scout lessons. And I said, what if I just completely rewrote this curriculum? What if I made it really fun and put my own, spin on it? And, and she was like, absolutely, absolutely do that. And I feel like that encouragement as teachers, when we encourage kids to be creative when we encourage kids to, to take risk and to try new things we end up getting such amazing results that we didn’t even expect
Eric Cross (28:45):
Thought I out to Mr. Goodman for the ecology meet the physics teacher for the, the boat races, which are hilarious, by the way, if you’ve ever been able to watch students, did you make ’em at a cardboard?
Shad Lacefield (28:53):
We did. Yep.
Eric Cross (28:54):
Yeah. Those are hilarious to watch. And Claudia for giving the freedom to let you be a educational DJ and remix things to make it fun. Thanks for being on the podcast. Thanks for your inspiration and for sharing your stuff like publicly and letting other people see it and, and get ideas. It’s, I’m sure there’s more people than, you know, and more teachers than, you know, that are looking at that and getting their own ideas and coming up with their own. It might not be star wars, but coming up with their own inspiration, maybe it’s like Harry Potter or Lord of the rings or some like that.
Shad Lacefield (29:26):
Yeah. Whatever. You’re passionate about. Pull that in.
Eric Cross (29:31):
Thanks so much for joining me and Shad today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. That’s STEM@amplify.com and make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts until next time.
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Meet the guest
Shad Lacefield is a teacher at Garden Springs Elementary and part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky. Mr. Lacefield leads professional development in his district, and has been a guest speaker for Eastern Kentucky University, Campbellsville University, and Amplify Education. His topics include classroom managment, integrating techology, and student engagement. He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Campbellsville University in 2007, and his master’s in science from Southwest Baptist University in 2011. Shad has either taught or coached every grade K-12, and in his 14 years in education he has served as a lead teacher in literacy, math, science, and social studies. He currently coordiantes with the FCPS Office of Instructional Technology to plan Minecraft build challenges for elementary students, and is working on setting up a science field trip that turns a golf course into a STEM lab. During the first year of the pandemic, Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader Visits where he visited students at their homes dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes, and keep them encouraged during a challenging time. His creative teaching style, and over 50 “Vader Visits” with students, have been featured on WKYT-TV, LEX-18, Spectrum 1 News, and several local and college news publications. Shad lives in Lexington Kentucky with his wife Whitney Lacefield and their three children.
Check out his website, YouTube channel, and Facebook account!
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
Inspiring the next generation of Massachusetts scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify. This partnership extends to 2032, allowing us to continuously improve our program and provide our customers with the most up-to-date enhancements, free of charge. Get a glimpse at our latest back-to-school updates here.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Phenomena-based approach
In each Amplify Science unit, students take on the roles of scientists or engineers in order to investigate a real-world problem. Students work to define the problem and collect and make sense of evidence. Once the context is clear, students collect evidence from multiple sources and through a variety of modalities. At the end of the unit, students are presented with a brand new problem, giving them an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned over the course of the unit to a new context. This represents a shift from asking students to learn about science to supporting students in figuring out the science.
Resources to support your review
- Massachusetts Amplify Science. K-5 Correlation
- K-5 Massachusetts Science Rubric
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?—ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Amplify Science in Action classroom videos
Scope and Sequence
GRADE
Kindergarten
UNITS
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Flexible implementation
One of the key features of Amplify Science is the flexibility that it offers. We give students authentic opportunities to experience the full breadth of what it means to be a scientist or engineer. Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in our program. Like scientists, students gather evidence not just from physical models, but also from digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, data sets, and even their peers!
Simply put, real scientists don’t just get messy—they read, write, analyze, hypothesize, model, test, and communicate with purpose, too.
Student Books
Beginning and young readers have unique developmental needs, and science instruction should support these students in reading more independently as they progress through sections of content, the school year, and each grade. One way Amplify Science meets these needs is by strategically deploying different modes of reading throughout each unit: Read-Aloud, Shared Reading, and Partner Reading.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data.
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- construct explanations and arguments.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and Modeling Tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations.
- engage in Active Reading and writing activities.
