OpenSciEd High School Biology, Physics, and Chemistry
OpenSciEd and Activate Learning have partnered to offer educators high-quality, NGSS-aligned, science curriculum for high school students.
As a certified OpenSciEd distributor and professional learning provider, we provide the digital platform, print books, science kits, and professional learning to make OpenSciEd High School implementation smooth and successful.
All of the OpenSciEd High School units and kits are available!
Available as a package or for individual purchase
Student Notebooks and Teacher Edition
Digital
Interactive Teacher and Student content available on the Activate Learning Digital Platform
Kits
All materials necessary for all OpenSciEd investigations
Professional Learning
Full implementation support and certified professional learning
Three-Dimensional
Phenomena-Based Approach
Students explore driving questions, conduct investigations, collect and analyze data, develop and use models to explain phenomena.
Designed for Equitable Science Learning
Access high-quality, adaptable materials that support standards-based, equitable science learning.
Total Support
for Teachers
Content, structure, and support to experience three-dimensional teaching and learning with OpenSciEd.
Need more info to decide if this the right curriculum for your district or school?
Curriculum Details
The OpenSciEd Instructional Model uses a storyline approach, each lesson motivated by questions generated by students following their interactions with phenomena.
In each unit of study, students explore the questions they have, make conclusions based on those investigations, and then strategize to come up with the next set of questions to investigate.
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EdReports "All-Green" Rated
OpenSciEd has earned the EdReports “all-green” rating for their High School Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses.
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NGSS Alignment
Aligned to the Framework and NGSS. Units can be adapted to fit your state's sequence.
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Research-Based & Tested by Educators
OpenSciEd is research-based, taking into account how students learn, their motivations and implications regarding teacher and student engagement.
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Full Fidelity, Complete Curriculum
The Activate Learning Certified Version stays true to the full fidelity of the original OpenSciEd high school curriculum that's been researched and field-tested.
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K-12 OpenSciEd Programs
Activate Learning offers OpenSciEd K-12 certified print and digital content, science kits, and professional learning.
OpenSciEd High School
Science Units
Certified OpenSciEd High School Materials
Activate Learning is a certified provider of OpenSciEd High School print and digital curriculum content, science kits, and professional learning. We partner with districts to provide full implementation support.
Student-Centered Learning
With OpenSciEd we place students at the center of their learning. When teachers implement student-centered instruction, students engage in making sense of phenomena around them as described in A Framework for K–12 Science Education. Student-centered instruction actively engages students in sensemaking, with teachers facilitating their learning.
Our certified OpenSciEd materials do not remove any student-centered activities or replace student sensemaking experiences with teacher demonstrations!
Instead, we provide the support to teachers to facilitate meaningful experiences and productive discussions to deepen students’ science understanding.
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science
Across three or four years of high school, students conduct sequenced activities, investigations, readings, discussions, and lessons that build student understanding of core disciplinary ideas, crosscutting concepts, and multiple scientific practices.
OpenSciEd High School provides five units of Biology, five units of Chemistry, and six units of Physics, providing three full years of high school science. Earth and Space Science standards and Data Analysis are woven throughout each unit.
All of the OpenSciEd High School units are available in print and digital formats!
OpenSciEd High School Scope & Sequence
Below is an example unit sequence based on NGSS guidelines, however, all units can be adapted to fit your state's unique sequence.
Contact us to learn more about aligning the OpenSciEd High School curriculum to your state standards.
B.1 Ecosystems Interactions & Dynamics
How do ecosystems work, and how can understanding them help us protect them?
B.2 Ecosystems: Matter & Energy
What causes fires in ecosystems to burn and how should we manage them?
B.3 Inheritance & Variation of Traits
Who gets cancer and why? Where should we focus efforts on treatment and prevention?
B.4 Natural Selection & Evolution of Populations
How is urbanization a driving force of evolution? Should we design urban spaces more hospitably for non-human species?
B.5 Common Ancestry & Speciation
How did polar bears evolve and what will happen to them as their environment changes?
C.1 Thermodynamics in Earth’s Systems
How can we slow the flow of energy on Earth to protect vulnerable coastal communities?
C.2 Structure & Properties of Matter
What causes lightning and why are some places safer than others when it strikes?
C.3 Molecular Processes in Earth Systems
How could we find and use the resources we need to live beyond Earth?
C.4 Chemical Reactions in our World
Why are oysters dying, and how can we use chemistry to protect them?
C.5 Energy from Chemical & Nuclear Reactions
Which fuels should we design our next generation vehicles to use?
P.1 Energy Flow from Earth’s Systems
How can we design more reliable systems to meet our communities’ energy needs?
P.2 Energy, Forces, & Earth’s Crust
How do forces in Earth’s interior determine what will happen to the surface we see?
P.3 Collisions & Momentum
What can we do to make driving safer for everyone?
P.4 Meteors, Orbits, & Gravity
How have collisions with objects from space changed Earth in the past, and how could they affect our future?
P.5 Electromagnetic Radiation
How do we use radiation in our lives, and is it safe for humans?
P.6 Stars & the Big Bang
Why do stars shine and will they shine forever?
Digital Platform
Experience a truly interactive digital edition of all OpenSciEd High School materials for teachers and students.
The Activate Learning Digital platform has earned the prestigious ISTE Seal validation for high-quality education technology platforms.
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.
OpenSciEd High School
Science Kits
Science equipment and materials are an essential element to investigation-centered learning.
Activate Learning offers certified science kits to support every investigation included in the published units for OpenSciEd High School.
- All products are rigorously tested for safety and quality assurance.
- Materials are prepped for teachers, saving teachers valuable time and reducing the need to print, cut, and laminate game boards and pieces.
- Classroom kits are delivered in stackable, protective, reusable totes, making it easy to stay organized and get to what you need quickly.
- Teachers will be able to scan the QR code on the outside of the tote to access the Activate Learning Kit Companion® to easily find everything in their shipment, quickly access important Safety Data Sheets, activity guides, and how-to videos to help set up materials.
- Teachers get access to real people for help and support with any questions about the kits, materials, or curriculum content.
Connect with us to learn more about science kits and materials from Activate Learning.
OpenSciEd
Books & Notebooks
- Activate Learning offers four-color print Teacher Editions for each published unit of the OpenSciEd High School science curriculum.
- Say goodbye to printing with our printed Student Notebooks for OpenSciEd!
- All handouts, reference sheets, and readings, with plenty of room for students to capture their responses to questions and discussion prompts.
- Pages for a personal glossary are provided in the notebook.
- Multiple copies of the Project Tracker are enough for the whole unit.
- Four-color print pages, perfect bound notebooks are lightweight and easy to use.
- And with perforated pages, it’s easy for students to put completed work into folders!
Certified Professional Learning
Activate Learning curriculum experts provide extensive OpenSciEd High School implementation support and certified professional learning on the latest, most innovative strategies and techniques to engage students.
Comprehensive professional learning resources provide the necessary content, structure, and support to experience three-dimensional teaching and learning with OpenSciEd.
Testimonials Kind Words from Administrators & Teachers.
