Overview

• Amplify Science K-5: Program Overview
• Amplify Science K-5: Teacher’s Guide Navigation
• Recommended Scope and Sequence for Grades 3–5

Supporting literacy development

• Literacy-rich science instruction in K–5

Planning resources

Planning Guides

• 3rd Grade RPS Curriculum Guide
• 4th Grade RPS Curriculum Guide
• 5th Grade RPS Curriculum Guide
• 3rd Grade Planning Guide*
• 4th Grade Planning Guide*
• 5th Grade Planning Guide*
  • *Sequence of units does not match RPS’ scope and sequence.

Look-for-tools

• Establishing Common Expectations for Amplify Science Classrooms (K-5)
• Amplify Science: Getting started look-for-tool (K-8)

Planning support documents

• Using the RPS/Amplify LPP
• Elementary Lesson Preparation Document
• Using the Amplify Unpacking Document
• Unpacking Template

The following materials lists and videos give you a quick look into our Amplify Science classroom kits. For each grade level, we have a video for the first unit in the scope and sequence, and we show you how to unpack the kits for all the units.

NOTE: These materials kits are not specific to the Richmond unit progression. Please reference these Richmond unit progression docs for 3–5 and 6–8 so you’ll know which kits to look for in each grade.

Materials lists

• Elementary unit materials lists

Unpacking videos

• Grade 3: Balancing Forces
• Grade 4: Energy Conversions
• Grade 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky

• Grade 3 companion lesson
• Grade 4 companion lesson

Overview

• Amplify Science 6-8: Program Overview
• Amplify Science 6-8: Teacher’s Guide Navigation
• Recommended Scope and Sequence for Grades 6–8

Supporting literacy development

• Active Reading in Grades 6–8

Planning resources

Planning/Pacing Guides

• 6th Grade/Integrated Life Science RPS Curriculum Guide
• 7th Grade/Physical Science RPS Curriculum Guide
• 6-8 Pacing Guide
• Grade 6-8 Planning Guide*
  • *Sequence of units does not match RPS’ scope and sequence.

Look-for-tools

• Amplify Science: Getting started look-for-tool (K-8)

Planning support documents

• Using the RPS/Amplify LPP
• Using the Amplify Unpacking Document
• Unpacking Template

The following materials lists and videos give you a quick look into our Amplify Science classroom kits. For each grade level, we have a video for the first unit in the scope and sequence, and we show you how to unpack the kits for all the units.

NOTE: These materials kits are not specific to the Richmond unit progression. Please reference these Richmond unit progression docs for 3–5 and 6–8 so you’ll know which kits to look for in each grade.

Materials lists

• Middle school unit materials lists

Unpacking videos

• Middle school: Metabolism
• Middle school: Plate Motion
• Middle school: Force and motion

6th grade Integrated

• Metabolism: Reading “How You Are Like a Sneezing Iguana” (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Metabolism: Plant Growth Investigations (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Metabolism: Reading “How Do Trees Grow So Huge Without Eating?” (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Populations and Resources: Reading “The Amazing Variety of Life in a Coral Reef” (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Weather Patterns: Reading “What Makes Water Move?” (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)

7th grade Integrated/Physical science

• Harnessing Human Energy: Investigating Electrical Devices (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Harnessing Human Energy: Investigating Non-Touching Forces (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Harnessing Human Energy: Reading About Non-Touching Forces (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Thermal Energy: Designing Hot and Cold Packs (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Phase Change: Reading “Icy Heat” (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Chemical Reactions: Identifying Substances (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Chemical Reactions: Mixtures, Properties, and Separation (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)
• Magnetic Fields, Water Wheel Design (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)

Additional units

• Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate: Investigating Deep Ocean Currents (Lesson Guide and Copymaster)

We get it…pacing your instruction, especially with a new program, can be really challenging. In Amplify Science, students internalize concepts through repeated exposures over multiple days with different modalities. We say students get multiple “at-bats” with each concept. As you move through the lessons, avoid looking for concept mastery each day. Instead, try to move through the lesson according to the timing guidelines, maintaining a quick pace.

