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Welcome, Idaho K-8 Science Reviewers!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Science. On this site, you’ll find all the resources you need to learn more about this engaging and robust NGSS program. Below, you will also have the opportunity experience our program firsthand with a demo account to access the digital platform.

Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports. Read the review on EdReports.

Collage of educational settings: top left, two young girls using laptop in library; bottom right, middle school science project display on tablet; bottom left, two boys with tablet discussing.

Overview

With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the roles of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and make sense of real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.

Listen to these educators share how the program empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers every day.

Grades K–5

Grades 6–8

Amplify Science Grades K-5 Tour for Idaho Educators

Amplify Science Grades 6-8 Tour for Idaho Evaluators

Proven to work

Click here to read about the efficacy and impact of Amplify Science.

Two young girls sit on the floor in a classroom, smiling as they read a book together. Classroom decorations and another student are visible in the background.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more.

Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our program to address 100 percent of the NGSS and Idaho Standards in fewer days than other programs:

  • In just 120 lessons at grades 6–8
  • In just 66 lessons at grades K–2
  • In just 88 lessons at grades 3–5
A four-step process diagram with icons: spark a real-world problem, explore sources, explain and elaborate, and evaluate claims, all linking to engage with cohesive storylines.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.

A laptop and two screens display educational content about ecosystems, featuring illustrated plants, animals, and experiments with colorful liquids.
Two young students sit at a classroom table, one holding up a clear cup of water while the other observes closely. Papers and pencils are spread out on the table.

Investigation units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Two children play an educational board game at a table with worksheets, plastic cubes, and small containers of colored items.

Modeling units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Two children sitting at a table with laptops are talking to each other in a classroom setting, with books and baskets in the background.

Engineering Design units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Several open textbooks and notebooks are spread out on a table as a person writes in one of the notebooks with a pencil.

Argumentation units

Argumentation units are introduced at grade 3 and provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.

A person points to a photo in a textbook about coral reefs, with a laptop and notebook open on the desk.

Launch units

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

Three students at a classroom table examine a sealed plastic bag with food inside, while one looks surprised; another student stands in the background.

Core units

Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

Four students sit at a table using laptops, focused on their screens in a classroom setting with one student in the background.

Engineering Internship units

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Idaho Science Standards Alignment

Amplify Science was built from the ground up to fully embrace the instructional shifts outlined in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), the same framework on which Idaho Science Content Standards were founded. Most grade levels’ respective set of Amplify Science units therefore fully address the necessary Idaho Science Content Standards (see correlation). Grade 1 teachers should plan to also use the companion mini-lesson provided below to achieve full standards coverage for their grade.

Grade 1 Companion

Standard: 1-LS-1.3 Use classification supported by evidence to differentiate between living and non-living things.

Recommended placement: Following Lesson 1.1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit.

Resources: Classroom Slides

Download Correlation

Science (K-2) Evaluation Form

Science (3-5) Evaluation Form

Science (Middle School Physical Science) Evaluation Form

Science (Middle School Life Science) Evaluation Form

Science Evaluation Form Middle School Earth and Space Science

A boy sits on the floor reading a book to a girl beside him in a classroom setting.
A butterfly flies above potted plants next to a watering can and a caterpillar on a milkweed plant under sunlight in a grassy field.

Needs of Plants and Animals

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Scientists

Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden since vegetables were planted.  

A hand pulls a white string attached to a pegboard with rubber bands and a white ball hanging from the center.

Pushes and Pulls

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Pinball engineers

Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.  

Silhouette of a playground structure and toy train against a blue sky with clouds and two large yellow suns.

Sunlight and Weather

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Weather scientists

Phenomenon: Students at Carver Elementary School are too cold during morning recess, while students at Woodland Elementary School are too hot during afternoon recess.  

Illustration of sea turtles swimming among underwater plants, with a shark and another turtle visible in the background.

Animal and Plant Defenses

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle lives in an aquarium and will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite ocean predators.  

A hand holds a flashlight and shines it through a transparent sheet with an image, projecting the image onto a wall in a dark room.

Light and Sound

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Light and sound engineers

Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.  

A split illustration shows a cityscape at night with a crescent moon and stars on the left, and a cityscape during the day with the sun, clouds, and an airplane on the right.

Spinning Earth

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Sky scientists

Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone.  

A grey elephant uses its trunk to pick apples from a tree, with a few apples still hanging on the branches and a small sprout growing nearby.

Plant and Animal Relationships

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Plant scientists

Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.  

A hand picks up a red bean from a table scattered with more red beans, spilled white liquid, a cup, and a wooden stick.

Properties of Materials

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Glue engineers

Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.  

A building labeled "Recreation Center" stands near a cliff edge with a blue flag, surrounded by trees and overlooking a beach and water.

Changing Landforms

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: The cliff that Oceanside Recreation Center is situated on appears to be receding over time.  

Illustration of a high-speed train traveling on an elevated track with a green landscape and blue sky in the background.

Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.  

A group of wolves stands in the foreground, with a bear, elk, and several birds visible in a grassy, hilly landscape with scattered trees.

Inheritance and Traits

strong>Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 

A small bird stands on soil, looking closely at a yellow snail, with green blades of grass on the left and a blue sky background.

Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.  

An orangutan hangs from a vine in a dense green forest with the sun visible in the background.

Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.  

Illustration of city buildings at night with illuminated windows, a full moon, visible stars, and a silhouetted figure in one window.

Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.  

A streetlamp illuminates a cricket, which is watched by a gecko. Yellow arrows indicate the flow of light from the lamp to the cricket and then to the gecko’s eye.

Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.  

Two dolphins swimming underwater, facing each other against a blue background.

Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.

Earth orbits the Sun in space, with dotted blue lines showing the orbital path and a white arrow indicating Earth's rotation direction.

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.  

Illustration of layered red and brown rocky cliffs beside a flowing blue river under a partly cloudy sky.

Earth’s Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.  

Red blood cells scattered across a dynamic, abstract red and white background.

Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.  

Illustration of wind carrying airborne particles over a coastal hill, with arrows indicating the movement up and over the hill toward the sea.

The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not. 

Illustration of a cheetah standing near plants, looking at a sloth hanging from a tree branch, with various foliage and mushrooms in the scene.

Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.  

A rover stands on a rocky, reddish terrain with visible tire tracks leading to it; distant hills are seen under a hazy sky.

Geology on Mars

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.  

Illustration of a city skyline at night with a large full moon, a few stars in the sky, and a bridge on the left side.

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.  

Illustration of a person wearing a red hat and winter coat with fur hood, eyes closed and arms crossed, surrounded by large orange circles.

Thermal Energy

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Thermal scientists

Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.  

Abstract digital artwork featuring a large yellow sun with blue and orange rays over a colorful landscape with green hills and red horizon.

Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.  

Illustration of clouds above a small town with fields and mountains, showing wind patterns and atmospheric movement in the sky.

Weather Patterns

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic meteorologists

Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.  

An underwater scene with a large whale, several turtles, jellyfish, and fish swimming surrounded by shafts of light.

Populations and Resources

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.  

Low-poly illustration of a forest with trees, mushrooms, a rabbit, and a fox catching another animal under a blue sky with mountains and the sun in the background.

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.

Illustration of six spiders with different colored bodies and legs arranged in a chart-like formation on a dark background.

Traits and Reproduction

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biomedical students

Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.  

Abstract digital artwork featuring vibrant colors, geometric shapes, a yellow human silhouette, and various patterns layered together.

Microbiome

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Microbiological researchers

Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.  

Illustration of a person receiving an oral examination with a tongue depressor and light, featuring abstract colorful shapes and an eye chart in the background.

Metabolism

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Medical researchers

Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time. 

A spacecraft approaches a large modular space station with blue solar panels, orbiting in outer space against a black background.

Force and Motion

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.

Green geometric background with a hexagonal badge displaying a parachute, ruler, letter A, stacked layers, bandage, and a folded paper icon.

Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.  

Two prehistoric aquatic reptiles with long snouts swim near the shore of a tropical landscape with rocks, plants, and an island in the distance.

Plate Motion

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.  

Illustration of a volcanic landscape with mountains, trees, an ocean, and a cross-section showing tectonic plates beneath the surface.

Rock Transformations

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.  

Four low-poly dinosaurs, three green and one yellow, are walking in a row on grass with rocks and red spots on their bodies under a blue sky.

Natural Selection

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.  

Two large tortoises are near a river; one is on the riverbank reaching for leaves on a tree, while the other is on the opposite bank among grass and trees.

Evolutionary History

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Paleontologists

Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.    

Two people stand atop rocky terrain littered with electronic devices; inset illustrations show a boot, a person with electronics in a vest, and a radio.

Harnessing Human Energy

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Energy scientists

Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.  

An orange popsicle melting in four stages from solid to almost fully liquid, set against a plain background.

Phase Change

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.  

Green graphic with icons showing a swaddled baby, a thermometer, layers of blankets, a medical symbol, and a heat source within a hexagonal frame.

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.  

Digital illustration showing red and blue molecule-like circles on a blue background, with a boundary dividing two differently shaded sides.

Chemical Reactions

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.  

Illustration of people riding a roller coaster on a blue day, with arms raised as the car descends a tall loop against a sky with clouds.

Magnetic Fields

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.  

Illustration of the Earth with arrows representing radiation or energy entering the atmosphere from space over the Asia-Pacific region.

Light Waves

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Spectroscopists

Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.  

An illustrated polar bear stands on a small piece of floating ice in the ocean, with icebergs and an orange sun in the background.

Earth’s Changing Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.

Hexagonal badge with icons including a wrench, building, sun, molecules, construction materials, screwdriver, paint bucket, and a letter T, all on a geometric blue background.

Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Civil engineers

Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.  

Access program

In addition to the grade-level sample boxes that we provided, we’ve also created custom demo accounts just for Idaho reviewers.

To access the digital portion of the program, click the link below, select “Log In with Amplify,” and then refer to the Start here digital access flyer for your personalized login credentials.

Access digital program
A spiral-bound teacher’s guide and a laptop displaying a digital curriculum, both titled “Balancing Forces: Investigating Floating Trains” from Amplify Science.

Tutorial videos

Check out these videos for support on how to navigate the Amplify Science curriculum website, teacher’s guide, materials kits, and more!

Resources

A teacher stands by a table helping four students who are working together on a board game and writing in notebooks in a classroom.

Course structure for K–5

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Two students sit at a classroom table working together with notebooks and a workbook, while other students work in the background.

Course structure for 6–8

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Two women sit at a desk; one types on a laptop while the other writes in a spiral-bound notebook. Both appear focused and are smiling.

Idaho Science Standards Alignment

See how we customized our instructional sequence to fully support the Idaho Scie…

A collage with Mars landscape art, three kids conducting a tabletop science experiment, an adult's hand holding a jar, and two people hiking in a bright field, illustrated style.

NGSS Earth Science Standards Map

A collage of four images: underwater animals, two students conducting a science experiment, hands building with plastic rods, and a colorful illustration of dancers.

NGSS Life Science Standards Map

A collage showing: a candle flame amid germs, hands measuring a ping pong ball with calipers and a ruler, hands with magnets and a ruler, and a stylized compass over a map of Earth.

NGSS Physical Science Standards Map

Two children sit at a table with laptops, facing each other and talking animatedly, surrounded by books and classroom supplies.

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

Illustration of wind carrying particles from a coastal city up a steep, green mountain under a clear blue sky.

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the elementary unit phenomena featured in each grade level…

Illustration of a roller coaster car filled with people raising their arms as it rolls down a steep track against a blue sky with clouds.

Unit phenomena for 6–8

Take a closer look at the middle school unit phenomena featured in each grade le…

A slide with the title “What do you know about aquariums?” next to an underwater photo showing fish and a person swimming. Other science lesson slides are visible above and below.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Classrooms Slides for elementary are now available! These customizable PowerPoin…

A computer screen displays an educational simulation about Earth's energy system, with diagrams and explanatory text about energy entering and exiting the system.

Classroom Slides for 6–8

Classrooms Slides for middle school are coming soon! These customizable PowerPoi…

A computer screen displays an ecosystem selection menu with options for 3 or 6 animal populations, featuring illustrated creatures and labeled icons for each species.

Sims for 4–8

Take a closer look at the digital Simulations included at each grade level.

Two children sit on the floor in a classroom, with one boy reading aloud from a book titled "Gary’s Sand Journal" while a girl listens attentively beside him.

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists do not just get messy. They read and write with purpose too. Explore…

A selection of colorful science-themed books and handbooks with illustrated and photographic covers, arranged diagonally on a green background.

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.

A student reads about rock formations from a spiral-bound book while sitting at a table with a laptop; other students work together in the background.

Active reading in 6–8

Learn how we support students in learning how to interact with scientific texts….

Two children wearing safety goggles use plastic spoons to stir substances in clear cups, conducting a science experiment at a table.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in elementary classrooms.

A person wearing gloves looks into a microscope, with laboratory supplies and bottles on a tray beside them, against a plain blue background.

Investigations for 6–8

Explore the types of investigations that take place in middle school classrooms….

Assorted materials including cardboard sheets, tennis balls, rubber bands, hooks, washers, ping pong balls, sticks, tape, string, and screws arranged on a white surface.

Materials Kits for K–5

See what components come in our materials kits!

Assorted science kit components including motors, batteries, propellers, solar panel, rubber bands, wires, plastic containers, metal fasteners, and spools of thread arranged on a white background.

Materials Kits for 6–8

See what components come in our materials kits!

A teacher stands at the front of a classroom, speaking to students seated at desks, with several students raising their hands to participate.

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our elementary embedded assessments.

Two students sit at desks, writing in notebooks while using laptops in a classroom setting.

Approaches to assessment in 6–8

Learn about our middle school embedded assessments.

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A closer look at grades 3–5

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver age-appropriate, high-quality, literacy-rich instruction that enables students to take on the roles of scientists and engineers to solve real-world phenomena every day.

In the 3–5 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Collage of four educational activities: 1) drying a paper model with a hairdryer, 2) two girls observing a science experiment, 3) children making a mixture, 4) adult hand watering a plant in a clear container.
Graphic showing a research process with four steps: spark intrigue with a real-world problem, explore evidence, explain and elaborate, and evaluate claims, connected in a cycle with arrows.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 3–5 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in just 88 days.

Scope and sequence

Every year of our grades 3–5 sequence consists of 4 units and 88 lessons. Said another way, each unit contains 20 lessons plus two dedicated assessment days (a Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment).

Lessons for grades 3–5 are written to last a minimum of 60 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

Educational curriculum chart showcasing a progression of amplify science lessons from kindergarten to grade 5, categorized by grade and subject areas like plants, animals, weather, and energy.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.

In grades 3–5:

  • One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation Units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Modeling Units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Engineering Design Units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Argumentation units

Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.

Units at a glance

Una ilustración de un tren de alta velocidad moderno y aerodinámico que viaja por una vía elevada con un paisaje verde de fondo.
Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit
Inheritance and Traits

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit
Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Weather and Climate unit
Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit
Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Vision and Light unit
Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Earth's Features unit
Earth’s Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit
Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit
Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit
Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Earth System unit
The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit
Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

Resources

Four students around a table engaged in a group science project in a classroom.

