S1-05: How does coding fit in the science classroom? A conversation with Aryanna Trejo of Code.org
In this episode, Eric sits down with Aryanna Trejo, a professional learning specialist of Code.org. Aryanna shares her journey from working as an elementary teacher in New York City and Los Angeles to teaching other educators at Code.org. Eric and Aryanna chat about computer literacy within the science classroom, problem-solving skills, and ways to model productive struggle for students. Aryanna also shares ways to teach coding and computer literacy in schools, no matter the classroom’s technology level. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Aryanna Trejo (00:00):
I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.”
Eric Cross (00:19):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Aryanna Trejo. Aryanna is a member of the professional learning team at Code.org. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for elementary school teachers, and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in both New York City and in Los Angeles. In this episode, we discuss Aryanna’s journey to Code.org, where she helps educators connect coding to real life, how to use a rubber duck to solve problems, and how coding and computer science principles can be taught to students in areas without access to the internet…or even a computer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Aryanna Trejo. So I was born and raised here, and I saw that you went to UC San Diego.
Aryanna Trejo (01:11):
I did, I did. I actually just put a deposit down on an apartment in University Heights, ’cause I’m moving back.
Eric Cross (01:16):
You’re coming back?
Aryanna Trejo (01:17):
I’m coming back. Yeah.
Eric Cross (01:19):
So if you need a classroom to visit….
Aryanna Trejo (01:21):
I would love to do more classroom observations!
Eric Cross (01:24):
Are we doing this? Let’s do—we’re making this happen.
Aryanna Trejo (01:26):
We are. Yeah. So I’ll be there. I’m moving there in April. I actually grew up in Orange County too, so I’m like a very diehard SoCal person.
Eric Cross (01:35):
So I feel like I know the answer to, hopefully—Tupac or Biggie? ‘Cause you’re on the East Coast, and you’re on the West Coast.
Aryanna Trejo (01:40):
Yeah. I like Tupac, but I have more Biggie songs committed to memory. Which is not a lot. I have “Juicy” and “Hypnotized” memorized.
Eric Cross (01:53):
All right. So you’re just memorizing, and you have the Biggie songs memorized, but not the Tupac ones.
Aryanna Trejo (01:58):
No, but I do love Tupac songs. You know, it’s like, Biggie has the flow, but Tupac has the lyrics. Nobody’s—they both have something really amazing about them.
Eric Cross (02:06):
You know, I can respect that you broke it down into both of their strengths.
Aryanna Trejo (02:11):
Thanks for buttering me up before this interview. And not….
Eric Cross (02:15):
<laugh> Oh, we already started.
Aryanna Trejo (02:16):
Huh? We already started?
Eric Cross (02:17):
We’re already started. Yeah. We’re already into this.
Aryanna Trejo (02:19):
We’re into it.
Eric Cross (02:21):
You were in the classroom, fourth and fifth grade, and you were doing TFA.
Aryanna Trejo (02:26):
I did. I did Teach For America. I was 2012, New York City Corps. Right after graduation. ‘Cause I graduated UC San Diego in 2012. So graduation was on June 17th, and I touched down at JFK on June 19th.
Eric Cross (02:40):
Even though I wasn’t in TFA, I know a lot of the fellows that are in it. And there’s just some phenomenal teachers in there. How long were you doing elementary school when you were teaching?
Aryanna Trejo (02:49):
Yeah, I taught for—well, I did, three years of teaching fourth grade. Then there happened to be an instructional coach opening in my fourth year. I took that, did some instructional coaching within the same network, and then I moved back to LA and I taught fifth grade for a year.
Eric Cross (03:11):
- And what was it like now? Did you go to Code.org right after the classroom?
Aryanna Trejo (03:17):
No, I didn’t. No. I transitioned after teaching fifth grade for a year in downtown Los Angeles, in the Pico-Union neighborhood. I ended up getting this email out of the blue from someone who had actually found me through the Teach for America job site. ‘Cause I was hitting the pavement; I was really looking to transition out of the classroom. And she invited me to interview with this company called 9 Dots. And they taught computer science to kids K–6 throughout Los Angeles and Compton. And I was like, “Sure, no problem. Let’s do it.” So I interviewed, I got the job, and yeah, that’s how I transitioned to 9 Dots. And then after almost four years there, I transitioned to Code.org, with the same person. Actually, she moved over to Code.org first, and then she helped me get this job.
Eric Cross (04:07):
Oh, that’s happened a lot—like, that relationship kinda carries over.
Aryanna Trejo (04:11):
Yeah. We’re meant to be coworkers.
Eric Cross (04:13):
Yeah. Are you still? Is she still there? Are you both still together?
Aryanna Trejo (04:17):
Yeah, we’re on the same team and it’s nice. I saw her last night for Happy Hour, with another coworker who’s in LA. So we’re tight. And she’s a wonderful, wonderful mentor to me.
Eric Cross (04:28):
That’s great. Did you have computer-science background, when you were doing elementary school teaching? Did you have—
Aryanna Trejo (04:34):
No. <laugh> Not at all. When I was teaching in New York City, I had like four desktop computers in my classroom, and we rarely used them. Which was such a shame. And then when I moved to Los Angeles and taught fifth grade there, we were a one-to-one school, and the joys of that are just amazing. It was just really wonderful to, you know, get the students used to typing on the computer, using different software to submit their assignments. Getting creative—as creative as you can get—with Google Slides. You know, to show off what they know. And stuff like that. That’s all I had, though. And you know, when I transitioned to 9 Dots I was like, “Sure, why not? Let’s give a shot.” And I learned a lot. It was really interesting, yeah.
Eric Cross (05:26):
And so now at Code.org you are…well, so my journey with Code.org, I’ve been in the classroom for eight years. Still in the classroom as of…an hour ago, I was there. <Laugh> And I use Code.org, and I feel like I’ve checked it periodically, and I feel like it’s evolved over the gaps. And I’ve seen it. It’s become more robust in the things that they offer, over the years I’ve been an educator. Just to kind of…could you give a thumbnail sketch? Like, what is Code.org? Who’s it for? Who’s the target audience? What resources are there?
Aryanna Trejo (06:00):
Yeah. So it’s for everyone. It is a nonprofit that provides curriculum and training and a platform for teachers and students. We provide curriculum for K through 12. It’s completely free. And it comes with lesson plans, slideshows, all that. We focus specifically on underrepresented groups. So we have targeted measures for Black students, for Native American students, for students who identify as female. That’s a huge part of our mission. But we’re really working to expand access to computer science to as many students as we can.
Eric Cross (06:41):
One of the things I’m hearing in your story is you were teaching in Compton; you were in Bronx, New York. One of the reasons why I got into the classroom is because of educators, and the impact they made on me in exposing me to science and technologies I’d never had access to. And that intentionality, that you’re going about it…are there…not just the code, but how you bring that across to different groups…are there strategies, or are there ways to connect this idea of coding to diverse groups and diverse audiences? Or is it kind of, the curriculum applies for everyone? ‘Cause in science, when I’m teaching, I’m always trying to make what I’m doing relevant to the backgrounds of my students.
Aryanna Trejo (07:28):
Sure.
Eric Cross (07:28):
So I’m teaching biology, and I’m trying to make this kind of connection. Sometimes it’s more organic; sometimes it feels kind of forced. Because it’s just not always a nice fit. But it sounds like Code.org is really about inclusion. And in the numbers that I’ve seen for representation, in especially computer science software engineers, the groups that you’re focusing on are not necessarily represented in the professional workforce. At least disproportionately.
Aryanna Trejo (07:54):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s correct.
Eric Cross (07:57):
And so how do you go about being intentional about reaching groups that we don’t see in, you know, the Silicon Valley software engineers? How do you start that? Like, at a young age, do you look for specific schools in specific areas to say, “We are going to bring this to the school. We’re going out to these populations of the cities”? Because we’re just not seeing…you know, on the map, we’re not seeing anybody really doing anything with coding here. Or we’re not seeing the numbers come out of these areas, out of these cities, of students who are going into STEM or going into computer science fields.
Aryanna Trejo (08:41):
Yeah. I don’t necessarily work on the recruitment side of it, is the issue, in my position. But I do work on the professional learning, that is brought out to teachers. And we have a huge focus on equity throughout the workshops that we create from K–12. It’s something we’re really passionate about. We definitely aim to prepare teachers to teach computer science. That’s a huge part of it. Knowing the content, but also thinking through, “What does recruitment look like at your school to make sure that the demographics of your classroom match the demographics of your entire school?” Also, thinking through, “How can we make sure that female students feel included in your classroom? How can we make sure that we are, giving students creativity to think about, or we are setting students up to be creative and think about the problems that are in their community, and how they can use computer science to solve them, or at least work towards them?”
Eric Cross (09:39):
So solving real-world problems and that inclusion aspect…are there things like…you were saying “female or students who identify as female”…are there things that teachers can do to ensure that they’re being more inclusive? Or to recruit, or encourage more female students to take part? One of the things I was thinking of, that I’ve seen, is I’ve seen coding kind of camps.
Aryanna Trejo (10:06):
Sure.
Eric Cross (10:08):
That were specifically for a female audience. And that seemed to help with recruitment. Is that something that you see on your side?
Aryanna Trejo (10:16):
That’s not something that we set up, no. But the curriculum that I work with is CS Principles. And it’s offered as an Advanced Placement course, as well as an AP class. So that’s a curriculum that’s designed for students who are in grades 10 through 12. And so at that point, we can really talk to teachers and ask them what the recruitment strategy is. But in terms of strategies that teachers can use to recruit those students…I mean, I’ve heard over and over from lots of different teachers who identify as female that they didn’t think that computer science was for them, until they saw a role model in that position. And so just being a role model for those students is really wonderful.
Eric Cross (11:00):
And I see it too, with—like, we do “Draw a Scientist” activity, which is like a popular science thing—
Aryanna Trejo (11:05):
Sure, yeah, I’m familiar.
Eric Cross (11:05):
But it’s the same thing, right? Like, it fleshes out. My students don’t draw themselves as scientists. They draw what they perceive, based on what television says. I imagine with computer science, it’s probably really similar, when you think about “What’s a software engineer look like?” Do students tend to draw themselves? Or is it even a mystery? Because I don’t even know what a software engineer looks like.
Aryanna Trejo (11:28):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the things we love to do with our professional learning workshops is talk about understanding yourself, your identities, how they show up in the classroom as biases. And, you know, things like stereotype threat. We see that as really important to understand, and think through, and consider, before you step into the classroom. So that you’re not, you know, coddling certain groups of students because you don’t believe that they are able to be successful in computer science. Holding all the students to the same expectations and believing that they can succeed. And computer science, I think a lot of the times people have this conception of it being this utopian, bias-less, technocratic field. When in reality, everything has bias. And people talk about algorithmic bias and facial recognition, but also the people who created computers and computer languages have their own bias that comes through. And I think it’s really important to show students that. So that they can, one, know what they’re working with, and two, make sure that they can create products that reduce that bias.
Eric Cross (12:50):
It’s like…it’s not objective, just because we’re creating software. Like, once it gets to a point of being so sophisticated…I think, like, AI software, right? With facial recognition? And we’re seeing more and more articles come out about, you know, predicting trends based on historical data.
Aryanna Trejo (13:12):
Sure.
Eric Cross (13:13):
But then, the trends and things that they’re seeing tend to target things that have happened in the past. But it also doesn’t take into consideration a lot of other factors that can lead to certain groups or populations being identified. And I’ve seen some articles lately about how your code is really just representation of what you put into it. And like you just said, your bias—if you have that, conscious or unconscious—you’re gonna put that into your code. And the input is gonna be an impact, is gonna impact the output.
Aryanna Trejo (13:44):
Yeah, absolutely. Or even just—and I’m ashamed to say this, ’cause this is an idea that came to me just recently, through an article that I read—but computers themselves have bias. The hardware assumes that you have vision, that you can see the screen, that you are able-bodied, that you can use your hands to work the keyboard, the mouse, et cetera, and that you don’t have to use assistive technology. You know, there are small things like that, where we think that technology, like I said, is this utopian, futuristic science…but there are biases throughout.
Eric Cross (14:19):
You’re absolutely right. I’ve never even—I’ve never even considered that. Even though I do use assistive tech, and figure it out, I’ve never thought from the ground up, the process is built for an able-bodied, sighted, hearing person.
Aryanna Trejo (14:31):
Exactly.
Eric Cross (14:32):
To be able to engage with the hardware. And then these other things, these tertiary things that we kind of add on, so that you can do this, but it’s not designed from the ground up for people who are, you know, different audiences, physically. So I’m glad you brought that up, though. Now I’ve seen—and I haven’t done this—but I know Hour of Code is a big thing. And this is something that’s ongoing. Can you talk a little bit about what Hour of Code is? I know it’s, it’s a big thing for the classroom teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (15:08):
Yeah. So Hour of Code is really exciting, and it’s just blossomed from something small to something tremendous. This year is gonna be the 10th Hour of Code. So what it is, is it happens during CS Education Week in December, during Grace Hopper’s—or to honor Grace Hopper’s birthday. She was a computer scientist and Navy Admiral. And basically the aim of it is to get as many students on the computer doing an hour of code, and demystify what coding is. You know, to do seed-planting. To show teachers that this is something that you can facilitate for your students. And also to show students like, “Hey, computer science is something you can absolutely do. Not just for an hour, but more if you want.” So, yeah. Now it’s worldwide, and it’s really exciting.
Eric Cross (15:58):
That’s awesome. And I think about teachers and I still hear the apologetic—when I’m helping teachers in the classroom with education technology—the self-deprecating “I’m a dinosaur; I’m not good with tech,” which is never true. Like, they’re better than they even realize. And I feel like sometimes there’s still a stigma, too. It’s like <laugh> The Simpsons’ Comic Book Store Guy. The condescending tech support person—
Aryanna Trejo (16:27):
Sure.
Eric Cross (16:28):
—who has that tone. And so I feel like some people have been so negatively impacted by that person. So I know when I’m helping people, I actually try to go full-spectrum the other side. But I’m thinking about teachers’ barrier to entry. Sometimes code is like, “Whoa.” And I don’t teach computer science. Do you see those barriers to entry, or at least the perception of them? And then, what’s the reality for like someone listening, and going, “I’m a fourth grade teacher,” or “I’m a humanities teacher in ninth grade.” What’s the perception that you see, versus reality, with the teachers that you train? Is it much more accessible than we think? Or is there a level of sophistication that you have to have coming into it?
Aryanna Trejo (17:10):
No, not at all. I know computer science, and that says a lot! <Laugh> You know, I know my own corner of computer science. And you know, that’s me being self-deprecating, too. But I think learning computer science has helped me in so many different ways that I wasn’t expecting. I recently took the GRE in hopes of, you know, getting back into grad school. And I think just the way that computer science teaches you to search for bugs in your code, or errors, and kind of tirelessly look at a problem from multiple different angles, I was able to carry that into the math that I was doing. And I noticed just a huge difference in the way that I approached it, and the way that I was open to it. But you asked a great question, in regards to the barriers to technology. In my position at 9 Dots, I was working directly with teachers to lead professional development with them. Sometimes it would be a full day; sometimes it would be an hour after school. And the one thing that I always had in my back pocket that was really useful is that I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.” You know, it takes some patience and nobody’s gonna get it perfect 100 percent of the time. Have I banged my head against the wall trying to solve one tiny little syntax error in my code? Absolutely! But it feels absolutely phenomenal to fix that. And I was an English major in undergrad, and I had never done computer science before. So it’s something that becomes really satisfying.
Eric Cross (19:07):
Yeah, I imagine. I had someone—a trainer or a presenter—one time bring up the fact that our students rarely get to see us learn in real time.
Aryanna Trejo (19:19):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (19:19):
So we don’t get to ever really model failure. I mean, unless we’re in a classroom situation <laughs> in our failures, with classroom management. Then they see it, they see it! But they don’t get to see us model learning failure. And I don’t mean like failure—and yes, I know, “first attempt is learning,” and “no such thing as failure”—that’s not what I’m talking about. But just when we’re not successful with our code, and then we experience real-time frustration.
Aryanna Trejo (19:42):
Yep.
Eric Cross (19:42):
And they said that is actually a great learning experience for your students to watch you go through productive struggle. And that was really liberating for me. Because now I’m in the classroom, and I’m trying to go through it with my students, and the beautiful thing was, they started helping me. We were all trying to solve the problem. And then we had this authentic problem-solving experience. I think it was like a Scratch program, where we were trying to solve, trying to embed it somewhere, or something. And then, in the background of the class: “Mr. Cross! I got it! I figured it out!” And it was this really neat bonding experience. And I felt that—your ears get red, and you get hot, ’cause you’re not—
Aryanna Trejo (20:19):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (20:20):
You don’t know it! And you’re in front of 36 kids! And I said, “OK, I need to tell them how I feel.”
Aryanna Trejo (20:25):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (20:26):
So I said, “Now I feel really frustrated.” Like, “I want to go through this, and here’s my thoughts.” ‘Cause I knew that it would be helpful if they saw and would hear my thoughts. So I just did a quick think-aloud and I said, “In my head, <laugh> I want to just quit,” I said, “But I realize that this is the part where my learning’s happening. So I just want you all to hear what’s going on in my brain.” And now I feel like when I’m doing coding with my students, and it’s just basic coding, I feel much more comfortable, like, not knowing. But I needed someone to release me from that “I have to be the expert in everything” to do it.
Aryanna Trejo (21:06):
And teachers are used to being the experts. Right? And they should be. And coding is just such a different landscape. But I think once you kind of give over to the power of tinkering, I think it’s really gratifying. I love being able to…you can revise a sentence, and then read your paragraph back to yourself in English, and say, “OK, I get it.” But there’s something so gratifying about changing a line of code or a block and then being able to hit play and watch your program come to life, and say, “Hmm, that’s not quite what I wanted. Let’s try something different.”
Eric Cross (21:39):
I love your connection to tinkering. ‘Cause—I had never thought about it—’cause I love tinkering with my hands. But I always think about physical things. But coding is exactly that. It’s tinkering.
Aryanna Trejo (21:47):
It’s exactly that.
Eric Cross (21:47):
That’s exactly what it is.
Aryanna Trejo (21:49):
And a lot of it is, for me, especially when I’m trying something new, it’s guess-and-check. It’s like, “OK, that didn’t work. What if I add a semicolon here? Will it finally work? Or what if I add a ‘for’ loop? Will this get me what I want?” And it’s wonderful because you have that with students as well. Like, you have that record of their thinking, and you can ask them to go step-by-step and tell you, you know, “First, I added this, because I wanted the program to do this,” and so on and so forth. And so you have that record, but you can always get rid of it. Students often wanna get completely get rid of it. That’s something that I’ve noticed a lot as I’ve taught computer science. But, once you can get them to target the specific parts of the program, tinker with that, and continue, that’s a really wonderful learning space. There was also something you said about modeling failure. I love the fact that in computer science you can model failure for your students. You said to your students, “I’m getting frustrated.” I love that, because I never got that in math. Nobody ever showed me what it was like to be frustrated with graphing a parabola. Right? Like, my math teachers were always like, “Doot, doot, doot, here you go, you’re done!” <Laugh> And I would get so frustrated, because it didn’t come that easily to me. And I think there’s two parts to that. So there’s modeling the learning and the thinking and the productive struggle, but also there’s the identity of being a computer scientist and modeling what that looks like. So for me, when I get really frustrated with a program, I walk away. I take five minutes. I take a deep breath. I say, “I’m not gonna think about it in these five minutes.” And I come back to it. And I think once you start teaching computer science, you can facilitate that for students. And there’s so many different strategies that they can pick up. They can pick up rubber ducking, which is where they pick up a rubber duck or a similar object, and they talk to it as if they were a partner and talk through their code. And oftentimes, as you’re rubber ducking, you’re gonna find that error, because you’re explaining it to someone who’s a stand-in for a novice. And rubber ducking is a well-known strategy for computer scientists who make it their career. You know, there’s pair programming. Some students love pair programming; some students hate it. But the students start to build this identity about how they problem-solve. And how they approach failure. And I just love that.
Eric Cross (24:31):
I’m writing this down. Because the rubber-ducking strategy, I love. I just imagine my seventh graders, a bunch of 13-year-olds with, like, rubber on the desk. And not necessarily in coding, but I was thinking in my science class. And they’re working through a challenge, and they’re all looking at this duck, and they’re talking to it. But I just love the the idea of externalizing your thought process and talking through it yourself so that you can hopefully arrive at a conclusion. But it’s such a great practice, and this is something that’s been around for a long time, apparently. So.
Aryanna Trejo (24:59):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s a real thing. And you know, you can go low-fi. It doesn’t have to be a rubber duck. You can have students talk to their pencils or their imaginary friends. That’s not the issue; the issue is, you know, talking to somebody.
Eric Cross (25:10):
I know you support teachers. But I just wanted to…I was just curious about your typical day, what that’s like. And then what you do, how you support ’em.
Aryanna Trejo (25:15):
So, at my previous job at 9 Dots, I was in there with the teachers in the classrooms. I was coaching our internal staff who went out to co-teach with teachers. And I loved that. And I had such a great impact on a local scale. But now at Code.org, I have a much broader impact. But I don’t get to interface with—that’s such a tech-y word!—I don’t get to interact with—
Eric Cross (25:42):
You work at Code.org! You get to—
Aryanna Trejo (25:42):
I know! But I’m a teacher at heart, forever, right? That’s my identity that I forged when I was 22 years old. And a typical day looks like opening up my computer, taking a look at my calendar. I often have meetings to talk about, different things that we’re doing to support our facilitators who go out to our teachers and lead their workshops for them. I recently worked on a product that was designed for CS principles, teachers, to onboard to the course if they weren’t able to get into an in-person workshop. And it’s completely self-paced, so it gives teachers an on-ramp into the course. And now I’m working on some in-person workshop agendas. So I feel really wonderful that my work is going out to thousands of teachers. But at the same time, I really, really miss talking to teachers. Because that’s something that energizes me so much.
Eric Cross (26:46):
When should students start learning computer science? I feel like we see it in this kind of narrow lane. Like, this is computer science if you make an app. Can it be more than that? As far as like the benefit of computer science? And—I guess two-part question—when should students, one, start being exposed to it? And then two, what are some of the benefits beyond just, “I wanna just make an app”?
Aryanna Trejo (27:08):
I taught coding to kindergartners. It can start as early as you as you want it to. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the computer. A lot of students that I worked with didn’t have computers at home, were interacting with computers for the first time. And that’s a huge barrier, of course, to a lot of teachers. But there are so many unplugged lessons that you can do to start to start to have students think about algorithms, which is just a series of steps to complete to solve a problem. As long as a student can use a computer, I think they can do computer science. There are products out there like codeSpark, where students—and Code.org has these products too—where students are moving an avatar around a board, kind of like a quadrant to…you know, they feed the directions to a computer and then the computer enacts it for them. And with that, they can learn algorithms. You know, that is computer science. And a lot of people don’t see it that way, but it really is. And it starts to set students up for more complex thinking as they move on.
Eric Cross (28:13):
One of the biggest underserved communities, geographically, are students in rural areas.
Aryanna Trejo (28:20):
Yep.
Eric Cross (28:21):
They can be reservations; they can be places just not an urban area. Is there a way to serve our communities of students and bring these skills in an unplugged way?
Aryanna Trejo (28:32):
Yeah. Yeah. If you typed in “unplugged computer science lessons” to Google, you’ll have a ton of hits. And there are so many students out there—not just in rural areas. But there’s incarcerated students. It hurts my heart to even say those words, but in urban areas too. Like in my classroom, where I only had four desktop computers. Access is a real struggle. And there’s things, like I said, instead of moving an avatar around a grid on the computer, I used to have an actual mat that I would take out to my kindergarten classrooms, lay it out, and it would have a grid on it. And we’d have one of the students act as the avatar and the rest of the students would give them directions to get to a different point on the grid. And there, you’re building an algorithm or just a series of steps. Like I said, it’s not some fancy term to solve a problem. And there’s multiple ways to solve that problem, too. And I think investigating that can be a really good way to stretch those lessons.
Eric Cross (29:32):
It almost sounds like an oxymoron, but this low-tech computer science strategy. Develop these skills and then transfer that once you have access to the tools.
Aryanna Trejo (29:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s a good way for students who need kinesthetic means to start to understand something, or just different learning styles, to start transferring that over.
Eric Cross (29:53):
I probably have students in the classroom where those kinesthetic moving things would help be a great way—or WILL be a great way—for them to learn the principles and the fundamentals of coding. Instead of only giving the option to just do the computer, actually giving them some choice. Or giving them a way to be able to manipulate things. We’re still in the system of education that’s still very siloed. It’s been the same way for a hundred years. We got math and then we got science and we got English. I’m wondering, how can a teacher fit this into their daily lessons? And then, do you have any experiences or stories or things that you’ve seen, just really creative ways that you’ve seen teachers incorporate this? Outside the norm of, “This is a computer science class; we’re just gonna code.” But have you seen it branch out? In the trainings that you’ve done?