In classroom discussion activities in particular, you may be tempted to keep the conversation going to ensure that your students fully master the content in that class period. We recommend, though, if the lesson overview says discuss for 10 minutes, cut it off at 10 minutes.

Every Amplify Science unit includes hands-on investigations. But, just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in Amplify Science. Like scientists, students using Amplify Science also gather evidence from physical models, digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, and data sets. Doing so requires using the full range of the practices in multi-dimensional learning. It also offers students different ways of acquiring knowledge and experience, multiple means of expressing their understanding, and a variety of resources through which to engage with the content.

Often, students enjoy hands-on investigations, but don’t sufficiently learn key concepts from those experiences. The Amplify Science investigations are designed for efficiency and effectiveness. For teachers who wish to supplement the lessons with more hands-on activities, optional hands-on “flextension” activities are included in many units. Instructional guidance, student sheets, and other supporting resources for them are included as downloadable PDF files and materials needed are either included in the unit kit or easily sourced.

First, take a breath, and know that you will gradually internalize the program routines and overall flow. Also, remember that your students are experiencing the program for the first time with you. Together, you’ll be peeling the onion one layer at a time.

It can be intimidating to begin the school year with a brand-new curriculum: where do you start? The Richmond Resources Site will help you navigate the different supports and resources we have for new Amplify Science teachers. 

The Program Hub is also a great place to direct your own, independent learning about Amplify Science instruction. Once you log into the platform, click on the directory on the top left side. Click into the Program Hub, then Professional Learning, and Getting Started. This will give you access to prioritized resources that will help you plan for your Amplify Science instruction. Additionally, the Amplify Science Help center (also accessible from the Global Navigation menu) is great for short videos about specific topics like supporting EL students, using Classwork, etc.

The variety of multimodal activities that are included in Amplify Science provides students with the opportunity to dive deeply into understanding science ideas, make science exciting to students, and allow for all students to have the benefit of multiple opportunities to access rich science content. Think about how many times you’ve taught a concept and then discovered your students had minimal recall at the end of the week. The truth is, students need multiple, varied exposures to key concepts.

In the program, we make sure that students have the opportunity to DO, TALK, READ, WRITE, and VISUALIZE every important idea. We think of this as providing students with multiple at bats— each encounter with the idea provides students with additional evidence, and the opportunity to develop deeper understanding. Students have multiple opportunities to construct their understanding of the same idea.

This multimodality may feel repetitive, but it is purposeful and impactful. Sometimes the repetition is for 1) hitting other Science and Engineering Practices, and/or 2) giving students multiple and varied opportunities to express their understanding. Many students can easily parrot back what they read and one may think they know it — but ask them to draw a model, and one might see that their understanding is only so deep.  Ultimately we believe that this approach not only serves a broader range of students but will also result in more retention in the long run.

It’s true. Our teacher’s guide does not look like the typical guide that comes with a traditional textbook. Here’s why: we aren’t a traditional textbook program. Rather, we’re a next generation curriculum designed to support a shift to a whole new way of teaching science.

With this shift, your district will be faced with supporting a wide-variety of needs from a wide-variety of teachers. For that reason, the resources required to successfully implement a new program will vary considerably from teacher to teacher. That’s precisely why our Teacher’s Reference Guide is chock full of so many rich and varied resources. From scientific background knowledge to suggested teacher talk, standards maps to materials lists, and lesson preparation notes and classroom management tips to strategies for differentiating instruction, this guide is truly meant to serve as an instructional reference.

For everyday instructional use, we recommend that busy classroom teachers use Classroom Slides, which are now available for most K–5 units and will be coming soon for grades 6–8.

Also known as our hands-free TG, Classroom Slides are a brand-new teaching resource that makes delivering daily instruction easy and fun. With a fully customizable PPT available for every lesson of the program, teachers can put down the Teacher’s Guide and focus on what matters most—their students.