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the elementary unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Educational material for grade 1, featuring a section about aquariums with an image of children observing jellyfish, and an introduction to forest habitats.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Classrooms Slides for elementary are now available! These customizable PowerPoin…

Two children engaged in an animated conversation while sitting at a school desk with laptops and books.

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists don’t just get messy. They read and write with purpose too. Exp…

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.

Two children in safety goggles conducting a science experiment with liquids in a classroom.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in elementary classrooms.

Earth's Features digital simulation

Sims for 4–8

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Four-step educational infographic depicting problem-solving process: engaging with real-world problems, exploring multiple sources, constructing explanations, and applying knowledge to new problems.

The 5E model in K–8

Learn how the 5E elements are woven throughout each and every unit.

Two middle school girls conduct a science experiment

The CER model in K-5

Learn how we integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) into daily i…

A science teacher stands at the front of a classroom speaking, while several students sitting at desks raise their hands to participate. A lesson is displayed on the screen behind her.

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our embedded assessments.

Science activity kit featuring books "Earthworms Underground" and "What's Going On with the Weather?", balloons, plant seeds, propellers, and other educational materials.

Program component list for TK–5

Explore the components that come with each unit.

Welcome, Nebraska educators!

Designed from the ground up for the NGSS to teach students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers, Amplify Science combines literacy-rich activities with hands-on learning and digital tools to engage students in exploring compelling phenomena in every unit.

Students in a classroom interact with educational technology, featuring a diagram and charts on a screen, while working collaboratively on a laptop.

Overview

Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:

  • A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
  • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
  • Newly crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
  • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.

Hear what these educators have to say about the program. >

Explore your grade level

Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >

Then select your grade level below to learn more about how we make this type of rich learning accessible to all students at every grade.

Grades K-5 Grades 6–8

Elementary school

When you’re ready:

  1. Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  2. Download some helpful resources to support your review.
  3. Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
A boy reads a book with an illustrated background featuring a dinosaur skull, the Earth, trees, clouds, and water.
An illustration from Needs of Plants and Animals unit

Unit 1

Needs of Plants and Animals

Student role: Scientists

Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden ever since vegetables were planted.

An illustration from the Pushes and Pulls unit

Unit 2

Pushes and Pulls

Student role: Pinball engineers

Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.

Silueta de una estructura de parque infantil contra un cielo azul con nubes y tres soles amarillos.

Unit 3

Sunlight and Weather

Student role: Weather scientists

Phenomenon: Students at one school are too cold during morning recess, while students at another are too hot during afternoon recess.

Illustration of sea turtles swimming among seaweed in the ocean, with a large shark in the background.

Unit 1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite predators.

An illustration from the Light and Sound unit

Unit 2

Light and Sound

Student role: Light and sound engineers

Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.

An illustration from the Spinning Earth unit

Unit 3

Spinning Earth

Student role: Sky scientists

Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone at night.

An elephant standing next to a tree uses its trunk to pick a fruit from a branch while more fruit hangs above.

Unit 1

Plant and Animal Relationships

Student role: Plant scientists

Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.

A hand holds a red bean on a table, while a wooden stick spreads white glue and scattered beans. Also on the table are a white cup and a yellow pen.

Unit 2

Properties of Materials

Student role: Glue engineers

Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.

Ilustración de una costa con acantilados, un edificio de centro recreativo con un techo rojo y un letrero, árboles de hoja perenne, una bandera azul y una playa de arena debajo.

Unit 3

Changing Landforms

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: The cliff on which Oceanside Recreation Center is situated appears to be receding.

Una ilustración de un tren de alta velocidad moderno y aerodinámico que viaja por una vía elevada con un paisaje verde de fondo.

Unit 1

Balancing Forces

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Faraday is getting a new train. Unlike typical trains, this one floats, which is causing some concern among the town’s citizens.

An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit

Unit 2

Inheritance and Traits

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park has some traits in common with one wolf pack in the park and other traits in common with a different pack.

An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit

Unit 3

Environments and Survival

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed. Populations with yellow shells have decreased, while those with banded shells have increased.

An illustration from the Weather and Climate unit

Unit 4

Weather and Climate

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.

An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit

Unit 1

Energy Conversions

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. Their electrical system seems to be failing.

An illustration from the Vision and Light unit

Unit 2

Vision and Light

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.

An illustration from the Earth's Features unit

Unit 3

Earth’s Features

Student role: Geologists


Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.

An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit

Unit 4

Waves, Energy, and Information

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park communicate with their calves despite the distance between them.

An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit

Unit 1

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times of the day, but it appears to be missing a piece.

An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit

Unit 2

Modeling Matter

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Some ingredients dissolve in a salad dressing while others, like oil and vinegar, appear to separate

Illustration of a pixelated green mountain cliff deconstructing into a digital grid, with red dots floating over a tranquil sea and flying white birds.

Unit 3

The Earth System

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.

An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit

Unit 4

Ecosystem Restoration

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing or thriving.

Middle school

When you’re ready:

  1. Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  2. Download some helpful resources to support your review.
  3. Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
A person in a black hoodie smiles while working on a laptop, surrounded by illustrations of rockets, satellites, popsicles, and the Earth.
Abstract art with vibrant colors featuring a yellow silhouette of a person holding a book against a background of geometric shapes, swirling patterns, and bold textures.

LAUNCH

Microbiome

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Microbiological researchers

Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.  

Abstract artwork of a person's side profile with geometric shapes and colorful patterns flowing from the head, holding a small sledgehammer. A vision chart is visible in the corner.

CORE

Metabolism

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Medical researchers

Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.  

Orange abstract background with hexagonal shapes featuring icons of a bar chart, plant, safety vest, test tube, peach, and stethoscope.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Metabolism Engineering Internship

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Food engineers

Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.  

Imagen que muestra un gráfico de arañas de diferentes colores con patrones distintos de patas y cuerpo, incluidas variaciones de color marrón, amarillo y azul. El fondo es una superficie oscura y texturizada.

CORE

Traits and Reproduction

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biomedical students

Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.  

Illustration of a person in a red hat and fur-lined coat with eyes closed, surrounded by large orange circles on a dark background.

CORE

Thermal Energy

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Thermal scientists

Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.  

Abstract artwork depicting a bright sun with blue and orange swirling patterns next to green hills under a sky with shades of blue, orange, and red.

CORE

Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.  

An illustration from the Weather Patterns unit

CORE

Weather Patterns

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic meteorologists

Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.  

An illustration from the Earth's Changing Climate unit

CORE

Earth’s Changing Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.  

Abstract geometric design in shades of blue and purple featuring a hexagon with icons of a building, wrench, molecules, sun, paint can, and screwdriver.

Engineering Internship

Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Civil engineers

Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.  

A barren, rocky desert landscape with rover tracks leading to a distant vehicle on a hill under a hazy sky.

LAUNCH

Geology on Mars

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.  

Two prehistoric reptiles with long snouts and tails are near the shore, one on land and one in water, with plants, rocks, and an island in the background.

CORE

Plate Motion

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.   

Geometric design featuring a telescope, mountain, sound waves, and cosmic elements on a purple hexagonal background.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Plate Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.  

Illustration of a cross-section of Earth showing a volcano near the ocean. Trees, mountains, and clouds are visible above, with subterranean layers below.

CORE

Rock Transformations

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.  

Ilustración que muestra las etapas de fusión de una paleta de naranja: entera, parcialmente derretida, más derretida y casi derretida por completo, con palitos de madera, sobre un fondo morado.

CORE

Phase Change

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.  

Green geometric graphic featuring icons: a baby, thermometer, layers, medical alert, and a flame.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.  

An illustration from the Chemical Reactions unit

CORE

Chemical Reactions

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.   

An illustration of a whale with jellyfish and turtles from Amplify Science

CORE

Populations and Resources

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.  

Low-poly landscape with trees and mushrooms. A fox sniffs the ground, a rabbit sits nearby, and mountains and sun are in the background.

CORE

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.  

Two people climbing rocky terrain; illustrations show a hiking boot and a belt with gear.

LAUNCH

Harnessing Human Energy

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Energy scientists

Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.  

Illustration of a futuristic space station with large solar panels, orbiting in deep space, emitting a blue glow from its propulsion system.

CORE

Force and Motion

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.   

Green geometric background with a hexagonal emblem containing a parachute icon, ruler, bandage, and stacked layers on a gradient pattern.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.  

Illustration of a roller coaster filled with people, hands raised, going down a steep track against a bright blue sky with clouds.

CORE

Magnetic Fields

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.  

An illustration from the Light Waves unit

CORE

Light Waves

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Spectroscopists

Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.   

A city skyline at night with a prominent full moon, stars in the sky, and a bridge silhouette on the left.

CORE

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.  

Four low-poly dinosaurs with missing body sections are standing in a row; one is yellow, and the others are green. They have purple spikes and red patches on their bodies.

CORE

Natural Selection

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.  

Red geometric background with icons including a mosquito, DNA strand, bar chart, and world map inside a hexagon.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Natural Selection Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Clinical engineers

Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.   

Two giant tortoises with long necks stand near water; one tortoise feeds on leaves from a tree while the other is near dense vegetation.

CORE

Evolutionary History

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Paleontologists

Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.    

Resources to support your review

Select a topic below to explore helpful resources with more information about Amplify Science, the program’s development, and pedagogy.

Dos niñas están sentadas en una mesa, mirando juntas la pantalla de una computadora portátil en un salón de clases. Al fondo se ven estanterías con libros y materiales de clase.
Two children engaged in an animated conversation while sitting at a school desk with laptops and books.
Phenomena and storylines (K–5)

Read more about the real-world phenomena featured in each unit.

Children doing schoolwork at home
Phenomena and storylines (6–8)

Read more about the real-world phenomena featured in each unit.

Four-step educational infographic depicting problem-solving process: engaging with real-world problems, exploring multiple sources, constructing explanations, and applying knowledge to new problems.
Integrated 5e model

Learn how the 5E elements are integrated throughout every unit.

A woman smiling and gesturing while speaking, seated in a classroom with computers and educational materials around her, with a paused video screen featuring text about "amplify science.
[Video] Planning in action (K–5)

Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.

A screenshot from a video titled "amplify science in action: a week in the..." featuring a smiling woman sitting in a classroom setting.
[Video] Planning in action (6–8)

Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.

Two children sitting at a table, one in a yellow shirt and the other in pink, smiling and looking forward.
[Video] Hands-on in action (K–5)

Watch Amplify Science students conduct hands-on investigations.

A boy in a science classroom observes a reaction in a clear cup. Other students and lab materials are in the background.
[Video] Hands-on in action (6–8)

Watch Amplify Science students conduct hands-on investigations.

Two children in school uniforms work together on laptops in a classroom setting, with focus on learning and collaboration.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (K–5)

Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.

Students sitting at a table using laptops, engaging in a classroom activity.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (6–8)

Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.

A young girl wearing safety goggles stretches a gooey substance from a cup in a kitchen or classroom setting.
Summary of Investigations (K–5)

Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.

A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.
Summary of Investigations (6–8)

Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.

A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.
Program structure and components (K–5)

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Teacher assisting two students working on laptops in a classroom; other students are in the background.
Program structure and components (6–8)

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Digital collage of various devices displaying educational content about earth’s energy system, including graphs and text explanations.
[Video] New! Classroom Slides

Learn more about our customizable PowerPoints for every lesson.

A laptop screen displays a writing lesson with prompts and a student's response in Amplify Classwork. The student's answer discusses dangers related to a specific scenario involving a sick child.
Classwork (6–8)

A new, intuitive approach to reviewing student work online.

students collaborating and using laptops
English Learners

Learn how we make learning accessible for English learners.

Amplify Science California supports you every step of the way on your journey to the California NGSS.
Students needing support

Learn how we make learning accessible for students who need more support.

Teacher using a tablet while conducting an mCLASS reading intervention with three young students seated around a table in a classroom.
Students ready for more

Learn how we make learning more rigorous for students ready for a challenge.

Two young children sit at a table looking at an open book, with other books placed in front of them. A play button is visible over the image.
[Video] Literacy in action (K–5)

Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence

A student writes in a notebook, holding a pencil, focused on the task.
[Video] Literacy in action (6–8)

Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.

A teacher in a green shirt helps a young student with writing at a classroom table, with other students and large numbers visible on the wall in the background.
Literacy-rich science instruction (K–5)

Immersing young students in reading, writing, and arguing like real scientists and engineers.

Two students sit at a table in a classroom, working on an assignment together. Other students are also seated and appear to be engaged in their work. Papers and books are spread out on the tables.
Active Reading in grades 6–8

Engaging middle school students in complex science texts.

Two boys work together on a laptop while a woman—likely one of their middle school teachers—sits beside them, observing and smiling in a classroom setting.
Accessibility

Read more about text design and accessibility, including embedded Read-Aloud audio.

A teacher discusses educational content in front of a whiteboard while students in the classroom raise their hands eagerly.
Approach to assessment (K–5)

Learn about our embedded formative and summative assessments.

Two students sit at desks writing in notebooks and using laptops in a classroom setting.
Approach to assessment (6–8)

Learn about our embedded formative and summative assessments.

A teacher and a young student looking at a laptop together in a colorful classroom decorated with children's artwork.
NGSS Benchmark assessments

Learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards Benchmark assessments created by Amplify.

A young girl in a classroom gives a thumbs up with both hands, smiling broadly, while other students look on in the background.
NGSS alignment (K–5)

NGSS alignment by performance expectation.

Two students in a classroom, one looking at the camera and the other listening intently, with a whiteboard displaying educational content in the background.
NGSS alignment (6–8)

NGSS alignment by performance expectation.

Two children sit at a table with Chromebooks, facing each other and talking, in a classroom with books and storage bins in the background.
Remote and hybrid learning guide

Amplify is here to help! Amplify Science will soon feature product enhancements and new resources that will help manage the new landscape of back-to-school 2020.

Educational presentation slides from grade 8 amplify science materials spanish kit, displaying various science topics like geology and biology.
Spanish-language supports

Learn more about the Spanish-language supports in Amplify Science.

Ready to start exploring with digital access?

A woman sits at a desk in a classroom, working on a laptop with an open binder and papers in front of her.

Contact an Amplify representative

Laina Armbruster
larmbruster@amplify.com
(602) 791-4135

Bob McCarty
rmccarty@amplify.com
(435) 655-1731

Kristin McDonald
kmcdonald@amplify.com
(515) 240-0244

Welcome, Ohio educators!

Designed from the ground up to teach students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers, Amplify Science combines literacy-rich activities with hands-on learning and digital tools to engage students in exploring compelling phenomena in every unit.

Students in a classroom interact with educational technology, featuring a diagram and charts on a screen, while working collaboratively on a laptop.

Overview

Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:

  • A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
  • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
  • Newly crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
  • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.

Hear what these educators have to say about the program. >

Approach to literacy

Two young children sit at a classroom table reading a book together, with educational materials spread out in front of them.

[Video] Literacy in action (K–5)

Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.

A student sits at a desk writing with a pencil while focused on his work, with classroom materials visible in the background.

[Video] Literacy in action (6–8)

Watch students use scientific text to obtain information and practice reading skills, while using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.

A teacher in a green shirt helps a young student with writing at a classroom table, with other students and large numbers visible on the wall in the background.