Aryanna Trejo (30:40):
I’ve seen examples of that. I’ve seen a teacher use Scratch to demonstrate different climates of California, and show the different climates. This past year for Hour of Code, my friend Amy—the one who helped me move to 9 Dots and at Code.org—she created this incredible tutorial called Poetry Bot. And it was a way to get students to match the mood of the poem to some of the elements that were happening in the stage. So they would have different backgrounds show up at different parts of the poem. When the words would show up, they would have different sprites show up. They would have, sometimes, sounds. Or the text would show up with different animations. So there are cross-curricular opportunities everywhere, if you can be creative enough to find them, or if you beg, borrow, steal from other educators who are doing this incredible work out there.
Eric Cross (31:36):
Yeah. I say this all the time, but I’m an educational DJ, not an MC.
Aryanna Trejo (31:44):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (31:45):
So MCs write their lyrics and DJs remix with things that other people have done.
Aryanna Trejo (31:48):
Absolutely.
Eric Cross (31:48):
I was like, I’m a DJ. I was like, all day. Sometimes I’ll write a lyric, once or twice, but most of the time I’m remixing things. So teachers, if you’ve been out there and you got an awesome interdisciplinary thing, or you’ve incorporated coding and it’s something that’s traditionally not seen, please send it to us. Share it with us.
Aryanna Trejo (32:03):
Yeah. And there are so many different places where you can find that. We have a forum for Code.org, but there’s also CSTA, the Computer Science Teachers Association. You can join your local chapter and get to know other computer science teachers out there.
Eric Cross (32:19):
I guess…to wrap up, I’ve been using Scratch programming, the MIT website. My students do the basic animated name, CS First, stuff. But over the years, I’ve noticed that my students are coming in with a higher level of sophistication in Scratch to where now the differentiation…some of my students are just doing very basic…and then I have other students who’ve created full-on video games with complex…like, you look at their Scratch page and it’s just an amazing amount of blocks and integrations and things that they have. Is there anything on Code.org that could be a next step? That takes them beyond, maybe like the visuals? And if so, what would be a good next step, to take students to advance them to another platform? There’s so many coding languages out there, I feel like. Or I might not even be thinking about that the right way.
Aryanna Trejo (33:20):
No, I think you are. You know, we have three different curricula out on our website right now. We have CS Fundamentals, which is probably more in line with what you’re talking about. We have a free CS Discoveries curriculum, and that is designed for, grades, I believe, 6 through 10. And that would be a really good entry point, for both teachers and for students.
Eric Cross (33:44):
There’s a lot of new stuff that I hadn’t seen yet, a few years ago.
Aryanna Trejo (33:49):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (33:49):
So I was really excited.
Aryanna Trejo (33:50):
One thing that I do know is that CS Discovery has just added an artificial intelligence slash machine-learning unit, that you can just pick up and give to your students. You don’t have to go in order with CS Discoveries, like you do with CS Principles. And I’ve gone through some of those lessons. They are really rad. And I would’ve loved to have learned that when I was in middle school or high school. So yeah, we’re constantly thinking of how we can make things one, relevant to our students, and two relevant to what’s going on in the world.
Eric Cross (34:20):
So would I be overselling it if I said, “If you go through this, you’ll be able to create an AI or a neural net to do all your homework”?
Aryanna Trejo (34:26):
You would be overselling it.
Eric Cross (34:27):
I would be? OK. So what I’ll do is, I’ll wait until the end of the school year, and then introduce it, and then by the time they’ve realized it’s not true, they’ll be eighth graders.
Aryanna Trejo (34:35):
There you go. Good old bait-and-switch.
Eric Cross (34:37):
You’re amazing. Thank you for serving teachers, and for being part of such a great organization that puts out great stuff. So much free curricula for teachers to be able to use. Especially nowadays we hunt and scour the internet for those types of things. And to be able to bring computer literacy into the classroom, and with your focus of serving communities of underrepresented groups, it feels good to know that not only is it high-quality material, but it’s also trying to raise everyone up. Because ultimately when we have more people trying to solve a common problem, we come up with better solutions. And I was talking to somebody who was a materials engineer somewhere in Europe, and he said one of the things about the U.S., As he was critiquing me on this flight, critiquing the U.S., He said, “One of the things about your country is that you have a heterogeneous group of people who, in a group, when you have multiple perspectives attacking a problem, you come up with more novel solutions.” He says, “That’s one of the great things, is that there’s not necessarily just a hive mind.” And I think that that’s one of the great things. We uplift different communities, and we uplift women, people of color, people who, have backgrounds that parents didn’t go to college but have these amazing qualities and strengths. And we put everybody focusing on the same issue. We come up with novel solutions that we wouldn’t have come up with if only select groups were trying to look at it and solve it. And so—.
Aryanna Trejo (36:22):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (36:23):
And we couldn’t do that without organizations like yours, that help empower teachers. So.
Aryanna Trejo (36:27):
Yeah! You really said it.
You’re coming to my classroom when you’re back in San Diego?
Aryanna Trejo (36:31):
Yeah! I totally will. Yeah. Let’s make it happen.
Eric Cross (36:34):
Last question. If you think back in your schooling, your own schooling, K through college, is there a person or a teacher that had a big impact on you? Or a learning experience that had an impact on you? And it could be, you know, positive or negative. But something that impacted you, even to this day, that stands out to you, that you remember?
Aryanna Trejo (36:56):
This is a big diversion from the topics that we’re talking about. But in grades 10 through 12, my drama teacher, Mr. Byler, who I still talk with, was such a huge impression on me. Really wonderful. And I couldn’t tell you the teaching moves that he did that were wonderful. I don’t know much about his management. But I can tell you that he gave me space to be confident, and grow into myself, through drama productions. They were high school productions, so they weren’t amazing. But I just really came into myself in high school, because I had the confidence to get on stage. And he was just such a wonderful mentor to all of us. So, props to Mr. Byler.
Eric Cross (37:39):
Shout out to Mr. Byler for creating space for Aryanna to fly! Thanks for making time, after your workday, to talk with us and to share Code.org with teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (37:54):
Of course. Happy to.
Eric Cross (37:59):
Thanks so much for joining me and Aryanna today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our brand new Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community for some extra content.
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Meet the guest
Aryanna is a member of the Code.org Professional Learning Team. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for K-6 teachers and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in New York City and Los Angeles. In her spare time, Aryanna loves taking advantage of the California sunshine, creating wheel-thrown pottery, and hanging out with her dog Lola.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
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Welcome to Amplify Science Pennsylvania
(K–5)!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Pennsylvania students shift from learning about to figuring out science through authentic three-dimensional (3D) learning and phenomena-based exploration. In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. This prepares them to become critical thinkers who can solve problems in their communities and beyond.
What is Amplify Science Pennsylvania?
Customized lessons for Pennsylvania
Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) combines our nationally recognized, proven curriculum with custom lessons specifically designed to ensure you are meeting Pennsylvania’s STEELS standards.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach in which students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science Pennsylvania program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science Pennsylvania 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 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.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures that 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 Pennsylvania to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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 multimodal 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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Pennsylvania and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) includes six unique Student Books written by educators at the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real-world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science Pennsylvania offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers and provide additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify Science Pennsylvania in a new, integrated format, in which students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features such as scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and to use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with learning management systems (LMS) such as Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science Pennsylvania print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher’s Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher’s Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, the slides are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. To make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science Pennsylvania materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits?
- They include more materials. We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- They’re more manageable. Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- They include supportive videos. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science Pennsylvania is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science Pennsylvania curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. |
Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. |
Teacher |
Resources to support your review
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is dedicated to helping you every step of the way.
Contact your dedicated Pennsylvania representative.
S2-03: Building meaningful student connections in the science classroom
In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with Indiana State Teacher of the Year, Sharita Ware, to talk about how to successfully build meaningful student connections in the science classroom. Sharita shares her journey from a corporate career to becoming Indiana’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, and her passion for creating project-based lessons for her students. Together, Eric and Sharita discuss how educators can teach students to love science content by building strong relationships, adding in other content areas, and supporting students’ imagination. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Sharita Ware (00:00):
I try to create that equal playing field where there’s nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel that what they have to say is important.
Eric Cross (00:14):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host Eric. My guest today is Sheta where Sheta is the 2022 Indiana state teacher of the year. And in her 10 year career, as an engineering and technology teacher, she has dedicated herself to helping students build knowledge and skills for high school and life. Beyond. In this episode, we discuss how she inspires her seventh and eighth grade students to build problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands on real world and collaborative projects. She is as humble as she is knowledgeable and through our conversation, it was easy for me to see why her students feel successful under her guidance. And now please enjoy my conversation with Sharita Ware.
Eric Cross (00:59):
Can I start off by saying congratulations on teacher of the year. Thank you for the state of Indiana. Um, that’s amazing. So I, I, I did watch, uh, your videos, uh, short interviews, and then you spoke, was it Purdue? Yes. You were there. And so, uh, to see if fellow seventh grade, eighth grade science teacher out there being celebrated, like I was so excited, so yeah, I wanted to congratulate you on that and, and just kind of talk to you about like your teaching journey and ask you, uh, maybe just kind of start off with your story about what brought you into, into the classroom, especially the middle school.
Sharita Ware (01:29):
Classroom. So what happened is when I was working in industry as an engineer and when my husband and I got married, we decided that I was gonna, um, stay home with the kids because, you know, we wanted, um, our influence to be greater on our kids than, you know, the people that would be watching them, you know, because they would ultimately spend more time with them than they would with us. And, and so, um, I stayed home and when my youngest was going to be going to kindergarten the next year, I was like, okay, what am I going to do? Cuz I really don’t necessarily feel like I need to stay at home. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but um, I knew going back to industry would be a challenge just because in my field, I, I was traveling a lot before I got married and had kids.
Sharita Ware (02:14):
And so I knew that that wouldn’t really be conducive to again, raising children. So I, I get this email, my inbox for Woodrow Wilson, teaching fellowship at Purdue. And they were just looking for people in stem fields to go into teaching. And I was like, okay. And it was a national search, you know, I filled out the application, we had to go in and do some sample teaching mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I was picked as, as one of the, the teachers to go through the program. And I started off thinking I wanted high school. And the really cool thing about this, uh, program is that we had long observation periods at high school and at middle schools. And so we would go to a school and we’d stay there two or three weeks. And so it, it kind of gave you right. A little bit more insight to what happened on a daily basis. And after those observations, I was like, I like middle school better than I, uh, like high school. And so I just kind of went that direction and you know, the rest is history. So
Eric Cross (03:19):
I feel like our stories are similar because I went into teaching thinking I wanted to do high school because I like the maturity and you a little bit more sophistication, advanced things, but yes, middle school, I felt like I can, I could get them more upstream before and kind of help shape mm-hmm <affirmative> that experience for them? Because I feel like at middle school is really where they kind of decide like what they can do based on their experiences.
Sharita Ware (03:39):
I found in the middle school that the kids, I mean, they just, they clamor around you and they’re like, what are we doing today? You know? And they get so excited and, um, they’re, they’re just, I don’t know, I guess in some ways, just more hungry in the sense of like they’re willingness to, um, now sometimes they’re a little reluctant, but you know, their willingness just to try new things. And I think, um, my students really what I have found over the years that they have found a safe space and I hear the kids, you know, say to me so many times that, you know, it it’s safe. I feel, I feel safe in here. And, and it’s not something that in my mind I’m thinking about, oh, I need to make this a safe place. It’s just, I guess part of just who I am as a person has created this environment of, of safety and, and the kids recognize that, you know, I don’t play favorites. You know, everybody starts out mm-hmm, <affirmative> on equal footing. I, I don’t care what your backstory is. I don’t care how many times I see you in the hallway when I’m walking during my prep. You know, when you hit my room, I’m, I’m gonna treat you the same way on day one, that I treat everybody else.
Eric Cross (04:54):
You really understand how to build culture with, in, with your classroom, with your students. And, and you said they feel safe, but is there anything that you do that someone could like apply? And like you found that you’ve gotten a lot of just relational capital through doing these things, or is it just your personality? Like how, how do you build those connections?
Sharita Ware (05:12):
You know, growing up being a, a very quiet person. I, I think a lot of times my voice was ignored because I was the quiet kid in the back of the room. And oftentimes I became seen or heard because of my work, you know, in the beginning it was kind of like, oh, she’s just this quiet girl in the back of the room. And then, you know, the first essay was due or the first project was due. And then it was like, oh, you know, then you’re the person to be on, you know, people’s teams. And, and that, I don’t know, that always kind of bothered me because, you know, I’m thinking just because you’re not the loudest person in the room doesn’t mean that you don’t have something to say, mm-hmm <affirmative>, you just might not be talking all the time. You know? And, and so for my students, I just, I try to create that equal playing field where there’s, nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel like that what they have to say, or what they have to contribute is, is enough, is good.
Sharita Ware (06:14):
Enough is important as…
Eric Cross (06:16):
It is, as it is. And there’s probably a lot of things that you do. But in addition to building these relationships, what do you do? Like how do you make your learning fun for students?
Sharita Ware (06:25):
I think, um, I’m also a little bit on the silly side. Um, we do a, a Barbie prosthetic leg project, and this was after trial and error of having the kids make full size prosthetic legs. And I try to make it as real world as possible, but with none of the children being amputee or, you know, having access to someone, it was really hard for them to really visualize what needed to happen. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so, um, I found this Barbie that had a prosthetic leg and I was like, well, LA, so I just started collecting Barbies and chopping their legs off <laugh>. And so I have this jar of Barbie legs. And so, and I said, you’re gonna make prosthetic legs. And I lay this jar of legs on the counter and the kids are like, like they gasp and then they crack up and then they’re like, okay, this lady’s crazy. So…
Eric Cross (07:22):
That’s when you take off your scarf and there’s this necklace of just Barbie legs that are just around and you’re like, I’m a middle school teacher and they go, oh, okay. I understand. Yeah. Yeah. It’s totally fine. Is this a lesson that someone that you made up or is it something that you’ve re remixed? Is it something that someone could do if they looked it up anywhere?
Sharita Ware (07:38):
Um, so I think teach engineering has the, the full size leg that the kids make. And that’s where I initially got it from.
Eric Cross (07:47):
Is that the website teach engineering?
Sharita Ware (07:49):
Yes. And, um, I, in fact, I get lots of ideals from there. Um, and I, I always usually tweak them, but it’s, it’s one of those things that kind of gets your brain going. And so it was kind of a mixture of, uh, project lead the way gateway to technology and the teach engineering. And I think the project lead the way had us making like braces, uh, for, um, kids with, um, like cerebral palsy or, or something like that. And the kids did okay with that project. Uh, but I wanted to go just a little bit, uh, deeper with it because part of what I was wanting them to do is that context and that connection, that human connection, because for me, it’s not just enough for them to make a project. Uh, before we start this prosthetic leg, I read them a story out of a Scholastic magazine, and it’s a, a teenage girl that lost her leg in a boating accident.
Sharita Ware (08:42):
And she was super active, um, playing sports and running. And, and so I was, you know, trying to get the kids to, you know, make that connection, someone close to their age. Um, and then how it’s not, it’s, it’s more than about her physical healing. It’s also about her mental healing and how she had to, you know, talk to herself to say that she could, you know, recover and, and come back from this and still go on to do all of the things that she was doing before. Um, and in some ways it’s kind of cool because, um, you know, she has a running prosthetic, she has a, a swimming prosthetic, and she has her every day with the pain and toils prosthetic. So just trying to, you know, help them to see that it’s more than just the, you know, the biomedical mechanical engineering aspect of the project.
Sharita Ware (09:30):
And so they have to design for comfort. They have to design for, um, swelling. And then, um, they also can, if they, if they want to, they don’t have to, if they want to, they can create their own backstory. So when they get there, um, we have a day where they are introduced to their client, so they get to meet their Barbie and, and then they get to decide if they want a backstory and, and then do their research based off of that. So if it’s someone that was a runner, then they can design a prosthetic running blade. So just, they have lots of, uh, flexibility.
Eric Cross (10:04):
The, that aspect of adding the narrative. It does so much for like listening to it on the outside. It one, it adds this humanity to, you know, what can sometimes just feel like it may be cold, logical stem. We’re just, we’re just doing things. We’re fixing things. We’re, you know, we’re discovering things, but really the stem has value when we’re actually applying it to, to, to serve humanity or our ecosystem or whatever it is. There was a, a coding, uh, class I was doing with my students and I showed them this app called be my eyes. And it’s for people who are visually impaired and it pairs them with a volunteer. And when they call, and there’s a whole huge pool of volunteers and I’m one of them. And when my, when it happens in class, I answer and it uses the FaceTime. So the person who’s visually impaired is holding up their phone and you see what they see and you tell them and real time what’s happening.
Sharita Ware (10:54):
Oh, wow. That’s so cool.
Eric Cross (10:56):
These are, these were the things I think for students that the story, the, the human part of it, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it must bring in so many more students into engagement.
Sharita Ware (11:05):
Yeah. I, I feel like it does because I, I think, um, and, you know, along the journey, they kind of lose, um, they lose sight a little bit because, you know, they get out in the lab and they have access to all of these different materials. And I think, you know, truly making it, you know, project based for me is I try not to control the materials too much. Um, I try not to make it so wide that they just get lost, but I try to throw a few curve balls in there, you know, of, of materials that really don’t make sense to use, but they kind of think they make sense to use. Um, because the, the, the meat of it is that the prosthetic leg is a similar size of the original leg and that the, the knee functions. And so I don’t limit, and I grade them off of efficient use of materials.
Sharita Ware (11:59):
So, and that just throws them off because I think, well, how many Popsicle sticks can I use? And I’m like, you can use as many as you like, but remember, this is a prosthetic leg that, um, your Barbie, which is one six scale, um, is going to be wearing all day. So you could think that a Popsicle stick, if you chose to use a Popsicle stick is kind of like dragging around a two by four <laugh>, you know? So do, is that what you really want to use as your material? And some of the kids really think about it and saying, okay, I’m, I’ve got this aluminum rod, okay. This is probably what I would use for my bone structure, because it’s lightweight, but yet it is supportive. And then sometimes they come up with their own ideas in terms of materials, like one student brought in his, um, 3d doodle pin mm-hmm <affirmative> and he made joints and everything with this pin.
Sharita Ware (12:54):
And I’m, and I had delayed buying one, cause I’m like, I, how do you have control over that thing? Mm-hmm <affirmative> he brought that in and he did probably two or three iterations of it and, and got it to work where even the knee where it bit back 90 degrees, but it stopped. He made like, so that it didn’t bend forward. It blows my mind. I’m like so many UN unexpected things have, have happened just from my, um, teaching style. Now I did have, my first few years, I had a, a teaching coach, um, come in and, um, I asked her to come into my room because I just wanted to make sure because I was not a traditional teacher. She said, this classroom is amazing. And, and I think the one thing that she helped me with was, was purpose and consistency and the sense of making sure that with the standards that all of these cool things and ways of being, um, that I was doing in my classroom, that, that I kept it purposeful and intentional. So many times as educators, I know in having student teachers again, ask yourself the question, what is the big picture I want the kids to take away. And once you ask that question, then everything that you have them do will lead to that big picture. Well, it should lead to that big picture.
Eric Cross (14:22):
So it sounds like they’re, you’re starting with this end goal in mind and then kind of backwards planning to get there. Yeah. Do you think you would’ve been the same type of teacher if you would’ve gone straight from college into the classroom? No. And if, if, no, as you’re shaking your head, what do you think it is about? Cause I’ve been asking myself these questions, like just over the years, what is it about coming from industry and going into the classroom? Do you feel like, is how has that impacted you in how you teach?
Sharita Ware (14:45):
Well, I think it’s twofold cuz I was older. I already had three children. I think the combination for me, I think is I was already a mom and I had worked in industry. So the behavior aspect of kids and, and then having that real world experience. And I, I just feel like whether it’s in the classroom, um, marriage, kids, to me, it’s 90% relationship, you know, and the rest will work itself out. That’s, that’s just my, my take on it. But I, I feel like having kids, so some of the behavioral things I kind of was aware of, you know, and just learned many times just not to react to some of the things that they did.
Eric Cross (15:31):
Which is huge. Right. Especially in middle school is controlling your reactions.
Sharita Ware (15:35):
Yes. Cuz that’s what they want. You know? And, and I had this student last year as well. She’s brilliant. And so if she cannot wrap her mind around the purpose of what you’re doing and, and you’re pushing her to do something that she doesn’t think is necessary, mm-hmm <affirmative>, she kind of has these meltdowns. And, and so we just had this, you know, I don’t know, we just came to this understanding and it, and it works to control the meltdowns. I tried to make sure. And, and I used her as a gauge because I knew she wasn’t, she wasn’t getting upset because she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand the why mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so I felt like if she got the why then so would everyone else. So when she, if she was okay with it, then I was like, okay, then I must have explained it well enough.
Sharita Ware (16:25):
And so in my mind that I really need to make sure they understand the, again, going back to that purpose <laugh> and intention, making sure that that is clear. And then I think that’s what gets lost. Sometimes mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, with us as teachers, we, we know where we want the kids to go and we want us to trust the process, you know, just do it because I said so, but sometimes, you know, empowering your children to under to understand the why, because that again is what allows them to be able to do bigger and greater things on their own. So on that next project comes along. They’re starting to tell you, well, first we need to make sure we understand what, um, we’re being asked to do to do. So we have to define the question. We have to make our driving question that will help us stay focused. And, and you’re just standing up there going, okay, now you don’t need me. I’ll go here and sit down. <laugh> so it’s, uh, it is really cool.
Eric Cross (17:28):
Now I’m thinking about my own kids. Like, do my students know the why behind the lesson we did today? It’s one area of growth that I wanna make sure I do this year with my students. And so I really appreciate that. So the, and you just hit on something that is, has been in the forefront of my mind lately and math and English as you know, tend to be prioritized in schools everywhere because it’s what state tested. And it’s what, you know, this is a whole other conversation, but I’ve been talking to math teachers frequently about one of the challenges that they experience or they’ve been telling me is that math is kind of taught. Like it’s just computational, you’re solving these problems, but it’s really separated from any real life application. A lot of times, you know, it’s pizza or gumballs or, or just fictional scenarios and students don’t perform well many times. And some of the reasons why is cuz just no connection. I don’t want to solve puzzles. Like it’s not my jam. Do you have any just inside or, or perspective on how math is, is taught in maybe a way that you think it would students would benefit more?
Sharita Ware (18:32):
You know how kids learn in elementary school, you’ve got this, the same teacher teaching all of the subjects. And so wouldn’t that be an awesome opportunity for you to have like these, these projects where I feel like you could, a class could legit work on the same project for a whole entire year. And so couldn’t the English be writing your persuasive letter to the mayor, asking him to do this or do that. And the process of doing that they’re, they’re, they’re writing with a purpose with a true purpose. Um, and then when they’re doing math, you know, they want, they want a new neighborhood park. So, you know, well how much is this gonna cost? Well, math, what size is it gonna be math? Let’s see what it looks like, art, you know, you just, you have all of this things. And then of course then science.
Sharita Ware (19:32):
So if it’s on a heel, how can we, you know, deal with erosion? And you know, you can just pull so many different things into that. And so not only are they learning, but they’re narrowed in and focused on a project, they’re, they’re able to dive deep into, you know, learning more of learning, how to express themselves and communicate with real people. So it’s more of taking these compartmentalized learning that we do in middle school and high school. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> where you’re almost learning apprenticeship style. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, you have these master educators and it’s not about them being the best at math or being the best at this or that. Cuz there’s so many tools now that could help you through that. But you’re, you’re giving, you’re teaching them so many life skills and so many ways to think and problem solve that, that we’re just that the kids just don’t have.
Eric Cross (20:27):
I think that that is amazing. And I think that in that situation, what I’m hearing is we’re going deeper, not wider because there are a lot of different concepts that kids are expected to learn. Or I should say there are several concepts that teachers are expected to teach doesn’t necessarily mean that our kids are learning, but we’re teaching them. And this way you’re embedded it into an authentic context. Students are able to go through this cycle just like real life. And then they’re also able to build these kind of really transdisciplinary skills. Not only am I learning the math, the English, the the, but I’m also learning the interpersonal skills of being able to sell myself and present myself in a way that’s winsome. And it’s especially powerful coming from someone from industry. Last question, even just listening to you, I know you, you are this for a lot of people, but I wanted to ask you who inspires you?
Sharita Ware (21:14):
I think there have been lots of people over the years. Like I’m thinking of my shop teacher who has since, uh, the last few years passed away. Um, he was one of those people, I think similar personality to me, super quiet person, but he was always in the background on my journey and his name was Joe Mo and we called her Madam Carol was my 10th grade English lit teacher. And she was the one that started reading my work out in front of the class. And you know, and that just gave me courage, not so much to be seen. Uh, but that the work I was doing was, was good. And, and I think I needed that kind of encouragement. Lastly, my students inspire me because when I look at their faces and see the excitement, I think of those students for the first time and, and, and think about this seventh and eighth graders for the first time feeling like they really have something to say, they really have something to contribute of value. And, and I do it for them. You know, the reason why I am here in this moment is because of them. Um, without them, you wouldn’t be talking to me <laugh>
Eric Cross (22:37):
This is, this is true. This is, this is true. You would probably never say this about yourself, but you just exude a humility and a service in how you talk about your students and yourself. And I just wanna thank you for using your gifts, but I don’t wanna just call them gifts because it makes it sound like you didn’t earn ’em and your skills that you’ve earned and worked very hard to acquire over the years to go back into the classroom and leave industry, cuz you, you could have gone back to industry too, but you decided not to. And you could have worked in the industry and your hours were a little different pay is a little different, but you came back to serve the kids of Indiana and because of you and because of that choice, those students have a brighter future and believe in themselves and they’re finding their voice. And I want to thank you for that and for representing all of us stem teachers who are in middle school and being that leader. So thank you for that and thank you for being on the podcast.