Classroom Slides are:

• Available offline, which means no more sweating unreliable internet connections.
• Streamlined for easy lesson delivery, including lesson visuals, activity instructions and transitions, animations, investigation setup videos, technology support, and more.
• Fully editable, allowing teachers to incorporate their own flavor, flair, and favorite resources.

Our development team is working as quickly as possible to make Classroom Slides available to all teachers. That said, at this time they are only available for the first and second units of each grade K–5, with the remaining units being released over the next few months. Due to the popularity of Classroom Slides at the elementary level, development for grades 6–8 is now underway, with all units scheduled for completion by the 2020-2021 school year.

Not to worry. Amplify Science California was developed with plenty of wiggle room built right into the program. This means that you can relax knowing that there’s ample time to get it all done.
 
Most curricula provide 180 days of lessons despite knowing that the typical classroom can’t possibly complete everything in a given school year. Rather than asking you to wade through unnecessary content, we designed a program that addresses 100 percent of the California NGSS in just 66 days at grades K–2 and 88 days at grades 3–5, and 146 days at grades 6–8.

While we took great care in ensuring cohesiveness across units and grade levels, we also know that the ability level of your students changes from year to year. As a result, you need a program that provides adaptable and flexible pacing, and that empowers you to make instructional decisions in the moment.

As you evaluate how well Amplify Science California can accommodate your pacing needs, consider the following:

Progress Builds: Our Progress Builds describe the way in which students’ understanding of the central phenomenon should develop and deepen over the course of a unit. Each Progress Build defines several levels of understanding, with each level integrating and building upon the knowledge and skills from lower levels. Because these Progress Builds are directly tied to the program’s system of assessments, teachers are armed with the data they need to make informed decisions about when to move on, when to slow down, and when to revisit a concept and dive deeper.

Multiple at-bats: Rather than introducing a concept on Monday, testing for mastery on Friday, and knowing students will forget everything by the next Tuesday, we set out to help students build meaningful and lasting knowledge that they can retain and transfer over the course of the entire unit. We accomplish this by giving students multiple opportunities (a.k.a. “at-bats”) to encounter, explore, and experience a concept. Said another way, Amplify Science California is actually made up of a series of multi-modal “mini-lessons”. This intentional cyclical and iterative design mirrors the 5Es, allows teachers the flexibility to speed up or skip ahead once students have demonstrated mastery, and empowers students to learn concepts more deeply than any other program. 

Extension activities: When some students are ready to move on and others are not, our unit extension activities can be a big help. Found in the Lesson Brief section of both the digital and printed Teacher’s Guide, these activities ensure that advanced learners remain engaged and challenged while teachers help the rest of the class build the foundational knowledge they need to be successful later in the unit.

What’s important to remember is that more hands-on doesn’t necessarily mean better, at least according to the California NGSS. That’s because only two of the eight Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) are directly related to hands-on learning. 

Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in the Amplify Science California program. Like scientists, students gather evidence from physical models, digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, and data sets. By doing so, we provide students more opportunities than any other program to practice using all of the practices called out in the California NGSS Framework.

NGSS 8 Science Practices

1. Asking questions
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations
7. Engaging in arguments from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

While all of our units engage students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, the reliance on different types of evidence (and evidence sources) varies according to unit. For instance, some units lend themselves to meaningful hands-on experiences, while in other units the phenomena students are investigating are too slow, too dangerous, or too big to be observed directly. In those units, students rely more heavily on other evidence sources such a physical models or simulations.

Unit types in grades K–5
In each K–5 grade, there is one unit that emphasizes investigation, one that emphasizes modeling, and one that emphasizes design. In addition, in grades 3–5, there is also one unit that emphasizes argumentation.

Unit types in grades 6–8
Each 6–8 grade features three types of units: Launch, Core, and Engineering Internships. Each year has one Launch unit, six Core units, and two Engineering Internships.

For teachers who wish to supplement the lessons with even more hands-on activities, optional “flextension” activities are included in many units.

