Session 4: Highlight Evidence

Goal for this session:  In the NGSS vision, students learn that science relies on evidence to answer questions about the natural world. As you plan your lessons, consider what evidence students will need to develop explanations and what classroom activities will lead to the evidence. 

Study Guide

Download pdf version of this Study Guide.

Prepare – See what it looks like when students gather evidence they need to answer the investigation question.

  1. Read The Challenges of Developing Explanations Based on Data and Reasoning by Carol Smith.
  2. Get to know the Evidence Collection Planning Tool (docx). Study the Example (pdf) of a filled-in tool that was used to design Investigating Water Transformations: Investigation 11.
  3. Which NGSS science practices do you think will play a big role in finding evidence?   You can review detailed descriptions of all eight practices in Chapter 3 of the Framework (pp. 41-82).

Use the Planning Tools – Make your lesson reflect the NGSS vision.

  1. Select a lesson from your current curriculum.
  2. Identify the learning goal and how it contributes to the disciplinary core idea (DCI).
  3. Complete the Evidence Collection Planning Tool (docx).
  4. What about a sequence of learning experiences? Use the Story Line Planning Tool (docx) to map the way evidence builds from one lesson to the next.  (You can review an example of a filled-in tool here.)

Discuss in Your PLC

Discuss your experiences using the Evidence Collection Planning Tool (and Story Line Planning Tool ), both the benefits and challenges.

Plan your next steps.