Sharita Ware (23:24):
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.
Eric Cross (23:28):
Thank so much for listening. Now we wanna hear more about you in the amazing work you’re doing for students. Do you have any educators who inspire you? You can nominate them as a future guest on science connections by emailing stem, amplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s ST E M amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join our Facebook group science connections, the community until next time.
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Meet the guest
Sharita Ware, a Purdue University graduate, is in her 10th year of teaching engineering and technology education to middle school students in the Tippecanoe School Corporation. Ware challenges her students with real-world, problem-based design scenarios that will help them contribute to global technology and integrated STEM. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
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New Mexico Educators: Welcome to Amplify Science K–5!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning that is rated ‘all green’ on EdReports.
With Amplify Science, New Mexico students won’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they will take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They will do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
We know equity is a priority for you and it’s also important to us! Click below to view a comprehensive list of Spanish resources available to support English learners and dual-language classrooms in New Mexico. All components are available digitally. Resources also available in print are noted with an asterisk.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.nmk-5@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the navigational video below.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.nmk-5@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
- Spanish Supports in Amplify Science
- New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards Correlation
- NGSS Alignment to Amplify Science Unit Summaries K-5
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
Welcome to Amplify Science K–5!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit students won’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they will take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They will do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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.
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 address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. | Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- Michigan Next Generation Science Standards Correlation K-8
- DEIA in Amplify Science
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
Welcome, Amplify Science middle school families!
Next Generation Science Standards letter
The following letter, which is also included in the program, describes the Next Generation Science Standards and how they’re reflected in Amplify Science’s middle school units. Click here to download.
Student navigation video
Watch this video for ideas on how best to support students navigating Amplify Science.
Unit Maps
Each unit in Amplify Science has a Unit Map for the teacher. This document outlines the scientific questions students come across in the unit, and how they will figure out the answers.
Download an example of a Unit Map from the Metabolism unit.
If you’re interested in looking at the Unit Maps for your student’s grade level, please contact your student’s teacher.
Simulations
In grades 6–8, students use interactive digital simulations and other apps as just one way of figuring out unit phenomena. This short video shows an example of a simulation.
Resource for back-to-school night
This presentation (available for download) provides a general overview of the Amplify Science curriculum. Your student’s teacher may have used this resource during back-to-school night.
Family homework experiences
If you’re interested in extending the Amplify Science classroom experience at home use the Scientist Profile Cards to spark discussions about careers in science and engineering!
The Amplify Science program also includes several family homework experiences that you can use with your student outside of the school day. Your student’s teacher may assign the Family Homework Experiences as the class progresses through the units, but if you’d like to explore them on your own, you can do so by clicking on the unit names below:
- Chemical Reactions
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Evolutionary History
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Geology on Mars
- Harnessing Human Energy
- Light Waves
- Magnetic Fields
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Metabolism
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Microbiome
- Natural Selection
- Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Phase Change
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Populations and Resources
- Rock Transformations
- Thermal Energy
- Traits and Reproduction
- Weather Patterns
Contact us
We’re here to help you!
Have a question about Amplify Science? Visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional curriculum support, contact your student’s teacher.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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
Firsthand 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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Amplify Science Overview
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
[IMAGE TO COME]
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform,watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
[IMAGE TO COME]
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
Amplify Science physical samples can be found at the Hamersley Library at Western Oregon University. There you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
-
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the teacher username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the student username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades K–5
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades K-5
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades K-5
- Oregon Science IMET for grades K-5 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades K-5
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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
Firsthand 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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Utah Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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 teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
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.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Utah K-8 High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Rubric
- K-8 Standards Alignment to Utah SEEd Standards
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
- Amplify Technical Requirements
S3-05: Thinking is power
Join us as we sit down with Melanie Trecek-King, college professor and creator of Thinking is Power, to explore how much of an asset science can truly be in developing the skills students need to navigate the real world. You’ll learn about “fooling” students and the importance of developing critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy in the classroom. We’ll also share real strategies and lesson examples that help build these essential skills and engage students in learning.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Melanie Trecek-King (00:00):
We say knowledge is power, but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (00:12):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. On this third season, we’ve been talking about science’s underdog status. And just this past March at the NSTA conference in Atlanta, I had the chance to speak with science educators from around the country about this very topic.
Hermia Simanu (00:28):
Right now, there’s only two teachers in our high school teaching science.
Shane Dongilli (00:32):
I have 45 minutes once a week with each class. The focus is reading and math.
Alexis Tharpe (00:38):
Oftentimes science gets put by the wayside. And you know, I love math and I love my language arts, but I also think science needs to place be placed on that high pedestal as well.
Askia Little (00:46):
In fifth grade, oh, they teach science, because that’s the only grade that it’s tested.
Eric Cross (00:50):
That was Hermia Simanu from American Samoa. Her team flew for three days to make it to the conference. You also heard from Shane Dongilli from North Carolina, Alexis Tharpe from Virginia, and Askia Little from Texas. All of these teachers were excited to be at the conference and had a lot to say about the state of science education in their local schools. Throughout this season, we’ve been trying to make the case for science, showing how science can be utilized more effectively in the classroom. We’ve explored the evidence showing that science supports literacy instruction. We’ve talked about science and the responsible use of technology like AI. My hope is that all of you listeners out there can use some of this evidence to feel empowered to make the case for science in your own communities. And on this episode, we’re going to examine how science can help develop what might be the most important skill that we try to develop in our students: Good thinking. On this episode, I’m joined by a biologist who actually advocated for eliminating the Intro to Bio course at her college. Instead, Professor Trecek-King created a new course focused on critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. In this conversation, we discuss why the science classroom is such a good environment for helping students become better thinkers. Now, I don’t think that you can make a much stronger argument for science than using it to develop the skills that Melanie describes in this conversation. So, without further ado, I’m thrilled to bring you this conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, and creator of Thinking Is Power. Here’s Melanie.
Eric Cross (02:29):
Well, Melanie, thank you for joining us on the show. It’s so good to have you.
Melanie Trecek-King (02:34):
I am so happy to be here.
Eric Cross (02:35):
Now, I went to your session at NSTA in Chicago … I think it was two years ago. A couple years ago. And I was listening to your session, and as I was listening to you, I started Reverse Engineering in my mind what you were doing with your college students. I started reverse engineering the K–8. I was like, “This is amazing.” Where has what you’ve been doing been hiding? We need this not just in the college, higher ed. We need this all the way up and down. Because I hadn’t seen it before. So I think a good place for us to start is gonna be like the story of how and why you as a biologist wound up making the case to actually eliminate the Intro to Biology course at your college. So can you start off and tell us a little bit about that story?
Melanie Trecek-King (03:20):
Sure. So I started teaching at a community college in Massachusetts. And I absolutely love teaching at a community college. And I was teaching the courses that people who don’t wanna be scientists when they grow up have to take to fulfill their science requirement. And that course was Intro Bio. And I tried every way I could figure out to make that class be useful,] relevant to students. I mean, the thing is, our world is based on science and you have to understand science to be a good consumer of information, to make good decisions. And I’m a biologist, so it pains me to say this, but you know, somewhere in the middle of teaching students about the stages of mitosis and protein synthesis, I thought, “Is this really — like, if I have one semester that’s gonna be the last chance that someone’s gonna get a science education, is this really what they need?” And I just decided, “No.” So, to my college’s credit, they were very supportive. I went to them and said, “You know, I think we should assess the non-majors courses. Like, why do we teach non-majors science?” And we all agreed, well, it was for science literacy. OK, great. Do our existing non-majors courses do that? And so we evaluated each of the courses. I made a case that Intro Bio was not doing it. And so we actually replaced it with a course that I call Science for Life. And the whole course is designed to teach science literacy, critical thinking, and information literacy skills.
Eric Cross (04:48):
And so you did this while you were looking at mitosis. And you’re looking at students who may or may not be science majors. And then kind of asking that question. I know every educator asks this, and whether or not it’s welcomed or supported is a different question: “Is what I’m teaching actually gonna be relevant and useful later on down the road for this group of students?” And you actually got to run with it and then create this course, this new course. So, what were the skills that you were hoping to achieve with the new course you developed, and and why were those skills so important?
Melanie Trecek-King (05:21):
Well, if I just go back for a second to what you said, ’cause it, really hit me: I remember the actual moment — it had been building up to that point, but the actual moment that it hit me — I was teaching students the stages of mitosis. And I was applying it to cancer, because the thought is that if we use issues that are relevant to students to teach concepts, that it will be more meaningful to them. They’ll learn it better; they’ll be able to apply it. And they just looked absolutely deflated. They didn’t wanna be there. And I had this moment where I thought, “You know, if, if these students ever have cancer somewhere in their lives, is what I taught them going to be something that they remember? Is it going to be useful to them?” And quite frankly, like, no. <Laugh> They’re not gonna remember proto-oncogenes. And quite frankly, is that really what they need to know at that moment? What they need to know is, “What does this mean? Who is a reliable source of information here? If these treatments are recommended, what is the evidence for them? What are the cost-benefit analyses? Where do I go to find reliable information?” And in that space, cancer in particular, we have this whole field of — I wanna say charlatans, ’cause they may not actually be lying, but they’re pedaling false cures, false hopes. And people need that kind of hope, and so in their time of need, they’re more likely to fall for that kind of thing. Which leads me to the skills that I teach students. I call them this tree of skills. And the order is important. I start — and there’s a lot of overlap to be fair — but critical thinking, and then information literacy, and science literacy. The idea is that students carry in their pockets access to basically all of human’s knowledge at this moment in time. And if they needed to access it, they could. The question is, do they know what they’re looking for? Are they aware of their own biases that are leading them to certain sources, or certain false hopes? Are there certain things that are making them more vulnerable to the people that might prey on them? Are they able to use that information to make good decisions? There’s a great Carl Sagan quote, and it’s something like, “If we teach people only the findings of science, no matter how useful or even inspiring they may be, without communicating the method, then how is anyone to be able to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience?” So yes, the process of science is a process of critical thinking. However, we do tend to present science most of the time. Like, here’s what science has learned. And to be fair, those things that we’ve learned from science are really useful and inspiring. But if we don’t teach the process, so you’ve got somebody now who let’s say has been diagnosed with cancer and is on their phone and they’re scrolling through social media and everything looks the same. And of course the algorithms learn who you are. Next thing you know, there’s all of these like pseudo-treatments popping up. It all looks the same. Somebody who says that acupuncture can be used to cure cancer can feel the same, from someone who doesn’t understand the process of science, as a medical fact. And so the process is the process of critical thinking. My class everything is open note. The quizzes are open note. The exams — and I say open note, they’re also open online, because I know for the rest of their life they’re gonna have resources available to them; I want them to be good consumers with that information, which to me requires metacognition and critical thinking and information literacy and all those skills that I’m trying to teach them.
Eric Cross (08:58):
You’re basically taking what … we’ve taught science for so long. And more recently, it’s changed to more focusing on skills. At least in K through 12. But a lot of it was just memorization of a ton of different things that now we can pull up our phone, go on the internet. You can pull up a lot of those facts. But those facts don’t necessarily translate to actual real-world skills. When I listen to… I kind of make this analogy sometimes: students say … it’s funny, I have 12-year-olds that say this. They go, “How come they don’t teach us how to do our taxes?” And you know they’re regurgitating what they hear from adults, right? “Teach us real-world skills!” And I was like, really, if we taught you right now how to do your taxes, how many of you would really be like, “Oh, this is an awesome lesson! We’re really engaged!” But their point is that “I wanna learn something that I could actually use later on, that’s that I’m gonna carry on.” And in your course, you’re talking about these skills that actually can apply. Like you said, if I had cancer and I’m looking at different types of medical procedures, do I have the skills to really be able to evaluate and make informed decisions on that? And that’s, that’s not something that I’ve seen explicitly taught really anywhere. And I hadn’t heard anybody talk about it, really, until I heard your session, where you’ve kind of unpacked this, and over the last couple of years, have created some programs or resources for educators, where they can take this into their classroom. So what were some of those skills, again? What were were some of the skills that you thought, “I wanna make sure that my students can walk out and they know how to do this and apply it to maybe several different fields”?
Melanie Trecek-King (10:35):
Oh, that’s a really good question. Because the whole thing was a process for me. Like, when I finally let go of Intro Bio, I was so glad to see that class go, by the way. ‘Cause I just felt like I was beating a dead horse. So when I let go of it, I thought, “What do they need instead?” And for me, what I realized was I was trying to make the class I would’ve wanted to take. I realized the things that I personally didn’t know, that my own education maybe let me down a bit. But things that I thought were important. So then I took all of those, synthesized them, tried to figure out the best order. The class is currently in its third iteration. And I hope every iteration is an improvement. But I’m thinking about the students that I taught before the pandemic. It was Intro Bio. Up to just maybe the couple years before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, we had a new virus and we had a new vaccine and we had new treatments. There was hydroxychloroquine and there was ivermectin and then there’s masks. Are masks effective? Well, you know, in what circumstances? What kind of mask? There are all of these questions. And that whole thing was we saw science playing out in real time.
Eric Cross (11:50):
Absolutely.
Melanie Trecek-King (11:51):
And so were my students able to follow that? And then what happened in that process is that science became politicized. And in a time where things are uncertain and we need answers, ’cause it’s scary, people want certainty and science doesn’t tend to provide that. Especially when it’s just starting out. And then when it becomes politicized, people decide that they’re going to — it’s not necessarily a conscious decision — but they retreat into what people in their camps are saying or their groups are saying. Which actually leads me to one of the more important parts of information literacy skills in there, which is most of our knowledge is shared. We tend to have overinflated senses of what we individually know. And studies actually show that with Google, if you have access to Google, you think you’re smarter than if you don’t have access to Google. But we all have access to knowledge in our communities, and that’s one of the reasons humans are so successful, is that we can each specialize in different things and share our expertise and become greater than the sum of our parts. The problem with that, of course, is that we forget what we don’t know, and we assume that we know what the community knows. And so recognizing the limits of your own knowledge and how different communities produce knowledge, like the different epistemic processes that communities use to come to knowledge. When it comes down to it, an important part of knowing is knowing who to trust, right? Knowing where the source of knowledge lives. And in order to do that, you have to understand the processes that they’re using to come to that knowledge and the limits of your own knowledge. And then how to find who has that knowledge so that you can use that to make better decisions.
Eric Cross (13:38):
So, when I hear what you’re doing with your college students, and I think about what I’m doing in the classroom, in the middle school, we are really focusing on literacy as skills. Reading, writing, speaking, listening. And then when I think of the next step of the journey, your information literacy and the literacy you’re teaching is really the application of those things in the real world. And the examples that you gave are very critical examples. Evaluating claims about Covid. Making informed decisions about a medical procedure that you might need. And we all get that applied to us. We’re scrolling through social media and somehow social media is listening. It’s figuring out exactly what I’m doing, because all of a sudden the ads are telling me … how did you know I was alking about KitchenAid mixers now? I just said KitchenAid mixers and it’s gonna show up in my feed! But <laugh> I take that in the same way from the same place that I take in maybe an oncologist. So it’s it’s coming through the same channels. So now I kind of wanna pivot. So we’ve talked about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, the connection between “am I really teaching the skills that my students need in the science class? Is it really critical thinking explicitly or is it just kind of implied?” Now I wanna ask you how you do it. What’s the annotated, abbreviated kind of syllabus of your course?
Melanie Trecek-King (15:03):
So the course is called Science for Life. And the premise behind it is the kinds of skills and understanding of the process of science that they would need to make good decisions to be empowered in a world based on science. And so the very first lecture, I say, “OK, I’m gonna tell you a story and I just want you to listen to the story. And at the end I’m gonna ask you why I told the story.” And the story that I tell them is some of the history of the witchcraft trials in Europe. And I start with the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches, from the Pope, and about how people would accuse witches of causing birth defects or storms or crops dying. And, the best evidence that they had to absolutely know somebody was a witch was if somebody accused them, and then if they were accused, if they confessed. OK? But the problem is, to get them to confess, they would torture them. Roasting over coals, or splitting until somebody broke. And so I tell my students, “OK, this was absolute proof that someone was guilty of witchcraft. I don’t know about you; I would confess to anything, right? Make it stop!” So this is where I get to ask students, “Why would I ask you this? Why would I tell you this story? And traumatize you on the very first day of lecture?” And they see the reasoning, right? They thought they had evidence. The question was, is that good evidence? And so, you know, I’m getting students to have a basic understanding of epistemology, right? Without calling it that, or without going into all of the philosophical background of epistemology. Apply this to your own reasoning. What are you wrong about? Well, you probably wouldn’t know. OK, how would you know if you were wrong? Like what kinds of things do you feel that you’re so right about? How good is your evidence for that? So what I want them to do is internalize the thinking about thinking, and analyzing how they come to conclusions, and proportioning how strongly they believe. Their confidence in how right they are. So I think starting with that kind of misinformation, and getting students to internalize that process is important. But I think the example is really useful, because most of my students don’t believe in witchcraft. Right? So it’s not an issue that would immediately threaten them in some way. So when, when a belief is tied to identity or how we see ourselves or is really important to us, then it’s very difficult to be objective about that belief. And so by starting with witchcraft, it’s not triggering. I get them to think about thinking and practice that muscle so that when we get to those more important issues, they have the skills they need to evaluate them.
Eric Cross (17:55):
So would it be fair to say that your Science for Life class is really applied scientific thinking for the real world?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:01):
Absolutely. That’s the idea. I mean, science is too good to keep to ourselves, right? And it’s everywhere. So how can you understand the world through a scientific lens?
Eric Cross (18:10):
What are the nuts and bolts of how you teach your students these strategies? What do you do? What are some strategies and techniques that we can maybe share with listeners? And then where I want to go after that is I wanna ask you, how early do you think this can be started? So lemme start off first with, what do you do?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:28):
So I use three different strategies. One is, I provide students with a toolkit. And the toolkit is one that I created and it is like my one toolkit to rule them all. It is trying to apply critical thinking and science reasoning all together in one place. So that if students are met with a claim, they’ve got the toolkit with an acronym. They can now start and have somewhere to go. In that if I gave you a claim and said, “Just critically think through this claim,” I mean, that’s a mighty task. But if you have a structured toolkit, then it’s hopefully a systemic way that’s helpful. The toolkit is summarized by FLOATER. I have published it on Skeptical Inquirer. It’s free. So it’s Falsifiability, Logical, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Reproducibility. So I provide students with a toolkit. The next thing I do is I use a lot of misinformation in class. Back to what Carl Sagan says: What I heard was we should use pseudoscience to teach students the difference between a pseudo-scientific process and a scientific process. So, I use science denial, conspiracy theories, and give my students a lot of opportunities to practice evaluating claims with the toolkit. And the other thing I do is, I use inoculation activities. So inoculation theory is based on William McGuire’s original research in the ’60s, which is basically like a vaccine analogy. Where you can inject a small amount of a virus or bacterium into the body, so that it creates an immune response, so that it can learn the real thing. And so in the real world, it can fight it off. Inoculation theory does the same thing, but with misinformation. So, what we can do is, in controlled environments, expose students to little bits of misinformation so that they can recognize it in the real world. There’s different kinds of inoculation, but I’m a big fan of what’s called active and technique-based inoculation. So technique-based means that students are learning not the facts of misinformation, not factually why this thing is wrong, but about the technique used to deceive. So maybe the use of fake experts. Or maybe the use of anecdotes. Or the use of logical fallacies. The other part of that is active, which is where students create the misinformation. So for example, my students, just now, we finished covering pseudoscience. And I teach students the characteristics of pseudoscience. And basically we have fun with it. Where they pretend to be grifters and they sell a pseudoscience product. And so they have to make an ad like they’d see on social media, using the different techniques. And the point there is that it’s supposed to be funny, right? And lighthearted. But in a real way, by using the techniques used to sell something like pseudoscience, it’s opening their eyes. You can’t unsee how every alternative product has, “it’s an all-natural and used for centuries and millions use it and look at this person who says, ‘Wow, it worked for me!’ And it’s certified by some society that doesn’t exist, but this doctor behind it says that it’s really great!” I mean, it’s all the same stuff. So they create the misinformation using their own techniques.
Eric Cross (22:02):
That’s one of my favorite things that you’ve talked about, and I want to dive in that a little bit more. But when you’re teaching the toolkit, FLOATER, what does that look like in the classroom, when you’re actually breaking all of those things down? What does it look like as you’re walking your students through this, and you’re kind of coaching them on all of those different things? ‘Cause I feel like some things might be like, “Oh yeah, I got that.” And then some of them might be, “Oh, what is that?”
Melanie Trecek-King (22:24):
Yeah, it takes me probably a good solid lecture to get through the basis of the toolkit. But then over the rest of the semester, I’ll spend more time going into different parts, different rules, a bit more in-depth. So, for example, logical fallacies and objectivity. So the rule of objectivity basically states that you need to be honest with yourself. I’m gonna quote Feynman here, so: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” We don’t tend to think that we can be fooled. But of course we can. So actually, if you wanna talk about it, I start class by fooling my students.
Eric Cross (23:03):
Wait, what do you do? What do you do for that?
Melanie Trecek-King (23:05):
Oh, so this is really fun. Day 1 of class, after the syllabus, I tell my … so you’re in my class now, Eric. “So I have a friend, and she’s a psychic. She’s an astrologer and she’s pretty good at what she does. I mean, she’s got books and she’s been on TV and stuff. She knows I teach this course about skepticism. And so she’s agreed to test how effective she is by providing personality assessments to students in class. So if you wanna participate, what I need from you is your birthday, your full name, answer a few questions. Like, if your house was on fire and you could take one thing, what would it be? Or if you could get paid for anything to do anything for a living, what would it be? Um, there’s a third one. Oh! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So the next class, it’s usually over a weekend. The next class I say, “OK, I’ve got your personality assessments back, but remember, we wanna test how effective she is. So in order to do that, I need you to read your profile as quietly as possible. And then I’m gonna have you rate her accuracy on a scale of 1 to 5. OK? So close your eyes; rate her.” Over the years doing this, it’s about a 4.3 to 4.5 out of 5. They think she’s pretty accurate. OK? “So now, if you feel comfortable, get with a person next to you. And I want you to talk about what parts of the personality assessment really spoke to you and, and why, and why you thought she was accurate or not.” And it takes them 5, 10 minutes before they realize they all got the same one. So, this is not my original experiment. It was first done by Bertram Forer in … I think it was the ’50s. And it’s done in psychology classrooms. James Randi made it famous. But the personality assessment itself is full of what are called Barnum statements. So, named after P.T. Barnum. These are statements that are very generic. So, “You have a need to be liked and admired by people. You are often quiet and reserved, but there are times where you can be the life of the party.”
Eric Cross (25:13):
How do you know this about me, by the way? This is a — I feel like you know me right now.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:17):
“There are times where you’ve wondered whether you’ve done the right thing.”
Eric Cross (25:19):
This is getting weird.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:21):
I’m just on fire, right? So these are Barnum statements. They’re the basis of personality assessment.
Eric Cross (25:29):
Mel, can I pause you right there? You said Barnum. Is that the same Barnum, like Barnum & Bailey Circus?
Melanie Trecek-King (25:34):
Yeah. P.T. Barnum, who didn’t actually say “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but we attribute him with that kind of ethos. These statements though, if you read a horoscope or even like personality indicators, like the MBTI, it is basically pseudo-scientific. And it ends up with lots of these Barnum statements. They produce what’s called the Barnum Effect, which is, “Wow, that’s so me! How did you know me?” I could even do more. Like, you have a box of photos in your house that need to be sorted. Or unused prescriptions. And these can apply to nearly everyone, but they produce this effect where we go, “Wow, that is so me!” Right? So by fooling them this way, I get to … well, so the next thing is, “Yes, I lied to you. And I’d like to tell you I won’t do that again. But I’m not going to, ’cause I might. So be on your guard.” But I did it for free. And why did I do it? “I did it because I could tell you ‘I could fool you,’ but you wouldn’t necessarily believe me. So I fooled you, so that you would learn what it feels like to be fooled.” It’s not fun. But we’re gonna make a joke outta this. And students are almost never upset about this ’cause it’s a fun process and they’re all fooled. And again, the point is, I didn’t disprove psychic powers. I didn’t just disprove psychics with this exercise. But I did show you how easy it was to fake. So if somebody is gonna tell you that they can know these things about you through some way, hopefully the evidence they provide should be stronger than something that’s easily faked. Right? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you claim to be able to read my personality based on my birthdate, then I need more than something that you can be taught to do in 15 minutes. So, I fool them to convince them that they could be fooled.