As a blended curriculum, districts who adopt Amplify Science California are outfitted with a variety of print and digital resources as well as hands-on materials kits. To explore the specific components of the program, visit our What’s Included page.

As our customers will tell you, when you adopt Amplify Science California, you aren’t just buying a science curriculum, you’re joining a family. As such, along with materials, your adoption of Amplify Science California also includes care and support through a variety of staff and resources, including: customer support specialists, pedagogical support specialist, implementation specialists, professional learning specialists, educational partnership managers, and more.

Absolutely! While 1:1 scenarios are great, they aren’t required. That’s because all Amplify Science California lessons were designed with device sharing in mind, and never assume that every student has a separate device. 

When the use of practice apps is called for in a lesson, you have several options:

• If internet access is unavailable—“Preload” the digital tool on your device or devices for use offline.
• If limited student devices are available—Have students do the activities in pairs or small groups.
• If no student devices are available—Project the digital tool to the class and either “drive” the digital tool yourself or invite students to “drive” by using your device.

learning.amplify.com gives you access to the digital Teacher’s Guide and also gives your students (grades 6–8) access to the digital student experience.

apps.learning.amplify.com/elementary gives your students (grades 2–5) access to any practice apps referenced in the instruction. The teacher will either need to log in using their credentials, or have student accounts set up.

Tech headaches are never fun. However, implementing the following tips can help you keep the tech gremlins away.

• Display the student URLs near the classroom display materials.
• Before you start a unit, download all unit and lesson resources using the Offline Guide found in the Unit Guide of your digital Teacher’s Guide. In the event that connectivity issues strike, you will still be able to conduct your lessons without interruption.
• Use Chrome or Safari if possible as these are our preferred browsers.
• Disable pop-up blockers on all devices being used to support lessons.
• Be prepared for some webpages to open in a new tab and for PDF files to download automatically.
• Check and test your connections to any projection devices that you might be using throughout the lesson.
• Display the student URLs near the classroom display materials.

Amplify Science California is a flexible, blended K–8 science curriculum that addresses 100 percent of the Next Generation Science Standards for California, and a significant number of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects, and Math, as well as the California English Language Development Standards. Together, the units deliver three-dimensional instruction across the following disciplines: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, and Engineering Design.

Since Amplify Science California is a blended curriculum, districts who adopt it are outfitted with a variety of print and digital resources as well as hands-on materials kits. To explore the specific components of the program, visit the What’s Included portion of our site.

As our customers will tell you, when you adopt Amplify Science California, you aren’t just buying a science curriculum, you’re joining a family. As such, along with materials, your adoption of Amplify Science California also includes care and support through a variety of staff and resources, including customer support specialists, pedagogical support specialists, implementation specialists, professional learning specialists, educational partnership managers, and more.

Amplify Science California does indeed features some powerful and engaging digital components, which are gradually introduced beginning at grade 2. However, as a fully blended and flexible program, Amplify Science California can be (and has been) implemented in a wide variety of scenarios.

All lessons were designed with device sharing in mind, and never assume that every student has a separate device. While 1:1 scenarios are great, they aren’t required. When devices are necessary for students to fully experience a concept, teachers can opt to share devices across pairs or small groups, or simply display the Sim or Modeling Tool to the whole class and allow students to “drive” using your device.

Rather than introducing a concept on Monday, testing for mastery on Friday, and knowing students will forget everything by the next Tuesday, we set out to help students build meaningful and lasting knowledge that they can retain and transfer over the course of the entire unit. We accomplish this by giving students multiple opportunities (a.k.a. “at-bats”) to encounter, explore, and experience a concept. Said another way, Amplify Science California is actually made up of a series of multi-modal “mini-lessons.” This intentional cyclical and iterative design mirrors the 5Es, allows teachers the flexibility to speed up or skip ahead once students have demonstrated mastery, and empowers students to learn concepts more deeply than any other program.

We support both. No one solution works for everyone; therefore, in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science, we developed suggested sequences for both the integrated model of instruction and the discipline-specific model. Because it’s our goal to provide districts the maximum amount of flexibility, we’re also happy to support districts interested in implementing a different sequence of instruction.