Literacy-rich science instruction (K–5)

Immersing young students in reading, writing, and arguing like real scientists and engineers.

Two students sit at a table in a classroom, working on an assignment together. Other students are also seated and appear to be engaged in their work. Papers and books are spread out on the tables.

Active Reading in grades 6–8

Engaging middle school students in complex science texts.

Elementary school

Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >

In Grades K–3 we recommend the national grade level units of Amplify Science to provide students with the appropriate grade level literacy and background knowledge. Individual units are available to purchase.

When you’re ready:

  1. Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  2. Download some helpful resources to support your review.
  3. Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
An illustration from Needs of Plants and Animals unit

Unit 1

Needs of Plants and Animals

Student role: Scientists

Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden ever since vegetables were planted.

An illustration from the Pushes and Pulls unit

Unit 2

Pushes and Pulls

Student role: Pinball engineers

Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball.

Silueta de una estructura de parque infantil contra un cielo azul con nubes y tres soles amarillos.

Unit 3

Sunlight and Weather

Student role: Weather scientists

Phenomenon: Students at one school are too cold during morning recess, while students at another are too hot during afternoon recess.

Illustration of sea turtles swimming among seaweed in the ocean, with a large shark in the background.

Unit 1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite predators.

An illustration from the Light and Sound unit

Unit 2

Light and Sound

Student role: Light and sound engineers

Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.

An illustration from the Spinning Earth unit

Unit 3

Spinning Earth

Student role: Sky scientists

Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone at night.

An elephant standing next to a tree uses its trunk to pick a fruit from a branch while more fruit hangs above.

Unit 1

Plant and Animal Relationships

Student role: Plant scientists

Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.

A hand holds a red bean on a table, while a wooden stick spreads white glue and scattered beans. Also on the table are a white cup and a yellow pen.

Unit 2

Properties of Materials

Student role: Glue engineers

Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.

Ilustración de una costa con acantilados, un edificio de centro recreativo con un techo rojo y un letrero, árboles de hoja perenne, una bandera azul y una playa de arena debajo.

Unit 3

Changing Landforms

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: The cliff on which Oceanside Recreation Center is situated appears to be receding.

Una ilustración de un tren de alta velocidad moderno y aerodinámico que viaja por una vía elevada con un paisaje verde de fondo.

Unit 1

Balancing Forces

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Faraday is getting a new train. Unlike typical trains, this one floats, which is causing some concern among the town’s citizens.

An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit

Unit 2

Inheritance and Traits

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park has some traits in common with one wolf pack in the park and other traits in common with a different pack.

An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit

Unit 3

Environments and Survival

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed. Populations with yellow shells have decreased, while those with banded shells have increased.

An illustration from the Weather and Climate unit

Unit 4

Weather and Climate

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.

An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit

Unit 1

Energy Conversions

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. Their electrical system seems to be failing.

An illustration from the Earth's Features unit

Unit 2

Earth’s Features

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.

An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit

Unit 3

Modeling Matter

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Some ingredients dissolve in a salad dressing while others, like oil and vinegar, appear to separate.

An illustration from the Earth System unit

Unit 4

The Earth System

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.

An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit

Unit 1

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times of the day, but it appears to be missing a piece.

An illustration from the Vision and Light unit

Unit 2

Vision and Light

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.

An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit

Unit 3

Waves, Energy, and Information

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park communicate with their calves despite the distance between them.

An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit

Unit 4

Ecosystem Restoration

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing or thriving.

Middle school

Get started by watching this class share what they’re figuring out with Amplify Science. >

When you’re ready:

  1. Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  2. Download some helpful resources to support your review.
  3. Explore the digital Teacher’s Guide by clicking the orange “Review now” button.
Illustration of a cross-section of Earth showing a volcano near the ocean. Trees, mountains, and clouds are visible above, with subterranean layers below.

CORE

Rock Transformations

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.

Ilustración que muestra las etapas de fusión de una paleta de naranja: entera, parcialmente derretida, más derretida y casi derretida por completo, con palitos de madera, sobre un fondo morado.

CORE

Phase Change

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.

Green geometric graphic featuring icons: a baby, thermometer, layers, medical alert, and a flame.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature.

Illustration of a person in a red hat and fur-lined coat with eyes closed, surrounded by large orange circles on a dark background.

CORE

Thermal Energy

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Thermal scientists

Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school.

Abstract art with vibrant colors featuring a yellow silhouette of a person holding a book against a background of geometric shapes, swirling patterns, and bold textures.

LAUNCH

Microbiome

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Microbiological researchers

Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.

Abstract artwork of a person's side profile with geometric shapes and colorful patterns flowing from the head, holding a small sledgehammer. A vision chart is visible in the corner.

CORE

Metabolism

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Medical researchers

Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.

Orange abstract background with hexagonal shapes featuring icons of a bar chart, plant, safety vest, test tube, peach, and stethoscope.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Metabolism Engineering Internship

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Food engineers

Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.

Two people climbing rocky terrain; illustrations show a hiking boot and a belt with gear.

LAUNCH

Harnessing Human Energy

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Energy scientists

Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.

A girl runs with a colorful kite displaying literacy skills; text reads "Amplify. Science of Reading: A Primer | Part One" on a grassy landscape background.

CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP

Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)

Domains: Life Science, Coding Science

Unit type: Coding Science Internship

Student role: Coding science interns

Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.

Abstract artwork depicting a bright sun with blue and orange swirling patterns next to green hills under a sky with shades of blue, orange, and red.

CORE

Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.

An illustration from the Weather Patterns unit

CORE

Weather Patterns

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic meteorologists

Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.

An illustration from the Earth's Changing Climate unit

CORE

Earth’s Changing Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.

Abstract geometric design in shades of blue and purple featuring a hexagon with icons of a building, wrench, molecules, sun, paint can, and screwdriver.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Civil engineers

Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.

A city skyline at night with a prominent full moon, stars in the sky, and a bridge silhouette on the left.

CORE

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.

An illustration from the Chemical Reactions unit

CORE

Chemical Reactions

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.

An illustration from the Light Waves unit

CORE

Light Waves

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Spectroscopists

Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.

An illustration of a whale with jellyfish and turtles from Amplify Science

CORE

Populations and Resources

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased.

Low-poly landscape with trees and mushrooms. A fox sniffs the ground, a rabbit sits nearby, and mountains and sun are in the background.

CORE

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.

A girl runs with a colorful kite displaying literacy skills; text reads "Amplify. Science of Reading: A Primer | Part One" on a grassy landscape background.

CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP

Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)

Domains: Life Science, Coding Science

Unit type: Coding Science Internship

Student role: Coding science interns

Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.

A barren, rocky desert landscape with rover tracks leading to a distant vehicle on a hill under a hazy sky.

LAUNCH

Geology on Mars

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.

Two prehistoric reptiles with long snouts and tails are near the shore, one on land and one in water, with plants, rocks, and an island in the background.

CORE

Plate Motion

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.

Geometric design featuring a telescope, mountain, sound waves, and cosmic elements on a purple hexagonal background.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Plate Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.

Una nave espacial se acerca a una estación espacial modular con paneles solares extendidos en una ilustración ambientada en el espacio.

CORE

Force and Motion

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.

Green geometric background with a hexagonal emblem containing a parachute icon, ruler, bandage, and stacked layers on a gradient pattern.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.

Illustration of a roller coaster filled with people, hands raised, going down a steep track against a bright blue sky with clouds.

CORE

Magnetic Fields

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.

Imagen que muestra un gráfico de arañas de diferentes colores con patrones distintos de patas y cuerpo, incluidas variaciones de color marrón, amarillo y azul. El fondo es una superficie oscura y texturizada.

CORE

Traits and Reproduction

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biomedical students

Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.

Four low-poly dinosaurs with missing body sections are standing in a row; one is yellow, and the others are green. They have purple spikes and red patches on their bodies.

CORE

Natural Selection

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.

Red geometric background with icons including a mosquito, DNA strand, bar chart, and world map inside a hexagon.

ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP

Natural Selection Engineering Internship

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Student role: Clinical engineers

Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.

Illustration of a cross-section of Earth showing a volcano near the ocean. Trees, mountains, and clouds are visible above, with subterranean layers below.

CORE

Rock Transformations (optional)

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.

Two giant tortoises with long necks stand near water; one tortoise feeds on leaves from a tree while the other is near dense vegetation.

CORE

Evolutionary History

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Paleontologists

Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.

A girl runs with a colorful kite displaying literacy skills; text reads "Amplify. Science of Reading: A Primer | Part One" on a grassy landscape background.

CODING SCIENCE INTERNSHIP

Coding Science Internship: Coral Restoration (Optional)

Domains: Life Science, Coding Science

Unit type: Coding Science Internship

Student role: Coding science interns

Phenomenon: Implementing a restoration project to improve the health of coral reef populations in Hawaii.

Resources to support your review

Select a topic below to explore helpful resources with more information about Amplify Science, the program’s development, and pedagogy.

Two young girls, one with braided hair and the other with blonde hair, smiling and looking at a laptop screen in a classroom.
Four-step educational infographic depicting problem-solving process: engaging with real-world problems, exploring multiple sources, constructing explanations, and applying knowledge to new problems.
Integrated 5e model

Learn how the 5E elements are integrated throughout every unit.

Two children engaged in an animated conversation while sitting at a school desk with laptops and books.
Phenomena and storylines (K–5)

Read more about the real-world phenomena featured in each unit.

Children doing schoolwork at home
Phenomena and storylines (6–8)

Read more about the real-world phenomena featured in each unit.

A screenshot from a video titled "amplify science in action: a week in the..." featuring a smiling woman sitting in a classroom setting.
[Video] Planning in action (K–5)

Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.

A woman smiling and gesturing while speaking, seated in a classroom with computers and educational materials around her, with a paused video screen featuring text about "amplify science.
[Video] Planning in action (6–8)

Watch how easy it is for Amplify Science teachers to prep their 3-D instruction.

Two young children sit at a classroom table, one smiling broadly, during an Amplify Science educational activity.
[Video] Hands-on in action (K–5)

Watch Amplify Science students conduct hands-on investigations.

A student in a classroom uses a dropper to add liquid to clear plastic cups during a science experiment. Other students and lab materials are visible in the background.
[Video] Hands-on in action (6–8)

Watch Amplify Science students conduct hands-on investigations.

Two young girls sit side by side at a desk, looking at a laptop screen and working together in a classroom setting.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (K–5)

Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.

Two students sit at a table in a classroom, working on laptops and talking, with other students visible in the background.
[Video] Simulations and modeling tools (6–8)

Watch how students investigate phenomena with the help of digital tools.

A young girl wearing safety goggles stretches a gooey substance from a cup in a kitchen or classroom setting.
Summary of Investigations (K–5) coming soon

Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.

A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.
Summary of Investigations (6–8) coming soon

Explore the types of investigations that students conduct.

A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.
Program structure and components (K–5)

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Teacher assisting two students working on laptops in a classroom; other students are in the background.
Program structure and components (6–8)

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.

Digital collage of various devices displaying educational content about earth’s energy system, including graphs and text explanations.
[Video] New! Classroom Slides

Learn more about our customizable PowerPoints for every lesson.

A laptop screen displays a writing lesson with prompts and a student's response in Amplify Classwork. The student's answer discusses dangers related to a specific scenario involving a sick child.
Classwork (6–8)

A new, intuitive approach to reviewing student work online.

An adult sits on a couch using a laptop while a child next to them does homework in a notebook.
Remote and hybrid learning guide

Amplify is here to help! Amplify Science will soon feature product enhancements and new resources that will help manage the new landscape of back-to-school 2020.

Educational presentation slides from grade 8 amplify science materials spanish kit, displaying various science topics like geology and biology.
Spanish-language supports

Learn more about the Spanish-language supports in Amplify Science.

students collaborating and using laptops
English Learners

Learn how we make learning accessible for English learners.

Amplify Science California supports you every step of the way on your journey to the California NGSS.
Students needing support

Learn how we make learning accessible for students who need more support.

Teacher using a tablet while conducting an mCLASS reading intervention with three young students seated around a table in a classroom.
Students ready for more

Learn how we make learning more rigorous for students ready for a challenge.

Two boys work together on a laptop while a woman—likely one of their middle school teachers—sits beside them, observing and smiling in a classroom setting.
Accessibility

Read more about text design and accessibility, including embedded Read-Aloud audio.

A teacher discusses educational content in front of a whiteboard while students in the classroom raise their hands eagerly.
Approach to assessment (K–5)

Learn about our embedded formative and summative assessments.

Two students sit at desks writing in notebooks and using laptops in a classroom setting.
Approach to assessment (6–8)

Learn about our embedded formative and summative assessments.

A teacher and a young student looking at a laptop together in a colorful classroom decorated with children's artwork.
NGSS Benchmark assessments

Learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards Benchmark assessments created by Amplify.

A young girl in a classroom gives a thumbs up with both hands, smiling broadly, while other students look on in the background.
NGSS Benchmark assessments

NGSS alignment by performance expectation.

Two students in a classroom, one looking at the camera and the other listening intently, with a whiteboard displaying educational content in the background.
NGSS alignment (6–8)

NGSS alignment by performance expectation.

Ready to explore with digital access and physical samples?

Start your digital review and request physical samples with these three easy steps.

  1. Note these Ohio specific login credentials for your digital access.
    Username: t.ohscience@tryamplify.net
    Password: AmplifyNumber1
  2. Click Review now.
  3. Complete the form and select Log in with Amplify to input the Ohio specific login.
A woman sits at a desk in a classroom, working on a laptop with an open binder and papers in front of her.

Contact an Amplify representative

For any questions, fill out the form to the right and a member of our sales team will reach out to you soon.

Katie Cannon
Senior Account Executive

Casie Rayes
Account executive

Matt Paupore
Senior Account Executive

A closer look at grades 6–8

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.

In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.

Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.

Collage of four images showing children engaged in educational activities such as conducting experiments and crafting in a classroom setting.
A four-step process diagram: Spark intrigue, Explore evidence, Explain and elaborate, and Evaluate claims, connected by arrows, with an engagement statement below.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.

Scope and sequence

Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

A grid of educational icons, each representing a different science topic, such as earth and space science, life science, and physical science, with titles and lesson counts.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.

In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:

  • One unit is a launch unit.
  • Three units are core units.
  • Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

Core units

Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

Engineering Internship units

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Units at a glance

Abstract digital artwork featuring a yellow human figure, red shapes, and a blue-toned screen, with vibrant, multicolored patterns and textures in the background.
Microbiome

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Microbiological researchers

Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.  

An abstract illustration of a person receiving an oral examination, with colorful geometric shapes and an eye chart in the background.
Metabolism

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Medical researchers

Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.  

Abstract orange background with geometric shapes, featuring icons of a vest, bar chart, leaf, beaker, fruit, medical stethoscope, and an envelope within a hexagonal frame.
Metabolism Engineering Internship

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Food engineers

Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.  

Six spiders with varying body colors (brown, yellow, blue, and red) and patterns are arranged on a dark, textured background, seemingly in a diagram or chart formation.
Traits and Reproduction

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biomedical students

Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.  

Illustration of a person with closed eyes in a red winter coat and hat, surrounded by falling snow and orange circles on a dark background.
Thermal Energy

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Thermal scientists

Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school. 