Eric Cross (27:27):
You’re giving them a practice scenario for thinking. And I was thinking about basketball. I grew up playing basketball. And my coach would have our own team be the defenders of the next team we were gonna play, so that we can be prepared for the defense. We were gonna see. Now, when I’m thinking about education, and what you just said reminded me of this, it’s like we’re often just teaching offense. We’re always teaching the plays. We’re always teaching what to do. But we rarely teach defense. What happens when someone comes towards you and, and they challenge you or they come at you with claims? How do we evaluate this? And I think in pockets we do it. We do claim-evidence-reasoning. We present claims and evidence and reasoning. But we don’t always have practice defending them. And I think there’s great resources. There’s Argumentation Toolkit and there’s all these awesome resources that do this. But does that fit? You’re kind of having them practice defense?
Melanie Trecek-King (28:26):
Yeah. You know, that’s brilliant. I never considered that analogy. But, yeah, in the real world, you don’t just get to always try to score all the time. Someone’s gonna challenge you and give you a claim that maybe you haven’t heard before. So how do you think through it?
Eric Cross (28:41):
Yeah. And you become better. So now I’m thinking about how early could we start doing this? For one, I love the idea of lying to your students, because I do that. And it’s just such a fun scenario. How early could we start implementing these strategies or these ideas or these toolkits? In your mind, what do you imagine? How early could we start this with young people?
Melanie Trecek-King (29:07):
Yeah. I’m so glad you asked that question, ’cause honestly, by the time they get to me, it’s almost too late. And I don’t wanna say it’s too late, ’cause it’s never too late. But, oh, we need to start so much earlier! That example that I gave about the selling pseudoscience argument? I have a wonderful colleague, Bertha Vasquez, who’s a middle school teacher in Miami and the director of TIES at CFI. She did this with her middle school students. And quite frankly, their examples were just as good, or in some cases better, than my college students. And they had so much fun with it, too. And she just said that, you know, <laugh>, they actually are more savvy with the kinds of things that they see online than we — I don’t wanna say give them credit for. But almost that we want to believe. My students give me examples of things that are from corners of the internet that I didn’t know existed. And quite frankly, that’s probably a good thing for my own mental health. But students are on there too, like middle school students, and we need to prepare them for the kinds of things that they see in the wild.
Eric Cross (30:13):
So in middle school, definitely. Now, you’ve also done some work in high school as well, right? In Oklahoma? Did you do some. …?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:17):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (30:18):
…some work with high schoolers? What was that like? Did you see any impact there?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:21):
So I didn’t actually do it in Oklahoma. I have taught the course … actually, you were talking about younger kids. I’ve taught the course to high schoolers in my area that are parts of dual enrollment. And they absolutely ate up the curriculum. And they were wonderful, wonderful students. And it was completely appropriate for … they were juniors, actually. But the course has also been taught in Oklahoma, through a dual enrollment program as well. And it was a small sample size. But we have pre-post testing that showed that it improved their critical thinking, their acceptance of science. But anecdotally the head of the program there said that in his years doing this, he’d never seen a course that helped them improve in their other courses so well. So, I felt very rewarded by hearing this. But apparently their critical thinking skills and information literacy skills helped them succeed in their other courses that they were taking. And I love that the students were transferring those skills to other classes. That’s the whole point.
Eric Cross (31:23):
And that’s a big … I think that what you just said is really the core, especially of what we’ve been talking about this season: What you’re talking about and what you’re teaching can transfer and supports literacy. And this is an example of science doing that across all other content areas. So I think that that’s huge, that that was said. What do people say about this course? I know I went on your website, and I looked at some of the comments that some folks were saying, and I know it’s just a snippet, but what do you hear from the education world about this? Because I don’t see it in many places. I see it kind of embedded, sprinkled into different content areas. But you’re actually teaching it explicitly. Do you tend to find positive feedback, overwhelmingly? Or do you get pushback on on some of this? What’s it been like for you?
Melanie Trecek-King (32:16):
I think the biggest pushback — and it’s good pushback, and I would agree entirely — is with inoculation activities, you do need to be careful to, when you debrief students, you wanna tell them why you did what you did and to use their powers for good and not for fooling other people. And I think importantly, for not putting misinformation out into the wild without having context around it. So if you do these kinds of inoculation activities, like if you have your students create pseudoscience ads, don’t just let them put them on social media. Obviously, you can’t control everything that they’re doing. But explain to them why you wouldn’t wanna do that. As far as everything else, I’ve heard really great feedback. You’re referencing my website. So, when I put together the course, I was trying to find resources for students to read. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive and I couldn’t find anything that I really wanted students to buy. So I just started writing, and I put it on my site. I have a site that’s basically the core of the curriculum. More in progress. And then I’ve got some of the topics that we explore and those are all assigned readings. My students are captive, in that I know they want a grade, and for four months they have to sit with me for the entire semester, in that I’ve specifically ordered the content in a way that would be most conducive to them learning these things. On the internet, though, and on social media, ’cause I post on there as well, people come in from all kinds of entry points, and so the goal would be to have them start at the beginning and go to the end. But people … I’m pleasantly surprised that there is an audience for critical thinking and science literacy content out there. And so that really warms my heart. But I am doing more and more for educators. And so I have a section for educators. I put content on there. I put assignments, the assignments that we’ve talked about and more, are on there. And the educators that I’ve had use it have just been really wonderful. Like, I hear great things. If I might, the biggest issue that I’m having is actually reaching educators. I’ve gone to — I met you at NSCA, actually, that was only last summer.
Eric Cross (34:30):
Oh, wow. Wow.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:32):
Right?
Eric Cross (34:32):
Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t even a year.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:35):
Yeah, I think it was like July last year. So, um, you’ve been to the conferences. And I just went to the last one as well. But I have yet to figure out a way to really get in front of enough educators to share the content. So if anybody’s listening and is interested in learning more, please let me know! <Laugh>
Eric Cross (34:52):
Yes. And we talked about your website, but I didn’t say what the website was. So it’s ThinkingIsPower.com.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:57):
Yes.
Eric Cross (34:58):
And on there, there’s tons of resources. There is the toolkit. And it’s all free.
Melanie Trecek-King (35:06):
Yes.
Eric Cross (35:07):
And there’s a dope t-shirt on there that I just bought today, that Melanie’s actually wearing right now. It says, “Be curious, be skeptical, and be humble.” And I love that. Because I think one of the things that we can’t forget about teaching people how to think and critically evaluating information, sometimes those conversations can become very dehumanizing. And what I mean by that is it sometimes can become, like, intellectual sport, where we forget that there’s a human being on the other other side. And we lose that empathy and compassion. We can kind of see that. It just becomes this intellectual jousting and arguing. And one of the things I know about you, and when you talk about this or you talk about the work that you do, and even the shirt that you’re wearing, there’s this, “be humble.” There’s this human that is never lost in this. And you said it, too: When you’re teaching your students and you’re equipping them with all of these intellectual skills and all of these tools, to use it for good. So to maintain your humanity, to maintain your character, and then to use it to edify and lift people up, not to go out and do harm. That balance, I think, is so, so important. So it’s something that I really appreciate about you and how you teach.
Melanie Trecek-King (36:19):
I appreciate those kind words. Actually—
Eric Cross (36:21):
Oh, of course!
Melanie Trecek-King (36:22):
—and if I might, I sometimes see people using critical thinking like a weapon. It’s like, “I have learned fallacies and I’m just gonna use the tools of critical thinking to tell you why you’re stupid, or why you’re wrong, and why my position is right!” But real critical thinking involves applying those same standards to your own thought processes. And even something like argumentation: the goal of our argumentation is not to BE right; it’s to GET it right. And so we’re on the same team. If we’re arguing about something, if the idea is in scientific argumentation we’re trying to find the truth, which one of us is making a better argument based on the evidence? Can your perspective help me see my own blind spots and vice versa? And the more different perspectives that we have, the more able we are to find whatever reality is. But we are in this together. And so, yeah, I think … I’m glad to hear that that’s coming through. But if you don’t have the kind of humility that says, “You know, I could be wrong,” then you’re never gonna change your mind anyway. So having the humility to say, I’m wrong. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (37:33):
Yeah. You end up just seeing people just defend turf, as opposed to support “look for truth.” And I know for me, my own education journey, I end up with more questions than answers anyways. So I go in trying to find an answer for something and I end up with 10 more questions. And I go, “OK, this is kind of how it is.” You go down this rabbit hole and you just end up with all these different questions. And it forces the humility, because you’re like, “I don’t know! I think this is what it could be, but it could also be these other answers or explanations. So this is just where I’m at, based on what we know right now, at this present time, which might shift.”
Melanie Trecek-King (38:07):
And that sounds reasonable. Yes. Which might shift. Yes.
Eric Cross (38:11):
And especially for us as life-science biology teachers, our content is something that definitely shifts. I know some of the things I teach now are not things that I learned when I was even in middle school. Just because things evolve. They change. We learn, we get new data. That’s just the way it is.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:24):
<Sighs> And Pluto is no longer a planet.
Eric Cross (38:26):
I know. Rest in — well, no, Pluto’s still there. Yeah. It’s no longer a planet. But that was one part of my kindergarten memorizations <laugh> is Pluto being in there.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:36):
Gotta change your mind.
Eric Cross (38:38):
I know. Any words of advice for science educators out there who want to focus more on honing these critical thinking skills and strategies with their own students, but they don’t know where to start? Where would you point them? Or what advice would you give them?
Melanie Trecek-King (38:52):
I think start with what you want the students to know. And not necessarily the FACTS that you want students to know, but start with the skills that you want them to know. And then really be honest with your process. When I designed Science for Life, I started with, “these are the skills that I want students to know.” And everything was in service of that. So this sort of backwards design, I think, helped me follow a path that was more likely to be useful, if that makes any sense. But it really required doing it all over again. So don’t be afraid to question the things that you’re currently doing, even if that’s all you’ve been taught or all you know.
Eric Cross (39:41):
What I’m hearing is, don’t be afraid to question your own assumptions about what you’re doing. And don’t be afraid to adapt or change or modify. Kinda, pivot. Be flexible.
Melanie Trecek-King (39:51):
Yes, be flexible and pivot. And this is where I’m in a different position than middle school and high school educators. Because I have complete freedom over what I teach in my class.
Eric Cross (40:01):
Sure.
Melanie Trecek-King (40:01):
At the end of the semester, I always joke with non-majors that there’s nothing they have to know, which actually gives me a lot of flexibility, because I could teach ’em a lot of different things. So if there are things that you have to teach students, obviously that’s one thing. But I personally think that the way that we’ve been teaching science needs a refresher. A rethinking. And so I would say, “If you want your students to learn science literacy, honestly ask, what does that mean to you? And what would that look like to get to that point?” For me, though, it was also keeping in mind that maybe I didn’t already know the best way to do that.
Eric Cross (40:43):
One of the things you mentioned earlier is trying to reach out to educators. And I know that when we work together, it’s a force multiplier. And what you’re doing is developing skills. And there’s these skills that are happening right now in academia that you’re doing. And then how do we transfer that into middle and high school. Or, I’m sorry, middle and elementary school, high school. We need to get more people into this conversation to kind of brainstorm and figure that out. We have a Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community, where we have educators that gather. That can be one place we start the conversation. And again, I know on your website you’ve been super active on social media; you’ve grown your presence on Twitter and all these different places, engaging with folks. Which is awesome. ‘Cause I know I see your posts and I’m saving the things that you’re posting and I’m thinking of ways that I can do it in my classroom. I’m gonna take that product. By the way, is that on your website, the lesson that you do with the product?
Melanie Trecek-King (41:43):
No, actually. So the article, “How to Sell Pseudoscience” is … I know Bertha Vasquez wrote up a version of it.
Eric Cross (41:50):
Maybe we can grab that. ‘Cause we might be able to put that into the show notes for folks, because she’s a middle school educator. If there’s already something that’s been done for teachers like us, we’re like, “Yeah, let me get that and let me remix it and make it my own!” if there’s already a exemplar out there.
Melanie Trecek-King (42:04):
Yeah, she’s done it. And so I will absolutely share that with you.
Eric Cross (42:08):
So, all season long, we’ve been talking about science as the underdog. We kind of framed it, you know, science oftentimes takes a back seat to math and English. It’s kinda the first thing to go. Or the first area where time can get cut. Because of what gets tested gets focused on, oftentimes. And then in addition to that, when you’re a multi-subject teacher, elementary science isn’t just one thing — it’s every field. You know, you’re a biologist, which is different than a geologist. And when you’re teaching every subject, that’s a lot. And you might not have had a science class for years. And the realities that we’re seeing over and over with different researchers and practitioners is that science could actually enhance literacy, and building those skills. And I think you really talked about it with the critical thinking skills. Those can transfer. Or the administrator that said, “This is one of the only courses I’ve seen where it transfers to other areas.” Could you share maybe with our listeners, just any advice for advocating for science in their own world?
Melanie Trecek-King (43:13):
Wow, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer that question! One of the things that comes to mind though — because I was listening to your last episode and educators … I honestly didn’t realize how little time they had for science. And how often science was then the first to go, to allow room for other subjects. But science overlaps with a lot of other issues. And so I feel like there could be a way to bring in science when teaching these other subjects. So, for example, argumentation and logical fallacies are easy to apply to reading and writing. Information literacy, and being able to find good information online, teaching students how to laterally read, to be able to check a source, or how to use Google effectively, to put in neutral search terms to find sources, or teaching students how to recognize the characteristics of conspiratorial thinking: All of these things can overlap with so many other subjects. So the scientist in me is a little biased towards science being important enough to do this. But try to bring it into the other subjects. It doesn’t have to be completely separate.
Eric Cross (44:43):
So integrating science into other things. And I … big believer. And a hundred percent agree with you. Now I’m gonna ask a question that kinda like takes us backwards. You shared an app with me when we first met that I thought was really cool. And I know it’s a friend or colleague of yours. But as a middle school teacher, I thought it was great, because it was something that my students could download and practice some of the skills that you’re talking about. Would you talk a little bit about the cranky uncle? Is it the Cranky Uncle app?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:17):
Cranky Uncle.
Eric Cross (45:18):
Could you share a little bit about that?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:20):
Yeah. Cranky Uncle is awesome. So, Cranky Uncle is the brainchild of John Cook, who is the founder of Skeptical Science and the author of the 97% Consensus study on climate change. Cranky Uncle … so he’s also a cartoonist. And Cranky Uncle is a cartoon game where … I don’t even have to explain who Cranky Uncle is to my students. Everybody inherently gets the, the character, right? So he’s like the guy at Thanksgiving that you don’t wanna talk to because he denies climate change and he’s just really cranky. But Cranky Uncle uses the techniques of science denial, which are summarized by the acronym FLICC: So it’s Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry-picking, and Conspiratorial thinking. So he uses those techniques. Again, this is technique-based inoculation. So they recognize the techniques in the game, and you earn cranky points. And as you make Cranky crankier and crankier because you’re recognizing his techniques, you learn the techniques of science denial, and level up and open up other techniques. This is another one of those examples where climate change has a lot of science behind it, right? And if you wanted to get to the science behind climate change for any particular issue … so let’s say it’s cold today, so I’m gonna say there’s no climate change. OK? If I’m gonna unpack that at a factual level, and with science, we could be here for a while. But if I told you, “That’s like saying, ‘I just ate a sandwich so there’s no global hunger.’” OK? So that’s a parallel argument. Humorous. Love to use this kind of argumentation, ’cause it makes for some … I mean, it’s funny, but you get the point. It’s an anecdote. And anecdotes aren’t good evidence. So just like that, you could teach the technique of using an anecdotal fallacy for climate-change denial. So, I have my students play this game. You could do it when you’re studying argumentation. You could do it for science denial. I use an inoculation extension with that, where I have my students pretend that … um, actually, back up for a second. So I teach a class on critical thinking. And at the end of semesters I would get emails from students on, well, they’re failing the class, but they really shouldn’t, for all of these reasons. And reading these emails, I’m like, “If you think that’s a good argument, you clearly didn’t learn what I was hoping you would learn.” So I now have my students, early in the semester, after they play Cranky, pretend that it is the end of the semester and you’re failing the class and you’re failing because you didn’t do the work. Use at least four of the fallacies from class to argue for why you should pass. So they have to put it on a discussion forum, and they’ll say things like, “Well, if you fail me, then I won’t get into graduate school and then people will die and it will all be your fault.” Or, “My dog died, and so I was really sad.” Or, um, “You’re just a terrible teacher. And you’re short. So I don’t like you.” Or that kind of thing. So, oh, they love to attack my character. It’s really funny. But it’s supposed to be funny. And the point is, the students are using those arguments, they’re using the fallacies, to argue for something. And so by creating that misinformation themselves, they learn how those fallacies work. But taken together, I mean, everything that we just talked about there, Cranky Uncle, and the fallacy assignment, or whatever iteration you want that to be in, that doesn’t have to be in a purely science unit. Right? That could be sociology. It could be argumentation. It could be English.
Eric Cross (49:01):
Absolutely. That could be totally a prompt in an English class. And practiced in there. And then this could be an interdisciplinary thing, going back and forth between English and and science. Just having these discussions and looking at it from different angles. And you’re practicing the skills in two different contexts. So you get into argumentation. And then that app, I know I had fun with it. And the questions on there definitely resonate with people in my own family. I’m like, “I feel like I’m talking to exactly somebody that I’m related to right now.” <Laugh> Melanie, anything else that you wanna share, or discuss or highlight, before we wrap up?
Melanie Trecek-King (49:39):
So we could talk about lateral reading, if you like. ‘Cause I know a lot of educators use the crap test.
Eric Cross (49:45):
Please, please, please talk about that.
Melanie Trecek-King (49:47):
So, when evaluating sources, a lot of educators teach what’s called the CRAP test. And I wish I remembered what it stood for. But basically what you do, a lot of us have been taught when you go to a website, to figure out if it’s reliable, you wanna go to the about page. Read the mission; see who they are; maybe read some of the content; evaluate the language. So is it inflammatory? Are they making logical arguments? Are the links to reputable sources as well? And the problem is that if a site wants to mislead you, they’re not going to tell you that it’s a bunk site, right? They’re just gonna do a good job of misleading you. And so, what you wanna do instead … the CRAP test basically is an evaluation of a site. And that’s what’s called vertical reading. So you’re looking through a site to determine if it’s reliable. Uh, I think his name’s Sam Wineberg at Stanford, proposed something called lateral reading. Where, instead of on the site, what you wanna do is literally open a new tab and into the search engine type the source. You could do the claim, too. And then something like Reliability or FactCheck or whatever it’s that you’re checking, and then see what other reputable sites have to say about it. So, in their study, actually, they did a really interesting study where they compared professional fact checkers to PhD historians to Stanford undergrads. And they evaluated — I wish you could … um, there’s two pediatrician organizations. One’s like the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatricians, something like that. They’re very similar sounding. So you give them to students. I do this with my students as well, the same study. So I give my students those two websites. And I say, “Which one of these is more reliable?” And they do exactly what most of us do, which is spend time on the site looking around. And most of the time, if not nearly all the time, they come to the wrong conclusion. And so then I tell them what lateral reading is: “OK, instead of looking through the site, open a new tab, search the organization and reliability.” Something like that. And it takes probably 30 seconds before they realize one of them has been dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. As opposed to the other one, which is like a hundred year old huge pediatrician organization that produces their own journals and so on. But nearly all my students are fooled. And in the study, none of the fact checkers were fooled. I’m gonna get the number right. It’s something like 50% of the historians and 20% of the Stanford undergraduates got the correct answer. And they spent a lot more time on it. So it’s a great way to teach students how to use the power of the internet to evaluate sources much more quickly and, effectively. And yes, use Wikipedia, right? Wikipedia is not a final answer, but Wikipedia is actually pretty accurate. So if Wikipedia is the first place you stop, then yes, go there, see what Wikipedia says, and then follow some of their sources.
Eric Cross (52:47):
What popped in my head was like, Yelp reviews for websites. That almost sounds like what it was. It’s like when I search for a product, I don’t go and read the product description marketing. ‘Cause that’s all designed to sell me on something. But I’ll go and look in Reliability, if it’s like a car, or just other sites to cross-reference. And that sounds like what you were talking about is like cross-referencing. Seeing what FactChecker [sic] said about this site, versus seeing what a site says about itself.
Melanie Trecek-King (53:14):
Well, that’s a great analogy. Because if I wanted to know if a product was effective, what the manufacturer says about the product, clearly there’s a strong chance of bias. Right? They’re going to be on their best, um, put their best foot forward. Versus, what do independent reviewers say about this product?
Eric Cross (53:35):
Yep. And I am known to research something to death. And I get something called “paralysis by analysis.”
Melanie Trecek-King (53:42):
Ohhhh, yeah.
Eric Cross (53:44):
And it’s so bad that even if I’m trying to buy, like, towels, I need to find the best-bang-for-the-buck towel. I have to defer some of these decisions out, because I’m on the internet for three hours now. I’ll be a pseudo-expert in towels, and thread count, and all of that stuff. But yeah, that maybe that’s just the science person.
Melanie Trecek-King (54:03):
I mean, I feel your pain. I do the same thing. <Laugh> It’s annoying. Like, it’s just towels. What does it really matter? But yeah.
Eric Cross (54:10):
Coffee! It doesn’t matter what it is. I just need to go, “OK, I have to use these powers for good. Otherwise I’m gonna be researching forever.”
Melanie Trecek-King (54:16):
I wanna say one other thing. So, again, this is a college class and I have a lot of freedom. But one of the driving philosophies behind the class is a wonderful quote in a book, Schick and Vaughn, How to Think about Weird Things. And they said, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your decisions, and the quality of your decisions is determined by the quality of your thinking.” And I know my students want a grade. But I’m really trying to teach them how to be empowered through better thinking. That’s where the name “Thinking is Power” came from. I mean, we say “Knowledge is Power,” but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and be empowered to have your own agency and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (55:07):
And doing that is gonna help them through the rest of their lives. Not be swindled, not be taken advantage of, be able to make better decisions. There’s so many benefits to building that skill. And I know your students have definitely grown and benefited. I’m sure you’ve heard, long after you’ve taught them, heard back from them and how they’ve applied that course to their lives. Melanie, thank you so much for being here. For a few things. One, for providing and filling this space where there’s such a need. Again, the critical thinking resources, the tools that you used, are so, so important. If we ever lived in a time where they were critical, it was really what we experienced during the pandemic in the last few years. We watched people’s information literacy and science literacy play out in real time. And we literally saw life-and-death decisions being made based off those skills. That highlighted, I think how important this is. And then, taking the time to generate resources for educators like myself, that we can take and adapt and put into our classroom and start teaching our students. ‘Cause like you said, by the time they get to you, they’re, they’re so far downstream or so far in a system that, depending on the teachers that they’ve had and the education system they’ve been in, may or may not have even touched on these things. They might have learned a lot of facts, but they may not have built their muscle to be able to critically analyze and interpret the world around them. And you’ve just — even the last year, it hasn’t even been a year since we talked the first time — I’ve watched your resources continue to grow, and you share them. And so I, on behalf of those of us in K–12, thank you. And thank you for being here.
Melanie Trecek-King (56:49):
Oh, well, thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for everything that you do, reaching out to other educators and for giving me a platform to hopefully reach other educators.
Eric Cross (57:00):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and creator of Thinking Is Power. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners to find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify shows at our podcast hub, Amplify.com/Hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guest
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the education director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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Welcome, Amplify Science families!
We’re excited to welcome you and your student to the Amplify Science program for the new school year, and to provide your student with exceptional learning opportunities through our program. We’ve assembled the following resources and guides to help you support your student and enable them to have the most productive experience with our platform throughout the year.
Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí.
What is Amplify Science?
Amplify Science is an engaging curriculum for grades K–8 designed by experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. As you look through the program, you may notice that it looks different from any science curriculum you’ve seen before. That’s because, in recent years, science teaching has moved away from fact-based lessons, such as those that require memorization, and toward deep learning, where students actively investigate and figure out real-world problems. This shift in science teaching and learning is reflected in new national science standards (the Next Generation Science Standards) and in—you guessed it—Amplify Science.
Getting started
While Amplify Science lessons are designed to be completed in the classroom with peers, there are some activities that students can work on at home with your support. Prior to beginning that work, we recommend reviewing this Protecting Kids Online article by the Federal Trade Commission addressing digital safety.
Materials overview
Amplify Science integrates the latest best practices in science teaching and learning. Students will have numerous opportunities to use hands-on materials, engage with readings, develop evidence-based scientific written arguments, and explore digital applications.
Watch this video for a brief overview of the Amplify Science approach and program structure.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science is the result of a collaboration between Amplify and the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. The team of science, math, engineering, and literacy experts at the Lawrence developed the content of the program, while Amplify’s team of designers and engineers developed the tools and components that bring the lessons to life for students.
Click here for more information on the Lawrence.
Explore grade-level resources
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Have a question about Amplify Science? Visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional curriculum support, contact your student’s teacher.
Amplify Science
A new phenomena-based science curriculum for grades K–5.
A disciplinary literacy approach to learning science
Literacy is an integral part of science. Scientists read, write, listen, and speak in order to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the natural world. They explain their findings, conduct research, connect to the work of other scientists, and communicate ideas to a variety of audiences. In the Amplify Science program, students learn to read, write, and speak as scientists do as they acquire facility with the academic language and vocabulary of science. Through the seamless integration of science and literacy instruction, students also learn that reading, writing, and talking are essential practices of science, and that all scientists use these practices to gather information, communicate claims, leverage evidence, draw conclusions from data, and share their ideas through oral and written explanations and arguments.