Yes. Rather than separating Performance Expectations into physical science units, earth and space science units, and life science units, Amplify Science California units are organized around anchoring phenomena designed to give students opportunities to dive deeply into certain disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) while also drawing from or applying to others. In organizing the Amplify Science California middle school units, we’ve carefully sequenced these ideas within each grade level to support the development of deep and coherent understanding.

Many real-world phenomena cross the domain boundaries of life, physical, or earth and space science (as well as engineering). Each Amplify Science California unit begins with an intriguing real-world phenomenon that poses a problem that needs to be understood and/or solved. By the end of the unit, students will have analyzed the anchor phenomenon across multiple scientific domains, possibly designed and tested an engineering solution, and always applied what they’ve learned in a different context.

For example:
In the unit Light Waves, students investigate the anchoring phenomenon of why Australia has a much higher skin cancer rate than countries at similar latitudes like Brazil. The focus of this unit is on disciplinary core ideas related to wave properties (PS4.A) and electromagnetic radiation (PS4.B). Students explore these physical science ideas deeply within the unit, and also draw on ideas from earth science (e.g., latitudinal variation of the sun’s energy) and life science (e.g., the effect of energy on the DNA in the nucleus of a cell) in order to explain the central phenomenon.

Absolutely. Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science California. Integrated into every unit are opportunities for students to take on the role of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend their claims.

In addition, our unique combination of focus and flex activities means teachers have more options, opportunities, and materials to make learning active. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

What’s important to remember is that more hands-on doesn’t necessarily mean better, at least according to the California NGSS. That’s because only two of the eight Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) are directly related to hands-on learning.
Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in the Amplify Science California program. Like scientists, students gather evidence from physical models, digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, and data sets. By doing do, we provide students more opportunities than any other program to practice using all of the practices called out in the California NGSS Framework.

NGSS 8 Science Practices

1. Asking questions
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations
7. Engaging in arguments from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

While all of our units engage students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, the reliance on different types of evidence (and evidence sources) varies according to unit. For instance, some units lend themselves to meaningful hands-on experiences, while in other units the phenomena students are investigating are too slow, too dangerous, or too big to be observed directly. In those units, students rely more heavily on other evidence sources such a physical models or simulations.

Unit types in grades K-5

In each K–5 grade, there is one unit that emphasizes investigation, one that emphasizes modeling, and one that emphasizes design. In addition, in grades 3–5, there is also one unit that emphasizes argumentation.

Unit types in grades 6-8

Each 6–8 grade features three types of units: Launch, Core, and Engineering Internships. Each year has one Launch unit, six Core units, and two Engineering Internships.

For teachers who want to supplement the lessons with even more hands-on activities, optional “flextension” activities are included in many units.

Yes indeed. Amplify Science California integrates all four STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and math—in addition to English Language Arts—throughout the curriculum. In addition, each grade level features specific units that emphasize engineering design.

Every lesson in Amplify Science California explicitly calls out which CCSS ELA and CCSS Math standards are addressed. That said, this is not a math program, nor an ELA program; therefore, it does not address all of the Common Core standards. But the program does address a significant number of the standards as they pertain to science.

Yes, the program includes multiple opportunities for summative assessments.

End-of-unit assessments: At grades K–1 these look like targeted conversations, at grades 2–5 we incorporate written responses, and at grades 6–8 we assess through a combination of auto-scored multiple-choice questions and rubric-scored written responses. These summative assessments for each unit are designed to provide valid, reliable, and fair measures of students’ progress and attainment of three-dimensional learning.

Benchmark assessments: Delivered four times per year in grades 3–5 and three times per year in grades 6–8, benchmark assessments report on students’ facility with each of the grade-level appropriate DCIs, SEPs, CCCs, and performance expectations of the California NGSS.

