Investigation-Centered Science Curriculum

We have recently implemented OpenSciEd Middle School Units in all of our middle school classrooms.  This past summer, as the Science Instructional Coach in Colonial, I worked alongside the Activate Professional Learning Group to implement professional learning for the units in our district and state.  In addition, I worked with many of the facilitators from Activate to provide professional learning opportunities in our district for our teachers. 

We are so thankful for the work and efforts of the Activate Professional Learning Facilitators.  I love how this group of Activate facilitators along with Tracy, the lead of the Activate PL Group, created personalized learning opportunities for the instructional coaches and teachers in this state, and specifically for our district! The Activate group is friendly, personable, understands the workload and stresses of teachers, and adapts the professional learning to our needs. Thank you Activate for helping us along with our successful implementation of OpenSciEd Curriculum!  

My students are more responsible for their own learning. This curriculum changes my teaching style from teaching students content to teaching students how to think.

I can't say enough about how wonderful the teacher's professional learning was over the last three days! We chose the right teachers to help with the facilitation, and Activate Learning chose the right facilitators to help mentor the teachers and co-present. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was like all the stars lined up. I loved hearing how much the teachers loved being in the training. Most of them were not getting paid to attend the training, and they were saying the teachers that didn't come to the training are not going to be able to teach this in the fall. This group of teachers are going to be the teachers that rally for professional learning and this program.

Using OpenSciEd will mean that my students will have an authentic learning experience. The hands-on, inquiry-driven learning will deepen their knowledge and strengthen their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Activate Learning was able to recommend a customized OpenSciEd/ IQWST implementation. Both curricula share the same pedagogy and even some of the same authors, providing a seamless experience to teachers and students through Activate Learning's Interactive Digital Platform. 

Activate Learning is a great support system for me, for the district, for the teachers, and for the kids. It's a one-stop-shop for everything the we need to support our science program and science instruction in our district. 

Activate Learning supports NGSS and 3-dimensional learning by incorporating crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices into the disciplinary core ideas through hands-on activities that promote inquiry.

Students really understand what they learn, and they remember it and can connect it to other concepts in the future. Teaching 7th they remember more from 6th, and teaching 8th, the connections to 6th and 7th are huge.

If I compare the way I teach when I began teaching, which as the traditional way, I get the attention of my students more now. In terms of skills that they need for the 21st century, this is the best program to get our students to where we want them to be. 

Chemistry is very challenging for many of our students because it is very abstract. Active Chemistry provided labs and hands-on activities first, then proceeded to the readings, which allowed students to make more sense of what they were learning.

It's all about collaboration and I now get the attention of my students more than ever before. This is the best program.

The first thing I noticed was the smiles on students' faces, they were very interested in coming to school and to Physics class. We want kids exploring Project-Based Learning, we want kids getting involved in the application of 21st century skills, and this curriculum gave us easy access to this.

Active Physics was clearly different, and that's what we were hoping to have - something that had that project-based approach to it. Hands on investigations where the kids are in control of what they're doing. There's guidance so they don't go off track too much but they're able to have that flexibility and freedom to go through their own individual activity, as opposed to sitting at a desk, less engaged, just writing the notes. They're up doing the things and making the connections themselves as they go. Students are starting to ask their own questions, "What if we did this"?!

That's the difference - the focus is on the learning, not just the activity. You are learning as scientists do, you are already practicing those same hypothesis skills, you are already designing your own laboratory experiments. You want kids to be excited about having freedom to design and engage in a teamwork situation. Students learn what is applicable to the real world through Active Physics. 

I think we showed everybody and we proved that you can have fun and learn, and that they go hand in hand. I absolutely recommend Engineering the Future. I think every school should have it, whether it's a traditional high school or a vocational high school. It includes everybody who can hold a tool in their hand, or draw something, or come up with an idea. All students can be successful with this program. I can't imagine not teaching it and going back to the old way. 

I always had this goal of sharing my passion for STEM with other young girls. That's when I got hooked on Engineering the Future. I was looking for something at an introductory level that was going to have real life stories, that was going to show the students what engineering can do to help them make a difference in the world.