Situating literacy instruction in a content area like science has several benefits. First, it helps students develop ways of thinking that are characteristic to the discipline. Second, building background knowledge in a discipline also helps students access complex content in texts that can be difficult to grasp. Finally, situating literacy in a content area like science provides an authentic reason for reading, writing, and talking — to better understand the science ideas under study. Reading, like science, can be an act of inquiry when there are genuine questions to be investigated.
The following are the guiding principles for disciplinary literacy in the Amplify Science program:
- Students can acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
- Attention to disciplinary literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
- Participation in a community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
- Argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science and, thus, these practices are the focus of reading, writing, and speaking in science.
Reading in Amplify Science
Amplify Science provides students with well-written, grade-level appropriate informational texts alongside explicit, embedded instruction on reading in science. Throughout the program, students are apprenticed into reading like scientists – that is, reading actively, curiously, and critically, with a focus on making meaning and using the text as a source of evidence. As students read science texts in conjunction with other multimodal experiences around a topic (doing, talking, visualizing, writing), they increase their skill in accessing these complex texts, as well as their understanding of the importance of text for finding information. Reading informational text is inexorably linked to students’ investigations in each unit. Firsthand investigations provide background knowledge and context for students’ reading, and, in turn, the text provides information, evidence, and support for investigations in progress. In addition, the program includes many books and articles that introduce diverse scientists currently working in the field to highlight science and engineering as a vibrant and viable career choice for students.
Reading in Amplify Science is approached from an inquiry stance – students ask questions, make connections, evaluate information, search for evidence, and clarify difficult concepts as they read. This approach focuses on the practices and processes by which experts in a field obtain, evaluate, and communicate information, including arguments, explanations, data, and visual representations used to explain scientific concepts. Across the program, the teacher models, and students practice, reading like scientists while using reading strategies and approaches that are appropriate to the task, purpose, and grade level. Along with explicit instruction, teachers model strategic reading by thinking aloud as they read, asking questions, and linking the information in the text to their class’s investigations. Students are then provided with multiple opportunities to read and discuss ideas with peers, using the text as a resource for information and evidence. Reading and discussing texts in these ways builds students’ capacity to read strategically while simultaneously building their understanding of science content. The scaffolded reading experiences at each grade level help students learn to approach complex texts in systematic ways and will aid them as they read other science texts throughout their school careers.
TEXT DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY Each Amplify Science unit includes custom-written informational texts. In K–5, there are five student books (four informational books and one reference book) per unit; in grades 6–8, there are multiple student articles per unit. These informational texts are designed to support students’ understanding of science ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts, as well as to showcase the work of diverse scientists. An important goal of the Amplify Science program is to provide appropriately complex science texts for students that support, link to, and expand their firsthand science learning. To accomplish this goal, it is critical that the texts are accessible to as many students as possible. All Student Books, articles, and other student materials are reviewed for accessibility and readability using the three-dimensional model of text complexity (qualitative, quantitative, and reader-and-task considerations) set out by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA).
The qualitative dimension of text complexity focuses on the purpose, structure, language conventions, and knowledge demands of a text. Books and articles were written, reviewed, and edited by members of the Lawrence Hall of Science team of professional educators and science writers during the development of each unit. They are tailored to address concepts students are learning in the unit, and use the same language and vocabulary throughout so students encounter consistent terminology across modalities of learning (reading, writing, doing investigations, discussing).
The texts also include carefully created or selected visual representations such as diagrams, photographs, and illustrations that support and/or provide additional information. The placement of each book or article within the instructional sequence is carefully designed and classroom-tested so that the text is supportive of student content learning in a variety of ways, and provides just-in-time information, reinforcing key ideas or introducing new ones within the unit.
On the quantitative dimension, each book and article was designed and reviewed using internally developed criteria for each grade. Each book or article was analyzed against a list of commonly used words, as well as criteria for calculating the difficulty of decodable words. The number of unique hard words in each text was controlled, with the percentage of hard words varying based on the grade level. At the same time, a small set of core science vocabulary words related to the science ideas students are learning was repeatedly used across a set of books or articles because repeated encounters with words in context is one way that students learn and internalize them. In addition to our internal approach to readability, each book or article in grades 1–8 was analyzed by MetaMetrics and assigned a Lexile Measure. This allowed us to ensure that books and articles fall within recommended Lexile Measures found in the updated Text Complexity Band in Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity.
Reader and task considerations are related to whether a particular text is appropriate for particular students and particular tasks. The placement of books within the Amplify Science program of instruction was carefully considered as part of unit design. Books were strategically placed within the sequence of instruction to ensure they are appropriately tied to what students are learning and that students are adequately prepared to read them with appropriate support. Sometimes this means that students read a text before conducting a firsthand investigation because it serves the purpose of activating and enhancing students’ background knowledge about a topic and sparking an interest in a scientific idea. At other times, students read a book after they have had a chance to investigate and develop ideas about the phenomenon firsthand because reading will help them generate more evidence to support claims. We cannot know all the individual learning needs of every reader the program reaches; however, the design and placement of the books was also informed by survey data from field trial teachers. These teachers were asked to evaluate field trial versions of the books and accompanying lessons based on several criteria, and to comment on how well the instruction and respective text worked for different readers.
More information on reading in Amplify Science available through in-person professional learning and within the Program Guide included with purchase.
Next Generation Science Standards letter
Each unit includes a letter describing the Next Generation Science Standards and how they’re reflected in all units at a particular grade.
Click on your student’s grade below to download the letter for that grade:
Unit Maps
Each unit in Amplify Science has a Unit Map for the teacher. This document outlines the scientific questions the students come across in the unit, and how they will figure out the answers.
Click on your student’s grade to download all of the Unit Maps for that grade:
Simulations
In grades 3–5, students use interactive digital apps as one way of figuring out unit phenomena. This short video shows an example of a simulation.
Resource for back-to-school night
This presentation (available for download) provides a general overview of the Amplify Science curriculum. Your student’s teacher may have used this resource during back-to-school night.
Home investigations
If you’re interested in extending the Amplify Science classroom experience at home use the Scientist Profile Cards to spark discussions about careers in science and engineering!
The Amplify Science program also includes several Home Investigations that you can explore with your students outside of the school day. Your student’s teacher may assign the Home Investigations as the class progresses through the units, but if you’d like to explore them on your own, you can do so by clicking on your student’s grade below:
Questions for at-home discussion
For Amplify Science families, the Questions for At-Home Discussion documents for every unit in grades K–5 contain questions for families to ask their students to help guide continued discussion and learning outside the classroom.
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Kindergarten |
Grade 1 |
Grade 2 |
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Grade 3 |
Grade 4 |
Grade 5 |
Contact us
We’re here to help you!
Have a question about Amplify Science? Visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional curriculum support, contact your student’s teacher.
Website Privacy Policy
Last Modified: February 2026
Update: February 2, 2026: This Privacy Policy has been updated to address additional rights for individuals in the European Union/UK.
Below is the Website Privacy Policy for the amplify.com site (“Privacy Policy”). For purposes of clarity and as further outlined below, this Privacy Policy does not apply to student data. You can visit this page to read about the principles and policy governing student data collected and maintained on behalf of our school customers.
We advise you to read this Privacy Policy in its entirety, including the jurisdiction-specific provisions in the appendix. Our Notice at Collection for California Residents is available in the Notice for our California Customers.
Who We Are / What This Privacy Policy Covers
Amplify Education, Inc. (“Amplify”) recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we may collect through your use of this website (the “Site”).
This Privacy Policy does not apply to Amplify’s handling of:
- student data or other information collected from users of Amplify’s products that support classroom instruction and learning, which are governed by our Customer Privacy Policy.
- staff or applicant data that we process in accordance with our staff or applicant privacy notice, respectively.
If you have any question as to what legal agreement or privacy policy controls the collection and use of your information, please contact us using information below in the Contact Us section.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to our Website Terms of Use, which governs your use of the Site.
Our Role: We are the controller of all personal information (as defined below) that we receive through our Site and can be reached by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.
1. What personal information do we collect?
When you visit and / or interact with our Site, we may collect the following information about you that, alone or in combination, could be used to identify you or your device (“personal information”):
- Contact Information, such as name, district / school name, professional affiliation, title / role, email address, shipping address, address and phone number.
- Account Information, such as customer user login and password.
- Demographic Information, such as age and gender.
- Information You Submit, such as information voluntarily provided on message boards, feedback sections, and other public areas of the Site.
- Site Activity Information, which is collected when you access and interact with the Site, we and our Service Providers (as defined below) may collect certain information about those visits. For example, we or our Service Providers may receive and record information about your computer and browser, including your IP address, browser type, and other software or hardware information. If you access the Site from a mobile or other device, we may collect a unique device identifier assigned to that device, or other characteristics of the device hardware, operating system and configurations for that device. On certain pages of the Site, we may use third party tools to help us look at mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, data or text entered, and the pages you visit.
- Location Information, such as state, country and / or zip code, which we use to help us customize your experience, as well as to help us facilitate your privacy rights.
- Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information: such as customer service interactions, call recordings, chat transcripts, files you attach, and email, text, or other correspondence.
If you make a purchase through our online store, you may provide payment and other information directly to our third party e-commerce platform to complete your purchase.
We ask that you not send us, and you not disclose, any government identifiers (such as social security numbers) or information related to racial or ethnic origin, health, or criminal background on or through the Site or otherwise.
2. Where/How do we collect personal information?
Amplify may collect personal information directly from you at various points, including the following:
- Product Information and Newsletters. When you submit a request to obtain information about our products, services or other informational material or subscribe to one of our newsletters, you may be asked to submit information such as name, professional affiliation, email address, company name, address and phone and details on your query or interests in our products and services. This information is collected to help us process your request.
- Customer Support. When you submit a form to contact our customer service, you may be asked to submit information such as name, e-mail, district, customer user login and password and details on your query. In addition, some features of our Site, such as our customer live chat functionality or other customer service systems may allow you to voluntarily provide personal information to us. This information is collected to help us process your request. Please only provide what is needed to facilitate the support request.
- Product Orders. If you use e-commerce areas of our Site to order our products, we request information from you on our order form. To purchase products through the Site, you must provide contact information (such as name and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill your orders. We will also use this information to contact you to confirm your order or to inform you of any issues or delays.
- Registration. You may be asked to submit information to use certain parts of the Site (such as posting comments on certain areas of the Site), register for an event or webinar, or view restricted content that may be available on the Site. For instance, you may be asked to provide your name, email address and event or webinar-related preferences to help us process your registration or content request.
- Public Areas and Discussion Forums. Any information you share in public areas, such as message boards or feedback sections, becomes public. Please be careful about what you disclose and do not post any personal information that you expect to keep private.
- Contests and Sweepstakes. When we run a contest or sweepstakes relating to the Site or Amplify, it will be accompanied by a set of rules. The rules for each contest/sweepstakes will specify how the information gathered from you for your entry will be used and disclosed.
As you visit or use our Site, we may collect Site activity information through cookies and similar technologies.
- Cookies, Pixels, and Other Tracking Technologies. Cookies and other tracking technologies (such as pixels, beacons, and Adobe Flash technology) are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They allow the website or mobile app to remember your actions and preferences over a period of time. We use the following types of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies – These are cookies that are required for the operation of our Site. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Site. These cookies are not generally stored beyond the browser session and are less likely to include personal information. This category of cookies cannot be disabled.
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- Advertising Cookies – We use these cookies to collect information about your visit to our Site, the content you viewed, the links you followed and information about your browser, device, and your IP address. We sometimes share some limited aspects of this data with third parties for advertising purposes. We may also share Site Activity Information collected through cookies with our advertising partners. This means that when you visit another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our Site.
For information on how to opt-out of these technologies, please see What Choices Do You Have? below.
- Social Plugins. Certain areas of our Site permit you to utilize social media functionality, such as the Facebook “Like” or Google “+1” buttons (“Social Plugins”). To use a Social Plugin, you must authorize the third-party provider of that Social Plugin, e.g. Facebook or Google, to access, collect, and/or disclose your information related to your use of that Social Plugin, subject to that company’s privacy policies, which may differ from this Privacy Policy. In addition, such providers may be able to collect information about you, including your activity on the Site, and they may notify your connections on their social networking platform about your use of the Site. Such services may also employ unique identifiers that allow your activity to be monitored across multiple websites for purposes of delivering more targeted advertising to you.
Amplify also receives information from other sources.
- Information from Other Sources. We may supplement any information we collect via this Site with information from publicly or commercially available sources.
3. How do we use personal information?
We may use any personal information and other information we collect from and about you for the following purposes and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy:
- To provide and manage the Site. We use the personal information we collect from and about you to provide the Site and features to you, including to measure and improve its services and features, to personalize your experience by delivering relevant content, to deliver marketing messages, to allow you to comment on content, to provide you with customer support, and to respond to inquiries. We may also use and disclose aggregate or anonymous data about your use of and activity on the Site to assist us in this regard and for any other purpose.
- To contact you. Amplify may periodically send promotional materials (e.g., newsletters) or notifications related to the Site and to Amplify’s business to the contact information you provided to us at registration.
- To improve our products and services. We may use your personal information for our business purposes, such as data analysis, audits, developing new products and services, enhancing the Site, improving our services, identifying usage trends, and determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns.
- For marketing and advertising. We may use your personal information to help us market our products to you or your school district.
4. To whom do we disclose personal information?
We may disclose any personal information and other information we collect from and about you for the following purposes and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy:
- To share with our affiliated education companies. Amplify may share your personal information with Amplify’s affiliated education companies for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
- To allow service providers to assist us. We may engage third party service providers, agents and partners (“Service Providers”) to perform functions on our behalf, such as analytics, credit card processing, shipping or stocking orders and providing customer service. We may disclose your personal information to such Service Providers to enable them to assist us in these efforts.
- To allow our marketing and advertising partners to assist us. We may engage marketing and advertising partners to help us market and advertise our products and services, including via digital ads sent in connection with your visit to the Site. We may disclose Site Activity information, as well as contact information and other aggregate insights to such partners to enable them to assist us in these efforts.
- To protect the rights of Amplify and our users. There may be instances when Amplify may disclose your personal information, in situations where Amplify has a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate in order to: (i) protect, enforce, or defend the legal rights, privacy, safety, operations, or property of Amplify, our parents, subsidiaries or affiliates or our or their employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements, including our terms of use); (ii) protect the rights, safety, privacy, security or property of users of the Site or others; (iii) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; (iv) comply with the law or legal process, including laws outside your country of residence; (v) respond to requests from public and government authorities, including those outside your country of residence; or (vi) allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
- To complete a merger or sale of assets. If Amplify sells all or part of its business or makes a sale or transfer of its assets or is otherwise involved in a merger, transfer or other disposition of all or part of its business, assets or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings), Amplify may transfer your personal information to the party or parties involved in the transaction.
5. What rights and choices do you have?
Opt-out of Marketing Communications. If you want to stop receiving promotional materials from Amplify, you can follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email. There are certain service notification emails that you may not opt-out of, such as notifications of changes to the Site or policies. If you have additional questions, please contact us using information below in the Contact Us section.
Opt-of Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. There are a few ways to opt out or delete cookies.
- On Your Browser. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but your browser may permit you to change your settings to notify you of a cookie being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information. Please note that by blocking any or all cookies you may not have access to certain features, content or personalization that may be available through the Site. Please also note that you must opt out separately on each device (including each web browser on each device) that you use to access our Site if you wish to opt out, and if you clear your cookies or if you use a different browser or device, you will need to renew your opt-out preferences.
- Interest-Based Advertising. Some advertisers and marketing companies participate in the self-regulatory programs of the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) and European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (“eDAA”) in connection with online interest-based advertising. DAA and eDAA provide consumers with the ability to opt out of receiving interest-based advertising from their program participants at the following links:
What Rights Do You Have?
- Please see section 3 of our supplemental disclosures: “Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights” for information about your U.S. privacy rights
- Please see section 4 of our supplemental disclosures: “Notice for European Economic Area and United Kingdom Customers” for information about your EU/UK privacy rights.
6. Security
Amplify uses commercially reasonable administrative, technical, personnel and physical measures to safeguard personal information in its possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification.
7. Data retention / Deletion
We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law. Even after we have deleted your personal information from our systems, copies of some information from your account may remain viewable in some circumstances – where, for example, you have shared information with social media platforms and other unaffiliated services. We may also retain backup information related to your account on our servers for some time after cancellation for fraud detection or to comply with applicable law or our internal security policies. Because of the nature of caching technology, your account may not be instantly inaccessible to others, and there may be a delay in the removal of the content from elsewhere on the Internet and from search engines.
8. Data Storage and Transfers
We are a United States Company, and our servers are hosted, managed, and controlled by us in the United States. If you are outside of the United States, we use industry standards to protect your data when it leaves your country of residence and your data will always be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Applicable Laws and our Agreement regardless of the storage location.
Additionally, where we transfer your personal information to service providers outside of the United Kingdom (UK), European Economic Area (EEA), or other region that offers similar protections, we use specific appropriate safeguards to contractually obligate such service providers to protect personal information in accordance with Amplify’s commitment to privacy and security and applicable data protection laws.
If you have questions or wish to obtain more information about the international transfer of your personal information or the implemented safeguards, please contact us using the contact information below.
9. External third-party services
The Site may be linked to sites operated by unaffiliated companies, and may carry advertisements or offer content, functionality, games, newsletters, contests or sweepstakes, or applications developed and maintained by unaffiliated companies. Amplify is not responsible for the privacy practices of unaffiliated companies, and once you leave the Site via a link or enable an unaffiliated service, you are subject to the applicable privacy policy of the unaffiliated service.
10. Updates to this policy
Amplify may modify this Privacy Policy. Please look at the Last Revised Date at the top of this Privacy Policy to see when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site. If you do not wish to be bound by the terms of the revised Privacy Policy, you must discontinue your use of the Site.
11. Contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: privacy@amplify.com
Mail: Amplify Education, Inc.
55 Washington St.#800
Brooklyn, NY, 11201
Phone: (800) 823-1969
Attn: General Counsel
Appendix – Supplemental Disclosures
1. Notice for our California Customers
We retain your personal information for as long as you are an active user of our Site or continue to have an account with us, and in accordance with our legal obligations (which may require us to hold information to provide financial and other reporting and to defend against potential claims). If you are a California resident, please see below for information about your rights pursuant to California law.
Personal Information We Collect |
How We Use Personal Information |
| Contact Information |
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| Account Information |
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| Payment Information |
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| Information You Submit |
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| Site Activity Information |
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| Location Information |
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| Inferences |
|
Some of the information described above may be considered “sensitive” under the laws of certain jurisdictions (including payment information and account login credentials (“Sensitive Information”). Whether information is Sensitive Information will depend on the laws of your jurisdiction. We only use Sensitive Information, such as payment information and account credentials for necessary or reasonably expected purposes – specifically, to provide you with our Services (i.e., fulfill purchases and to allow account logins).
Shine the Light
California’s Shine the Light law (Civil Code § 1798.83) permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. We do not share personal information, as defined by California’s Shine the Light law, with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.
Notice of Financial Incentive
As part of our services, there may be opportunities for you to complete surveys and questionnaires. As an incentive for completing the survey or questionnaire, you can voluntarily provide your personal information, which in turn enters you into a raffle drawing or enables us to provide you with other benefits, discounts, offers, or deals that may constitute a financial incentive under California law (“Financial Incentive”). The categories of personal information required for us to provide the Financial Incentives include: contact information and any other information that you choose to provide when you complete the survey.
Participation is voluntary and you can opt out at any time before your survey is complete.
The value of the personal information we collect in connection with our Financial Incentives is equivalent to the value of the benefit offered.
2. Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights
Residents of certain U.S. states have the following rights, regarding your personal information (each of which are subject to various exceptions and limitations):
- Access. You have the right to request, up to two times every 12 months, that we disclose to you the categories of personal information collected about you, the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected, the categories of personal information sold or shared, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing the personal information, the categories of third parties with whom personal information was shared, and the specific pieces of personal information collected about you.
- Correct. You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information collected from you.
- Deletion. You can request that we delete your personal information that we maintain about you.
- Opt-out (Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information). Under several U.S. state privacy laws, consumers have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of their personal information (defined very broadly to include situations where we provide personal information to partners who provide advertising services to us) and the “sharing” of personal information in connection with the display of targeted advertising across third party websites. While we do not sell your personal information, we do share it in connection with our advertising efforts. Please also note that we do not knowingly sell or share the Personal Information of minors under 16 years of age.
We also honor the Global Privacy Control, a browser-based opt-out signal. We do not respond to other browser-based signals that do not meet applicable state law requirements, which may include older Do Not Track signals.
- No Discrimination. You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.
- Appeals. You have a right to appeal decisions concerning your ability to exercise your consumer rights.
- Submission of Requests. You may exercise the above rights by emailing us at privacy@amplify.com. Note that we may deny certain requests, or fulfill a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain personal information as permitted by law, such as for tax or other record keeping purposes, to maintain an active account, and to process transactions and facilitate customer requests.
- Authorized Agent. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. When submitting the request, please ensure the authorized agent identifies himself/herself/itself as an authorized agent and can show written permission from you to represent you. We may contact you directly to confirm that you have authorized the agent to act on your behalf or confirm your identity.
- Verification. Whether you submit a request directly on your own behalf, or through an authorized agent, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity prior to responding to your requests. The verification steps will vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information and whether you have an account with us.
3. Notice for European Economic Area and United Kingdom Customers
As detailed at the beginning of our Privacy Policy (under the section titled “Our Role”), Amplify acts as a controller with respect to personal information collected as you interact with our Site.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We rely on the following lawful bases for our processing activities:
- Consent;
- We obtain your consent to collect and process device and usage data via cookies on our Site to understand how individuals use our Site and to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing campaigns.
- Pursuant to a contract with the user of our Site;
- We process all categories of personal information that we collect to provide and manage our Site, including payment processing, where this is required in order for us to perform our obligations under our contract with you.
- To comply with our legal obligations;
- We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our Site where we are complying with security requirements under data protection and cyber and information security law.
- We process all categories of personal information that we collect to comply with our legal obligations which includes, for example, to access, retain or share certain personal information where we receive a valid request from a government body, law enforcement body, judicial body regulator or similar, to deal with legal claims and prospective legal claims, and to ensure we are complying with applicable laws.
- When we have a legitimate interest in doing so, which is not outweighed by the risks to the individual. We rely on our legitimate interest to process all categories of personal information:
- to provide, manage, and improve the Site where such activities are not strictly required under our contract, including personalizing your experience on the Site.
- to ensure the safety and security of our Site where this is important but not required under the data protection law or cyber and information security laws.
- to respond to queries or otherwise communicate with you in relation to our Site and the operation of our business where this is not strictly required under a contract with you.
- internal research and certain marketing purposes (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials), which will not be based on Student Data or directed to K–12 students.
Your Data Subject Rights
If you are located in the EEA/UK, you have the following rights, subject to certain exceptions:
- Right of access: You have the right to ask us for confirmation on whether we are processing your personal information and access to that personal information.
- Right to correction: You have the right to have your personal information corrected.
- Right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information.
- Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw consent that you have provided.
- Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
- Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request the limiting of our processing under limited circumstances.
- Right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal information that you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and you have the right to transmit that information to another controller, including to have it transmitted directly, where technically feasible.
- Right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information
To exercise any of these rights, contact us as set forth in the section entitled “Contact Us” above and specify which European privacy right you intend to exercise. We may require additional information from you to allow us to confirm your identity. Please note that we store information as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, and may continue to retain and use the information even after a data subject request for purposes of our legitimate interests, including to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and enforce our agreements.
Complaints
If you have any issues with our compliance, you have the right to lodge a complaint with an EEA or UK supervisory authority. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach a data protection regulator, and would welcome you directing an inquiry first to us. To do so, please contact us by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.
Acceptable Use Policy
Amplify Education, Inc. (“Amplify”) products support classroom instruction and learning and include Amplify CKLA, Amplify ELA, Amplify Science, Amplify Desmos Math, Desmos Math, Boost Reading, Boost Math, mCLASS, Mathigon, services at classroom.amplify.com (for creating and assigning activities) and student.amplify.com (for use of the activities or curricula as directed by an instructor), and any other product or service that links to this Acceptable Use Policy (together, the “Products”). This Acceptable Use Policy (the “AUP”) provides the general terms and conditions applicable to your use of the Products. By accessing, downloading, or using the Products, you agree to be bound by the terms of this AUP.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this AUP supersedes or limits your rights under the terms of any other agreement you or your institution have entered into with Amplify regarding the use of Products. In the event of any conflict between the AUP and the terms and conditions of an applicable agreement that you or your institution have entered into with Amplify, the terms and conditions of such agreement shall control.
Our Products are geared towards K–12 students, educators, and staff who use the Products as authorized by their School District or State Agency (each as defined in the Privacy Policy (defined below), and together, “School”) (“Authorized School Users”). Student Data (defined below) is owned and controlled by the School, and Amplify receives Student Data as a “school official” under Section 99.31 of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”) for the purpose of providing the Products hereunder. In addition, we rely on the School acknowledging that it is acting as the parent’s agent and consenting on the parent’s behalf to process personal information of students under the age of 13 (“Child Users”) in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).