- participate in discussions.
- record observations.
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Dive into a quick example of our powerful simulations
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science and is integrated
into every unit. Students actively take on the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them.
Check out this 2-minute video to see an Amplify Science hands-on investigation in action.
Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- print classroom display materials.
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.).
Teaching support
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans.
- unit and chapter overview documentation.
- differentiation strategies.
- standards alignments.
- in-context professional development.
Massachusetts Academic Standards in Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the NGSS, a set of standards that closely align with the Massachusetts Learning Standards for Science coverage. Most grade levels’ respective set of Amplify Science units therefore address the necessary MASS (see correlation).
For grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 5, teachers should plan to also use the resources provided in the sections below to achieve full coverage of the appropriate standards before their students move on to the next grade band. Organized by grade level, each section outlines:
- companion lesson materials that were written to support 100% alignment to the Massachusetts Learning Standards for Science coverage when used with the core Amplify Science units for the grade level
- the standard being addressed with each companion lesson; and
- the recommended placement of each companion lesson within a specific Amplify Science unit
Standard: K-PS1-1(MA). Investigate and communicate the idea that different kinds of materials can be solid or liquid depending on temperature.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 5.6 of Sunlight and Weather
Resources: After students finish reflecting on their unit-long exploration of energy and temperature, play and discuss this read-aloud video of the student book Can you Change it Back?, which is featured in the grade 2 unit Properties of Materials. You might also consider borrowing the physical books from a grade 2 colleague’s Properties of Materials kit and reading it as a class instead of or in addition to playing the video.
Using the book, you will introduce students to the idea that heating and cooling can cause changes to materials. In the book, students are presented with a variety of materials and asked to predict whether a certain change caused by heating or cooling is reversible or irreversible.
Companion lesson: “Seasonal Changes”
Standard: 1-ESS1-2– Analyze provided data to identify relationships among seasonal patterns of change, including relative sunrise and sunset time changes, seasonal temperature and rainfall or snowfall patterns, and seasonal changes to the environment.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 5.1 of Spinning Earth
Resources: Season Changes Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Companion lesson: “Properties and Weight”
Standard: 2-PS1-3– Analyze a variety of evidence to conclude that when a chunk of material is cut or broken into pieces, each piece is still the same material and, however small each piece is, has weight. Show that the material properties of a small set of pieces do not change when the pieces are used to build larger objects.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 4.4 of Properties of Materials.
Resources: Weight and Properties Classroom Slides, Resources, and Student Sheet
Companion lesson 1: Extinct Insects
Standard: 3-LS4-1: Use fossils to describe types of organisms and their environments that existed long ago and compare those to living organisms and their environments. Recognize that most kinds of plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found anywhere.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 2.3 of Environments and Survival
Resources: Extinct Insects Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Companion lesson 2: Friction
Standard: 3-PS2-1: Provide evidence to explain the effect of multiple forces, including friction, on an object. Include balanced forces that do not change the motion of the object and unbalanced forces that do change the motion of the object.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 1.1 of Balancing Forces
Resources: Friction Classroom Slides, Resources, and Student Sheet
Companion lesson 1: Composters
Standard: 5-LS2-2(MA)– Compare at least two designs for a composter to determine which is most likely to encourage decomposition of materials.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 3.7 of Ecosystem Restoration
Resources: Composters Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Companion lesson 2: Properties of Materials
Standard: 5-PS1-3 (MA) – Make observations and measurements of substances to describe characteristic properties of each, including color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 1.3 of Modeling Matter
Resources: Properties of Materials Classroom Slides, Resources, Articles, Copymaster, and Student Sheet
Companion lesson 3: Water Filters
Standard: 5-ESS3-2(MA)– Test a simple system designed to filter particulates out of water and propose one change to the design to improve it.
Recommended placement: Following Lesson 5.6 of The Earth System
Resources: Water Filters Classroom Slides and Student Sheet
Benchmark Assessments
Amplify’s Benchmark Assessments are designed to help teachers measure student progress toward the three dimensions—Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Crosscutting Concepts(CCCs)—and performance expectations (PEs) of the NGSS. The assessments provide important insight into how students are progressing toward mastery of different standards ahead of high-stakes, end-of-year assessments.