Abstract illustration of a sun with blue and orange rays over a colorful landscape featuring green hills and a vibrant sky.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.  

Illustration of clouds above a small town and farmland, with wind currents depicted swirling through the landscape under a blue sky.
Weather Patterns

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic meteorologists

Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.  

A polar bear stands on a small floating ice sheet in the ocean, surrounded by melting ice, with a red sun in the sky.
Earth’s Changing Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.  

A purple hexagonal graphic with icons including a building, wrench, screwdriver, sun, molecules, paint bucket, and tiles on a geometric patterned background.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Civil engineers

Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.  

A robotic rover sits on a hill in a rocky, reddish landscape, with visible tracks in the dust leading to its current position under a hazy sky.
Geology on Mars

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable. 

Two green prehistoric reptiles with long snouts are near the shore; one is on land while the other swims in blue water, with plants, rocks, and an island in the background.
Plate Motion

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.  

A purple geometric background featuring a hexagonal badge with a telescope, mountain, audio wave, and star symbols inside.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.  

Illustration showing an ocean, forest, and mountains with a smoking volcano, plus a cross-section of underground tectonic plates.
Rock Transformations

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.  

Four stages of an orange popsicle melting on a stick, from fully frozen on the left to completely melted on the right, against a plain background.
Phase Change

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart

Green geometric background with an outlined hexagon containing icons: a parachute, ruler, letter "A," bandage, stacked blocks, and a folded corner paper.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature. Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Abstract illustration showing red and blue circles on a split blue and light background, representing molecular movement across a membrane or barrier.
Chemical Reactions

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.  

An underwater scene with a large whale surrounded by turtles, jellyfish, and various fish swimming in different directions.
Populations and Resources

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased. 

Low-poly digital illustration of a fox hunting a rabbit in a forest with pine trees, mushrooms, mountains, and the sun in the background. Another rabbit sits near the trees.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.  

Two people climb over rocks filled with electronic devices; inset illustrations show a boot, a belt of batteries, and a radio.
Harnessing Human Energy

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Energy scientists

Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.  

A spacecraft approaches and docks with a modular space station featuring large blue solar panels, set against a black space background.
Force and Motion

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.

Green graphic with hexagonal emblem showing an infant, a thermometer, layered materials, a medical symbol, and a flame icon.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.

Illustration of a roller coaster car with passengers raising their arms as they descend a steep track against a blue sky with clouds.
Magnetic Fields

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.  

Illustration of the Earth with arrows representing radiation or energy entering the atmosphere from space, focused on the Asia-Pacific region.
Light Waves

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Spectroscopists

Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.

A city skyline at night with illuminated windows, a large full moon, stars in the sky, and a bridge visible on the left side.
Earth, Moon, and Sun

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.  

Four polygonal dinosaurs walking in a row, three green and one yellow, each with a rock and purple spikes on their backs, set against a grassy background with a blue sky.
Natural Selection

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.  

Red geometric background featuring a hexagonal emblem with icons of a world map, mosquito, DNA strand, bar chart, and interconnected blocks.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Clinical engineers

Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.  

Two tortoises with long necks are by a river; one is browsing leaves from a bush while the other is walking near the water's edge.
Evolutionary History

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Paleontologists

Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.    

Resources

Pilot support brochure for 6–8 (Integrated)

Unit phenomena for 6–8

Take a closer look at the unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Classroom Slides for 6–8

Your new hands-free TG is coming soon! These PowerPoints for every lesson make t…

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

Active reading in 6–8

Scientists read and write with purpose too.

Investigations for 6–8

Explore the types of investigations that take place in middle school classrooms….

A laptop screen displaying a map with three ecosystem options, each illustrated by different animal icons and accompanied by relevant data lists.

Sims for 4–8

Approaches to assessment in 6–8

Learn about our middle school embedded assessments.

A closer look at grades 6–8

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver rigorous and riveting lessons through hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools that empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists.

In the 6–8 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.

Is your school implementing the domain model? Click here.

Collage of four images showing children engaged in educational activities such as conducting experiments and crafting in a classroom setting.
A four-step process diagram: Spark intrigue, Explore evidence, Explain and elaborate, and Evaluate claims, connected by arrows, with an engagement statement below.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 6–8 program to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.

Scope and sequence

Every year our grades 6–8 sequence consists of 9 units, with each unit containing 10–19 lessons. Lessons are written to last a minimum of 45-minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

A grid of educational icons, each representing a different science topic, such as earth and space science, life science, and physical science, with titles and lesson counts.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also serving a unique purpose.

In grades 6–8, there are three types of units:

  • One unit is a launch unit.
  • Three units are core units.
  • Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

Core units

Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

Engineering Internship units

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Units at a glance

Abstract digital artwork featuring a yellow human figure, red shapes, and a blue-toned screen, with vibrant, multicolored patterns and textures in the background.
Microbiome

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Microbiological researchers

Phenomenon: The presence of 100 trillion microorganisms living on and in the human body may keep the body healthy.  

An abstract illustration of a person receiving an oral examination, with colorful geometric shapes and an eye chart in the background.
Metabolism

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Medical researchers

Phenomenon: Elisa, a young patient, feels tired all the time.  

Abstract orange background with geometric shapes, featuring icons of a vest, bar chart, leaf, beaker, fruit, medical stethoscope, and an envelope within a hexagonal frame.
Metabolism Engineering Internship

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Food engineers

Phenomenon: Designing health bars with different molecular compositions can effectively meet the metabolic needs of patients or rescue workers.  

Six spiders with varying body colors (brown, yellow, blue, and red) and patterns are arranged on a dark, textured background, seemingly in a diagram or chart formation.
Traits and Reproduction

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biomedical students

Phenomenon: Darwin’s bark spider offspring have different silk flexibility traits, even though they have the same parents.  

Illustration of a person with closed eyes in a red winter coat and hat, surrounded by falling snow and orange circles on a dark background.
Thermal Energy

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Thermal scientists

Phenomenon: One of two proposed heating systems for Riverdale School will best heat the school. 

Abstract illustration of a sun with blue and orange rays over a colorful landscape featuring green hills and a vibrant sky.
Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: During El Niño years, the air temperature in Christchurch, New Zealand is cooler than usual.  

Illustration of clouds above a small town and farmland, with wind currents depicted swirling through the landscape under a blue sky.
Weather Patterns

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic meteorologists

Phenomenon: In recent years, rainstorms in Galetown have been unusually severe.  

A polar bear stands on a small floating ice sheet in the ocean, surrounded by melting ice, with a red sun in the sky.
Earth’s Changing Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Climatologists

Phenomenon: The ice on Earth’s surface is melting.  

A purple hexagonal graphic with icons including a building, wrench, screwdriver, sun, molecules, paint bucket, and tiles on a geometric patterned background.
Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Civil engineers

Phenomenon: Designing rooftops with different modifications can reduce a city’s impact on climate change.  

A robotic rover sits on a hill in a rocky, reddish landscape, with visible tracks in the dust leading to its current position under a hazy sky.
Geology on Mars

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable. 

Two green prehistoric reptiles with long snouts are near the shore; one is on land while the other swims in blue water, with plants, rocks, and an island in the background.
Plate Motion

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean, even though the Mesosaurus species once lived all together.  

A purple geometric background featuring a hexagonal badge with a telescope, mountain, audio wave, and star symbols inside.
Plate Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.  

Illustration showing an ocean, forest, and mountains with a smoking volcano, plus a cross-section of underground tectonic plates.
Rock Transformations

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Rock samples from the Great Plains and from the Rocky Mountains — regions hundreds of miles apart — look very different, but have surprisingly similar mineral compositions.  

Four stages of an orange popsicle melting on a stick, from fully frozen on the left to completely melted on the right, against a plain background.
Phase Change

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart

Green geometric background with an outlined hexagon containing icons: a parachute, ruler, letter "A," bandage, stacked blocks, and a folded corner paper.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different combinations of phase change materials can keep babies at a healthy temperature. Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Abstract illustration showing red and blue circles on a split blue and light background, representing molecular movement across a membrane or barrier.
Chemical Reactions

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.  

An underwater scene with a large whale surrounded by turtles, jellyfish, and various fish swimming in different directions.
Populations and Resources

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea has increased. 

Low-poly digital illustration of a fox hunting a rabbit in a forest with pine trees, mushrooms, mountains, and the sun in the background. Another rabbit sits near the trees.
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The biodome ecosystem has collapsed.  

Two people climb over rocks filled with electronic devices; inset illustrations show a boot, a belt of batteries, and a radio.
Harnessing Human Energy

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Launch

Student role: Energy scientists

Phenomenon: Rescue workers can use their own human kinetic energy to power the electrical devices they use during rescue missions.  

A spacecraft approaches and docks with a modular space station featuring large blue solar panels, set against a black space background.
Force and Motion

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: The asteroid sample-collecting pod failed to dock at the space station as planned.

Green graphic with hexagonal emblem showing an infant, a thermometer, layered materials, a medical symbol, and a flame icon.
Force and Motion Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Physical Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing emergency supply delivery pods with different structures can maintain the integrity of the supply pods and their contents.

Illustration of a roller coaster car with passengers raising their arms as they descend a steep track against a blue sky with clouds.
Magnetic Fields

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Physicists

Phenomenon: During a test launch, a spacecraft traveled much faster than expected.  

Illustration of the Earth with arrows representing radiation or energy entering the atmosphere from space, focused on the Asia-Pacific region.
Light Waves

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Spectroscopists

Phenomenon: The rate of skin cancer is higher in Australia than in other parts of the world.

A city skyline at night with illuminated windows, a large full moon, stars in the sky, and a bridge visible on the left side.
Earth, Moon, and Sun

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An astrophotographer can only take pictures of specific features on the Moon at certain times.  

Four polygonal dinosaurs walking in a row, three green and one yellow, each with a rock and purple spikes on their backs, set against a grassy background with a blue sky.
Natural Selection

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The newt population in Oregon State Park has become more poisonous over time.  

Red geometric background featuring a hexagonal emblem with icons of a world map, mosquito, DNA strand, bar chart, and interconnected blocks.
Natural Selection Engineering Internship

Domains: Engineering Design, Life Science

Unit type: Engineering internship

Student role: Clinical engineers

Phenomenon: Designing malaria treatment plans that use different combinations of drugs can reduce drug resistance development while helping malaria patients.  

Two tortoises with long necks are by a river; one is browsing leaves from a bush while the other is walking near the water's edge.
Evolutionary History

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Core

Student role: Paleontologists

Phenomenon: A mystery fossil at the Natural History Museum has similarities with both wolves and whales.    

Resources

Pilot support brochure for 6–8 (Integrated)

Unit phenomena for 6–8

Take a closer look at the unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Classroom Slides for 6–8

Your new hands-free TG is coming soon! These PowerPoints for every lesson make t…

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

Active reading in 6–8

Scientists read and write with purpose too.

Investigations for 6–8

Explore the types of investigations that take place in middle school classrooms….

A laptop screen displaying a map with three ecosystem options, each illustrated by different animal icons and accompanied by relevant data lists.

Sims for 4–8

Approaches to assessment in 6–8

Learn about our middle school embedded assessments.

Peoria K–5 Science Review

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Welcome!

Amplify Science: California Edition is an immersive and engaging core curriculum authored by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and built specifically for the NGSS.

K–8 Integrated Course Model

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Grades 6–8 Integrated Model

Grades 6–8 Discipline Specific Model

A closer look at grades 3–5

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver age-appropriate, high-quality, literacy-rich instruction that enables students to take on the roles of scientists and engineers to solve real-world phenomena every day.

In the 3–5 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Collage of four educational activities: 1) drying a paper model with a hairdryer, 2) two girls observing a science experiment, 3) children making a mixture, 4) adult hand watering a plant in a clear container.
Graphic showing a research process with four steps: spark intrigue with a real-world problem, explore evidence, explain and elaborate, and evaluate claims, connected in a cycle with arrows.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 3–5 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in just 88 days.

Scope and sequence

Every year of our grades 3–5 sequence consists of 4 units and 88 lessons. Said another way, each unit contains 20 lessons plus two dedicated assessment days (a Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment).

Lessons for grades 3–5 are written to last a minimum of 60 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

Educational curriculum chart showcasing a progression of amplify science lessons from kindergarten to grade 5, categorized by grade and subject areas like plants, animals, weather, and energy.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.

In grades 3–5:

  • One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation Units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Modeling Units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Engineering Design Units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Argumentation units

Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.

Units at a glance

Una ilustración de un tren de alta velocidad moderno y aerodinámico que viaja por una vía elevada con un paisaje verde de fondo.
Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit
Inheritance and Traits

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit
Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Weather and Climate unit
Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit
Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Vision and Light unit
Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Earth's Features unit
Earth’s Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit
Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit
Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit
Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Earth System unit
The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit
Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.  

Download unit guide

Download lesson planner

Resources

Four students around a table engaged in a group science project in a classroom.

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the elementary unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Educational material for grade 1, featuring a section about aquariums with an image of children observing jellyfish, and an introduction to forest habitats.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Classrooms Slides for elementary are now available! These customizable PowerPoin…

Two children engaged in an animated conversation while sitting at a school desk with laptops and books.

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists don’t just get messy. They read and write with purpose too. Exp…

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.

Two children in safety goggles conducting a science experiment with liquids in a classroom.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in elementary classrooms.

Earth's Features digital simulation

Sims for 4–8

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Four-step educational infographic depicting problem-solving process: engaging with real-world problems, exploring multiple sources, constructing explanations, and applying knowledge to new problems.

The 5E model in K–8

Learn how the 5E elements are woven throughout each and every unit.

Two middle school girls conduct a science experiment

The CER model in K-5

Learn how we integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) into daily i…

A science teacher stands at the front of a classroom speaking, while several students sitting at desks raise their hands to participate. A lesson is displayed on the screen behind her.

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our embedded assessments.

Science activity kit featuring books "Earthworms Underground" and "What's Going On with the Weather?", balloons, plant seeds, propellers, and other educational materials.

Program component list for TK–5

Explore the components that come with each unit.

Overview

With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.

Watch the videos below to learn how our program empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers every day.

Overview

What Educators Say

The NGSS classroom

EdReports

Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports..

Read the review on Edreports.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. We designed our program to address 100% of the NGSS in just 66 days for grades K–2 and 88 days for grades 3–5.

Unit sequence

Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.

In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.

Unit sequence
Mariposa en vuelo sobre plantas en macetas sobre una mesa, con una oruga en un tallo frondoso cerca, una regadera roja a la izquierda y un paisaje brillante al fondo.

Needs of Plants and Animals

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Scientists

Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden since vegetables were planted. 
Una mano tirando de una cuerda atada a una bola blanca, que interactúa con un tablero de madera con varias clavijas y bandas elásticas.

Pushes and Pulls

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Pinball engineers

Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball. 
An illustration from the Sunlight and Weather unit

Sunlight and Weather

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Weather scientists

Phenomenon: Students at Carver Elementary School are too cold during morning recess, while students at Woodland Elementary School are too hot during afternoon recess. 
Una ilustración de una tortuga marina nadando bajo el agua, acompañada por una tortuga más pequeña, una tortuga más grande y un tiburón distante. Al fondo se ven algas.