Science Seminars and final written arguments (formative and summative components): In grades 6–8, culminating performance tasks for each core unit invite students to figure out a new real-world problem. They collect and analyze evidence, examine a number of claims, and then engage in a full-class discussion where they must state which claims are best supported by the evidence, all while making clear their reasoning that connects the evidence to the claims. After the seminar, students then individually write their final scientific argument, drawing on the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs they have used over the course of the unit to develop a sophisticated and convincing argument that addresses the problem they’ve been investigating. Rubrics, scoring guides, and examples of student responses at each scoring level are provided to teachers to support the assessment of students’ understanding of concepts and specific practices.

No. While we do provide suggested sequences for integrated and domain courses, there are other logical ways to sequence the units and we expect that teachers will present the units in a variety of different orders and in any combination. There are a few notable exceptions. For example, students completing the Metabolism Engineering Internship should have completed the Metabolism core unit beforehand, or a unit that provides students with the same information. Amplify Science California specifies prerequisites for each unit in the event that teachers are interested in using an Amplify Science California unit in combination with other materials.

The typical elementary classroom delivers science instruction only two times per week. Yet, most curricula provide 180 days of lessons. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed a program that addresses 100 percent of the NGSS in just 66 days at grades K–2 and 88 days at grades 3–5. With plenty of wiggle room built right into the program, teachers can relax knowing that there’s ample time to get it all done.

Amplify Science California provides more than enough instructional content to fill 180 days of instruction. However, unlike other programs that expect you to complete 180 discrete lessons, Amplify Science California includes built in wiggle room.

For example, the typical elementary classroom delivers science instruction only two times per week. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our program to address 100 percent of the California NGSS in just 66 days at grades K–2 and 88 days at grades 3–5. When it comes to middle school, we address 100 percent of the California NGSS in 146 lessons.

Some classes might last longer than one session due to a number of reasons (e.g., enthusiastic student conversations, challenging topics requiring deeper dives, more time needed to accommodate diverse learners, etc.). Also, teachers might want to supplement Amplify Science California with some of their own favorite lessons. Lastly, we’ve accounted for the inevitable assembly days, class trips, testing schedules, et cetera. For teachers that want to go deeper or expand upon a unit topic, we also offer a number of additional lessons that are not core to each unit.

Amplify Science California lessons are designed to be completed in the following timeframes:
Grades K-1 lessons are designed for 45 minutes of science instruction.
Grades 2-5 lessons are designed for 60 minutes of science instruction.
Grades 6-8 lessons are designed for 45 minutes of science instruction.

That said, it’s not a problem if you can’t allocate 45 mins of science instruction every day at K-1, or 60 minutes per day at 2-5. Since there are a total of 66 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades K-2, and 88 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades 3-5, you can easily teach the lessons in smaller blocks and cover all of the content over the course of the school year.

Amplify Science California is a flexible, blended K–8 science curriculum that addresses 100 percent of the Next Generation Science Standards for California and a significant number of the California English Language Development Standards and Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects, and Math. Together, the units deliver three-dimensional instruction across the following disciplines: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, and Engineering Design.

Amplify Science California does indeed feature some powerful and engaging digital components, which are gradually introduced beginning at grade 2. However, as a fully blended and flexible program, Amplify Science California can be (and has been) implemented in a wide variety of scenarios.

All lessons were designed with device sharing in mind, and never assume that every student has a separate device. While 1:1 scenarios are great, they aren’t required. When devices are necessary for students to fully experience a concept, teachers can opt to share devices across pairs or small groups, or simply display the Sim or Modeling Tool to the whole class and allow students to “drive” using your device.

Rather than introducing a concept on Monday, testing for mastery on Friday, and knowing students will forget everything by the next Tuesday, we set out to help students build meaningful and lasting knowledge that they can retain and transfer over the course of the entire unit. We accomplish this by giving students multiple opportunities (a.k.a. “at-bats”) to encounter, explore, and experience a concept. Said another way, Amplify Science California is actually made up of a series of multi-modal “mini-lessons.” This intentional, cyclical, and iterative design mirrors the 5Es, allows teachers the flexibility to speed up or skip ahead once students have demonstrated mastery, and empowers students to learn concepts more deeply than any other program.