Schools may provide authorization in two ways:
(1) by the School agreeing to our Customer Terms and Conditions located at amplify.com/customer-terms or another agreement between Amplify and the School, as applicable; or
(2) by an educator, staff member, or agent of a School (“Educator”) agreeing to this AUP. If you are an Educator and wish to use the Products in your classroom, you represent and warrant that the use of the Products in your classroom has been authorized by your School, and that you are authorized to accept this AUP on behalf of the School.
In each case, we provide these Products solely for the benefit of the School and for no other commercial purpose. We require all Schools to review our Privacy Policy, available at amplify.com/customer-privacy (“Privacy Policy”), and to make a copy of the Privacy Policy available to the parents or guardians of Child Users.
We also provide limited opportunities for individual users to sign up for a restricted account for at-home use of our Products (together, with Authorized School Users, “Authorized Users”). Please see Additional terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts (Section 18) for additional information.
1. License
Subject to compliance with this AUP, you are granted a non-transferable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Products. You understand that your use of the Products does not confer to you any intellectual property rights held by Amplify or its licensors. Unless otherwise indicated, any future release, update, or other addition to functionality or content of the Products will be subject to this AUP.
2. Restrictions
You may access and use the Products solely for non-commercial instructional and administrative purposes. Guidelines for such purposes may be set forth at http://amplify.com/amplify-program-usage-guidelines and additional guidelines may be detailed in materials associated with the Product You are accessing. Further, You may not, except as expressly authorized by Amplify: (a) copy, modify, translate, distribute, disclose, or create derivative works based on the contents of, sell, or otherwise exploit, the Products, or any part thereof; (b) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer the Products, or otherwise use the Products to develop functionally similar products or services; (c) modify, alter, or delete any of the copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices in or on the Products; (d) rent, lease, or lend the Products or use the Products for the benefit of any third party; (e) avoid, circumvent, or disable any security or digital rights management device, procedure, protocol, or mechanism in the Products; (f) use any content from the Products, including but not limited to text, images, videos, assessments, lesson plans, or code, as input or training material for any machine learning or artificial intelligence system, including large language models, neural networks, or other algorithmic models, for any purposes, commercial or non-commercial; or (g) permit any Authorized User or third party to do any of the foregoing. You also agree that any works created in violation of this section are derivative works, and, as such, You agree to assign, and hereby assign, all right, title, and interest in such works to Amplify. The Products and derivatives thereof may be subject to export control laws, restrictions, regulations, and orders of the U.S. and other jurisdictions (together, “Export Laws”). You agree to comply with all applicable Export Laws, and will not, and will not permit Authorized Users to, export, or transfer for the purpose of re-export, any Product to any prohibited or embargoed country in violation of any U.S. export law or regulation. Further, You represent that You are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, subject to sanctions by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or included on any restricted party list maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security. The software and associated documentation portions of the Products are “commercial items” (as defined at 48 CFR 2.101), comprising “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation,” as those terms are used in 48 CFR 12.212. Accordingly, if You are associated with the U.S. Government or its contractor, You will receive only those rights set forth in this Agreement in accordance with 48 CFR 227.7201-227.7204 (for Department of Defense and their contractors) or 48 CFR 12.212 (for other U.S. Government licensees and their contractors).
3. Use of the products
In connection with your access to and use of the Products, you agree not to: (a) post, upload, or otherwise transmit or link to content that is: unlawful; threatening; harmful; abusive; pornographic or includes nudity; offensive; harassing; excessively violent; tortious; defamatory; false or misleading; obscene; vulgar; libelous; hateful; or discriminatory; (b) violate the rights of others, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy, publicity, contract, or other proprietary rights; (c) harass or harm another person; (d) exploit or endanger a minor; (e) impersonate any person or entity; (f) introduce or engage in activity that involves the use of viruses, bots, worms, Trojan horses, time bombs, spyware, or any other computer code, files, or programs that interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized access to or use of a computer or a computer network; (g) interfere with, damage, disable, disrupt, impair, create an undue burden on, or gain unauthorized access to the Products or any account (as defined below), or Amplify’s servers or networks; (h) restrict or inhibit any other person from using the Products (including by hacking or defacing the Products); (i) remove, disable, block, or obscure any portion of the Products; (j) use technology or any automated system, such as scripts or bots, to collect user names, passwords, email addresses, or any other data from or through the Products, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Products; (k) send or cause to send (directly or indirectly) unsolicited bulk messages or other unsolicited bulk communications of any kind through the Products; (l) solicit, collect, or request any information for commercial or unlawful purposes; (m) post, upload, or otherwise transmit an image, audio recording, or video of another person without that person’s consent; (n) use the Products to advertise, promote, or engage in any commercial activity (including engaging in advertising, sales, contests, sweepstakes, or other promotions) without Amplify’s prior written consent; (o) frame or mirror the Products without Amplify’s express prior written consent; (p) use the Products in a manner inconsistent with any applicable law, rule, or regulation; (q) use any robot, spider, search/retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” “data mine,” or in any way gather content of the Products or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Products; (r) attempt, facilitate, or encourage others to do any of the foregoing. In addition to the foregoing restrictions, your use of the Products may also be subject to an additional acceptable use policy provided to you by your School, as applicable. You are responsible for meeting the hardware, software, telecommunications, and other requirements listed at amplify.com/customer-requirements.
4. Intellectual property
The Products and any Product logo, and certain other of the names, logos, and materials displayed in the Products, may constitute trademarks, trade names, or service marks (“Marks”) of Amplify or other entities. You are not authorized to use any such Marks. Ownership of all such Marks and the goodwill associated therewith remains with Amplify or those other entities. The content provided to you in the Products, including the software, graphs, text, and graphics, is protected under copyright laws, is subject to other intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws, and is owned by Amplify or its licensors. Your access to the Products does not transfer to you or any third party any rights, title, or interest in or to such intellectual property rights. You may not use the content of the Products, in whole or in part, to train or fine-tune any machine learning or artificial intelligence model or system, including for research, product development, commercial services, or any other purpose, commercial or non-commercial. Such use constitutes unauthorized derivative work and a violation of Amplify’s intellectual property rights. Your rights to make use of the Products are limited to those provided under this AUP, any additional terms as may be agreed upon between your School and Amplify, and any available exceptions under applicable intellectual property laws. Amplify Products are protected by patents (see amplify.com/virtual-patent-marking).
5. Account information
Your authentication to enable your access and use of these Products is based in part upon information supplied by you. You are required to (a) provide accurate information to Amplify and promptly report any changes to such information, (b) not share or allow others to use your account, (c) maintain the confidentiality and security of your account information, and (d) use the Products solely via such authorized accounts. You may not share your credentials (i.e., username and password) to access the Products with anyone except the person for whom that account was created. You agree to notify Amplify immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or related authentication information. Amplify will not be responsible for any losses arising out of the unauthorized use of your account.
6. Student data
The parties acknowledge and agree that in the course of providing the Products, Amplify may collect, receive, or generate information that directly relates to an identifiable current or former student of a School (“Student Data”). Student Data may include personal information from a student’s “educational records,” as defined by FERPA. Student Data is owned and controlled by the School and Amplify receives Student Data as a “school official” under Section 99.31 of FERPA for the purpose of providing the Products hereunder. Individually and collectively, Amplify and School agree to uphold our obligations, as applicable, under FERPA, COPPA, the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), and applicable state laws relating to Student Data privacy. Amplify’s Privacy Policy governs the collection, use, and disclosure of Student Data collected or stored on behalf of the School under this AUP. The School is responsible for providing notice or obtaining appropriate consents under applicable laws to authorize Authorized School Users’ use of the Products, including making a copy of the Privacy Policy available to the parents or guardians of Child Users. Please see Additional Terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts (Section 18) for additional information.
7. Confidentiality
You acknowledge that in connection with these terms, Amplify may provide you with certain sensitive or proprietary information (“Confidential Information”), including software, source code, assessment instruments, research, designs, methods, processes, customer lists, training materials, product documentation, know-how, or trade secrets, in whatever form. You agree (a) not to use Confidential Information for any purpose other than use of the Products in accordance with the AUP, and (b) to take all steps reasonably necessary to maintain and protect the Confidential Information of Amplify in strict confidence. Confidential Information shall not include information that, as evidenced by your contemporaneous written records: (i) is or becomes publicly available through no fault of your own; (ii) is rightfully known to you prior to the time of its disclosure; (iii) has been independently developed by you without any use of the Confidential Information; or (iv) is subsequently learned from a third party not under any confidentiality obligation.
8. User materials
You represent, warrant, and covenant that you have all the necessary rights, including consents and intellectual property rights, in connection with any data, information, content, and other materials provided to or collected by Amplify from you or on your behalf in connection with your use of the Products, including materials and content that you post, upload, transmit, email, or otherwise make available on, through, or in connection with the Products (“User Materials”), and that except as otherwise agreed by your School and Amplify, you retain any ownership rights that you have in your User Materials. You hereby grant to Amplify and its affiliates, licensees, and authorized users, a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), transferable (in whole or in part), worldwide license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such User Materials in connection with the Products, subject to Amplify’s Privacy Policy. You and your School are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, completeness, quality, legality, and safety of such User Materials. You further represent and warrant that the posting of such User Materials through or in connection with the Products does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other rights of any person or entity. Amplify and your School reserve the right (but have no obligation) to monitor the Products, including for inappropriate content or conduct, and to remove any content in their discretion without liability to you or any third party. Further, Amplify reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Amplify’s discretion, violates this AUP or attempts to do so, including terminating or suspending a user’s account or access to or use of the Products, or reporting any content or conduct to law enforcement authorities. You are solely responsible for creating and maintaining your own backup copies of your User Materials. Amplify is not responsible for any loss, theft, or damage of any kind to any User Materials.
9. Feedback
If you provide us with any ideas, proposals, or suggestions related to the Products (“Feedback”), you hereby acknowledge and agree that your provision of any Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited, and without restriction, and does not place Amplify under any fiduciary or other obligation. You hereby grant to Amplify a worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license to reproduce, distribute, perform and/or display (publicly or otherwise), adapt, modify, and otherwise use such Feedback, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and you hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to grant the foregoing license.
10. Third party links and services
The Products may make available, or third parties may provide, links to websites, software, applications, resources, advertisements, content, or other products or services created, hosted, or made available by third parties (“Third Party Services”). When you access or use a Third-Party Service, you are interacting with the applicable third party, not with Amplify, and you do so at your own risk. Inclusion of any Third-Party Service or a link thereto within the Products does not imply approval or endorsement of such Third-Party Service. Amplify does not control any content that is not Amplify content, and as such, you may be exposed to offensive, indecent, inaccurate, or otherwise objectionable content in the course of accessing or using such Third-Party Services linked from the Products. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Products, providers of Third-Party Services, and any other third parties with whom you interact on, through, or in connection with the Products. AMPLIFY IS NEITHER RESPONSIBLE NOR LIABLE FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, INCLUDING THE ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, COMPLETENESS, QUALITY, LEGALITY, USEFULNESS, OR SAFETY OF, OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS RELATING TO, SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICES. ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICES MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION, USAGE, AND DISCLOSURE PRACTICES OF THIRD PARTIES. THIS AUP DOES NOT CREATE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND ANY PROVIDER OF THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, AND NOTHING IN THIS AUP WILL BE DEEMED TO BE A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY BY AMPLIFY WITH RESPECT TO ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICE.
11. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe that any material residing on or linked to from the Products infringes your copyright, please send (or have your agent send) to Amplify’s Copyright Agent, by email, fax, or regular mail, a written notification of claimed infringement with all of the following information: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (b) identification of the claimed infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Products (such as the URL(s) of the claimed infringing material); (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail address; (d) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or the law; (e) a statement by you that the above information in your notification is accurate, and a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed, or that you are authorized to act on such owner’s behalf; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Amplify’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can be reached as follows: Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street #800, Brooklyn NY 11201; Attn: Copyright Agent. Amplify’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can also be reached electronically at legal@amplify.com. Amplify reserves the right to terminate infringers’ and suspected infringers’ accounts or their access to or use of the Products.
12. Changes to the products
Amplify may, without prior notice, change any Product or stop providing any features of any Product. We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your access to any Product features without notice for any reason, including if in our sole determination you violate any provision of this AUP. Upon termination, you continue to be bound by this AUP.
13. Warranty disclaimer
PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND BY AMPLIFY. AMPLIFY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY AS TO TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELECTING THE PRODUCTS TO ACHIEVE YOUR INTENDED RESULTS AND FOR THE ACCESS AND USE OF THE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE PRODUCTS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, AMPLIFY MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE PRODUCTS WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR FREE FROM INTERRUPTIONS OR OTHER FAILURES OR WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. AMPLIFY IS NEITHER RESPONSIBLE NOR LIABLE FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT OR SOFTWARE INCLUDED IN PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, COMPLETENESS, QUALITY, LEGALITY, USEFULNESS, OR SAFETY OF, OR IP RIGHTS RELATING TO, SUCH THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND SOFTWARE. ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND SOFTWARE MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION, USAGE, AND DISCLOSURE PRACTICES OF THIRD PARTIES.
14. Limitation of liability
IN NO EVENT WILL AMPLIFY BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, RELIANCE, OR COVER DAMAGES, DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, LOST BUSINESS, OR ANY OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES, EVEN IF AMPLIFY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AMPLIFY’S ENTIRE LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING OUT OF PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE BY AMPLIFY OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AUP, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE CLAIM FOR SUCH DAMAGES IS BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, WILL NOT EXCEED $100 IN AGGREGATE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL AMPLIFY BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE PRODUCTS THAT VIOLATES THIS AUP OR ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION.
15. Termination
Amplify may terminate or suspend your access to the Products at any time for any reason, including if Amplify believes that you have violated the AUP or have engaged in conduct that violates applicable law or is otherwise harmful to the interests of Amplify, any other Amplify user, or any third party. Upon termination, you will: cease using the Products and return, purge, or destroy all copies of any Products and, if so requested, certify to Amplify in writing that such surrender or destruction has occurred. Sections 3–13, 16, and 17 will survive the termination of this Agreement.
16. Governing Law
This Agreement will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the U.S., state of New York, without giving effect to the choice of law rules thereof.
17. Additional terms for iOS apps
By downloading any Products through Apple, Inc.’s App Store (“iOS Products”), you agree that the following additional terms apply to your use of our iOS Products:
- This AUP is not a legal agreement with Apple, Inc. (“Apple”). As between Amplify and Apple, Amplify (not Apple) is responsible for the iOS Products and the contents thereof.
- The license to use the iOS Products under Section 3 above is limited to use (i) on iOS devices that you or your School owns or controls, separate from and in addition to any specific technical requirements for any iOS Product, and (ii) as permitted by the Usage Rules set forth in Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
- You must comply with applicable third-party terms of agreement when using the Products.
- Without limiting Section 13 above and solely as between Amplify and Apple, you acknowledge that: (i) Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the iOS Products; (ii) Amplify (not Apple) is responsible for addressing any claims of yours or of any third party relating to the iOS Products or your possession and/or use of the iOS products, including but not limited to (1) product liability claims, (2) any claim that the iOS Products fail to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement, and (3) claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation; (iii) in the event of any failure of the iOS Products to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price for the iOS Products to you; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the iOS Products, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be Amplify’s sole responsibility; and (iv) in the event of any third-party claim that the iOS Products or your possession and use of the iOS Products infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, Amplify (not Apple) will be responsible for any investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such intellectual property infringement claim.
- You represent and warrant that: (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
- Apple and Apple’s subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof.
- Any questions, complaints, or claims with respect to the Products should be directed to:
Email: privacy@amplify.comMail: Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St. #800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201
18. Additional terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts.
a. Mathigon updates: Amplify no longer offers accounts for Child Users, but we will continue to allow Child Users to access their active legacy Mathigon accounts where verifiable parental consent was obtained. We will continue to protect personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy and applicable law.
b. Mathigon and Amplify Classroom:
i. School Use:
- Educators: If you are an Educator, you can create a Mathigon or an Amplify Classroom account using any existing email or through an existing third-party account (e.g. Google, Microsoft). Go to https://mathigon.org/signup#teacher to sign up for Mathigon. Go to classroom.amplify.com to sign up for Amplify Classroom.
- Students can also sign up using a unique class code provided by an Educator. Educators are responsible for gaining appropriate authorization or permission from their School to use the Products with students, including Child Users, before providing their unique class code or linking the Products to a third-party service like Google Classroom. For such use in the school context, we do not request additional consent from parents in accordance with the “school official” exception under FERPA and relevant COPPA guidance. For more information, visit our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and disclose personal information and data through the provision of our Products in schools.
ii. Outside of School Use: If you are an individual user using the Products at home or otherwise outside of the school context, you are prohibited from collecting or providing any personal information from students or minors. You are permitted to access the platform for instructional purposes, but you may not enroll or roster minors, create accounts for minors, or input any personal information of minors into the Product.
19. Updates to this policy
We may change this Acceptable Use Policy in the future. For example, we may update it to address changes in our product offerings, or to address changes in the law or best practices. If we make changes that materially impact your legal rights or use of our products, we will provide prominent notification to you (e.g. via the Site or by email). Otherwise, we will post any updates to the policy with an updated “Last Revised Date” and all changes will become effective immediately. Please check the Last Revised Date to confirm if the policy has been revised.
Last Modified: February 2, 2026
Amplify announces groundbreaking digital curriculum
(AUSTIN, Texas March 3, 2014) Today at SXSWedu, Amplify unveiled its groundbreaking digital curriculum for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade English Language Arts (ELA). The curriculum for each grade combines a year’s worth of Common Core-aligned lessons, written in collaboration with some of the world’s leading experts and intellectuals, with rich digital media from Academy Award-winning studios and stars of both stage and screen.
The curriculum will be available in classrooms at the start of the Fall 2014 school year at an introductory price of $45 per student per year. It includes an e-library stocked with more than 300 works of fiction and nonfiction. To help boost learning outside of class, the curriculum comes with more than 20 immersive, digital games from some of the world’s best independent game designers. The curriculum is built on top of an education-friendly analytics engine that is designed to help students read three times more and write three times more, as well as to help teachers provide students three times more meaningful feedback.
“Our goal was to design the most effective and engaging digital curriculum for the classroom that supports the kinds of rigorous learning goals that schools are ready for,” said Amplify Learning President Larry Berger. “I think we’ve done that.”
Today’s announcement is part of Amplify’s broader effort to produce K-12 curriculum for English, math and science. In addition to the digital ELA curriculum for sixth, seventh and eighth grades, the company will also offer a hybrid print and digital curriculum for K-5 ELA and supplemental digital curriculum in math and science in time for the start of the Fall 2014 school year.
About The Digital ELA Curriculum
Content
The curriculum contains academic lessons authored by world-class intellectuals like Benjamin Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson, Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Danielle Allen. We’ve paired their knowledge with Common Core experts to develop a full-year’s worth of scoped and sequenced curriculum for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade ELA, with lessons around personal narrative, fiction, informational texts, poetry and foundational documents. In addition to the books anchored in the lessons, each student has access to an e-library with more than 300 works of fiction and nonfiction.
Digital Media
Dramatic Readings: To help make difficult texts more interesting and accessible, Amplify has brought them to life with dramatic readings by stars of both stage and screen. Students can watch actors like Chadwick Boseman read from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” or Elizabeth Olsen’s interpretation of “A Confederate Girl’s Diary.” School-based pilots have shown that when students watch a dramatic reading of the first chapter of a book, they’re more likely to go on and read the entire text.
Story Animations: Amplify has worked in collaboration with Academy Award-winning animators to produce visually rich, artistic renditions of some of the texts students encounter in the lessons. Captivating, high-quality depictions of “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are tied to writing prompts and designed to help students grasp difficult literary concepts, perspectives and points of view, which are key to the Common Core.
Quests: These experiential lessons immerse students in a text through role-playing, close reading, evidence gathering, discussion and expressive writing. Students can solve Edgar Allan Poe’s murder, seek treasure as Tom Sawyer or debate signing the Declaration of Independence as a member of the Second Continental Congress, among other interactive experiences. These adventures engage students in active learning and help them develop essential Common Core skills such as critical thinking and the use of primary resources.
Vocabulary Program: Our approach to learning vocabulary is centered around hundreds of essential “reveal words” per grade. Students encounter these words in core texts and supplementary materials. Amplify’s Reveal Tool is designed to encourage students to learn a definition in context and then return to the text as seamlessly as possible. Amplify also provides ELL vocabulary activities, targeting key concrete nouns and verbs that are necessary for understanding the day’s lesson.
Teachers can use results from these diagnostic exercises to determine each student’s level of comprehension, and assign activities to meet a student where he or she is. Students can track their own progress using the analytical vocabulary tool, which tells them how many words they’ve mastered and how often they’ve used the words in their writing, empowering them to self-direct their learning goals.
Upon conclusion of Amplify’s complete ELA curriculum for middle school, students will have been exposed to 4,500 reveal words and completed more than 1,500 vocabulary practice activities.
About Amplify
Amplify is reimagining the way teachers teach and students learn through data-driven instruction, one-to-one learning and next-generation digital curriculum. Our products and services are designed for tomorrow’s promise and today’s realities.
At Amplify, we’re creating exciting new approaches to teaching and learning that are: as immersive as the best films; as compelling as the best video games; as social as the best networking applications; as personal as the best tutors; and as analytically sophisticated as the best search engines.
We’ve helped more than 200,000 educators and 3 million students in all 50 states begin their digital transition through mobile assessment solutions, adaptive curricula and tools that harness the power of data for classroom teachers. And we’re just getting started.
Headquartered in New York City and with more than 1,000 employees across the country, Amplify is led by a team of digital education experts and has provided industry-leading instructional tools, data analytics and assessment solutions to the K-12 market for more than a decade as Wireless Generation.
Amplify partners with Core Knowledge; acquires rights to new language arts program
Known for its scientifically based content and approach, Core Knowledge’s influential work anticipated the Common Core State Standards, so its practices and philosophy are true to the rigorous spirit of the standards and exemplify the manner in which they ought to be implemented.
Through this partnership with Core Knowledge, Amplify Learning will develop and market to schools nationwide a unique, effective reading and language arts program for grades K–3 that will expand to include grades 4 and 5. Amplify Learning is one of three divisions within Amplify, a company committed to re-imagining the way teachers teach and students learn.
The Core Knowledge approach teaches students about the world with engaging fiction and nonfiction content from the sciences, history, and the arts. As students acquire skills in reading and writing, they also develop the broad vocabulary and background knowledge that will allow them to read with comprehension and think critically. From Aztecs to fables to the solar system, from basic sound and spelling patterns to essays based on close reading, Core Knowledge Language Arts® has everything students need to get on the path to college and career readiness—and everything teachers need to meet the Common Core standards.
The rigorous and engaging Core Knowledge Language Arts® program will initially be offered as a print product, to be supplemented with digital enhancements as early as by the next school year. Through its ongoing digital strategy to build dynamic, interactive and academically rigorous curriculum, Amplify Learning will evolve the Core Knowledge Language Arts® program to a full digital format over time.
Amplify Learning is building a fully integrated, adaptive, digital curriculum that will enable educators to meet the rigorous goals set by the Common Core standards and strive to narrow the achievement gap. Its products are designed for tomorrow’s promise and today’s realities. The company is creating exciting new approaches to teaching and learning that are: as immersive as the best films; as compelling as the best video games; as social as the best networking applications; as personal as the best tutors; and as analytically sophisticated as the best search engines.
Together, Amplify and the Core Knowledge Foundation are looking forward to ensuring that students across the country meet the Common Core standards and graduate from high school college and career ready.
Using its long-term rights to the Core Knowledge Language Arts® program, Amplify will continue its work as a leading education innovator and bring additional fresh, technologically advanced products to the marketplace that are founded upon this highly regarded and academically robust material.
Said Josh Reibel, Chief Executive of Amplify Learning and Amplify Insight, “With its deep academic experience, Core Knowledge has spent years addressing the same set of educational issues that today drive the Common Core. We’re excited to now have the exclusive opportunity to market these resources more widely and to use them over time to offer even more transformative educational products that are all Common Core aligned.”
Added Reibel, “What’s more, the Core Knowledge Sequence, and its esteemed, knowledge-building language arts program, are an especially good fit with our groundbreaking development of an all new digital curriculum that is academically rigorous and engaging for kids.”
The path to college, or a rewarding career, begins in early childhood. Core Knowledge puts all students on that path. Combining well-established findings from cognitive science with classroom-based feedback from hundreds of teachers, Core Knowledge has created a successful academic model for preschool through eighth grade. Researchers established decades ago that reading comprehension and critical thinking are only possible with relevant prior knowledge. Over the past 25 years, the organization has identified the essential, foundational knowledge, vocabulary and skills children need to learn and organized them for efficient and effective teaching in a grade-by-grade, age-appropriate sequence.
Said Linda Bevilacqua, president of the Core Knowledge Foundation. “As we surveyed the landscape of education innovators to work with us on expanding Core Knowledge and incorporating our philosophy into new digital tools, we determined that Amplify had extraordinary capacity to enhance and deepen the Core Knowledge learning experience. Unlike its competitors, Amplify understands that in order to improve teaching and learning, technology must be a means to an end, not an end in itself—a means to enhancing effective educational practice, as they have demonstrated with their successful assessment and intervention tools for teachers, such as mClass.” Bevilacqua said, “Amplify’s approach will give teachers and students an even more efficient and effective platform for building essential knowledge. Their digital expertise with the Foundation’s expertise in curriculum development will provide the basis for extraordinary collaboration.”