The Benchmark Assessments are built to be delivered after specific units in the recommended Amplify Science scope and sequence.* They are given three or four times per year, depending on the grade level. The benchmarks are intended to show progress at various points in time across a school year, and are therefore not summative in nature. Digital items and item clusters are also tagged to specific NGSS standards, allowing customization to align with other course sequences. The assessments are available via the following platforms:
Print
PDF files: For administering Benchmark Assessments on paper
Digital platforms
- Illuminate
- SchoolCity
- Otus
- QTI (“Question and Test Interoperability”) files
Not sure whether QTI files are compatible with your assessment platform? Contact your school IT or assessment platform representative for more information.
Please note that Amplify is able to provide access to the QTI files themselves, but is not able to support the integration process. Your assessment platform provider should be able to assist with QTI file integration.
Remote and hybrid learning support
See an example of our remote and hybrid learning support below:
Intended to make extended remote and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science @Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home.
Amplify Science @Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available
- Overviews to send home to families
Student materials will be available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide
Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide
To familiarize yourself with navigation of the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
Ready to dive in?
Contact your Massachusetts representative:
Tracy Yefimenko
518-466-3497
tyefimenko@amplify.com
Inspiring the next generation of Richmond scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Elementary school course structure
- Pushes and Pulls
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Sunlight and Water
- Spinning Earth
- Light and Sound
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Properties of Materials
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Weather and Climate
- Balancing Forces
- Environments and Survival
- Inheritance and Traits
- Changing Landforms
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
- Modeling Matter
- Energy Conversions
- Balancing Forces
Middle school course structure
- Microbiome
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Metabolism
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Harnessing Human Energy
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Light Waves
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Chemical Reactions
- Magnetic Fields
Inside an Amplify Science classroom
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K-5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Virginia Standards Alignment
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, fill out the form for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
What’s included in our phenomena-based science curriculum
Amplify Science is a phenomena-based science curriculum for grades K-8. This program is designed to give students engaging, realistic experiences that mirror how scientists and engineers actually work. To do this, the Lawrence Hall of Science and Amplify created compelling print and digital resources that work seamlessly together to enable students’ investigations and explorations.
Year at a glance
Amplify Science is organized around units where students are introduced to compelling phenomena and real-world problems, develop and strengthen claims by collecting evidence and testing assumptions, and apply their learning in new contexts.
Units at a glance
In each Amplify Science unit, students are asked to inhabit the role of a scientist or engineer in order to investigate a real-world problem. These problems provide relevant, 21st-century contexts through which students investigate different scientific phenomena.
1
Needs of Plants and Animals
Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why there have been no monarch caterpillars in the community garden since vegetables were planted. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and make a new plan for the community garden that provides for the needs of the monarch caterpillars in addition to producing vegetables for humans.
2
Pushes and Pulls
Students take on the role of pinball machine engineers as they investigate the effects of forces on the motion of an object. They conduct tests in their own prototypes (models) of a pinball machine and use what they learn to contribute to the design of a class pinball machine. Over the course of the unit, students construct a foundational understanding of why things move in different ways
3
Sunlight and Weather
The principals of Woodland Elementary and Carver Elementary need student weather scientists to help them explain why Woodland’s playground is warmer than Carver’s at recess. Students gather data from models of the sun and Earth’s surface and observe their own playgrounds to figure out how sunlight causes changes in the temperatures of different surfaces. Students then use models to figure out why Woodland’s playground sometimes floods.
1
Animal and Plant Defenses
Students play the role of marine scientists. In their role, students apply their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to explain to aquarium visitors how a sea turtle and her offspring can defend themselves from ocean predators when they are released into the wild.
2
Light and Sound
Students take on the role of light and sound engineers for a puppet show company as they investigate cause and effect relationships to learn about the nature of light and sound. They apply what they learn to design shadow scenery and sound effects for a puppet show.
3
Spinning Earth
As sky scientists, students explain why a boy living in a place near them sees different things in the sky than his grandma does when he talks to her on the phone. Students record, organize, and analyze observations of the sun and other sky objects as they look for patterns and make sense of the cycle of daytime and nighttime.
