OpenSciEd High School Now Available!
OpenSciEd and Activate Learning have partnered to offer educators high-quality, NGSS-aligned, science curriculum for middle and high school students.
As a certified OpenSciEd distributor and professional learning provider, we will provide the digital platform, books, science kits, and professional learning to make OpenSciEd High School implementation smooth and successful!
Available as a package or for individual purchase
Student Notebook, Student Edition, 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
Phenomenon-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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Research-Based
OpenSciEd is research-based, taking into account how students learn, their motivations and implications regarding teacher and student engagement.
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Tested By Educators
The high school instructional materials and associated professional learning are being developed by the High School Development Consortium, led by the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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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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Middle and High School Programs
Activate Learning is a certified distribution partner for the OpenSciEd Middle School and High School programs. We offer the digital platform, science kits and materials, and professional learning for OpenSciEd Middle School and High School.
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.
Our team is dedicated to staying true to the original curriculum and keeping current with ongoing updates to our digital version.
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 are woven throughout each unit.
Each OpenSciEd High School unit undergoes an 18-month development process that includes external reviews, a robust field test, and revision. The first units were released in February 2023 and the full courses will be completed in early 2024. More details are available on the OpenSciEd Unit Release Schedule page.
OpenSciEd High School Scope & Sequence
To the right 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 - Available Now from Activate Learning!
How do ecosystems work, and how can understanding them help us protect them?
B.2 Ecosystems: Matter & Energy - Available Now from Activate Learning!
What causes fires in ecosystems to burn and how should we manage them?
B.3 Inheritance & Variation of Traits - Coming Soon!
Who gets cancer and why? Where should we focus efforts on treatment and prevention?
B.4 Natural Selection & Evolution of Populations - Available Now from Activate Learning!
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?
Digital Platform
Experience a truly interactive digital edition of OpenSciEd High School materials for teachers and students.
With the Activate Learning Digital Platform, students and teachers enjoy an interactive, engaging online experience with the OpenSciEd High School curriculum.
The platform is designed for student accessibility and inclusion and offers AccessiBe customizable web accessibility tools, embedded translation for 130+ languages, text-to-speech with read-along highlighting, and sentence starters to support writing.
Featuring an intuitive user experience, teachers have everything they need to Plan, Teach, Assign, and Assess lessons in a platform that is integrated with leading SIS rostering and Learning Management Systems. And with Lesson Launch, teachers can quickly view slides, handouts, student edition, and materials in one place!
OpenSciEd High School
Science Kits
Science equipment and materials are an essential element to investigation-centered learning.
Activate Learning will offer certified science kits to support every investigation included in the published units for OpenSciEd High School.
- All products are rigorously tested for safety quality assurance.
- 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, and view how-to videos to 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 will offer full-color print Teacher and Student Editions for each published unit of the OpenSciEd High School science curriculum.
- Say goodbye to printing with our printed Student Notebooks!
- All handouts, reference sheets, and readings, with plenty of room for students to capture their responses to questions and discussion prompts.
- Multiple copies of the Project Tracker are enough for the whole unit.
- And with perforated, 3-hole punched pages, it’s easy for students to put completed work into binders!
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.