Animal and Plant Defenses

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle lives in an aquarium and will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite ocean predators. 
An illustration from the Light and Sound unit

Light and Sound

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Light and sound engineers

Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows. 
Ilustración que muestra un paisaje urbano dividido en noche a la izquierda con una luna y estrellas, y día a la derecha con un sol, nubes y un avión.

Spinning Earth

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Sky scientists

Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone. 
Un elefante se encuentra debajo de un árbol y usa su trompa para arrancar un trozo de fruta.

Plant and Animal Relationships

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Plant scientists

Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India. 
A hand holds a red bean on a table, while a wooden stick spreads white glue and scattered beans. Also on the table are a white cup and a yellow pen.

Properties of Materials

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Glue engineers

Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties. 
An illustration from the Changing Landforms unit

Changing Landforms

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: The cliff that Oceanside Recreation Center is situated on appears to be receding over time. 
An illustration from the Balancing Forces unit

Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks. 
An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit

Inheritance and Traits

strong>Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (Wolf 44) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 
An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit

Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased. 
Un orangután con un pelaje naranja cuelga de una enredadera en una densa y verde jungla con árboles y plantas, mientras el sol brilla de fondo.

Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns. 
An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit

Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. 
An illustration from the Vision and Light unit

Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights. 
Ilustración de una costa rocosa con acantilados angulares en tonos rojizos a la izquierda y una masa de agua azul debajo.

Earth's Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park. 
An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit

Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater. 
An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece. 
An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit

Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing. 
An illustration from the Earth System unit

The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not. 
An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit

Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving. 

Access program

Watch the video to the right showing you how to navigate our digital platform. When you’re ready, follow the instructions below to log into your live demo account.

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Explore as a teacher with this username (t1.cartwrightsd@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password (Amplify1-cartwrightsd).
  • Explore as a student with this username (s1.cartwrightsd@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password (Amplify1-cartwrightsd).
  • Choose your grade level from the drop-down menu.

 

Access the digital platform now

Resources

Minimalist illustration of three pencils outlined in white on an orange background, with the lines of the pencils forming part of a continuous single line drawing.

Arizona State Standards Alignment

See how well Amplify Science aligns to your state standards.
A computer screen displays an educational platform featuring teacher notes, interactive content, quick links to activities, and easy navigation tools.

New! Digital experience

Our Amplify Science digital experience is getting even better for the upcoming school year. Click to learn more!
Un adulto y un niño se sientan en un sofá beige con cuadernos abiertos. El adulto usa una computadora portátil, mientras el niño escribe en un libro. La luz del sol entra por las ventanas detrás de ellos.

Remote and Hybrid Learning Guide

Learn more about new product enhancements and resources to help you deliver engaging science instruction in any instructional scenario—remote, hybrid, or in-person.
Una mujer lee un libro titulado "Postales de accidentes geográficos" a un grupo de niños atentos sentados en el suelo de un salón de clases.

Course structure for K–5

Take a closer look at how the program is organized.
Illustration of a pixelated green mountain cliff deconstructing into a digital grid, with red dots floating over a tranquil sea and flying white birds.

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the elementary unit phenomena featured in each grade level.
Two children engaged in an animated conversation while sitting at a school desk with laptops and books.

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learning.
A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists do not just get messy. They read and write with purpose too. Explore how we do that in our program.
A young boy and girl sitting in a classroom, reading a book together with focused expressions.

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.
A laptop screen displaying a map with three ecosystem options, each illustrated by different animal icons and accompanied by relevant data lists.

Sims for 4–8

Take a closer look at the digital Simulations included at each grade level.
Two children in safety goggles conducting a science experiment with liquids in a classroom.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in elementary classrooms.
Amplify Science California supports 3-D learning with more materials than any other program.

Materials Kits for K–5

See what components come in our materials kits!
Un maestro se encuentra al frente de un salón de clases, explicando una lección que se muestra en una pantalla. Los estudiantes se sientan en sus escritorios y algunos levantan la mano.

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our elementary embedded assessments.

A closer look at grades 3–5

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver age-appropriate, high-quality, literacy-rich instruction that enables students to take on the roles of scientists and engineers to solve real-world phenomena every day.

In the 3–5 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Un collage de cuatro imágenes que muestran a estudiantes realizando experimentos científicos: secando estructuras, trabajando con plantas, vertiendo la mezcla en un vaso de precipitados y regando plantas en contenedores.
A four-step process diagram: Spark, Explore, Explain and elaborate, and Evaluate, each with an icon and description, connected by arrows, ending with a summary statement below.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 3–5 program to address 100% of the NGSS in just 88 days.

Scope and sequence

Every year of our grades 3–5 sequence consists of 4 units and 88 lessons. Said another way, each unit contains 20 lessons plus two dedicated assessment days (a Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment).

Lessons for grades 3–5 are written to last a minimum of 60 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

Grid of nine educational lesson cards, each featuring a different science topic like "balancing forces" and "weather systems" with grade levels and lesson durations listed.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.

In grades 3–5:

  • One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation Units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Modeling Units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Engineering Design Units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Argumentation units

Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.

Units at a glance

Illustration of a high-speed train traveling on an elevated track with a red light on the front, set against a blue sky and green landscape.
Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.  

Illustration of wolves in the foreground, quail perched on a branch, a bear, and elk in a grassy, wooded landscape with hills in the background.
Inheritance and Traits

Domains: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 

A bird stands on the ground, looking down at a yellow snail near some green grass against a blue background.
Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.  

An orange orangutan climbs a vine in a dense green jungle with tall trees and the sun visible in the background.
Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.  

City buildings at night with lit windows, a full moon, stars in the sky, and a person standing by a window on the left.
Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.  

A streetlight shines at night; arrows show its light reflecting off a cricket to a gecko, illustrating how the gecko sees its prey.
Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.  

Illustration of rocky cliffs with reddish and brown tones beside a flowing blue river under a clear sky.
Earth’s Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.  

Two dolphins are facing each other underwater against a blue background.
Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.

Earth orbits the Sun in space, shown by a dashed blue line; an arrow on Earth indicates its rotation direction.
Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.  

Red blood cells scattered over a swirling red and white background, creating an abstract representation of blood flow.
Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.  

Illustration of wind carrying particles from the ocean, over a coastal town, and up a steep, green mountain slope under a clear blue sky.
The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.  

Illustration of a cheetah standing on the ground and a sloth hanging from a tree surrounded by various plants and mushrooms in a jungle scene.
Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.  

Resources

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Meet your new hands-free TG! These PowerPoints for every lesson make teaching sc…

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists read and write with purpose too.

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in K-5 classrooms.

Sims for 4–8

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

The CER model in K-5

Learn how we integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) into daily i…

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our embedded assessments.

A closer look at grades 3–5

Amplify Science is based on the latest research on teaching and learning and helps teachers deliver age-appropriate, high-quality, literacy-rich instruction that enables students to take on the roles of scientists and engineers to solve real-world phenomena every day.

In the 3–5 classroom, this looks like students:

  • Collecting evidence from a variety of sources.
  • Making sense of evidence in a variety of ways.
  • Formulating convincing scientific arguments.
Un collage de cuatro imágenes que muestran a estudiantes realizando experimentos científicos: secando estructuras, trabajando con plantas, vertiendo la mezcla en un vaso de precipitados y regando plantas en contenedores.
A four-step process diagram: Spark, Explore, Explain and elaborate, and Evaluate, each with an icon and description, connected by arrows, ending with a summary statement below.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our 3–5 program to address 100% of the NGSS in just 88 days.

Scope and sequence

Every year of our grades 3–5 sequence consists of 4 units and 88 lessons. Said another way, each unit contains 20 lessons plus two dedicated assessment days (a Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment).

Lessons for grades 3–5 are written to last a minimum of 60 minutes, though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

Grid of nine educational lesson cards, each featuring a different science topic like "balancing forces" and "weather systems" with grade levels and lesson durations listed.

Unit types

Each unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, while also emphasizing a particular science and engineering practice.

In grades 3–5:

  • One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation Units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Modeling Units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Engineering Design Units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Argumentation units

Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.

Units at a glance

Illustration of a high-speed train traveling on an elevated track with a red light on the front, set against a blue sky and green landscape.
Balancing Forces

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.  

Illustration of wolves in the foreground, quail perched on a branch, a bear, and elk in a grassy, wooded landscape with hills in the background.
Inheritance and Traits

Domains: Life Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack. 

A bird stands on the ground, looking down at a yellow snail near some green grass against a blue background.
Environments and Survival

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.  

An orange orangutan climbs a vine in a dense green jungle with tall trees and the sun visible in the background.
Weather and Climate

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.  

City buildings at night with lit windows, a full moon, stars in the sky, and a person standing by a window on the left.
Energy Conversions

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: System engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts.  

A streetlight shines at night; arrows show its light reflecting off a cricket to a gecko, illustrating how the gecko sees its prey.
Vision and Light

Domain: Physical Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.  

Illustration of rocky cliffs with reddish and brown tones beside a flowing blue river under a clear sky.
Earth’s Features

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.  

Two dolphins are facing each other underwater against a blue background.
Waves, Energy, and Information

Domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park seem to be communicating with their calves when they are separated at a distance underwater.

Earth orbits the Sun in space, shown by a dashed blue line; an arrow on Earth indicates its rotation direction.
Patterns of Earth and Sky

Domains: Physical Science, Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.  

Red blood cells scattered over a swirling red and white background, creating an abstract representation of blood flow.
Modeling Matter

Domain: Physical Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.  

Illustration of wind carrying particles from the ocean, over a coastal town, and up a steep, green mountain slope under a clear blue sky.
The Earth System

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering Design

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.  

Illustration of a cheetah standing on the ground and a sloth hanging from a tree surrounded by various plants and mushrooms in a jungle scene.
Ecosystem Restoration

Domains:Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Argumentation

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.  

Resources

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Meet your new hands-free TG! These PowerPoints for every lesson make teaching sc…

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learni…

Literacy-rich instruction in K–5

Scientists read and write with purpose too.

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our award-winning K–5 student books.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of investigations that take place in K-5 classrooms.

Sims for 4–8

Pilot support brochure for 3–5

The CER model in K-5

Learn how we integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) into daily i…

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our embedded assessments.

Amplify Science

A new core curriculum designed from the ground up for the NGSS.

Preview the Student Books and Student Investigation Notebooks

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Grades 6–8 Integrated Model

Spanish Student Books and Student Investigation Notebooks

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Amplify Science

A new core curriculum designed from the ground up for the NGSS.

Preview the Student Books and Student Investigation Notebooks

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Grades 6–8 Integrated Model

NGSS Benchmark Assessments

The Amplify NGSS Benchmark Assessments were authored by Amplify and were not developed as part of the Amplify Science program or created by the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Kindergarten

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Grade 1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Grade 2

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Grade 3

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Grade 4

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Grade 5

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens

Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

A powerful partnership

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

Our Instructional Model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Resources to support your review

Remote and hybrid learning supports

Oklahoma remote and hybrid overview video

Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units. 

Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.   

Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:

  • Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
  • Overviews to send home to families.

Student materials are available in two formats:

  • @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
  • Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.

Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.

What’s included

Flexible resources that work seamlessly together

Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:

  • Record data
  • Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
  • Construct explanations and arguments

Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:

  • Conduct hands-on investigations
  • Engage in active reading and writing activities
  • Participate in discussions
  • Record observations
  • Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:

  • Classroom Slides
  • Detailed lesson plans
  • Unit and chapter overview documentation
  • Differentiation strategies
  • Standards alignments
  • In-context professional development

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:

  • Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
  • Print classroom display materials
  • Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)

Scope and sequence

GRADE
UNIT
Kindergarten
  • Needs of Plants and Animals
  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Water
Grade 1 
  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth
Grade 2 
  • Plant and Animal Relationships
  • Properties of Materials
  • Changing Landforms
Grade 3 
  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate
Grade 4 
  • Energy Conversions
  • Vision and Light
  • Earth’s Features
  • Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5 
  • Patterns of Earth and Sky
  • Modeling Matter
  • The Earth System
  • Ecosystem Restoration
Grade
Units

Grade 6
  • Launch: Microbiome
  • Metabolism
  • Metabolism Engineering Internship
  • Thermal Energy
  • Plate Motion
  • Plate Motion Engineering Internship
  • Rock Transformations
  • Weather Patterns
  • Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Grade 7
  • Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
  • Phase Change
  • Phase Change Engineering Internship
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Earth’s Changing Climate
  • Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Populations and Resources
  • Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Grade 8
  • Launch: Geology on Mars
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Light Waves
  • Force and Motion
  • Force and Motion Engineering Internship
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Natural Selection
  • Natural Selection Engineering Internship
  • Evolutionary History

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.

Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science; 
  • the standard being addressed with the activities; 
  • the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and 
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities. 

Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1

Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals

Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.

Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5 

Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article

As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world. 

Instructions:

Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”

Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.

Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4 

Materials: Force and Motion Simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters

In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity. 

Instructions

Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.

Standards:

  • MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
  • MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5 

Materials: Flextension PDF

This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force. 

Instructions:

Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com. 

Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide

When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.

Review now

To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:

Grades K–5:

Grades 6–8:

Looking for help?

Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support

Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:

  • Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
  • Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
  • Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
  • Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more

To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com

Timely technical and program support

Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969

For less urgent questions:

Email support

Contact us

Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440

Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904

What’s included

Along with compelling print materials, powerful digital resources, and more hands-on materials than any other program, Amplify Science California also includes engaging and realistic experiences, access to diverse role models, countless a-ha moments, and the inspiration and confidence to consider a future as a scientist or engineer.

Choose level

K–56–8

Year at a glance

Amplify Science California is organized around units where students explore compelling phenomena and real-world problems, develop and strengthen claims by collecting evidence and testing assumptions, and apply their learning in new contexts.

Educational curriculum chart showcasing a progression of amplify science lessons from kindergarten to grade 5, categorized by grade and subject areas like plants, animals, weather, and energy.

Units at a glance

In each Amplify Science California unit, students are asked to inhabit the role of a scientist or engineer in order to investigate a real-world problem. These problems provide relevant, 21st-century contexts through which students investigate different scientific phenomena.

An illustration from Needs of Plants and Animals unit

1

Needs of Plants and Animals

Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why there have been no monarch caterpillars in the community garden since vegetables were planted. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and make a new plan for the community garden that provides for the needs of the monarch caterpillars in addition to producing vegetables for humans.

An illustration from the Pushes and Pulls unit

2

Pushes and Pulls

Students take on the role of pinball machine engineers as they investigate the effects of forces on the motion of an object. They conduct tests in their own prototypes (models) of a pinball machine and use what they learn to contribute to the design of a class pinball machine. Over the course of the unit, students construct a foundational understanding of why things move in different ways.

Silueta de una estructura de parque infantil contra un cielo azul con nubes y tres soles amarillos.

3

Sunlight and Weather

The principals of Woodland Elementary and Carver Elementary need student weather scientists to help them explain why Woodland’s playground is warmer than Carver’s at recess. Students gather data from models of the sun and Earth’s surface and observe their own playgrounds to figure out how sunlight causes changes in the temperatures of different surfaces. Students then use models to figure out why Woodland’s playground sometimes floods.