1
Plant and Animal Relationships
In their role as plant scientists, students work to figure out why there are no new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, which is part of a broadleaf forest. Students investigate what the chalta tree needs to survive, then collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to solve the mystery.
2
Properties of Materials
As glue engineers, students are challenged to create a glue for use at their school that meets a set of design goals. Students present an evidence-based argument for why their glue mixture will be good for their school to use.
3
Changing Landforms
The director of the Oceanside Recreation Center gets a scare when a nearby cliff collapses overnight. Research reveals that the distance between the Recreation Center’s flagpole and the edge of the cliff have changed over time. Students play the role of geologists and work to figure out why the cliff has changed over time. Based on what they learn about erosion, they advise on whether it is safe to keep the center open even though the cliff is changing.
1
Balancing Forces
People in Faraday are excited to hear that a new train service will be built for their city, but concerned when they hear that it will be a floating train. Students are challenged to figure out how a floating train works in order to explain it to the citizens of Faraday. They develop models of how the train rises, floats, and then falls back to the track, and then write an explanation of how the train works.
2
Inheritance and Traits
Students play the role of wildlife biologists working in Greystone National Park. They study two wolf packs and are challenged to figure out why an adopted wolf (“Wolf 44”) in one of the packs has certain traits. Students observe variation between and within different species, investigate inherited traits and those that result from the environment, and explain the origin of several of the adopted wolf’s traits.
3
Environments and Survival
In their role as biomimicry engineers, students work to figure out how the traits of grove snails affect their survival in different environments. They then explore how the traits of different organisms make them more likely or less likely to survive, collecting and interpreting data to understand how organisms’ traits affect their survival in different environments. Students then apply their understanding to a new challenge: designing effective solutions for the removal of invasive plants.
4
Weather and Climate
In their role as meteorologists, students gather evidence to decide where to build an orangutan reserve by analyzing patterns in weather data. After choosing the strongest evidence, students use data to make arguments about which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. They then discern patterns in the locations of natural hazards in order to figure out which ones the Wildlife Protection Organization must prepare for.
1
Energy Conversions
Students take on the role of systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts, and explore reasons why an electrical system can fail. Students apply what they learned as they choose new energy sources and energy converters for the town, then write arguments for why their design choices will make the town’s electrical system more reliable.
2
Vision and Light
As conservation biologists, students work to figure out why a population of Tokay geckos has decreased since the installation of new highway lights in the rainforest. Students use their understanding of vision, light, and information processing to figure out why an increase in light in the geckos’ habitat is affecting the population.
3
Earth’s Features
Playing the role of geologists, students help the director of Desert Rocks National Park explain how and when a particular fossil formed and how it came to be in its current location. Students figure out what the environment of the park was like in the past and why it has so many visible rock layers.
4
Waves, Energy, and Information
In their role as marine scientists, students work to figure out how mother dolphins communicate with their calves. They write a series of scientific explanations with diagrams to demonstrate their growing understanding of how sound waves travel. Then they apply what they’ve learned about waves, energy, and patterns in communication to figure out how to create patterns that can communicate information over distances.
1
Patterns of Earth and Sky
Playing the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.
2
Modeling Matter
In their role as food scientists at a fictional company, students are introduced to the idea that all matter is made of particles too small to see, and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. They are then challenged to solve two problems: one requires them to separate a mixture, and the other requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the CEO of the company.
3
The Earth System
The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system to help figure out what is causing the water shortage problem and design possible solutions, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.
4
Ecosystem Restoration
As ecologists, students work to figure out why the organisms in a part of a Costa Rican rainforest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. As they solve this problem, students learn more generally how organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to survive, and then write a series of restoration plans that include arguments about why the rainforest ecosystem is not thriving and recommend actions to restore its health.
Print & digital components
The program includes instructional guidance and student materials for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.
Component
Format
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including detailed lesson plans, high-level overview documentation, differentiation strategies, standards alignments, materials and preparation steps, teacher support strategies and in-context professional development, possible student responses, and more.