About Amplify
Amplify is working to transform the way teachers teach and students learn. We are changing the realities of today’s classroom experience by leading the way in data-driven instruction, breaking new ground in mobile learning and paving the way for the next generation of digital curriculum and assessment. We’ve helped over 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states begin their digital transition through mobile assessment solutions, adaptive curricula, and tools that harness the power of data for classroom teachers. Headquartered in New York City with more than 1,000 employees across the country, Amplify is led by a team of digital education experts and has provided industry-leading instructional tools, data analytics and assessment solutions to the K–12 market for more than a decade as Wireless Generation, now a part of Amplify. Learn more at www.Amplify.com.
About Core Knowledge
Educational excellence and equity demand a strong foundation of knowledge for all children—and a coherent plan for teaching what every child needs to know. The Core Knowledge Foundation publishes and distributes a wide variety of education books and materials for educators and parents. At the heart of all of our products is the Core Knowledge Sequence, a detailed outline of recommended curricular content to be taught in language arts, history and geography, mathematics, science, music, and the visual arts from preschool through grade eight. We also support a nationwide network of Core Knowledge schools with instructional materials and professional development workshops. Learn more at www.coreknowledge.org.
Overview Video
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
What comes in each grade level kit? Click the links below to see the grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform,watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
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.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
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 experience 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, clearly expressing 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.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (domain model)
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Light
Middle school course structure (integrated model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Begin your review
To begin your review, click the button below to log in as a teacher.
Watch a video walkthrough
Contact your Delaware representative
Denise Donahue
Account Executive
Email: ddonahue@amplify.com
Phone: (410) 251-5855
Amplify Science – West Virginia – state review
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
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
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 |
|
| Grade 1 |
|
| Grade 2 |
|
| Grade 3 |
|
| Grade 4 |
|
| Grade 5 |
|
Grade |
Units |
|
Grade 6 |
|
|
Grade 7 |
|
|
Grade 8 |
|
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.
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:
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
Inspiring the next generation of South Carolina scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
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.
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. If you need login credentials, contact Jeff Rutter, jrutter@amplify.com.
Resources to support your review
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–8
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
Scope and sequence
GRADE |
UNIT |
| Kindergarten |
|
| Grade 1 |
|
| Grade 2 |
|
| Grade 3 |
|
| Grade 4 |
|
| Grade 5 |
|
Grade |
Units |
|
Grade 6 |
|
|
Grade 7 |
|
|
Grade 8 |
|
South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- 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: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: 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: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
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.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
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.
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:
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
Amplify Science – Prince George
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.
Supporting resources
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–5
- Program Components K-5
- Curriculum Unit Kits K-5
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
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
- 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
South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- 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: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: 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: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
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.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
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.
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:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Lisa Jurovaty
Account Executive (West South Carolina)
ljurovaty@amplify.com
(803) 526-1899
Cathy McMillan (East South Carolina)
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Inspiring the next generation of Alabama scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Oregon 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.
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
New Mexico Educators: Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning that is rated ‘all green’ on EdReports.
With Amplify Science, New Mexico 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.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Full coverage of NGSS and New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the New Mexico Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
K-8 NGSS Correlation by Dimension
K-8 NM STEM Ready! Standards Correlation
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t20.sci6-8@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science in Your Programs
- Click on the Program drop-down menu and select your desired domain
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s20.sci6-8@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click Science in Your Programs
- Click on the Program drop-down menu and select your desired domain
- Select any unit title.
Additional resources to support your review
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit 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.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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.
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 address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video Transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. | Teacher |
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
What’s New for Amplify Science 6–8!
Denver Public Schools (DPS), check out what’s new from Amplify Science 6-8! The first part of this site will take you through the updates that have been made to Amplify Science. The second will be a refresher of Amplify Science for any new users in DPS. With Amplify Science, DPS 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. With culturally sustaining pedagogy, Amplify Science strives to make sure every student feels included in the science classroom.
Update: The Digital Experience
The digital experience allows students to engage with digital lessons and provides teachers with everything they need in one place—ready-to-use slides-based lessons, seamlessly integrated teacher prompts and guidance, robust PD resources, and more. It’s now easier and more engaging than ever to plan lessons, present digital content, and review student work. To learn more, click here.
Update: The PD Library
All professional development (PD) content is consolidated into the PD Library, a one-stop hub for all your self-paced PD needs. As a result, the “Professional Learning Resources” tile will no longer be available on the main Amplify Science Program Hub page. The rest of the non-PD content in the Program Hub will remain as is, including the on-demand resources.
Update: Educator & Student Home expansion
Educator and Student Home landing pages will now be available for all Amplify Science users. This Home page provides a central location to access all Amplify programs in one place and a customized stream based on your activity.
Your Amplify Science grades 6–8 students will no longer access My Work for assignments, scores, and teacher feedback. Instead, they’ll find it all on Student Home, the page they already land on when logging in to Amplify Science.
Keep in mind: Amplify Science middle school teachers will continue to have access to Classwork.
Update: Caregiver Hub
Throughout the school year, teachers can share the Amplify Science Caregiver Hub with students’ families. This site provides curriculum details, an overview of what caregivers can expect throughout the school year, and resources they can use with students at home.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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.
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 address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
DPS Scope and 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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video Transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. | Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- DEIA in Amplify Science
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
Contact Us
If you have any further questions as your review Amplify Science, please contact:
Monty Lammers
Senior Account Executive
719-964-4501
mlammers@amplify.com
Welcome to Amplify Science Pennsylvania
(6–8)!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Pennsylvania students shift from learning about to figuring out science, through authentic three-dimensional (3D) learning and phenomena-based exploration. In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. This prepares them to become critical thinkers who can solve problems in their communities and beyond.
What is Amplify Science Pennsylvania?
Customized lessons for Pennsylvania
Amplify Science Pennsylvania (6–8) combines our nationally recognized, proven curriculum with custom lessons specifically designed to ensure that you are meeting Pennsylvania’s STEELS standards.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach, in which students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing on searching for evidence related to their investigation and 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.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures that 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 Pennsylvania to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science Pennsylvania. 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 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 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.
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 multimodal 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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4–5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put all the materials back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science Pennsylvania print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we’ve provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science Pennsylvania materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials. We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable. Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- Include supportive videos. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Within each kit, we provide grade-specific lists of all materials included, which you can also find using the links below.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science Pennsylvania is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science Pennsylvania curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. |
Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. |
Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. |
Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- Pennsylvania STEELS Standards Alignment
- Research Highlights
- Program Structure
- Phenomena
- Amplify Science & the 5E Model
- Approaches to Assessment
- Science & Literacy Integration
- Hands-on Investigations (Integrated-Specific Model)
- Hands-On Investigations (Discipline-Specific Model)
- Engineering in Amplify Science
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is dedicated to helping you every step of the way.
Contact your dedicated Pennsylvania representative here.
A powerful partnership
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.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Multimodal learning 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.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, click the button below and fill out the form for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Contact your Arkansas representative directly
Marty Pitts
Senior Account Executive
Email: mpitts@amplify.com
Phone: (214) 945-5544
Inspiring the next generation of Hawaii scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a brand-new, engaging 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.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
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.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Thermal Energy
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, click the button below to access the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Contact your Hawaii representative directly
Laina Armbruster
Account Executive
Email: larmbruster@amplify.com
Phone: (602) 791-4135
Inspiring the next generation of Idaho scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a brand-new, engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at the University of, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Multimodal learning 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.
Elementary school course structure
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
Middle school course structure (domain model)
- Launch:
Geology on Mars - Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Plate Motion - Rock Transformations
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Engineering Internship:
Earth’s Changing Climate
- Launch:
Microbiome - Metabolism
- Engineering Internship:
Metabolism - Traits and Reproduction
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Launch:
Harnessing Human Energy - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship:
Force and Motion - Magnetic Fields
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Engineering Internship: Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Light
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, multiple components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks (K-8) | Student |
| Science articles (6-8) | Student |
| Student Books (K-5) | Student |
| Video transcripts (6-8) | Student |
| Digital simulation translation key (6-8) | Student |
| Printed classroom materials (K-8) (Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc.) | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters (K-8) | Teacher |
| Assessments (K-8) | Teacher |
Contact your Idaho representative directly
Bob McCarty
Senior Account Executive
Email: rmccarty@amplify.com
Phone: (435) 655-1731
Access the curriculum
To begin your review, click the button below for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
Inspiring the next generation of Arkansas scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a proven effective core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena based learning that provides an immersive experience for students.
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Grounded in Research
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, the authors behind Amplify Science, developed the Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize approach, and gold standard research shows that it works. Our own efficacy research is pretty exciting, too.
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.
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.
If you need login credentials, contact your local Arkansas Account Executive, Marty Pitts, mpitts@amplify.com.
Instructional samplers
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in Grades K–5
- Phenomena in Grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in Grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Scope and Sequence for grades K–5
- Scope and Sequence for grades 6–8
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
Remote and hybrid learning support
Amplify provides a remote learning solution called Amplify Science @OnDemand. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science @OnDemand includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @OnDemand Videos and @OnDemand Units. These videos also provide embedded professional development for teachers as well as opportunities for students to review a lesson, if needed.
Amplify Science @OnDemand 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@OnDemand Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @OnDemand Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @OnDemand Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @OnDemand unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @OnDemand 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:
- @OnDemand Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @OnDemand Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide.
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:
Contact your Arkansas representative:
Marty Pitts
Senior Account Executive
mpitts@amplify.com
(214) 945-5544
Mark Ramos
Inside Account Executive
mramos@amplify.com
(737) 308-4822
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
Amplify Science physical samples can be found at the Hamersley Library at Western Oregon University. There you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the teacher username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the student username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
Research behind Amplify Science
Program structure for grades 6–8
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
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.
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 address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Utah Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
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 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 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.
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.
Program components
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 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
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.
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.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
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.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.msscienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.msscienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Utah K-8 High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Rubric
- K-8 Standards Alignment to Utah SEEd Standards
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
- Amplify Technical Requirements
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.
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
- 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
Charlotte of diocese standards alignment
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support the students of the Charlotte of Diocese.
Organized by grade level, each section below will show:
- 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.
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
What’s included
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.)
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:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jennifer Eason
Senior Account Executive
jeason@amplify.com
Tom Gantt
District Manager
tgantt@amplify.com
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
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)
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
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.
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:
Contact us
Contact your Oklahoma representative:
Julie Godfrey
Account Executive
jgodfrey@amplify.com
(817) 360-0527
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.
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Louisiana Standards Correlation K–5
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 6
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 7
- Louisiana Standards Correlation 8
- Louisiana recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning support
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.
Louisiana-specific Materials
Louisiana Companion Student Booklet
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:
- Louisiana Companion Teacher Booklet (6-8)
- 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
Amplify Science Louisiana K–5 Program Brochure
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
- Populations and Resources
Additional instruction added: Human impact on Earth systems and Louisiana’s natural resources - Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Additional instruction added: Structure and properties of matter Structure and function of cells - Force and Motion
- Engineering Internship: Force and Motion
- Magnetic Fields
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Light Waves
Additional instruction added: The function of the cell nucleus
Grade 6 Louisiana Resources
- 5 Companion Lessons
- Units with Companions Lessons: Populations and Resources; Matter and Energy in Ecosystems; Light Waves
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit
Grade 7
- Metabolism
- Engineering Internship: Metabolism
- Phase Change
- Chemical Reactions
- Traits and Reproduction
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
Grade 7 Louisiana Resources
- 8 Companion Lessons
- Units with Companions Lessons: Phase Change; Traits and Reproduction; Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate; Weather Patterns; Earth’s Changing Climate
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit, not needed in 7th grade
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Plate Motion
- Engineering Internship: Plate Motion
- Rock Transformations
- Thermal Energy
- Natural Selection
- Engineering Internship: Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
Grade 8 Louisiana Resources
- 6 Companion Lessons
- Unit with Companions Lessons: Plate Motion; Rock Transformations; Thermal Energy; Natural Selection
- Louisiana Companion Materials Kit
Amplify and the Lawrence Hall of Science have created custom Amplify Science Louisiana materials for middle school students and teachers. The Louisiana edition of Amplify Science 6–8 differs from our national program in a few key ways:
- Standards cited are Louisiana State Standards for Science (LSSS) instead of NGSS
- A custom scope and sequence tailored to the LSSS is used
- Louisiana Companion Lessons are included
- Louisiana companion kits, which contain materials to accommodate the added companion lessons, are available for grades 6 and 8
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.
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:
Contact us
Contact your Louisiana representative:
Wayne Hebert
whebert@amplify.com
(337) 298-7833
Inspiring the next generation of Richmond scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging 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.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
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.
Elementary school course structure
- Pushes and Pulls
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Sunlight and Water
- Spinning Earth
- Light and Sound
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Properties of Materials
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Weather and Climate
- Balancing Forces
- Environments and Survival
- Inheritance and Traits
- Changing Landforms
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
- Modeling Matter
- Energy Conversions
- Balancing Forces
Middle school course structure
- Microbiome
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Metabolism
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
- Harnessing Human Energy
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
- Light Waves
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Chemical Reactions
- Magnetic Fields
Inside an Amplify Science classroom
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K-5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Virginia Standards Alignment
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, fill out the form for more information about Amplify Science and to access the online digital curriculum.
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science Alabama 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 Alabama 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.
Supporting resources
To review the digital program, visit learning.amplify.com.
Click Login with Amplify, and use the following credentials:
Teacher view
- Username: t1.bama@demo.tryamplify.net
- Password: Amplify1-bama
Additional Materials to support your review:
Scientific Literacy
Literacy-rich science instruction
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
GRADES K-5
Grade K: Pushes and Pulls
Grade 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
Grade 2: Properties of Materials
Grade 3: Balancing Forces
Grade 4: Investigating Wavelength
Grade 5: Introducing Food Science
Hands On Investigations
Hands-on Investigations
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Alabama, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, acting like scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations which are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
Amplify offers hands-on material kits as well as the option to use AMSTI Kit Resources for many of the student investigations.
Digital Experience
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
Alabama 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
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:
Inspiring the next generation of Louisiana scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science Louisiana is a brand-new, engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science Louisiana was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
You will find unit overviews and complete materials lists as well as downloadable versions of the Student Investigation Notebooks within the program itself. When you’re ready, click the orange button below. You’ll automatically be taken on a short guided tour where you can select the grade you’re interested in reviewing.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science: Louisiana Edition 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: Louisiana Edition 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.
Year at a glance
Every year of Amplify Science K–5 consists of 3–4 units, with each unit containing 20 lessons and two dedicated assessment days.
Inside an Amplify Science classroom
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K-5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Louisiana Standards Correlation
Ready to learn more?
To begin your review, fill out the form for more information about Amplify Science Louisiana and to access the online digital curriculum.
Contact your Louisiana representative directly
Wayne Hebert
Senior Account Executive
Email: whebert@amplify.com
Phone: (337) 298-7833
Inspiring East Baton Rouge’s next generation of scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Inspiring the next generation of St. Tammany scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a brand-new, engaging 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.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation. Read more about The Hall’s research-proven Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize multimodal learning model.
Amplify
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Multimodal learning 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.
Elementary school course structure
Middle school course structure (Integrated Model)
Review the digital curriculum
- Click on the orange button below.
- Select “Log in with Amplify”.
- Sign in with this username and password:
Username: t.Fayetteville@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1
Watch a video walkthrough
Elementary school
Middle school
Contact your Fayetteville representative directly
Ryan Jacob
Account Executive
Email: rjacob@amplify.com
Phone: (405) 863-8828
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.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is a recognized leader in PreK–12 science education, producing groundbreaking curriculum products for more than 40 years, including the international award-winning Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®. The Hall’s curriculum materials are used in one in four classrooms across the nation.
Amplify has been pioneering digital education products for more than 15 years, empowering teachers across the country to offer more personalized instruction and accelerate the potential of their students to become more active, engaged learners. Amplify has supported more than 200,000 educators and three million students in all 50 states.
Instructional model
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.
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.
Inside an Amplify Science classroom
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5 and 6–8
- Hands-on investigations in grades K–5 and 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- IB Standards Correlation
Boost Reading
Boost Reading is a personalized reading program that students can’t wait to play. Whether they are just learning to read or mastering close reading, Boost Reading helps achieve off-the-charts reading growth in grades K–8.
Click here to play demo of Boost Reading K-5.
Target support for every student
Students come to school with a range of abilities and achieve mastery at different rates. Providing each learner with the specific support they need to progress can be challenging. Enter Boost Reading.
Ready to learn more?
Fill out the form to begin your review or learn more about our Professional Development offerings.
Professional development
Existing business
- United Arab Emirates
- Oman
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Beirut
Contact your Amplify representative today
Matt Drury
mdrury@amplify.com
00971 52 9788789
S4 – 01. Joyful math teaching with Kanchan Kant
This season on the Math Teacher Lounge podcast, we follow the theme “joyful math” and uncover its meaning.
In this episode, Kanchan Kant joins Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to discuss the key, early investment she makes at the start of the school year to ensure her math teaching will be joyful for herself and for her students for the rest of the year.
Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.
Dan Meyer (00:00):
Okay, we are recording. Hey folks. Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. (laugh)
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:06):
Hardly off to a rocking start.
Dan Meyer (00:06):
Yeah. Yeah. <laugh> Did you like my energy there? Hey folks. Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. It’s a new season with your host Dan Meyer. And…
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:15):
I’m Bethany, Lockhart Johnson. How’s your summer Dan?
Dan Meyer (00:22):
Summer for me feels really hectic as we prepare, here at Amplify, for the new school year, and everyone’s starting these new math programs. So I’ve been feeling quite amped up, like usual in the summer. But also, my kids started big kid school. So I’ve been seeing the educational system from the role of a parent and all the anxieties and I worry, will I be my kids’ teacher’s most annoying parent <laugh> … So what kind of math curriculum you using? Oh, have you heard of core counting? Can I lead a math center? What’s this worksheet about? I’m really worried my kids are just overall gonna hate my vibe when I come around their classes. Uh, <laugh> so lots going on with me.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:06):
It’s already happening for me and I have a toddler.
Dan Meyer (01:10):
<laugh> There we go. Anyway, that’s what I’m up to. That’s how I’m feeling. I’m curious how you’re doing. We haven’t chatted in a while. We’re excited about the podcast, but it’s been a bit, you know? Bethany got a break from me and my antics over the summer. So, how are we finding you here, as we ramp up to the new season?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:24):
Uhhhh. Well, let me just tell you, I have a toddler. That’s kind of all I need to say. Except that’s not all I will say. Of course, I’ll say more. I am exploring, I’m dipping my toe into the extracurricular toddler activities; the music classes of the toddler world, the creative movement of the toddler world. And yeah, I have lots of opinions and lots of things to say about the teachers. And I’m like, Ugh, I can’t wait to be room mom. And just like…<laugh>
Dan Meyer (01:55):
Just let it rip, you know?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:57):
I have opinions on everything and just hope I don’t get kicked out of the class.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:05):
It’s been an eventfully recharging summer and we are ready for this new season. And in fact, we’re so ready that we decided that we were gonna mix up this season. Just a, just a tiny bit. Shall I explain Dan?
Dan Meyer (02:21):
Yeah. Let’s do it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:22):
So we have loved all the different topics that we have explored in the Math Teacher Lounge world, but we kind of feel like we need to do some more deep dives. So for this season and the foreseeable seasons …
Dan Meyer (02:38):
We’ll see how it goes.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:38):
Let’s stick with this season. For this season. We’re going to be exploring a singular theme.
Dan Meyer (02:46):
We’re not bouncing around. Yep. We’re not bouncing around from a guest to guest going on whatever shiny thing in the river bed catches our eye. We’re gonna take one theme and see where it goes. What we working with here this season?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:57):
This season, we are going to be exploring the idea of joyful math, joyful math. And Dan, the question I have for you is, is the term joyful math one that you use on the regular?
Dan Meyer (03:10):
No, it definitely is not. I think that joy and math are very rarely, you know, connected in the popular mind. Number one, and number two, you know, I’m kind of an ornery fellow, so that’s not my natural kind of description of math. But we decided that it feels like an important one at the moment, because a lot of math teaching–a lot of teaching in general, math teaching in particular–math teaching is often not a joyful discipline for students, where, you know, I’ve done some research where you look at what people type into Google. And I looked at like, what they…why am I bad at X? And I looked at that for where X is math, where it’s science, where it’s reading, where it’s history. And it was just wild to see how many more hits there are out there on the Internet for “why am I bad at math?” People don’t really associate math with joy, but also we’re looking at joyful math in terms of joyful math teaching. Math teaching, teaching in general, is a tough field at the moment with a lot of teachers leaving teaching. And those who remain are having a lot of soul searching and thinking about, why am I here and how do I sustain this work? And in an environment that seems hostile to my interests or my talents, or work-life balance. And so that’ll be the theme that we’re gonna kind of uncover over the course of our season, talking to various interesting guests, including one today about, yeah, joyful math teaching and joyful math.
Dan Meyer (04:43):
And to help us think about what joyful math teaching looks like, we figured we’d first look at what UN-joyful math teaching looks like. It happens to be the case that we’ve been in a pandemic as you might be aware, and teaching has been challenging. And the NEA, our National Education Association, surveyed its member teachers and asked them the following question … Gave a list of issues that school employees have experienced and asked, for each one indicate how serious of a problem this is for you. This is a survey where more than half of members said they are more likely to leave or retire sooner than planned because of the pandemic. And this is almost double the numbers from July, 2020. It’s really hard to keep track of teacher departures and unfilled vacancies across states. So I don’t wanna like blow this up out of proportion, but it does indicate some real challenges in teaching. So Bethany, I was curious, what do you think like at the top of the list, like what kinds of factors, issues facing educators would you imagine there are?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:48):
So if I’m to understand you correctly, these are reasons someone is not actively experiencing joy in the profession of teaching. Like why would they leave?
Dan Meyer (05:58):
Exactly.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:59):
Well, the number one thing that came to mind for me, well, okay. Wait, wait, one other caveat I need to ask about, you said specifically pandemic-related or just in general, because if it’s pandemic-related, then I think, well, there’s health issues, right? That people are concerned about, but in general, the thing that came to mind was a lack of support from administration districts, lack of funding, and overcrowding in classrooms. Like, you know, I saw somebody had 40 students in their classroom. So those are the two things that I can imagine like top on someone’s list that would make them experience less than a joyful day.
Dan Meyer (06:44):
Yeah. There’s a bunch of you’re kind of identifying here. So number seven on the list is lack of respect from parents and the public, which is like 76% of teachers call that out as serious for them. Others that you kind of circled around in terms of resources go like, not enough planning or unstructured time in the job kind of ties into resources. Yeah. But there’s others that are on the list that I’m curious, you wanna take on the swing at it, given what I’ve said here,
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:15):
I feel like too much being asked of them, like being asked to wear too many hats, like they’re being asked to not only teach their class, but also cover all the vacancies and supervise recess and, you know, make a delicious, nutritious lunch. That’s what came to mind. Am am I close?
Dan Meyer (07:33):
Yeah. Number four on the list, unfilled job openings leading to more work for remaining staff. People covering, you know, not just the kind of external to teaching work like you’re describing, but also just taking on like losing your prep period, to take on a class that has been unfilled for all kinds of reasons. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:54):
Yeah. I’ve only gotten the fourth. Give me one clue, one clue about …
Dan Meyer (07:59):
So, I mean like, so number one is general stress from the coronavirus pandemic, you know, which I feel like …
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:06):
I mentioned that.
Dan Meyer (08:07):
I’ll give you that one. Yep, yep, sure. And then number two, close behind, is feeling burned out, which I think ties into what you’re describing as well. I’m giving Bethany credit on that one. The third one is very different from the ones you’ve been describing. I think I cannot in good faith give you even partial credit for this one. I’ll just say it. Student…
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:28):
Wait! Dan, this is not how you give clues.
Dan Meyer (08:31):
Here’s a clue. It’s student absences due to COVID19. It’s really hard to deal student absences. That’s your clue.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:40):
That wasn’t a clue that you told me.
Dan Meyer (08:43):
Yeah, let’s see. I think that’s largely it. There’s also pay is too low, is on the list; student behavioral issues, on the list. And I think that about covers it. So all of that, that basket of items has led to more than half of teachers in this survey, saying that they’re more likely to leave or retire from education sooner than planned. And I don’t know. I think we all know teachers who have bailed.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:08):
I’ve never played a board game with you, Dan, but if we ever play a board game, we’re gonna work on your clue giving, ’cause I want to keep guessing. And you just told me.
Dan Meyer (09:22):
Yeah. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:22):
In all seriousness, the <laugh>. In all seriousness, I think yes, the stress of the pandemic and students being absent, what some folks are calling unfinished learning, all of those pieces do play into it. But a lot of those things that you’re mentioning on the list are things that are not unique to the pandemic, right? Like those are things that I feel like there is some modicum of control that we could have over shifting the way the culture of the teaching profession is going so that we could create a more joyful experience for educators, administrators, and students.
Dan Meyer (10:03):
Yeah. Good call out. That’s exactly right. We could tax the people who are not in the classrooms more and increase the pay to classroom teachers. You know, there we go.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:11):
Oh. Bingo. Why didn’t we ask you sooner Dan, for your wisdom.
Dan Meyer (10:15):
Yeah. I’m … solved by Dan. Yeah, good point though. So I read that and yeah, I think that there’s been some … people have critiqued the NEA for being very alarmist about teacher departures as the year has ramped up. It has not been quite the flood of departing teachers as was predicted and thank heavens for that, but we should still be very bummed if teachers are unhappy and wanting to leave and feel like they can’t leave. That is definitely not good. So we were really excited to bring to the table, someone who is just a very joyful teacher and one in a very intentional way. Someone who has a lot of discipline in how she approaches the job and the students in it and tries to create a joyful environment for herself, Kanchan Kant. Kanchan is a math and computer science teacher at Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts. She’s been sharing her love for math with her students for the past four years, while also being instrumental in setting the culture and ethos of the math department at her school in her role as the assistant department head. We welcome you on the show Kanchan to help us understand joy and math teaching. Thanks for being here.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:29):
Welcome!
Kanchan Kant (11:30):
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:33):
One of my friends, her son was asked as his first math homework assignment to write out his math bio. And I loved that idea because we got to hear a little bit about your bio from like a broader perspective. But if we were to ask about your math bio, I will speak for myself to say like, automatically certain images flash into my mind, right? To think about my relationship, my evolving relationship with math. But I’m so curious if I was to ask you, what’s your math bio? How did you become the person, mathematically speaking, that you are today? Would you mind sharing a bit about that?
Kanchan Kant (12:10):
Of course I would love to. So I was born and raised in India and I belong to a family which considers mathematics to be extremely important to succeed in life. My father used to have me add and subtract license plates since I was four years old, when we were out and about. I loved math in school, it just made like complete sense to me. It was logical and you know, it was my favorite subject. I loved it all through high school. I had a confidence speed breaker in undergrad. When in my second semester I almost failed the engineering math course that I took. That was the first time math felt like too much and not like my best friend, which it was supposed to be. So it was a while before I could summon the courage to take on another math course in college.
Kanchan Kant (12:56):
But once I did that, it was like old times. I realized I had to persevere through the challenging bits. And once I did that, it started to make sense again. And through my journey, as an educator speaking to people from various backgrounds and like coming to the United States, I realized that math is challenging for everyone at one time or another. For some people that is elementary school. And for some others, it is college or even later. Either way does not mean that you are not a math person. When I was in college, I felt I was not a math person. Whereas my sister, my very own sister said the same thing about math in middle school. Both of us use math every day. And we are definitely, definitely math people. So for me to be a math person is to persevere, to approach problem-solving in a logical manner, and to find the joy in the process ,as well as the answer.
Dan Meyer (13:47):
That’s wonderful. Yeah. A lot of people, have a moment where they feel like almost betrayed by what they thought was a close friend of theirs, with math, where it’s like, wait, I thought we were tight. You know, I thought we were cool. You and me. And there’s that moment. And I wonder if that’s been a useful moment for you to, you know, bring back now and then as a teacher with students who might feel that even, you know, in high school or in a secondary school as a kid.
Kanchan Kant (14:15):
Absolutely. Like when I talk to students and tell them, yes, I had difficulty in math too. It has not always been easy for men and there are still things I struggle with sometimes, then it’s like more modeling for them that you have to persevere, you should persevere. And once you do that, it makes sense and you can feel successful. So, almost every year I end up sharing the story with my students.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:38):
There’s so much value in that, right? That you are sharing that vulnerability with students. And to say your relationship with mathematics has not been, you know, smooth sailing the whole way through. There were times when you had to work harder than others.
Dan Meyer (14:55):
Yeah. Really fun to hear about you and your father as well. I tried to ask my five-year-old to do some skip counting the other day, like, okay, cool, you’re hot stuff. You can count, you know, up by ones, but what about by twos? And the moment really fell flat. And I watched myself becoming the kind of parent who is whose enthusiasm for math is one day resented by his children. I feel a lot of, yeah, I felt your anxiety Kanchan, with math itself. And now I feel anxiety as like someone who loves math and loves to teach math and may one day alienate the people closest to him. <laugh>
Kanchan Kant (15:31):
I don’t like that future. I have a three-month-old. I do not like this future of mine. If I have to go through what you’re going through. Uh, oh, <laugh>
Dan Meyer (15:38):
You got this. So Kanchan, you’re going back to the classroom coming up here at the time of this recording. It’s a few weeks out. And we’re thinking about like the kind of ways that math teachers sustain a disposition that is joyful. How are you feeling right now, as far as going back to class after this summer? Are you feeling excited, anxious, some combo, tell us about it.
Kanchan Kant (16:01):
I would say combo, but more excited than anxious. I was on maternity leave, as I mentioned, before the school year ended, and I missed the students dearly. Like, my students are what gives me hope in the darkest times. They are thoughtful. They’re empathetic. They’re so eager to learn. And very soon into my teaching career, I realized that if I take the time to get to know my students and make them feel safe and seen in my class, teaching them math would be so much easier and so much more fun. So I’m a little worried about this being like fourth year into the pandemic, but let’s see. Last year I felt the students were finding it difficult to interact with and work with their classmates because they had not been doing it for so long. So I’m hoping this year would go a little better and I’m really looking forward to working with them and building community and see how it goes.
Dan Meyer (16:53):
So if I’m understanding you correctly, you are feeling very well recharged here. You had basically an extended summer with this maternity leave, basically just like a lot of rest and relaxation over the last, like several months. Um, if I get you here. So anyway, I’m glad for that for you. And, yeah. I also hear you on the difficulties of teaching post pandemic or mid pandemic. Anyway, thanks for sharing that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:19):
What I love is I hear you being so intentional, like thinking about those relationships and thinking about that community that you want to build, you know? How do you hope that you’re gonna cultivate joy in your teaching this year? I mean like, are there certain routines or disciplines that you specifically call forth or that you think other teachers should think about?
Kanchan Kant (17:41):
So at the start of every school year, I dedicate like about three to four weeks to set up the classroom culture, both social and academic. I call my classroom a learning community. We start with community circles, we do icebreaker activities, group building and all those kinds of things. But most importantly, we do a lot of collective problem solving. So I try to present students with problems, which can be solved using multiple strategies and have multiple entry points, basically they are low floor, high ceiling problems. These could be stretch problems that they have seen before, like concepts that they already know or logical puzzles, or just wrapping their heads around different problems. Then I have students share their strategies. The more strategies they have on the board, the more successful I think the problem was. Every year, inevitably, students come up with strategies that I’ve never ever seen before for the same problems that I do.
Kanchan Kant (18:35):
And so I have students come up to the board, they would share their strategies. If they’re not ready for that, they would walk me through their strategies. And I would write their name on the board with different colored markers and everything. Basically to give them choice and agency. It also shows them that the process of doing the problem is so much more important than just getting the right answer and that it is okay to make mistakes in our learning community. I use a lot of vertical whiteboards, some concepts and problems align so well with the vertical surfaces, especially when students can explore together, learn from each other. So I do a lot of that. As for routines, I would say consistency is the key. I consistently reinforce that I want to hear multiple strategies, that it is okay to make mistakes. I am willing to learn from you as much as you’re willing to learn from me. So all like that consistency in culture more than the routines, is I feel important to bring that joy.
Dan Meyer (19:29):
That’s super interesting. Thanks for that. So I’ve heard, I hear two common objections or two common concerns to using rich tasks or doing problem solving. And I think I heard like answers to those two common reservations within what you described there, but I wonder if we can kind of bring it to the surface. And so one of the reservations is around the time that those problems take and another is that teachers often feel like, well, I might be surprised, you know, I might not know what to do with what a student does. And I thought I was hearing like some very interesting answers to both of those kinds of reservations from you, but would you just surface those up if you have some.
Kanchan Kant (20:09):
So in terms of time, I feel if I spend the time at the beginning of the year, setting up that community and doing those problems, it makes learning the math and learning the concepts much more faster throughout the rest of the year. And even when I am trying, like, even throughout the year, if we are doing a warm up problem, as I call it, which has multiple strategies, that’s gonna clarify so many more concepts when we talk about those five, 10 strategies of doing the same problem, then going through multiple problems to clarify those concepts. So for me, it actually saves time instead of taking more time.
Dan Meyer (20:43):
Hmm. That’s super interesting. It’s an investment I’m hearing from you that, yeah, you might not be hitting the curriculum quite as hard early on, but that all of a sudden you’re in the spring and it’s like, oh wow, we’ve been moving so much faster through territory that has been more challenging. What would you say to you know, comfort concerned educators or to address the concern that I don’t know what I’ll do with these five, 10 different strategies. You say, I always see strategies that I’ve never anticipated. Like, it’s a good thing, you know, like you’re happy about that. I think that’s a very intimidating thing for lots of educators. What would you say to that?
Kanchan Kant (21:19):
I think like, for me, it’s a good kind of discomfort. That means like a student is teaching me something, which is actually doing two things. One modeling for them that I’m willing to learn and that I don’t know everything. And two, also telling them that they’re mathematicians. They know what they’re doing. They’re not just receivers of math, they’re actually creating it. So for me, that is very, very important.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:43):
I love that so much. When you think about your students and you’re about to start this new school year, how do you hope your students will experience math in your classroom?
Kanchan Kant (21:53):
So I hope my students can see the beauty and joy of math. They can see that math is a way to see the world and not as something we have to do to get through school. So my hope for my classroom is that we can learn to problem-solve and persevere through problems and learn from each other and not just get through the curriculum. Because like, I think math is a wonderful way to learn these skills, which are so important when you get out of high school. Most importantly, I just wanna make sure that my students see themselves as mathematicians. And like one of the things that like I have to share with you that, because one of my highlights for the year has to be the Desmos art project. I do it every year for the past three years, I think since I’ve started teaching sophomores. And I do it as a unit assessment for functions and my students design something that is meaningful to them, using all the different kinds of functions and colors and shading and everything that you can think of in Desmos.
Kanchan Kant (22:49):
Thank you so much for that though. It is such a cool way for me to see them do that. Like I have seen such amazing creations. One of my students once made a scaled working model of a solar system wherein the planets were rotating at relative speed. The Saturn had rings and they were like asteroids and everything. And then it was beautifully done. Then there was another one who did a very, very detailed whale scenery, her reasoning. I wanna be a Marine biologist and I wanna study whales. So this is what is meaningful to me. So like that one project is just a culmination of everything that I want students to see in math and in my classroom. And like I do more of those kinds of things, but that is one thing that it’s one of the highlights of my year.
Dan Meyer (23:32):
That’s awesome. I love hearing that. Yeah. Shout out to the team at Desmos Studio for building and continuing to develop a tool list that so good for art and animation, even, in addition to some mathematics with a more computational kind. Yeah, that’s really exciting. What’s interesting to me is that you teach high school, and I think that like students at that age have a very well-defined sense of what math is and who they are as mathematicians. And then along you come, you know, and like offer this really interesting disruption, you know, in their sophomore year of high school that like, oh, this can be totally different, this relationship who I am. And that’s just really exciting. I imagine it’s a very surprising year. I would imagine that first month, I would imagine is a very surprising month for a lot of your sophomores.
Kanchan Kant (24:20):
Yeah, it is. I mean, that’s why I take that time to build that community because then that sets the tone and the relationship that we’re gonna have for the rest of the year. Students get to know how to work with each other. They get to know each other, that whole piece is like super important because of that.
Dan Meyer (24:35):
Yeah. That’s awesome. So here’s the thing, like we’re exploring these ideas about joyful math teaching and what it will take to cultivate restore, reclaim joy in math, teaching this next year. And you’ve offered us these really interesting ideas some, some very, you know, philosophical and some technical about how you spend time in ways that lead to joy in the spring for you and your students. Love that. We don’t want to as hosts, as researchers, investigators of this joyful math teaching idea, we don’t wanna say it’s all up to teachers to change their mindset, to do different technical practices, and that will lead to joy. We also wanna be really attentive to the environment that surrounds you, the people who are around to support you, the policy makers, the social structures that influence your joy in very significant ways. So what we would love to know from you is, how are you supported by the greater educational community in keeping your joy in your work? I’m thinking, especially about administrators, you know, front office, staff, parents, even, can you name a few ways for those sorts of people who listen to this podcast, how they can cultivate a math teacher’s joy this coming year?
Kanchan Kant (25:54):
I would say trust. I think more than anything, educators want administrators, parents, the greater educational community, to trust them to be professionals and experts in what they do. That does not mean that we don’t want to learn, that we don’t want feedback, that we don’t wanna get better. It just means that we keep the wellbeing of our students as our top priority. And we would like to be trusted to do just that. Also just keeping in mind that whether we like it or not, we are still adjusting to the new normal while recovering from the worst of the pandemic times. A lot of us are recovering from trauma, a lot of our students are recovering from trauma, and we need time and space for our social and emotional wellbeing.
Dan Meyer (26:35):
Yeah. I’m really curious, Kanchan, you’ve done a lot of work in your area with your grading team and in thinking about equitable and biased resistant instruction. I’m curious how you see those efforts lining up with creating joyful math learning conditions for all students, not just students from a dominant culture of math doing, let’s say.
Kanchan Kant (26:55):
For me, creating an equitable environment in a classroom is most important because once you have that, that’s when you have the relationships, that’s when you have the culture, that’s when all students actually thrive. So to that end, our school and our department has been doing a lot of work around grading practices. We actually assess how we grade students, where the bias is, what we can do to make them more bias resistant. Should we move to mastery based grading? Like that’s something I’ve been experimenting with for the past two years. Through the pandemic, I started doing mastery based grading so that my students can get more opportunities to show that they have learned the content. And so like just little things which help bridge the opportunity gap. I would say another project that our school undertakes is called the calculus project wherein we have students in Black, Latinx, and low income families sign up for that and are recommended for that. And then we do summer classes and yearlong support to preview the material for next year, not as a remedial class, but to actually set students up for success in AP classes for the coming year. So we have the community buildup. We have the courses we have like math support. It’s a very beautiful thing actually. And I’ve been working with that program for four years now. So yeah, so those are my ways of creating more equity in our school.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:19):
That’s so beautiful and I deeply, deeply wish you had been my high school math teacher. And I have to say that the theme that I kind of keep hearing is this intentionality. How you are so intentional about your work, not just with what your students are learning, but how they’re learning it, how they are engaging with this subject and how they are building their own relationship. You talked a little bit about your relationship over the years with mathematics, but how are your students building that relationship? And so I’m just very appreciative of you sharing that with us and with our listeners. And we are so excited to have learned a little bit about, like, I feel like I got a little mini peek into your classroom.
Kanchan Kant (29:03):
Thank you.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:04):
And can I say that if you are listening to this prior to October at NCTM Los Angeles, you will get to hear Kanchan Kant speak at Shadow Con. Can I give that away, Dan? Is that, is that …
Dan Meyer (29:23):
You can drop that. Yeah, It’s pretty top secret.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:26):
Can I drop it?
Dan Meyer (29:27):
Yeah. Do it. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:28):
Dan and I will be in the audience cheering you on. It’s been a joy to learn with and from you, and we are so excited to just, you know, kind of keep marinating on some of these ideas about how we can continue to be intentional about creating joyful math spaces for our students. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Kanchan Kant (29:49):
Thank you so much. It was a real pleasure.
Dan Meyer (29:57):
So Bethany, I loved hearing Kanchan talk about both her, just her joyful personality, but how she cultivates joy through craft and technique through, you know, through the various ways she interacts with students in intentional ways, that those make the job more joyful for her. And I thought it was really interesting to hear her talk about how autonomy is the thing that she needs most in her job environment to feel like she can be joyful in her work. In that context, I saw … something on Twitter popped up for me in my, you know, my many Twitter wanderings. This is a segment we might call, Dan finds something on Twitter and shares it with Bethany. Which we’ll tighten that up a little bit, but I’m sending this over to you right now, and I’d love to know as you check this out, what you’re seeing and what you’re thinking and we’ll chat about how it relates to our interview here in a moment.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:47):
All right. I’m ready, send it over. It’s opening. So this appears to be a document by the way, outlining, maybe it’s a district, maybe it’s administration, they’re outlining expectation type and expectation guidelines. Hmm. Okay. And these are lesson plan expectations. Expectation type. Timeliness. Plans are due no later than 6 p.m.. Friday prior to the week of instruction. Comprehensive, all activities for the week for all subjects taught should be included and complete by due date and time. Plans should have at minimum, the following, see template for detail. Okay. So then it goes through the things that the plans need to have, the topic title, target, the objective, the activities, the sequence, the display agendas to be displayed backward design. Okay. So basically <laugh>, we were just talking about, overwhelm. And when I see this document, listeners, have you ever received something from your administrator or anyone, let’s take it more broadly, that is requesting something of you that would take so much time to complete and be so out of touch with your lived reality that it really genuinely sucks the joy out of the experience.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:25):
So the first thing that I see that this document, and again, the goal of whichever district’s plan this is, is that these expectations will lead–now, mind you, I am a fan of like, you know, looking ahead, I’m not a like, oh, hey, what am I gonna teach in five minutes? No, but the idea that then it lays out all of the things in such detail that you’re gonna be teaching feels like one of those pacing guides where, oh, move on to the next page, whether or not your students have any sort of sense making whatsoever. So my first thought is, oh, sad. I have to stay here. I’ll be there past 6 p.m. But I’m gonna be there trying to make the plans for the next week based on what I think my students have learned. Hmm it’s sounds like a little bit of a bummer. Dan, what did you think when you saw this and did I do a fair description of what it is?
Dan Meyer (33:25):
No, it’s, it’s a tough one to describe, ’cause it’s basically a wall of text and commands from an administrator who like, I just have to imagine has just like acres and acres of teachers trying to beat down their door to teach at this school, if this is how you’re gonna treat your teachers. I mean just, yeah. The idea of having a week… I’m with you, you don’t wanna just like, just jump in by the seat of your pants, but the idea of having a full week of lessons for every section you teach, every prep you teach, planned and submitted with every minute, basically morseled out to different goals. It says down here, you gotta like, for all of these, download a CSV of grades and whatnot and attach those. It’s the sort of thing, like you said, there are some edicts that you get from administration where you just have to laugh or just like, you have definitely missed like what I am willing to do here. It’s so far beyond. Yeah. I can’t imagine it. And it just felt like, yeah, it was a great way to get teachers like Kanchan to feel like a real lack of autonomy. Like it’s this would not work. I don’t think.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:33):
And it’s not even like willing to do. Like, let’s say you’re even willing to produce it. Let’s say that me, the rule follower is like, okay. I’m gonna attempt to meet these demands. One, most teachers were just, you know, they probably would put baloney down there anyway. Not saying that I would, but I’m saying like, it’s clearly just a hoop that they’re having to jump through and two…
Dan Meyer (35:04):
Yeah. Compliance, right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:05):
Yeah. Compliance, compliance. There you go. And two, yeah, it feels like it’s about control and not trusting the teacher. And I love that. Kanchan said that trust is what she needs. Right? You’re hiring me. Yes. I still have lots to learn, but you’re trusting me and you’re creating an environment where I can continue to learn from and with my students. And if I was being asked to submit this tome every Friday before six, that is predicting, what does it say, anticipating the steps necessary for student mastery? You know, I kind of feel like maybe it’s like that one or two teachers where maybe they feel like, oh, I don’t trust that teacher or that teacher isn’t doing a good job, whatever. We better do this for all of the teachers, but then it’s not gonna change the practices of that one teacher and all the other teachers are gonna be resentful.
Dan Meyer (36:00):
Like if there was like feedback that came back to you on, you know, on lesson plans or there was some like something that was very constructive or productive, like maybe that would be different, but it really just feels like these are gonna go into a digital drawer somewhere and not be looked at, at all.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:15):
Yes. The digital drawer. Like I’m gonna send you this report and then nothing is going to happen with it. Except that four hours of my time. Well, you wouldn’t do it, but <laugh>…
Dan Meyer (36:29):
You’ve worn me down. You’ve worn me down. I’m now putty in your hands and more compliant for the next thing. And I also just wanna shout out the administrator today, who I emailed asking about like a teacher participating in a project and this administrator said, I have a standing policy not to email teachers over summer break, which you know, as administrators out there doing just the good work, you know, trusting teachers, watching out for them, trying to be a force multiplier for teachers, making the road wider, the way easier for teachers. So shout out to y’all doing the out there. Really appreciate that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:04):
Okay. Wait, wait. About that email thing, quick question. Did you ever check your email over the summer?
Dan Meyer (37:11):
Uh, yeah. That’s one way in which I was the, you know, I just love email, you know? Oh. Someone wanted to reach out. Oh, oh, Banana Republic wants to tell me about new clothes that are on offer. <laugh> I mean like, it’s just, I love those personal emails. So yeah, I did check my email over the summer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:26):
Somebody emailed me recently and they emailed me at like two in the morning. And because I currently have a toddler, I received the email at four in the morning because you know, the best thing to help myself fall back asleep is to hop on my phone, right? Like I’m already up trying to get my toddler back to sleep. I might as well start scrolling. Anyway, so the person had this little thing at the bottom of their email and it said, I have, something to the effect of, I have really like wonky work hours. I may be sending this outside of the like more standard nine to five. But please don’t feel pressure in any way to respond outside of your time. Would you appreciate that, seeing that or does it make you feel like you should respond? ‘Cause I almost responded at four in the morning, and maybe that says something about …
Dan Meyer (38:15):
They’re telling you not to respond.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:16):
I know it was helpful.
Dan Meyer (38:18):
It says don’t, but you’re like, what if they’re saying that because they really expect me to respond and this is one of many ways that you and I are different. I’m always happy to see that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:29):
Do you respond? I’ve texted you in the evening because you know I have some wonky hours. Do you respond to things, like where’s your boundary there? Or when you were in the classroom, where was your boundary there? Did parents have your phone number?
Dan Meyer (38:43):
No. I gave kids my cell phone number for a couple years and it was a wobbly experiment. But parents will email, you know, back and forth with you. And I think the best thing to like … I love just like adding some friction, some latency into the kind of the chain, you know, like I hate going like back and forth, like da, da, da, da, and then like respond and then da, da da respond. And it just like goes back and forth. So just like just sitting back for an hour or two hours, you know, not responding, just let someone cool down, calm down. Email just gets you more email. That’s like if you send an email, you are just making it more likely to get more email. It’s a, you know, it’s a problem.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:20):
Are you one of the zero people?
Dan Meyer (39:23):
My inbox is at zero. Most days before work.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:26):
You’re joking!
Dan Meyer (39:28):
I end work every day with inbox, at zero.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:31):
You’re joking!
Dan Meyer (39:32):
That’s just, you know.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:33):
Who are you?
Dan Meyer (39:34):
You know, you should take my life coaching, Bethany. I’ll give you a discount since we’re math teacher, lunch pals. But, um yeah. I can help.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:44):
Thank you for qualifying where our pal-dom lives. I wouldn’t even tell you how many are in my inbox. Point is, if you are actively starting the school year, we celebrate you and we are here and over the next few months, we’re gonna be diving into joyful math and that definition’s gonna keep evolving. But I wanna say something that is making me feel a little joyful, Dan. You ready?
Dan Meyer (40:15):
Tell me.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:16):
You and I, in person, at NCTM, the National Council for Teachers and Mathematics. It’s coming up and we are going to be recording Math Teacher Lounge, live. Live, in person! And I hear there’s gonna be like a t-shirt cannon and there’s gonna be, you know, like musicians marching through the aisles or something.
Dan Meyer (40:46):
A marching band?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:46):
A marching band!
Dan Meyer (40:46):
Trained animals. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:48):
But the point is, I’m so excited, Dan. And you know, when I see you, I might just, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Dan. I’d love to give you a big old embrace.
Dan Meyer (41:04):
You might just, you might just cry. Yeah. Yeah. It’ll be great. Yeah. It’s gonna be awesome for you folks to see me and Bethany have a real awkward first hug since the pandemic. And, uh, but it’s gonna be a blast to hang with us in person. We’ll have some special guests, probably, some interesting segments. You folks should stop on by at NCTM, if you’re gonna be there. Highly recommended.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:29):
Now, we will be broadcasting that episode. You’re gonna get to hear … we’re gonna record it live. It’s gonna happen. In the meantime, you can find us at MTLshow on Twitter, or you can find us in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge. We can’t wait to hear from you. And we’d love to hear what makes math joyful for you? Where can we add a little bit more joy to you this, this season? So thrilled to be back. Thanks for listening.
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Meet the guest
As a math and computer science teacher at Newton North High School, Newton, MA, Kanchan has been sharing her love for math with her students for the past four years. Kanchan is instrumental in setting the culture and ethos of the mathematics department at her school in her role as the Assistant Department Head. Kanchan also leads the Math Department Grading Team and has been instrumental in making grading policies which are more equitable and bias resistant. In her new role as a Transformative Leaders of Massachusetts Fellow in collaboration with Springpoint and Barr Foundation, Kanchan looks forward to making equity and joy of learning the foundation of many more classrooms.
About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
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