Illustration of sea turtles swimming among seaweed in the ocean, with a large shark in the background.

1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Students play the role of marine scientists. In their role, students apply their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to explain to aquarium visitors how a sea turtle and her offspring can defend themselves from ocean predators when they are released into the wild.

Dos manos sosteniendo un papel con un dibujo de pirámide y árbol, iluminado por una linterna, proyectando otra sombra de la imagen en la pared.

2

Light and Sound

Students take on the role of light and sound engineers for a puppet show company as they investigate cause and effect relationships to learn about the nature of light and sound. They apply what they learn to design shadow scenery and sound effects for a puppet show.

An illustration from the Spinning Earth unit

3

Spinning Earth

As sky scientists, students explain why a boy living in a place near them sees different things in the sky than his grandma does when he talks to her on the phone. Students record, organize, and analyze observations of the sun and other sky objects as they look for patterns and make sense of the cycle of daytime and nighttime.

An elephant standing next to a tree uses its trunk to pick a fruit from a branch while more fruit hangs above.

1

Plant and Animal Relationships

In their role as plant scientists, students work to figure out why there are no new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, which is part of a broadleaf forest. Students investigate what the chalta tree needs to survive, then collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to solve the mystery.

A hand holds a red bean on a table, while a wooden stick spreads white glue and scattered beans. Also on the table are a white cup and a yellow pen.

2

Properties of Materials

As glue engineers, students are challenged to create a glue for use at their school that meets a set of design goals. Students present an evidence-based argument for why their glue mixture will be good for their school to use.

Ilustración de una costa con acantilados, un edificio de centro recreativo con un techo rojo y un letrero, árboles de hoja perenne, una bandera azul y una playa de arena debajo.

3

Changing Landforms

The director of the Oceanside Recreation Center gets a scare when a nearby cliff collapses overnight. Research reveals that the distance between the Recreation Center’s flagpole and the edge of the cliff have changed over time. Students play the role of geologists and work to figure out why the cliff has changed over time. Based on what they learn about erosion, they advise on whether it is safe to keep the center open even though the cliff is changing.

An illustration from the Balancing Forces unit

1

Balancing Forces

People in Faraday are excited to hear that a new train service will be built for their city, but concerned when they hear that it will be a floating train. Students are challenged to figure out how a floating train works in order to explain it to the citizens of Faraday. They develop models of how the train rises, floats, and then falls back to the track, and then write an explanation of how the train works.

An illustration from the Inheritance and Traits unit

2

Inheritance and Traits

Students play the role of wildlife biologists working in Greystone National Park. They study two wolf packs and are challenged to figure out why an adopted wolf (“Wolf 44”) in one of the packs has certain traits. Students observe variation between and within different species, investigate inherited traits and those that result from the environment, and explain the origin of several of the adopted wolf’s traits.

An illustration from the Environments and Survival unit

3

Environments and Survival

In their role as biomimicry engineers, students work to figure out how the traits of grove snails affect their survival in different environments. They then explore how the traits of different organisms make them more likely or less likely to survive, collecting and interpreting data to understand how organisms’ traits affect their survival in different environments. Students then apply their understanding to a new challenge: designing effective solutions for the removal of invasive plants.

An illustration from the Weather and Climate unit

4

Weather and Climate

In their role as meteorologists, students gather evidence to decide where to build an orangutan reserve by analyzing patterns in weather data. After choosing the strongest evidence, students use data to make arguments about which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. They then discern patterns in the locations of natural hazards in order to figure out which ones the Wildlife Protection Organization must prepare for.

An illustration from the Energy Conversions unit

1

Energy Conversions

Students take on the role of systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts, and explore reasons why an electrical system can fail. Students apply what they learned as they choose new energy sources and energy converters for the town, then write arguments for why their design choices will make the town’s electrical system more reliable.

An illustration from the Vision and Light unit

2

Inheritance and Traits

As conservation biologists, students work to figure out why a population of Tokay geckos has decreased since the installation of new highway lights in the rainforest. Students use their understanding of vision, light, and information processing to figure out why an increase in light in the geckos’ habitat is affecting the population.

An illustration from the Earth's Features unit

3

Environments and Survival

Playing the role of geologists, students help the director of Desert Rocks National Park explain how and when a particular fossil formed and how it came to be in its current location. Students figure out what the environment of the park was like in the past and why it has so many visible rock layers.

An illustration from the Waves, Energy, and Information unit

4

Weather and Climate

In their role as marine scientists, students work to figure out how mother dolphins communicate with their calves. They write a series of scientific explanations with diagrams to demonstrate their growing understanding of how sound waves travel. Then they apply what they’ve learned about waves, energy, and patterns in communication to figure out how to create patterns that can communicate information over distances.

An illustration from the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit

1

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Playing the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.

An illustration from the Modeling Matter unit

2

Modeling Matter

In their role as food scientists at a fictional company, students are introduced to the idea that all matter is made of particles too small to see, and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. They are then challenged to solve two problems: one requires them to separate a mixture, and the other requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the CEO of the company.

An illustration from the Earth System unit

3

The Earth System

The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system to help figure out what is causing the water shortage problem and design possible solutions, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.

An illustration from the Ecosystem Restoration unit

4

Ecosystem Restoration

As ecologists, students work to figure out why the organisms in a part of a Costa Rican rainforest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. As they solve this problem, students learn more generally how organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to survive, and then write a series of restoration plans that include arguments about why the rainforest ecosystem is not thriving and recommend actions to restore its health.

Print & digital components

Amplify Science California includes instructional guidance and student materials in English and Spanish for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.

Component

FORMAT

NEW! Classroom Slides

Meet your new hands-free TG! These lesson-specific PowerPoints make delivering daily instruction a snap with embedded links to related resources and suggested teacher talk in the Notes section of each slide.

Digital

Most adopted curriculum for the NGSS California

Teacher’s Reference Guide

Available digitally and in print, this unit-specific reference guide includes scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, and tips for delivering instruction and differentiating learning.

Print and digital

Two digital devices displaying educational content, one a tablet showing a green-themed start page, and the other a laptop depicting various science chapters.

Hands-on materials kits

Each unit-specific kit contains consumable and nonconsumable materials for use during hands-on investigations. In each kit you will find:

  • Hands-on materials
  • 18 copies of each of the Student Books
  • Big books (grades K–1)
  • Classroom display materials
  • One Student Investigation Notebook

Kit

Amplify Science California supports 3-D learning with more materials than any other program.

NGSS Benchmark Assessments

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

And now, Amplify Science California users can choose to administer the NGSS Benchmark Assessments (grades 3–8) through their Illuminate assessment platform.

*Also available in Spanish

Digital

An open laptop displaying a website with a quiz question about geographical changes over time, featuring a series of island maps from different years.

Component

FORMAT

Student Investigation Notebooks

Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

*Also available in Spanish

Print and digital

Two educational books titled "amplifyscience," one in spanish and one in english, featuring illustrations of desert canyon landscapes on the covers.

Big books (grades K–1)

Amplify Science California never asks our youngest readers to read alone. Rather, we provide scaffolded literacy experiences every step of the way. With our large-format big books, introducing and revisiting concepts though read-aloud and shared reading experiences is a breeze.

*Also available in Spanish

Print

Two hardcover books titled "maravillas rocas" and "rocky wonders" by amplify science, lying open, showing a continuous desert rock formation across both covers.

Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)

Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science California program, these serve as venues for exploration and data collection, allowing students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

*Spanish versions coming soon

Digital

A computer screen displays an educational website titled "Earth's Features" with chapters and illustrations of canyons; a printed teacher’s guide is shown beside it.

Explore more programs

Our programs are designed to support and complement one another. Learn more about our related programs.

See all programs

What’s included in our phenomena-based science curriculum

Amplify Science is a phenomena-based science curriculum for grades K-8. This program is designed to give students engaging, realistic experiences that mirror how scientists and engineers actually work. To do this, the Lawrence Hall of Science and Amplify created compelling print and digital resources that work seamlessly together to enable students’ investigations and explorations.

Year at a glance

Amplify Science is organized around units where students are introduced to compelling phenomena and real-world problems, develop and strengthen claims by collecting evidence and testing assumptions, and apply their learning in new contexts.

Un gráfico que muestra secuencias de lecciones de ciencias desde jardín de infantes hasta quinto grado, detallando temas, números de lecciones, días de evaluación y duración de las lecciones para cada grado.

Units at a glance

In each Amplify Science unit, students are asked to inhabit the role of a scientist or engineer in order to investigate a real-world problem. These problems provide relevant, 21st-century contexts through which students investigate different scientific phenomena.

1

Needs of Plants and Animals

Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why there have been no monarch caterpillars in the community garden since vegetables were planted. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and make a new plan for the community garden that provides for the needs of the monarch caterpillars in addition to producing vegetables for humans.

2

Pushes and Pulls

Students take on the role of pinball machine engineers as they investigate the effects of forces on the motion of an object. They conduct tests in their own prototypes (models) of a pinball machine and use what they learn to contribute to the design of a class pinball machine. Over the course of the unit, students construct a foundational understanding of why things move in different ways

Silueta de una estructura de parque infantil contra un cielo azul con nubes y tres soles amarillos.

3

Sunlight and Weather

The principals of Woodland Elementary and Carver Elementary need student weather scientists to help them explain why Woodland’s playground is warmer than Carver’s at recess. Students gather data from models of the sun and Earth’s surface and observe their own playgrounds to figure out how sunlight causes changes in the temperatures of different surfaces. Students then use models to figure out why Woodland’s playground sometimes floods.

1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Students play the role of marine scientists. In their role, students apply their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to explain to aquarium visitors how a sea turtle and her offspring can defend themselves from ocean predators when they are released into the wild.

Dos manos sosteniendo un papel con un dibujo de pirámide y árbol, iluminado por una linterna, proyectando otra sombra de la imagen en la pared.

2

Light and Sound

Students take on the role of light and sound engineers for a puppet show company as they investigate cause and effect relationships to learn about the nature of light and sound. They apply what they learn to design shadow scenery and sound effects for a puppet show.

Ilustración que muestra un paisaje urbano dividido en noche a la izquierda con una luna y estrellas, y día a la derecha con un sol, nubes y un avión.

3

Spinning Earth

As sky scientists, students explain why a boy living in a place near them sees different things in the sky than his grandma does when he talks to her on the phone. Students record, organize, and analyze observations of the sun and other sky objects as they look for patterns and make sense of the cycle of daytime and nighttime.

1

Plant and Animal Relationships

In their role as plant scientists, students work to figure out why there are no new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, which is part of a broadleaf forest. Students investigate what the chalta tree needs to survive, then collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to solve the mystery.

Una mano sostiene un frijol rojo sobre una mesa, mientras un palo de madera esparce pegamento blanco y frijoles esparcidos. Sobre la mesa también hay una taza blanca y una pluma amarilla.

2

Properties of Materials

As glue engineers, students are challenged to create a glue for use at their school that meets a set of design goals. Students present an evidence-based argument for why their glue mixture will be good for their school to use.

Ilustración de una costa con acantilados, un edificio de centro recreativo con un techo rojo y un letrero, árboles de hoja perenne, una bandera azul y una playa de arena debajo.

3

Changing Landforms

The director of the Oceanside Recreation Center gets a scare when a nearby cliff collapses overnight. Research reveals that the distance between the Recreation Center’s flagpole and the edge of the cliff have changed over time. Students play the role of geologists and work to figure out why the cliff has changed over time. Based on what they learn about erosion, they advise on whether it is safe to keep the center open even though the cliff is changing.

Una ilustración de un tren de alta velocidad moderno y aerodinámico que viaja por una vía elevada con un paisaje verde de fondo.

1

Balancing Forces

People in Faraday are excited to hear that a new train service will be built for their city, but concerned when they hear that it will be a floating train. Students are challenged to figure out how a floating train works in order to explain it to the citizens of Faraday. They develop models of how the train rises, floats, and then falls back to the track, and then write an explanation of how the train works.

Ilustración de una escena de bosque con un oso, un alce, pájaros en una rama y un grupo de lobos en primer plano. Las colinas y los árboles están al fondo bajo un cielo despejado.

2

Inheritance and Traits

Students play the role of wildlife biologists working in Greystone National Park. They study two wolf packs and are challenged to figure out why an adopted wolf (“Wolf 44”) in one of the packs has certain traits. Students observe variation between and within different species, investigate inherited traits and those that result from the environment, and explain the origin of several of the adopted wolf’s traits.

Ilustración de un pájaro mirando un caracol en el suelo, con hojas verdes en el lado izquierdo y un fondo de cielo azul.

3

Environments and Survival

In their role as biomimicry engineers, students work to figure out how the traits of grove snails affect their survival in different environments. They then explore how the traits of different organisms make them more likely or less likely to survive, collecting and interpreting data to understand how organisms’ traits affect their survival in different environments. Students then apply their understanding to a new challenge: designing effective solutions for the removal of invasive plants.

4

Weather and Climate

In their role as meteorologists, students gather evidence to decide where to build an orangutan reserve by analyzing patterns in weather data. After choosing the strongest evidence, students use data to make arguments about which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. They then discern patterns in the locations of natural hazards in order to figure out which ones the Wildlife Protection Organization must prepare for.

Ilustración de un paisaje urbano nocturno con ventanas iluminadas y farolas, una luna visible y estrellas en el cielo. Una figura solitaria se recorta en una de las ventanas.

1

Energy Conversions

Students take on the role of systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts, and explore reasons why an electrical system can fail. Students apply what they learned as they choose new energy sources and energy converters for the town, then write arguments for why their design choices will make the town’s electrical system more reliable.

Un gecko se prepara para atrapar un grillo bajo una farola por la noche. Las flechas amarillas ilustran la luz de la lámpara que golpea al grillo y se refleja en los ojos del gecko.

2

Vision and Light

As conservation biologists, students work to figure out why a population of Tokay geckos has decreased since the installation of new highway lights in the rainforest. Students use their understanding of vision, light, and information processing to figure out why an increase in light in the geckos’ habitat is affecting the population.

3

Earth’s Features

Playing the role of geologists, students help the director of Desert Rocks National Park explain how and when a particular fossil formed and how it came to be in its current location. Students figure out what the environment of the park was like in the past and why it has so many visible rock layers.

Dos delfines nadan bajo el agua en un ambiente teñido de azul, uno frente al otro, y uno parece abrir ligeramente la boca.

4

Waves, Energy, and Information

In their role as marine scientists, students work to figure out how mother dolphins communicate with their calves. They write a series of scientific explanations with diagrams to demonstrate their growing understanding of how sound waves travel. Then they apply what they’ve learned about waves, energy, and patterns in communication to figure out how to create patterns that can communicate information over distances.

1

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Playing the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.

2

Modeling Matter

In their role as food scientists at a fictional company, students are introduced to the idea that all matter is made of particles too small to see, and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. They are then challenged to solve two problems: one requires them to separate a mixture, and the other requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the CEO of the company.

Ilustración de un paisaje costero con una montaña y flechas que representan el flujo del viento sobre y alrededor de la montaña, lo que indica la dinámica del flujo de aire.