Yes. Rather than separating performance expectations into physical science units, earth and space science units, and life science units, Amplify Science California units are organized around anchoring phenomena designed to give students opportunities to dive deeply into certain Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) while also drawing from or applying to others. In organizing the Amplify Science California middle school units, we’ve carefully sequenced these ideas within each grade level to support the development of deep and coherent understanding.

Many real-world phenomena cross the domain boundaries of life, physical, or earth and space science (as well as engineering). Each Amplify Science California unit begins with an intriguing real-world phenomenon that poses a problem that needs to be understood and/or solved. By the end of the unit, students will have analyzed the anchor phenomenon across multiple scientific domains, possibly designed and tested an engineering solution, and applied what they’ve learned in a different context.

For example:
In the Light Waves unit, students investigate the anchoring phenomenon of why Australia has a much higher skin cancer rate than countries at similar latitudes like Brazil. The focus of this unit is on Disciplinary Core Ideas related to wave properties (PS4.A) and electromagnetic radiation (PS4.B). Students explore these physical science ideas deeply within the unit, and also draw on ideas from earth science (e.g., latitudinal variation of the sun’s energy) and life science (e.g., the effect of energy on the DNA in the nucleus of a cell) in order to explain the central phenomenon.

Absolutely. Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science California. Integrated into every unit are opportunities for students to take on the role of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend their claims.

In addition, our unique combination of focus and flex activities means teachers have more options, opportunities, and materials to make learning active. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

What’s important to remember is that more hands-on doesn’t necessarily mean better, at least according to the California NGSS. That’s because only two of the eight Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) are directly related to hands-on learning.

Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, students in the Amplify Science California program gather evidence not just by making physical models, but also by making and interpreting digital models; reading texts; watching videos; and analyzing photographs, maps, and data sets. By doing do, students are provided with more opportunities than any other program to use all of the practices called out in the California NGSS Framework:

• Asking questions
• Developing and using models
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Using mathematics and computational thinking
• Constructing explanations
• Engaging in arguments from evidence
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

While all of our units engage students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, the reliance on different types of evidence (and evidence sources) varies according to unit. For instance, some units lend themselves to meaningful hands-on experiences, while in other units the phenomena students are investigating are too slow, too dangerous, or too big to be observed directly. In those units, students rely more heavily on other evidence sources such a physical models or simulations.

Unit types in grades K–5

In each K–5 grade, there is one unit that emphasizes investigation, one that emphasizes modeling, and one that emphasizes design. In addition, in grades 3–5, there is also one unit that emphasizes argumentation.

Unit types in grades 6–8

Each 6–8 grade features three types of units: Launch, Core, and Engineering Internships. Each year has one Launch unit, six Core units, and two Engineering Internships.

For teachers who want to supplement the lessons with even more hands-on activities, optional “flextension” activities are included in many units.

Yes indeed. Amplify Science California integrates all four STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and math, in addition to English Language Arts—throughout the curriculum. In addition, each grade level features specific units that emphasize engineering design.

Yes, the program includes multiple opportunities for summative assessments.

End-of-unit assessments: At grades K–1 these look like targeted conversations, at grades 2–5 we incorporate written responses, and at grades 6–8 we assess through a combination of auto-scored multiple-choice questions and rubric-scored written responses. These summative assessments for each unit are designed to provide valid, reliable, and fair measures of students’ progress and attainment of three-dimensional learning.

Benchmark assessments: Delivered four times per year in grades 3–5 and three times per year in grades 6–8, benchmark assessments report on students’ facilities with each of the grade appropriate DCIs, SEPs, CCCs, and performance expectations of the California NGSS.

Science Seminars and final written arguments (formative and summative components): In grades 6–8, culminating performance tasks for each core unit invite students to figure out a new real-world problem. They collect and analyze evidence, examine a number of claims, and then engage in a full-class discussion where they must state which claims are best supported by the evidence, all while making clear their reasoning that connects the evidence to the claims. After the seminar, students then individually write their final scientific argument, drawing on the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs they have used over the course of the unit to develop a sophisticated and convincing argument that addresses the problem they’ve been investigating. Rubrics, scoring guides, and examples of student responses at each scoring level are provided to teachers to support the assessment of students’ understanding of concepts and specific practices.

