OpenSciEd Middle School Curriculum for Grades 6–8
OpenSciEd Middle School is a three-year, phenomena-based science curriculum with 18 units for grades 6–8. Students make sense of real-world phenomena through connected storylines. Hands-on investigations, modeling, data analysis, and classroom discussion give them evidence to build and revise explanations.
As a certified OpenSciEd distributor and professional learning provider, Activate Learning offers the OpenSciEd curriculum through print and digital materials, science kits organized by lesson, Virtual Investigations®, and professional learning that supports implementation.
Activate Learning’s certified edition of OpenSciEd 6-8 meets expectations in all three EdReports review gateways.
EdReportsAll-Green Rating for OpenSciEd 6-8
The Activate Learning Certified Version of OpenSciEd 6-8 curriculum has earned the esteemed "all-green" rating from EdReports, a leading nonprofit organization that evaluates instructional materials for alignment to college and career ready standards and other markers of quality.
The Activate Learning Certified Version of OpenSciEd for grades 6–8 meets expectations in all three EdReports gateways: Designed for the NGSS, Coherence and Scope, and Usability. The review covers the complete 18-unit sequence, with six units at each grade level.
Choose a Complete OpenSciEd Middle School Package or Individual Components
OpenSciEd Middle School Student Notebooks and Teacher Editions
Digital
Interactive teacher and student materials on the Activate Learning Digital Platform, including Virtual Investigations®
Kits
Materials for every OpenSciEd Middle School investigation, grouped by lesson with select Teacher-Ready Time Savers
Professional Learning
Full implementation support and certified Professional Learning
How OpenSciEd Middle School Supports Students and Teachers
OpenSciEd Middle School gives students an active role in figuring out real-world phenomena. Its classroom routines create more ways for students to contribute to sensemaking, while educators receive practical guidance for three-dimensional instruction.
Three-Dimensional
Phenomena-Based Approach
Students pursue driving questions through investigation. They analyze data and develop models that help them explain each unit’s anchoring phenomenon.
Designed for Equitable Science Learning
Adaptable routines and supports create multiple ways for students to share ideas, use evidence, and participate in standards-based science learning.
Total Support
for Teachers
Teachers receive curriculum guidance and professional learning, with implementation support available as classroom questions emerge.
Is OpenSciEd Middle School the right curriculum for your district or school?
How Does the OpenSciEd Middle School Curriculum Work?
OpenSciEd is an NGSS middle school curriculum for grades 6–8 built around real-world phenomena and student questions. Each unit follows a coherent storyline. Students gather evidence, revise models, and determine what they need to figure out next. Across three years, the sequence connects disciplinary core ideas with science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts.
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Research-Based & Field Tested
The middle school units were developed through an 18-month process informed by teacher and student voices, then field-tested in real classrooms.
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NGSS Alignment
The curriculum intentionally develops science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts across its 18 connected units.
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EdReports "All-Green" Rating
The Activate Learning Certified Version of OpenSciEd Middle School earned the EdReports "all-green" rating.
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ISTE Seal Validated
The Activate Learning Digital Platform earned the prestigious ISTE Seal validation for high-quality education technology platforms.
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A Coherent OpenSciEd Pathway Across Grades K–12
Activate Learning offers OpenSciEd programs for elementary, middle, and high school, helping districts build continuity in science instruction across grades K–12. Working with one partner also gives district teams consistent access to curriculum materials, digital platform supports, science kits, and professional learning as students move from one grade band to the next.
OpenSciEd Middle School
Science Units for Grades 6–8
The OpenSciEd curriculum includes 18 units: six in Grade 6, six in Grade 7, and six in Grade 8. Across the three-year sequence, students build on earlier investigations as they deepen their use of science and engineering practices.
Activate Learning preserves the full instructional experience while providing print and digital materials, organized science kits, and implementation support.
The sequence below reflects OpenSciEd’s recommended order. Because later units build on ideas, practices, and classroom routines developed earlier, reordering requires careful planning. Districts can work with Activate Learning to align the program with state requirements while preserving coherence across grades 6–8.
Contact us to learn more about aligning the OpenSciEd curriculum to your state standards.
6.1 Light & Matter: Why do we sometimes see different things when looking at the same object?
6.2 Thermal Energy: How can containers keep stuff from warming up or cooling down?
6.3 Weather, Climate & Water Cycling: Why does a lot of hail, rain, or snowfall at some times and not others?
6.4 Rock Cycling & Plate Tectonics: How and why does Earth's surface change?
6.5 Natural Hazards: Where do natural hazards happen and how do we prepare for them?
6.6 Cells & Systems: How do living things heal?
7.1 Chemical Reactions & Matter: How can we make something new that was not there before?
7.2 Chemical Reactions & Energy: How can we use chemical reactions to design a solution to a problem?
7.3 Metabolic Reactions: How do things inside our bodies work together to make us feel the way we do?
7.4 Matter Cycling & Photosynthesis: Where does food come from and where does it go next?
7.5 Ecosystem Dynamics: How does changing an ecosystem affect what lives there?
7.6 Resources & Human Impact: How do changes in the Earth's system impact our communities and what can we do about it?
8.1 Contact Forces: Why do things sometimes get damaged when they hit each other?
8.2 Sound Waves: How can a sound make something move?
8.3 Forces at a Distance: How can a magnet move another object without touching it
8.4 Earth in Space: Why do we see patterns in the sky, and what else is out there that we can't see?
8.5 Genetics: Why are living things different from one another?
8.6 Selection and Common Ancestry: How could living things today be connected to the things that lived long ago?
OpenSciEd Middle School Teacher Editions and Student Notebooks
Activate Learning offers full-color Teacher Editions and ready-to-use Student Notebooks for all 18 OpenSciEd Middle School units. Each notebook includes student handouts, reference sheets, readings, space for written responses, and multiple copies of the Project Tracker. Perforated pages make completed work easy to organize in folders or binders.