3

The Earth System

The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system to help figure out what is causing the water shortage problem and design possible solutions, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.

Ilustración de una escena de la jungla en la que aparecen un guepardo y un perezoso entre un denso follaje verde y varias plantas coloridas.

4

Ecosystem Restoration

As ecologists, students work to figure out why the organisms in a part of a Costa Rican rainforest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. As they solve this problem, students learn more generally how organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to survive, and then write a series of restoration plans that include arguments about why the rainforest ecosystem is not thriving and recommend actions to restore its health.

Print & digital components

The program includes instructional guidance and student materials for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.

Component

Format

Teacher’s Guides

Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including detailed lesson plans, high-level overview documentation, differentiation strategies, standards alignments, materials and preparation steps, teacher support strategies and in-context professional development, possible student responses, and more.

Print and digital

Hands-on materials kits

Hands-on learning is integrated into every unit of Amplify Science. Each hands-on activity is supported through clear instructions for the teacher, as well as easily accessible materials in unit-specific kits. Each kit contains hands-on materials, both consumable and nonconsumable, and various print materials (e.g., Vocabulary and Key Concept cards). With Amplify Science, students can actively participate in science: gathering evidence, thinking critically, making observations, and communicating their claims.

Kit

A collection of gardening supplies including a blue bucket, soil bags, plastic cups, hose, fertilizer pellets, and a black tray on a white background.

Component

Format

Student Investigation Notebooks

Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Print and digital

Student books

The age-appropriate Student Books in Amplify Science allow students to engage with content-rich text, obtain evidence, develop research and close reading skills, and construct arguments and explanations about the ideas they are learning in class.

Print and digital

Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)

Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program, these serve as venues for exploration and data collection, allowing students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Digital

Laptop screen displaying a geographical simulation of a river system with zones: Upper River, Floodplain, and River Delta, including an elevation chart and controls for speed and time adjustment.

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Amplify Science – Oklahoma

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Amplify Science – Oklahoma

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Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens

Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

A powerful partnership

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Oklahoma Instructional Samplers

Video: Oklahoma Spotlight on All Learners (SPED, G & T, EL, DEI)

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Resources to support your review

Remote and hybrid learning support

Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Remote and Hybrid Learning

Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science @Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units. 

Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August 2021.   

Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:

  • Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
  • Overviews to send home to families.

Student materials are available in two formats:

  • @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
  • Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.

Download the remote and hybrid learning guide.

What’s included

Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Instructional Resources: More than a textbook!

Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:

  • record data.
  • reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
  • construct explanations and arguments.

Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:

  • conduct hands-on investigations.
  • engage in active reading and writing activities.
  • participate in discussions.
  • record observations.
  • craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.

Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Spotlight on Simulations

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:

  • Classroom Slides.
  • detailed lesson plans.
  • unit and chapter overview documentation.
  • differentiation strategies.
  • standards alignments.
  • in-context professional development.

Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Classroom Slides

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:

  • consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
  • print classroom display materials.
  • premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc).

Scope and sequence

GRADE

UNITS

Kindergarten

  • Needs of Plants and Animals
  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Water

Grade 1

  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth

Grade 2

  • Plant and Animal Relationships
  • Properties of Materials
  • Changing Landforms

Grade 3

  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate

Grade 4

  • Energy Conversions
  • Vision and Light
  • Earth’s Features
  • Waves, Energy, and Information

Grade 5

  • Patterns of Earth and Sky
  • Modeling Matter
  • The Earth System
  • Ecosystem Restoration

GRADE

UNITS

Grade 6

  • Launch: Microbiome
  • Metabolism
  • Plate Motion
  • Plate Motion Engineering Internship
  • Rock Transformations
  • Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
  • Weather Patterns
  • Thermal Energy
  • Phase Change

Grade 7

  • Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Populations and Resources
  • Matter Energy and Ecosystems
  • Earth’s Changing Climate
  • Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
  • Magnetic Fields

Grade 8

  • Launch: Geology on Mars
  • Force and Motion
  • Force and Motion Engineering Internship
  • Light Waves
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Natural Selection
  • Evolutionary History

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K–8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.

Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science; 
  • the standard being addressed with the activities; 
  • the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and 
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities. 

Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1

Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals

Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.

Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5 

Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article

As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world. 

Instructions:

Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”

Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.

Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4 

Materials: Force and Motion simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters

In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity. 

Instructions

Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.

Standards:

  • MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
  • MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5 

Materials: Flextension PDF

This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force. 

Instructions:

Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com. 

Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide

When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.

Review now

To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:

Grades K–5:

Grades 6–8:

Looking for help?

Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support

Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:

  • Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
  • Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
  • Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
  • Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.

To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call              (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com

Timely technical and program support

Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program.
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.

For less urgent questions:

Email support

Contact us

Contact your Oklahoma representative:
Julie Godfrey
Account Executive
jgodfrey@amplify.com
(817) 360-0527

Amplify Science

A new core curriculum designed from the ground up for the NGSS.

Preview the Student Books and Student Investigation Notebooks

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Spanish Student Books and Student Investigation Notebooks

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Review the digital teacher’s guide

  1. Sign in with this username and password:
  2. Click on the orange button below.
  3. Select “Log in with Amplify”.

Username: t.LouisianaReview@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1

Log in

Navigational Guides

Watch the video
Get an overview of the program as a whole.

Take the guided tour
Click through to learn how to navigate around our program.

Preview the Student Books and Investigation Notebooks

Kindergarten

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Grade 1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Grade 2

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Grade 3

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Grade 4

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Grade 5

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Preview the Student Books and Investigation Notebooks

Kindergarten

Needs of Plants and Animals

Pushes and Pulls

Sunlight and Weather

Grade 1

Animal and Plant Defenses

Light and Sound

Spinning Earth

Grade 2

Plant and Animal Relationships

Properties of Materials

Changing Landforms

Grade 3

Balancing Forces

Environments and Survival

Inheritance and Traits

Weather and Climate

Grade 4

Energy Conversions

Earth’s Features

Vision and Light

Waves, Energy, and Information

Grade 5

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Ecosystem Restoration

The Earth System

Modeling Matter

Welcome to Grade 7

BACK TO MAIN 6–8 PAGE

Amplify Science California is so effective you can cover 100% of the NGSS in fewer lessons than other programs.
 
Plus, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we give you enough materials to support 200 students. In fact, our material kits:

  • Support small groups of 4-5 students.
  • Make organization and finding materials easy.
  • Last longer with only one of the nine kits requiring refills.
A collage showing a rocky landscape, a forest with foxes, two kids doing a science experiment, and hands tending to seedlings in a plastic container.

What students learn

Lauren Learner loves science. Watch this video to find out what she learns in seventh grade. >

When you’re ready:

  • Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  • Click on the orange “See how the unit works” link to download a helpful Unit Guide. These guides make great companions to busy reviewers looking for a big-picture understanding of how each unit works.
A barren, rocky desert landscape with rover tracks leading to a distant vehicle on a hill under a hazy sky.

Unit 1

Geology on Mars

Student role: Planetary geologists

Phenomenon: Analyzing data about landforms on Mars can provide evidence that Mars may have once been habitable.

Two prehistoric reptiles with long snouts and tails are near the shore, one on land and one in water, with plants, rocks, and an island in the background.

Unit 2

Plate Motion

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: Mesosaurus fossils have been found on continents separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean.

See how this unit works

Geometric design featuring a telescope, mountain, sound waves, and cosmic elements on a purple hexagonal background.

Unit 3

Plate Motion Engineering Internship

Student role: Mechanical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Patterns in earthquake data can be used to design an effective tsunami warning system.

Illustration of a cross-section of Earth showing a volcano near the ocean. Trees, mountains, and clouds are visible above, with subterranean layers below.

Unit 4

Rock Transformations

Student role: Geologists


Phenomenon: Rock samples from different U.S. regions look different, but have similar mineral compositions.

See how this unit works

Illustration showing the stages of melting an orange popsicle: whole, partially melted, more melted, and almost completely melted, with wooden sticks, on a purple background.

Unit 5

Phase Change

Student role: Chemists

Phenomenon: A methane lake on Titan no longer appears in images taken by a space probe two years apart.

See how this unit works

Green geometric graphic featuring icons: a baby, thermometer, layers, medical alert, and a flame.

Unit 6

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Student role: Chemical engineering interns

Phenomenon: Designing portable baby incubators with different phase change materials helps keep babies’ temperatures healthy.

Abstract digital artwork featuring numerous red and gray circles overlapping a split background of blue and light purple, creating a dynamic and energetic composition.

Unit 7

Chemical Reactions

Student role: Forensic chemists

Phenomenon: A mysterious reddish-brown substance has been detected in the tap water of Westfield.

See how this unit works

An illustration of a whale with jellyfish and turtles from Amplify Science

Unit 8

Populations and Resources

Student role: Biologists

Phenomenon: The size of the moon jelly population in the fictional Glacier Sea has experienced a puzzling increase.

See how this unit works

Low-poly landscape with trees and mushrooms. A fox sniffs the ground, a rabbit sits nearby, and mountains and sun are in the background.

Unit 9

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: A sealed biodome built by a group of Econauts mysteriously crashed despite following the advice of experts.

See how this unit works

How teachers teach

Tom Teacher feels confident delivering 3-D instruction with our resources by his side. Watch this video to learn more. >

When you’re ready:

  • Scroll down and take a closer look at your classroom resources.
  • Click on the orange links below each component to see grade-specific samples.
A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

Classroom Slides

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

Video introduction to Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides

A printed teacher’s guide labeled “Plate Motion: Mystery of the Mesosaurus Fossils” is displayed next to a laptop showing the same curriculum’s digital interface.

Teacher’s Reference Guide

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Login to platform below to access

Assorted craft supplies including a bottle of rubbing alcohol, plastic containers, colorful beads, small dropper bottles, plastic cups, and clear plastic spoons on a white background.

Materials Kits

Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, you have enough materials to support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean you just grab the tub you need and then put it all back with ease.

List of investigations by unit

List of materials by unit

A laptop screen displaying a map with three ecosystem options, each illustrated by different animal icons and accompanied by relevant data lists.

Simulations and Practice Tools

Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Video overview of digital tools

List of digital tools by unit

Device calendars by unit

Two science textbooks, one in Spanish and one in English, titled "Movimento de placas" and "Plate Motion," both featuring an illustrated Mesosaurus fossil on the cover.

Consumable Notebooks

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Sample Student Investigation Notebook

Sample Student Investigation Notebook (Spanish)

Cover of a science textbook showing a girl doing an experiment, surrounded by animals, jellyfish, a rocket, and scientific symbols, with the title "Amplify Science.

Student Edition Hardcover

This durable Student Edition is grade-level specific and contains all of the articles that students refer to throughout the year. Districts may choose to pair these traditional student texts with our digital student experience or new 2-volume consumable notebook set.

A person with headphones works on a laptop; a line from their head transforms into a rocket, symbolizing imagination, innovation, and the foundational skills essential for multilingual learners.

Coming Soon

Unlike other publishers, we don’t make you wait until your next adoption to get the latest and greatest from Amplify. We’re always launching new and exciting features. What’s more, we’ll push them out to you even after you adopt us!

See what’s coming for 2020-2021

Navigating the program

Watch this video showing you how to navigate our digital platform. Then following the instructions below. >

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Choose the resources you’d like to review.
  • Pick your grade level from the drop-down menu.
  • Scroll down to find additional grade-level resources.
Access the digital platform now

Navigating a Launch Unit

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of the program. The goal of a Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year.

Navigating an Engineering Internship

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Navigating a Core Unit

Core units introduce a real-world problem and support students as they figure out the anchoring phenomenon and gain an understanding of the unit’s DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs.

Navigating Classwork and Reporting

Classwork is our new online grading tool that gives you quick and easy access to unreviewed work, student portfolios of work, and automatically generated differentiation groups.

Welcome to Grade 3

BACK TO MAIN TK–5 PAGE

Amplify Science California is so effective you can cover 100% of the NGSS in half the time of other programs.

You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing all you need is:

  • 88 days per year
  • 2-3 lessons per week
  • 45 minutes per lesson
Four images: a hair dryer blowing on a stick structure; an illustration of an orangutan climbing; two children playing a wall-mounted game; and hands with toy dinosaurs sorting paper strips.

What students learn

Lauren Learner loves science. Watch this video to find out what she learns in third grade. >

When you’re ready:

  • Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  • Click on the orange “See how the unit works” link to download a helpful Unit Guide. These guides make great companions to busy reviewers looking for a big-picture understanding of how each unit works.
An illustration of a modern, streamlined high-speed train traveling on an elevated track with a green landscape in the background.

Unit 1

Balancing Forces


Student role: Engineers

Phenomenon: The fictional town of Faraday is getting a new train. Unlike typical trains, this one floats, which is causing some concern among the town’s citizens.

See how this unit works

Illustration of a forest scene with a bear, a moose, birds on a branch, and a pack of wolves in the foreground. Hills and trees are in the background under a clear sky.

Unit 2

Inheritance and Traits


Student role: Wildlife biologists

Phenomenon: An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park has some traits in common with one wolf pack in the park and other traits in common with a different pack.

See how this unit works

Illustration of a bird looking at a snail on the ground, with green leaves on the left side and a blue sky background.

Unit 3

Environments and Survival

Student role: Biomimicry engineers

Phenomenon: Over 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed. Populations with yellow shells have decreased, while those with banded shells have increased.

See how this unit works

An orangutan with orange fur hangs from a vine in a dense, green jungle with trees and plants, while the sun shines in the background.

Unit 4

Weather and Climate


Student role: Meteorologists

Phenomenon: Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.

See how this unit works

How teachers teach

Tom Teacher feels confident delivering 3-D instruction with our resources by his side. Watch this video to learn more. >

When you’re ready:

  • Scroll down and take a closer look at your classroom resources.
  • Click on the orange links below each component to see grade-specific samples.
A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

Classroom Slides

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

Video introduction to Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides (Spanish)

Spiral-bound teacher’s guide and a laptop display both showing Amplify Science’s “Balancing Forces: Investigating Floating Trains” educational materials.

Teacher’s Reference Guide

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Login to platform below to access

Materials Kits

Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean you just grab the tub you need and then put it all back with ease.

List of investigations by unit

List of materials by unit

Two book covers, one in Spanish titled "Tabla Voladora" and one in English titled "Hoverboard," both showing a boy riding a futuristic hoverboard.

Student Books

Our award-winning Student Books include content-rich nonfiction and informational texts designed to introduce concepts and also deepen understanding. Books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher in whole-class, small-groups, and student pairs.

List of Student Books by unit

Sample Student Book

Sample Student Book (Spanish)

A diagram shows labeled forces acting on an object, with arrows indicating directions and a key for object, force, and force-type labels at the bottom.

Practice Tools

Our digital Practice Tools feature easy-to-use drag-and-drop and data-entry activities that support the practice of important SEPs like sorting, modeling, or visualizing information. Practice Tools can be used as a whole group, in small groups, or with a partner.

Video overview of digital tools

List of digital tools by unit

Device calendars by unit

Two science notebooks, one in Spanish and one in English, titled "Balancing Forces: Investigating Floating Trains," with a cover image of feet standing on a hovering platform.