Amplify Science California provides more than enough instructional content to fill 180 days of instruction. However, unlike other programs that expect you to complete 180 discrete lessons, Amplify Science California includes built-in wiggle room.

For example, the typical elementary classroom delivers science instruction only two times per week. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our program to address 100 percent of the California NGSS in just 66 days at grades K–2 and 88 days at grades 3–5. When it comes to middle school, we address 100 percent of the California NGSS in 146 lessons.

Some classes might last longer than one session due to a number of reasons (e.g., enthusiastic student conversations, challenging topics requiring deeper dives, more time needed to accommodate diverse learners, etc.). Also, teachers might want to supplement Amplify Science California with some of their own favorite lessons. Lastly, we’ve accounted for the inevitable assembly days, class trips, testing schedules, etc. For teachers that want to go deeper or expand upon a unit topic, we also offer a number of additional lessons that are not core to each unit.

Amplify Science California lessons are designed to be completed in the following time frames:
Lessons in grades K–1 are designed for 45 minutes of science instruction.
Lessons in grades 2–5 are designed for 60 minutes of science instruction.

That said, it’s not a problem if you can’t allocate 45 minutes of science instruction every day at K–1, or 60 minutes per day at 2–5. Since there are a total of 66 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades K–2, and 88 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades 3–5, you can easily teach the lessons in smaller blocks and cover all of the content over the course of the school year.

Each lesson of every Amplify Science California unit includes point-of-use differentiation strategies and embedded teacher and student supports for diverse learners, including English learners, students who need more support, and students who are ready for more challenge. These strategies and methods ensure that all students have access to the same content as their peers.

Two notable categories of suggested modifications are:

• English-learner-specific strategies such as English/Spanish glossaries, native language supports, and provision of cognates and other content-specific language scaffolds are provided in each unit.
• Relatively small alterations and additional scaffolds that provide students with greater access to the content.
  These types of scaffolds benefit all learners and include suggestions such as providing graphic organizers, practice with multiple-meaning words, etc.

With Amplify Science California, the use of technology is always purposeful.

For example:

• The curriculum has a strong emphasis on literacy, with students reading and analyzing informational texts, and writing scientific explanations and arguments.
• Digital elements are gradually introduced to students in grades 2–3, with the greatest use of digital elements taking place in grades 4–5, as the phenomena at these grades become more challenging to observe directly.
• The curriculum’s readers and interactive notebook pages are available in both print and digital across all K–5 units.

This curriculum addresses a significant number of the standards as they pertain to science. Throughout each unit, students read science texts, engage in science talk and argumentation, and write evidence-based science explanations. The curriculum supports vocabulary, language, and reading comprehension development. Students also use measurement tools with precision, record and analyze data, make sense of scientific phenomena, and develop solutions to problems experienced in the real world.

Teacher Support notes including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses are provided within your student-facing slides. Simply click “Teach” and reference your private Teacher Guide tab. Students will only see the lesson slides that you are presenting.

You, the teacher, must “Start class” to launch the presentation tab. (Remember, without the presentation tab, students would be able to see your teacher notes.)

Clicking “Starting class” also brings students to the correct slide, which is particularly important for young students who are learning to navigate.

Teachers can either press the “End class” button in the bottom right corner of the slide navigation, or they can simply close the presentation tab.

Clicking “End class” also enables students to navigate through the lesson on their own. That means they’ll be able to return to slides and books to review content, to the Sims and Modeling Tools to replay them, or to notebook pages to update their work.

You can click on the “Student preview” option in the bottom right corner (within the menu that opens when you click the three dots) to open a new browser tab where you can preview the student view using your teacher account.

Any work you complete in this student preview (or elsewhere in the teacher experience) will be automatically saved to your account.