Print and digital
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is integrated into every unit of Amplify Science. Each hands-on activity is supported through clear instructions for the teacher, as well as easily accessible materials in unit-specific kits. Each kit contains hands-on materials, both consumable and nonconsumable, and various print materials (e.g., Vocabulary and Key Concept cards). With Amplify Science, students can actively participate in science: gathering evidence, thinking critically, making observations, and communicating their claims.
Kit
Component
Format
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
Print and digital
Student books
The age-appropriate Student Books in Amplify Science allow students to engage with content-rich text, obtain evidence, develop research and close reading skills, and construct arguments and explanations about the ideas they are learning in class.
Print and digital
Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)
Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program, these serve as venues for exploration and data collection, allowing students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Digital
Explore more programs
Our programs are designed to support and complement one another. Learn more about our related programs.
Boost Reading sample site
What’s included
Along with compelling print materials, powerful digital resources, and more hands-on materials than any other program, Amplify Science California also includes engaging and realistic experiences, access to diverse role models, countless a-ha moments, and the inspiration and confidence to consider a future as a scientist or engineer.
Choose level
Year at a glance
Amplify Science California is organized around units where students explore compelling phenomena and real-world problems, develop and strengthen claims by collecting evidence and testing assumptions, and apply their learning in new contexts.
Units at a glance
In each Amplify Science California unit, students are asked to inhabit the role of a scientist or engineer in order to investigate a real-world problem. These problems provide relevant, 21st-century contexts through which students investigate different scientific phenomena.
1
Needs of Plants and Animals
Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why there have been no monarch caterpillars in the community garden since vegetables were planted. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and make a new plan for the community garden that provides for the needs of the monarch caterpillars in addition to producing vegetables for humans.
2
Pushes and Pulls
Students take on the role of pinball machine engineers as they investigate the effects of forces on the motion of an object. They conduct tests in their own prototypes (models) of a pinball machine and use what they learn to contribute to the design of a class pinball machine. Over the course of the unit, students construct a foundational understanding of why things move in different ways.
3
Sunlight and Weather
The principals of Woodland Elementary and Carver Elementary need student weather scientists to help them explain why Woodland’s playground is warmer than Carver’s at recess. Students gather data from models of the sun and Earth’s surface and observe their own playgrounds to figure out how sunlight causes changes in the temperatures of different surfaces. Students then use models to figure out why Woodland’s playground sometimes floods.
1
Animal and Plant Defenses
Students play the role of marine scientists. In their role, students apply their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to explain to aquarium visitors how a sea turtle and her offspring can defend themselves from ocean predators when they are released into the wild.
2
Light and Sound
Students take on the role of light and sound engineers for a puppet show company as they investigate cause and effect relationships to learn about the nature of light and sound. They apply what they learn to design shadow scenery and sound effects for a puppet show.
3
Spinning Earth
As sky scientists, students explain why a boy living in a place near them sees different things in the sky than his grandma does when he talks to her on the phone. Students record, organize, and analyze observations of the sun and other sky objects as they look for patterns and make sense of the cycle of daytime and nighttime.
1
Plant and Animal Relationships
In their role as plant scientists, students work to figure out why there are no new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, which is part of a broadleaf forest. Students investigate what the chalta tree needs to survive, then collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to solve the mystery.
2
Properties of Materials
As glue engineers, students are challenged to create a glue for use at their school that meets a set of design goals. Students present an evidence-based argument for why their glue mixture will be good for their school to use.
3
Changing Landforms
The director of the Oceanside Recreation Center gets a scare when a nearby cliff collapses overnight. Research reveals that the distance between the Recreation Center’s flagpole and the edge of the cliff have changed over time. Students play the role of geologists and work to figure out why the cliff has changed over time. Based on what they learn about erosion, they advise on whether it is safe to keep the center open even though the cliff is changing.
1
Balancing Forces
People in Faraday are excited to hear that a new train service will be built for their city, but concerned when they hear that it will be a floating train. Students are challenged to figure out how a floating train works in order to explain it to the citizens of Faraday. They develop models of how the train rises, floats, and then falls back to the track, and then write an explanation of how the train works.
2
Inheritance and Traits
Students play the role of wildlife biologists working in Greystone National Park. They study two wolf packs and are challenged to figure out why an adopted wolf (“Wolf 44”) in one of the packs has certain traits. Students observe variation between and within different species, investigate inherited traits and those that result from the environment, and explain the origin of several of the adopted wolf’s traits.
3
Environments and Survival
In their role as biomimicry engineers, students work to figure out how the traits of grove snails affect their survival in different environments. They then explore how the traits of different organisms make them more likely or less likely to survive, collecting and interpreting data to understand how organisms’ traits affect their survival in different environments. Students then apply their understanding to a new challenge: designing effective solutions for the removal of invasive plants.
4
Weather and Climate
In their role as meteorologists, students gather evidence to decide where to build an orangutan reserve by analyzing patterns in weather data. After choosing the strongest evidence, students use data to make arguments about which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. They then discern patterns in the locations of natural hazards in order to figure out which ones the Wildlife Protection Organization must prepare for.
1
Energy Conversions
Students take on the role of systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts, and explore reasons why an electrical system can fail. Students apply what they learned as they choose new energy sources and energy converters for the town, then write arguments for why their design choices will make the town’s electrical system more reliable.
2
Inheritance and Traits
As conservation biologists, students work to figure out why a population of Tokay geckos has decreased since the installation of new highway lights in the rainforest. Students use their understanding of vision, light, and information processing to figure out why an increase in light in the geckos’ habitat is affecting the population.
3
Environments and Survival
Playing the role of geologists, students help the director of Desert Rocks National Park explain how and when a particular fossil formed and how it came to be in its current location. Students figure out what the environment of the park was like in the past and why it has so many visible rock layers.
4
Weather and Climate
In their role as marine scientists, students work to figure out how mother dolphins communicate with their calves. They write a series of scientific explanations with diagrams to demonstrate their growing understanding of how sound waves travel. Then they apply what they’ve learned about waves, energy, and patterns in communication to figure out how to create patterns that can communicate information over distances.
1
Patterns of Earth and Sky
Playing the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.
2
Modeling Matter
In their role as food scientists at a fictional company, students are introduced to the idea that all matter is made of particles too small to see, and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. They are then challenged to solve two problems: one requires them to separate a mixture, and the other requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the CEO of the company.
3
The Earth System
The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system to help figure out what is causing the water shortage problem and design possible solutions, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.
4
Ecosystem Restoration
As ecologists, students work to figure out why the organisms in a part of a Costa Rican rainforest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. As they solve this problem, students learn more generally how organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to survive, and then write a series of restoration plans that include arguments about why the rainforest ecosystem is not thriving and recommend actions to restore its health.
Print & digital components
Amplify Science California includes instructional guidance and student materials in English and Spanish for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.
Component
FORMAT
NEW! Classroom Slides
Meet your new hands-free TG! These lesson-specific PowerPoints make delivering daily instruction a snap with embedded links to related resources and suggested teacher talk in the Notes section of each slide.
Digital
Teacher’s Reference Guide
Available digitally and in print, this unit-specific reference guide includes scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, and tips for delivering instruction and differentiating learning.
Print and digital
Hands-on materials kits
Each unit-specific kit contains consumable and nonconsumable materials for use during hands-on investigations. In each kit you will find:
- Hands-on materials
- 18 copies of each of the Student Books
- Big books (grades K–1)
- Classroom display materials
- One Student Investigation Notebook
Kit
NGSS Benchmark Assessments
Delivered four times per year in grades 3–5 and three times per year in grades 6–8, our benchmark assessments report on students’ facility with each of the grade-level appropriate DCIs, SEPs, CCCs, and performance expectations of the California NGSS.
And now, Amplify Science California users can choose to administer the NGSS Benchmark Assessments (grades 3–8) through their Illuminate assessment platform.
*Also available in Spanish
Digital
Component
FORMAT
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
*Also available in Spanish
Print and digital
Big books (grades K–1)
Amplify Science California never asks our youngest readers to read alone. Rather, we provide scaffolded literacy experiences every step of the way. With our large-format big books, introducing and revisiting concepts though read-aloud and shared reading experiences is a breeze.