Consumable Notebooks

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Sample Student Investigation Notebook

Sample Student Investigation Notebook (Spanish)

A man wearing glasses and a maroon shirt smiles at the camera on a laptop screen with the words "MYSTERY doug" and a speech bubble saying "Doug.

Mystery Science

Our exclusive partnership with Mystery Science means you get our NGSS core curriculum plus two years of free access to Mystery Doug and his extensive library of captivating videos that deepen students’ understanding of each unit’s phenomenon.

Mystery Science lesson alignment

A person with headphones works on a laptop; a line from their head transforms into a rocket, symbolizing imagination, innovation, and the foundational skills essential for multilingual learners.


Coming Soon

Unlike other publishers, we don’t make you wait until your next adoption to get the latest and greatest from Amplify. We’re always launching new and exciting features. What’s more, we’ll push them out to you even after you adopt us!

See what’s coming for 2020-2021

Navigating the program

Watch this video showing you how to navigate our digital platform. Then following the instructions below. >

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Choose the resources you’d like to review.
  • Pick your grade level from the drop-down menu.
  • Scroll down to find additional grade-level resources.
Access the digital platform now
A woman sits at a desk in a classroom, working on a laptop with an open binder and papers in front of her.

[VIDEO] TG Walkthrough

Watch this video to get familiar with the organization of our printed TG.

A teacher's guide titled "Balancing Forces: Investigating Floating Trains" is shown next to a laptop displaying related digital lesson materials.

[Grade 3] Balancing Forces

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A teacher’s guide and a laptop display a digital lesson titled “Inheritance and Traits: Variation in Wolves,” featuring illustrated wolves in a natural landscape.

[Grade 3] Inheritance and Traits

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A spiral-bound teacher's guide and a laptop display both show the cover of "Environments and Survival: Snails, Robots, and Biomimicry" with an illustrated snail in a natural setting.

[Grade 3] Environments and Survival

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A spiral-bound teacher’s guide titled "Weather and Climate: Establishing an Orangutan Reserve" is next to a laptop displaying the same cover and related lesson materials.

[Grade 3] Weather and Climate

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

Assorted science educational materials including books, balloons, plastic pieces, plant sprouts, and small hardware items arranged on a white background.

[Grade 3] English components

Take a closer look at our grade 3 program components.

Two book covers, one in Spanish titled "Tabla Voladora" and one in English titled "Hoverboard," both showing a boy riding a futuristic hoverboard.

[Grade K–5] Spanish components

Learn more about what components are available in Spanish.

Three children sit at a table smelling and examining pieces of food on blue trays, participating in a sensory activity.

[Grade 3] NGSS Alignment

See how our program addresses 100% of the NGSS Standards.

Cuatro niños reunidos alrededor de una mesa en un salón de clases, mirando de cerca un objeto que uno de ellos sostiene. Hay libros, papeles y materiales educativos sobre la mesa.

[Grades 3–5] Pilot support brochure

Welcome, Jordan K-8 reviewers!

To view this protected page, enter the password below:



Welcome to Grade 5

BACK TO MAIN TK–5 PAGE

Amplify Science California is so effective you can cover 100% of the NGSS in half the time of other programs.

You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing all you need is:

  • 88 days per year
  • 2-3 lessons per week
  • 45 minutes per lesson
Four science-themed images: hand holding a globe and white sphere, two kids doing an experiment, a night sky with constellations, and a hand watering plants in clear containers.

What students learn

Lauren Learner loves science. Watch this video to find out what she learns in fifth grade. >

When you’re ready:

  • Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  • Click on the orange “See how the unit works” link to download a helpful Unit Guide. These guides make great companions to busy reviewers looking for a big-picture understanding of how each unit works.
Illustration of the Earth orbiting the Sun. The Earth's orbital path is indicated by a dashed blue line and a white arrow showing its direction. The background is a star-filled space.

Unit 1

Patterns of Earth and Sky

Student role: Astronomers

Phenomenon: An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times of the day, but it appears to be missing a piece.

See how this unit works

Red and white capsules scattered on a vibrant red and white background.

Unit 2

Modeling Matter

Student role: Food scientists

Phenomenon: Some ingredients dissolve in a salad dressing while others, like oil and vinegar, appear to separate.

See how this unit works

Illustration of a pixelated green mountain cliff deconstructing into a digital grid, with red dots floating over a tranquil sea and flying white birds.

Unit 3

The Earth System

Student role: Water resource engineers

Phenomenon: East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.

See how this unit works

Illustration of a jungle scene featuring a cheetah and a sloth among dense green foliage and various colorful plants.

Unit 4

Ecosystem Restoration

Student role: Ecologists

Phenomenon: The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing or thriving.

See how this unit works

How teachers teach

Tom Teacher feels confident delivering 3-D instruction with our resources by his side. Watch this video to learn more. >

When you’re ready:

  • Scroll down and take a closer look at your classroom resources.
  • Click on the orange links below each component to see grade-specific samples.
A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

Classroom Slides

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

Video introduction to Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides (Spanish)

A spiral-bound teacher's guide titled "Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food" is shown next to a laptop displaying related digital content.

Teacher’s Reference Guide

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Login to platform below to access

Assorted household and craft items including food products, plastic utensils, cups, red fabric, cotton balls, popsicle sticks, ping pong balls, and various containers arranged on a white background.

Materials Kits

Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean you just grab the tub you need and then put it all back with ease.

List of investigations by unit

List of materials by unit

Two children's books titled "Beber las lágrimas de Cleopatra" and "Drinking Cleopatra's Tears" feature an illustration of a girl drinking water outside, with a house in the background.

Student Books

Our award-winning Student Books include content-rich nonfiction and informational texts designed to introduce concepts and also deepen understanding. Books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher in whole-class, small-groups, and student pairs.

List of Student Books by unit

Sample Student Book

Sample Student Book (Spanish)

A computer screen displays an illustration of four plants under sunlight, each emitting colored streams and coins, with soil and roots visible below.

Practice Tools

Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration and data collection, and allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Video overview of digital tools

List of digital tools by unit

Device calendars by unit

Two Amplify Science investigation notebooks, one in Spanish and one in English, both featuring an illustrated landscape of a mountain, water, and sky on the covers.

Consumable Notebooks

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Sample Student Investigation Notebook

Sample Student Investigation Notebook (Spanish)

A man wearing glasses and a maroon shirt smiles at the camera on a laptop screen with the words "MYSTERY doug" and a speech bubble saying "Doug.

Mystery Science

Our exclusive partnership with Mystery Science means you get our NGSS core curriculum plus two years of free access to Mystery Doug and his extensive library of captivating videos that deepen students’ understanding of each unit’s phenomenon.

Mystery Science lesson alignment

A person with headphones works on a laptop; a line from their head transforms into a rocket, symbolizing imagination, innovation, and the foundational skills essential for multilingual learners.


Coming Soon

Unlike other publishers, we don’t make you wait until your next adoption to get the latest and greatest from Amplify. We’re always launching new and exciting features. What’s more, we’ll push them out to you even after you adopt us!

See what’s coming for 2020-2021

Navigating the program

Watch this video showing you how to navigate our digital platform. Then following the instructions below. >

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Choose the resources you’d like to review.
  • Pick your grade level from the drop-down menu.
  • Scroll down to find additional grade-level resources.
Access the digital platform now
A woman sits at a desk in a classroom, working on a laptop with an open binder and papers in front of her.

[VIDEO] TG Walkthrough

Watch this video to get familiar with the organization of our printed TG.

A teacher’s guide and a laptop displaying the “Patterns of Earth and Sky: Analyzing Stars on Ancient Artifacts” digital science curriculum interface.

[Grade 5] Patterns of Earth and Sky

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A spiral-bound teacher’s guide titled "Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food" next to a laptop displaying related educational content.

[Grade 5] Modeling Matter

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A laptop displays an educational website titled "The Earth System" with lesson modules; a printed Teacher’s Guide with a similar cover design is shown beside it.

[Grade 5] The Earth System

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

The image shows a printed teacher’s guide and a laptop displaying an online educational resource, both titled "Ecosystem Restoration: Matter and Energy in a Rain Forest" with a jaguar illustration.

[Grade 5] Ecosystem Restoration

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A collection of science learning materials including books, balloons, seeds, windmill parts, and other educational tools arranged on a white surface.

[Grade 5] English components

Take a closer look at our grade 2 print components.

Two children's books titled "Beber las lágrimas de Cleopatra" and "Drinking Cleopatra's Tears" feature an illustration of a girl drinking water outside, with a house in the background.

[Grade K–5] Spanish components

Learn more about what components are available in Spanish.

Two children wearing safety goggles conduct a science experiment, using plastic spoons to mix substances in clear cups at a table with a red tray.

[Grade 5] NGSS Alignment

See how our program addresses 100% of the NGSS Standards.

Cuatro niños reunidos alrededor de una mesa en un salón de clases, mirando de cerca un objeto que uno de ellos sostiene. Hay libros, papeles y materiales educativos sobre la mesa.

[Grades 3–5] Pilot support brochure

Welcome to Grade 4

BACK TO MAIN TK–5 PAGE

Amplify Science California is so effective you can cover 100% of the NGSS in half the time of other programs.

You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing all you need is:

  • 88 days per year
  • 2-3 lessons per week
  • 45 minutes per lesson
Students engage in various science experiments, including testing conductivity with a lamp, playing with slime, examining objects, and using sand trays.

What students learn

Lauren Learner loves science. Watch this video to find out what she learns in second grade. >

When you’re ready:

  • Find a summary of each unit below including each unit’s student role and anchor phenomenon.
  • Click on the orange “See how the unit works” link to download a helpful Unit Guide. These guides make great companions to busy reviewers looking for a big-picture understanding of how each unit works.
Illustration of a nighttime cityscape with illuminated windows and streetlights, a visible moon, and stars in the sky. A solitary figure stands out in one of the windows.

Unit 1

Energy Conversions


Student role: System engineers


Phenomenon: The fictional town of Ergstown experiences frequent blackouts. Their electrical system seems to be failing.

See how this unit works

A gecko prepares to catch a cricket under a streetlight at night. The yellow arrows illustrate the lamplight hitting the cricket and reflecting in the gecko's eyes.

Unit 2

Vision and Light


Student role: Conservation biologists

Phenomenon: The population of Tokay geckos in a rain forest in the Philippines has decreased since the installation of new highway lights.

See how this unit works

Illustration of a rocky coastline with angular cliffs in reddish tones on the left and a body of blue water below.

Unit 3

Earth’s Features


Student role: Geologists


Phenomenon: A mysterious fossil is discovered in a canyon within the fictional Desert Rocks National Park.

See how this unit works

Two dolphins swim underwater in a blue-tinged environment, facing each other, and one appears to open its mouth slightly.

Unit 4

Waves, Energy, and Information

Student role: Marine scientists


Phenomenon: Mother dolphins in the fictional Blue Bay National Park communicate with their calves despite the distance between them.

See how this unit works

How teachers teach

Tom Teacher feels confident delivering 3-D instruction with our resources by his side. Watch this video to learn more. >

When you’re ready:

  • Scroll down and take a closer look at your classroom resources.
  • Click on the orange links below each component to see grade-specific samples.
A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

Classroom Slides

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

Video introduction to Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides

Sample Classroom Slides (Spanish)

A computer screen displays an educational website titled "Earth's Features" with chapters and illustrations of canyons; a printed teacher’s guide is shown beside it.

Teacher’s Reference Guide

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Login to platform below to access

A variety of craft materials arranged on a white surface, including cardboard sheets, plastic cups, yarn, binder clips, pink balls, yellow pom-poms, and other assorted supplies.

Materials Kits

Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean you just grab the tub you need and then put it all back with ease.

List of investigations by unit

List of materials by unit

Two book covers titled "¡Apagón!" and "BLACKOUT!" show a dark city street with headlights from a car illuminating the scene at night.

Student Books

Our award-winning Student Books include content-rich nonfiction and informational texts designed to introduce concepts and also deepen understanding. Books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher in whole-class, small-groups, and student pairs.

List of Student Books by unit

Systems

Energy Past and Present

Sunlight and Showers

Blackout!

It’s All Energy

A laptop displays a diagram showing the upper river, floodplain, and river delta with labeled cross-sections above a landscape map of a river flowing to the sea.

Simulations and Practice Tools

Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration and data collection, and allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Video overview of digital tools

Device calendars by unit

List of digital tools by unit

Two science workbooks, one in Spanish and one in English, titled "Energy Conversions: Blackout in Ergstown" with white covers and orange labels at the bottom.

Consumable Notebooks

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Sample Student Investigation Notebook

Sample Student Investigation Notebook (Spanish)

A man wearing glasses and a maroon shirt smiles at the camera on a laptop screen with the words "MYSTERY doug" and a speech bubble saying "Doug.

Mystery Science

Our exclusive partnership with Mystery Science means you get our NGSS core curriculum plus two years of free access to Mystery Doug and his extensive library of captivating videos that deepen students’ understanding of each unit’s phenomenon.

Mystery Science lesson alignment

A person with headphones works on a laptop; a line from their head transforms into a rocket, symbolizing imagination, innovation, and the foundational skills essential for multilingual learners.


Coming Soon

Unlike other publishers, we don’t make you wait until your next adoption to get the latest and greatest from Amplify. We’re always launching new and exciting features. What’s more, we’ll push them out to you even after you adopt us!

See what’s coming for 2020-2021

Navigating the program

Watch this video showing you how to navigate our digital platform. Then following the instructions below. >

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Choose the resources you’d like to review.
  • Pick your grade level from the drop-down menu.
  • Scroll down to find additional grade-level resources.
Access the digital platform now
A woman sits at a desk in a classroom, working on a laptop with an open binder and papers in front of her.

[VIDEO] TG Walkthrough

Watch this video to get familiar with the organization of our printed TG.

A spiral-bound teacher’s guide titled “Energy Conversions: Blackout in Ergstown” is shown beside a laptop displaying digital chapters of the same topic.

[Grade 4] Energy Conversions

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A spiral-bound teacher’s guide and a laptop displaying a digital interface, both titled “Vision and Light: Investigating Animal Eyes” from Amplify Science.

[Grade 4] Vision and Light

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A teacher’s guide notebook and a laptop screen display educational materials titled "Earth’s Features: Mystery in Desert Rocks Canyon" with illustrated canyon graphics.

[Grade 4] Earth’s Features

Get a big picture overview of this unit with an at-a-glance view of each chapter…

A collection of science learning materials including books, balloons, seeds, windmill parts, and other educational tools arranged on a white surface.

[Grade 4] English components

Take a closer look at our grade 3 program components.

Two book covers titled "¡Apagón!" and "BLACKOUT!" show a dark city street with headlights from a car illuminating the scene at night.

[Grade K–5] Spanish components

Learn more about what components are available in Spanish.

[Grade 4] NGSS Alignment

See how our program addresses 100% of the NGSS Standards.

Cuatro niños reunidos alrededor de una mesa en un salón de clases, mirando de cerca un objeto que uno de ellos sostiene. Hay libros, papeles y materiales educativos sobre la mesa.

[Grades 3–5] Pilot support brochure

Welcome, Jordan K-8 reviewers!

To view this protected page, enter the password below: