Next Gen Science Standards in the classroom: Integrating crosscutting science disciplines in a high school science class

Kentucky science teacher Tricia Shelton integrates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into her curriculum by having students design a science project that combines life and physical sciences to study energy and matter. Shelton encourages students to take the lead in their own learning through hands-on projects, and has found that the emphasis on evidence-based thinking, as promoted in the NGSS, has empowered her students to be more involved in their own learning.

 

“The small changes that lead to big changes over time in our class is the focus on evidence-based thinking because that opens the door to more participation. Students want to share to the conversation… They want what they’re saying to be valued and to be important, so if they know that they can look for evidence and then use that evidence to communicate their reasoning and their lens, that makes science very accessible to them and it makes the class participation very accessible to them.” -Tricia Shelton, 9th grade science teacher in Boone County School District, Florence, KY

 

Find The Teaching Channel’s video on Shelton’s classroom here.