*Also available in Spanish
Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)
Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science California program, these serve as venues for exploration and data collection, allowing students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
*Spanish versions coming soon
Digital
Explore more programs
Our programs are designed to support and complement one another. Learn more about our related programs.
Jason Zimba joins Amplify as Chief Academic Officer of STEM
BROOKLYN, NY (January 11, 2022) — Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, announced today the appointment of Jason Zimba, Ph.D., as chief academic officer of STEM. Zimba, who most recently founded Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teachers and school leaders implement equitable, high-quality, college- and career-ready standards, has spent his career as a researcher, educator, and advocate for high-quality curriculum and instruction for all students.
Over the last 30 years, Zimba has participated in numerous endeavors related to the advancement of excellent STEM education for all students, including his work with Engage New York Math, Illustrative Math and the Next Generation Science Standards. In 2019, Zimba created Math Milestones, a nonprofit subsidiary of Student Achievement Partners, that provides educators with a carefully crafted set of tasks that make mathematics learning easy and accessible to diverse communities, including Black students, English learners, and students in poverty. He also worked with the nonprofit Learning Heroes on a series of resources to inspire and equip parents with information to help their children succeed in school.
“Jason has been one of the most influential and incisive voices about math and science education in the last 20 years, and we could not be happier that Jason has joined the Amplify team,” said Amplify Chief Executive Officer Larry Berger. ”Jason’s immense expertise in STEM education will help us create the next generation of high-quality math and science programs that engage all students in the beauty and rigor of STEM subjects.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the passionate and talented Amplify team,” stated Zimba. “In the past two years educators have gone above and beyond for their students, and they deserve all the support we can provide. I look forward to working with my math and science colleagues to deliver excellent and innovative tools for teachers.”
A Rhodes scholarship recipient and former professor of physics and mathematics, Zimba holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, with a double major in mathematics and astrophysics; a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford; and a doctorate in mathematical physics from the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked as a researcher and educator, teaching mathematics and physics to university and high school students, and incarcerated adults. Zimba is also the author of the book “Force and Motion: An Illustrated Guide to Newton’s Laws,” which presents the laws not only in mathematical form but also visually. This unique approach allows students to appreciate the conceptual underpinnings of each law before moving on to qualitative descriptions of motion and, finally, to the equations and their solutions. Finally, as the first person in his family to attend college, Zimba has a deep commitment to giving all students access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to excel in STEM and other fields.
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About Amplify
A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products turn data into practical instructional support to help all students build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves ten million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.
The truth behind learning, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.
Transcripts and additional resources:
Meet Our Guest(s):
Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.
Nathaniel Swain is a teacher, instructional coach, and writer. He’s a Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University, where he also works at the SOLAR (Science of Language and Reading) Lab, and he blogs about teaching and learning at Dr. Swain’s Cognitorium. He’s taught a range of learners in schools and universities, and he founded a community of teachers committed to the Science of Learning: Think Forward Educators, now at 23,000 members and growing. Dr. Swain is a sought-after speaker on the educational circuit and the author of Harnessing the Science of Learning: Success Stories to Help Kickstart Your School Improvement.
Meet our host, Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert is Chief Academic Officer, Literacy, at Amplify, and host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.
As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. A former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, she’s dedicated, to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.
Quotes
“The greatest thing about the science of learning is that it's never really gonna be finished. Much like the science of reading, it's constantly being updated and it's something that we should be constantly turning to.”
“When we have knowledge at our fingertips—or in this case, in our synapses—ready to be used, we can overcome all these limitations that cognitive load theory talks about.”
“We're kidding ourselves a little bit if we think that we can replace that rich content knowledge with generic skills and generic competencies.”
“Students who have less knowledge or citizens that have less knowledge are more prey to disinformation, because they don't have enough in their schema to be able to question the knowledge that's coming in.”
“Nothing scares me more than students sitting in classrooms trying to go through the motions of comprehension strategies and diligently trying to apply them to reading a text, but not really knowing what this text is about.”