Certified OpenSciEd
Middle School Science Kits
Hands-on investigations require reliable materials that are easy to find when teachers need them. Activate Learning’s certified science kits include the materials required for each OpenSciEd Middle School activity, grouped by lesson and quality-tested before shipment.
OpenSciEd Middle School Science Kits are in stock and ready to ship!
- All products are rigorously tested for quality assurance, so you can trust the materials will work.
- Materials are grouped by lesson so teachers can easily locate lesson-specific materials.
- Activate Learning Kit Companion® helps teachers save time and easily find everything in their shipment, quickly access helpful activity guides, and view how-to videos to set up materials.
- Teacher-Ready Time Savers include prepared bath bomb recipes, pre-cut light boxes, and painted cups.
Digital Teacher Edition Access Included with Kit Purchase
One-year access to the OpenSciEd Teacher Edition on our digital platform is included with your purchase of OpenSciEd Middle School science kits with Activate Learning.
OpenSciEd Middle School on the Activate Learning Digital Platform
Experience a truly interactive digital edition of all OpenSciEd Middle School materials for teachers and students.
The Activate Learning Digital Platform supports the hands-on learning that takes place in the classroom. Teachers save valuable prep time by easily accessing all of the OpenSciEd lessons, learning plans, background information and videos, teaching slides, and assessment opportunities.
The platform is designed for student safety and accessibility and offers embedded translation for 140+ languages, text-to-speech with read-along highlighting, and sentence starters to support writing.
The Activate Learning Digital platform has earned the prestigious ISTE Seal validation for high-quality education technology platforms, so you know it's safe, secure, and user-friendly, and aligned to ISTE Standards.
The Activate Learning Digital Platform fully integrates with important classroom systems like Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and Leading SIS Platforms.
Activate Learning Virtual Investigations®
Built for the OpenSciEd Middle School curriculum, Activate Learning Virtual Investigations® provide curriculum-aligned digital labs that provide flexibility to teachers and enhance student access to phenomena.
Students interact directly with phenomena by manipulating virtual lab equipment step by step, in the same sequence they would in a hands-on investigation. This experience mirrors the investigation itself and students as collect real-world data that can be added to a class chart or discussion.
Teachers are using Activate Learning Virtual Investigations® to prepare students for classroom-based investigations, as review after the hands-on experience, and to support absent students who miss the investigation in class. Read more about how teachers are integrating Virtual Investigations® into their classrooms.
The growing library includes over 50 investigations, only available on the Activate Learning Digital Platform.
Certified OpenSciEd Middle School Professional Learning
Activate Learning curriculum specialists provide extensive OpenSciEd product implementation support and certified professional learning on the latest, most innovative strategies and techniques to empower educators and engage students.
Comprehensive professional learning resources provide the necessary content, structure, and support to experience three-dimensional teaching and learning with OpenSciEd.
Activate Learning Customer Success Specialists include highly experienced science educators who partner with school districts to provide ongoing professional learning to support successful curriculum adoption and implementation in the classrooms.
What Educators Say About OpenSciEd Middle School
OpenSciEd Middle School District Case Studies
See how districts have planned for the instructional shift and supported teachers as OpenSciEd moves from adoption into middle school classrooms.
OpenSciEd Middle School FAQs
OpenSciEd Middle School is a phenomena-based, three-dimensional science curriculum for grades 6–8. Across 18 connected units, students investigate questions, use evidence, and revise models as they work toward explaining real-world phenomena.
The curriculum includes 18 units: six for Grade 6, six for Grade 7, and six for Grade 8. The integrated sequence includes physical science, life science, and Earth and space science, with engineering incorporated throughout.
Yes. OpenSciEd is designed for three-dimensional learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The Activate Learning Certified Version meets expectations in all three EdReports review gateways.
Districts can adapt the sequence to meet state and local requirements, but unit order matters because later units build on ideas and practices developed earlier. Activate Learning can help districts plan changes while preserving coherence across grades 6–8.
The source OpenSciEd curriculum is available as a free open educational resource. Activate Learning provides a certified, full-fidelity version with print and digital materials, science kits organized by lesson, Virtual Investigations®, professional learning, and implementation support. Schools can purchase a complete package or select individual components.
Virtual Investigations® are curriculum-aligned digital labs that complement OpenSciEd’s hands-on investigations. Teachers can use them to prepare students for an activity, reinforce learning afterward, or support students who miss the classroom investigation.