Next Generation Science Standards Overview
The Next Generation Science Standards are a new set of science standards designed by states to help further K-12 science education. They are comprised of three aspects: Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. All standards and their definitions are directly from the Next Generation Science Standards website or the National Science Teachers Association Website (NSTA) as indicated below ( “Next Generation Science Standards,” 2019) and (Nsta, 2019).
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): Science & Engineering Practices
Through this unit students will grasp a stronger understanding of the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices. These are skills that students should understand through learning conducted in science class. They are skills based, rather than curriculum based, and through this hands-on unit students will work through most of them.
The Eight Science and Engineering Practices:
All practices and their definitions are directly from the National Science Teachers Association Website (Nsta, 2019).
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering): A practice of science is to ask and refine questions that lead to descriptions and explanations of how the natural and designed world works and which can be empirically tested.Students will ask questions based off of the injury scenario they are given with their partners. They will then use the design process to properly work to define the problem their partner is having before working to create a prototype.
- Developing and using models: A practice of both science and engineering is to use and construct models as helpful tools for representing ideas and explanations. These tools include diagrams, drawings, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and computer simulations.By creating a three-dimensional prototype of a possible solution to an injury to the integumentary system, students will gain experience developing and using models. They will learn that development is an iterative process and learn the problem-solving skills that surround creation of a model.
- Planning and carrying out investigations: Scientists and engineers plan and carry out investigations in the field or laboratory, working collaboratively as well as individually. Their investigations are systematic and require clarifying what counts as data and identifying variables or parameters.In order to keep revising their prototype, students will learn to plan and carry out an investigation as they test what is working and what is not working well with their prototype.
- Analyzing and interpreting data: Scientific investigations produce data that must be analyzed in order to derive meaning. Because data patterns and trends are not always obvious, scientists use a range of tools—including tabulation, graphical interpretation, visualization, and statistical analysis—to identify the significant features and patterns in the data. Scientists identify sources of error in the investigations and calculate the degree of certainty in the results. Modern technology makes the collection of large data sets much easier, providing secondary sources for analysis.Although students are not taking in data in this unit in the traditional sense, with numbers and graphs, they are taking many qualitative observations. Beginning in the first steps of even defining the problem, students use their observation skills to determine the true root problem so they can begin to determine a solution. While ideating towards a solution and through the creation of the prototype they are also using their qualitative observation skills to keep improving their prototype.
- Using mathematics and computational thinking: In both science and engineering, mathematics and computation are fundamental tools for representing physical variables and their relationships. They are used for a range of tasks such as constructing simulations; statistically analyzing data; and recognizing, expressing, and applying quantitative relationships.Using mathematics and computational thinking is defined as using numbers and their relationships to complete a series of tasks. Although in this unit it is not emphasized or required of students, many may take this approach (numerical) as they work through designing their prototype.
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering): The products of science are explanations and the products of engineering are solutions.Constructing explanations and designing solutions is the foundation of this unit. Students will aim to create a solution for an existing problem through the design process, which will ultimately result in a physical solution product. Additionally, students will construct explanations as they present their solutions to the class.
- Engaging in argument from evidence: Argumentation is the process by which explanations and solutions are reached.Students begin the unit determining their own research for solutions. Based on the knowledge gained, students will create their own prototype for solving the problem they define through the design process. At the end of the project students will engage in explaining, or arguing, why their prototype is successful and what research evidence proves this.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information: Scientists and engineers must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively the ideas and methods they generate. Critiquing and communicating ideas individually and in groups is a critical professional activity.Students will gain experience communicating information as they present their findings to the class at the end of the project.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): Crosscutting Concepts
There are seven NGSS Crosscutting Concepts that embody themes that can be applied across all scientific fields. Through this four of these themes will be addressed: Cause and Effect, Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, Systems and Systems Models, and Structure and Function.
The Seven Crosscutting Concepts:
All crosscutting concepts and their definitions are directly from the National Science Teachers Association Website (Nsta, 2019).
- Patterns: Observed patterns in nature guide organization and classification and prompt questions about relationships and causes underlying them.
- Case and Effect: Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. Deciphering causal relationships, and the mechanisms by which they are mediated, is a major activity of science and engineering.
- Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.
- Systems and Systems Models: A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.
- Energy and Matter: Tracking energy and matter flows, into, out of, and within systems helps one understand their system’s behavior.
- Structure and Function: The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions.
- Stability and Change: For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): Curriculum Standards
There are five NGSS Curriculum Standards addressed in this unit:
All practices and their definitions are directly from the Next Generation Science Standards website (“Next Generation Science Standards,” 2019).
- MS-PE-LS1-1: Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
- MS-PE-LS1-3: Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
- MS-PE-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- MS-PE-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
- MS-PE-ETS1-4: Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
