The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) ask us as science teachers to provide anchoring phenomena, opportunities for real-world application of concepts, and flexibility to allow students to follow their own curiosities while learning science. They are asking us to learn with our students and to adopt the mindset that new theories can always surface and paradigms do indeed shift. I’ve realized that the NGSS burst open a door that I’ve always tried to keep a foot in– getting my students to authentically care about our planet and to have a genuine interest in the wonderful operations of our universe.
Now, “How the heck are we busy, overwhelmed teachers supposed to have our fingertips on the pulse of every awesome and interesting thing going on in science in order to structure these phenomena-based units?”
Find Freebie Content and Follow Your Curiosity!
I have compiled a list of websites that contain rich ideas and real-world issues that are useful for finding the phenomena that can ‘anchor’ lessons and units aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Spend some time looking for the ideas and stories that pique your interest.
I recommend reading this article on the Atlas blog to learn more about how to choose good lesson-level and unit-level anchors!
Create a quick Powerpoint slide to showcase a neat phenomena that you find in order to instigate an engaging whole-class or small-group discussion on the concept. Try having your students make a list of as many ‘What If…?’ and ‘I Wonder…?’ questions as they can think of about the phenomena that they’ve been asked to consider. (I call this a measure of their ‘I.Q.’ or ‘Inquiry Quotient’!).
Here are some Anchoring Phenomena examples:
To begin a unit on water properties, you could show this video of Wringing Out Water on the International Space Station. Have students draw a model of what they think is going on… they’ll revise the model as they progress through the lessons in the unit.
To begin a unit on matter, you could show this video of a Railroad Car Collapsing. Have students draw a model of what they think is going on… they’ll revise the model as they progress through the lessons in the unit.
To begin a unit on chemical reactions, you could show this video of a Match Burning in Slow Motion (by the way, any physical phenomena shown in slow motion is amazing for helping students to consider the physics!). Have students draw a model of what they think is going on… they’ll revise the model as they progress through the lessons in the unit.
To begin a unit on waves/light, you could show a picture of this London skyscraper that’s been nicknamed the ‘Walkie Scorchie’ and explain how it has melted cars parked in the street near it. After they consider that the building heats specific points to extreme temperatures, the students could draw a model of what they think is going on… they’ll revise the model as they progess through the lessons in the unit.
During the lesson or unit, refer back to that phenomena so that your students continue to mold their understanding of the science behind the issue. Ask them to keep writing their ‘What If…?’ and ‘I Wonder…?’ questions. Let their questions guide your future planning! Maybe Bobby is ultra-intrigued by the idea of plastic-eating caterpillers… could this be a future anchoring phenomena for a unit on synthetics or the basis for a project-based learning assignment? Maybe Olivia wonders how elephants are able to ‘hear’ through the adipose tissue in their feet… could this question ground a future unit on the behavior of sound waves? This process is like climbing a rock wall– your ascension path changes as you find different grips and attain more stable footing.
These websites are all FREE and they offer an amazing smorgasbord of cool phenomena, real-world science applications, information databases, video collections, inquiry project ideas and more! Explore, brainstorm, and get excited about the possibilities! Oh and p.s. I plan to add to this list as I find more!
Project Phenomena
On Project Phenomena you can search by Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) and grade level to find interesting real-world phenomena from which to launch your units! There are also tons of links to additional resources embedded on the site!
Wonderopolis
Oh my gosh. Talk about kids following their curiosities! This. Website. Is. Incredible. Head over to Wonderopolis and go to the Explore Wonders page where you can search for topics that you are going to be teaching. You can find relevant videos that will help you to isolate a phenomenon to base your students’ studies on. Don’t miss the Educator page called The Wonder Ground, where there is a database of lessons and other educator resources!
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site is chockfull of incredible happenings in Earth and Ocean science. Check out the Education section to find resources and activites for specific DCI’s.
Model Based Inquiry
The Phenomena Ideas section of the Model Based Inquiry site is easy to navigate as it is organized by NGSS Discipline. This site has excellently-curated questions and associated resources to help you plan specific unit investigations with super engaging anchoring content!
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
On the Jet Propulsion Laboratory website you can find NASA-approved mini-projects, slideshows, videos, and games sorted by topic and grade level.
The Kid Should See This
The best site for finding kid-friendly videos that will WOW and amaze your students is The Kid Should See This! Try showing a video that will provide the foundation for students to come up with further questions that they can explore. But BEWARE: once you’re on this website it’s hard to leave if you love learning strange and incredible things!
Exploratorium
‘Hungry for fresh, exciting science activities based in amazing phenomena?’ Check out the Exploratorium website’s Science Snacks– fun, hands-on activities that will get your students engaged and thinking! I love exploring this site for neat ideas aligned with the NGSS.
The Wonder of Science
Now here is a WONDERful resource! This one will be a go-to for me! The Wonder of Science has tons of curated phenomena ideas, video links, anchor chart examples, and assessment possibilities all organized by standard. And the whole website is sort of set up in a 3-dimensional manner where you can explore by DCI or by science practice to locate appropriate resources for your class.
NGSS Phenomena
The name says it all! The author of NGSS Phenomena calls himself an ‘extreme hoarder’ of NGSS resources. Type your topic into the Searchable Phenomena search bar and find some fascinating photos that could simply be used as conversation pieces to engage your students or that might spark a great idea for a performance assessment.
Veritasium YouTube Channel
The name ‘Veritasium‘ stems from the Latin veritas, meaning truth. This YouTube channel has hundreds of videos that explore the science behind real life phenomena. To focus your unit of study, show short clips from one of the videos and have your students write lots of questions that they have about the phenomena. Write their questions on a poster paper, then go through them and check off the ones that could be investigated in class.
Zooniverse
Want your students to see how data collection and observation skills are utilized in the real world? Find a project relevant to your current unit on Zooniverse! This website catalogues citizen science projects going on around the globe.
Teach Engineering
If you are looking to incorporate more of the engineering standards into your planning, try searching the STEM curriculum or Maker Space lesson inventories on TeachEngineering! This is an invaluable resource for planning lessons and units through an engineering lens.
Physics Girl YouTube Channel
Another great science YouTuber Dianna Cowern explores fascinating facets of physics on her Physics Girl YouTube Channel. Gather ideas for investigations that your students could do within your classroom to find answers to a specific phenomena, or show clips of Dianna’s videos to anchor your unit.
cK-12
If you have Google Classroom, this one is for you! The cK12 website has loads of lesson ideas and supplemental resources for hitting the DCI’s in each NGSS standard. You can assign videos and activities for your students to complete from this website directly through your Google Classroom.
Science Buddies
ScienceBuddies has a sorting function for topic and grade level and a nice collection of NGSS-aligned lesson plans and suggested performance assessments.
PBS Learning Media
Browse the standards to find a plethora of idea-generating resources for teaching to the NGSS on PBS Learning Media. You can find videos of other teachers teaching certain topics, articles, public broadcasting show clips, vetted webpages, and more.
The Concord Consortium
Wow. The Concord Consortium website is a gem, especially if you appreciate visuals. Click on the buttons for your science content area, the science and engineering practice you’re looking to practice, and the cross-cutting concept you’d like to incorporate. There are some excellent ideas here.
eGFI
Check out the neat ideas on the eGFI website (this is sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education and it stands for Engineering: Go For It! There are great lesson plans and project ideas here.
Cool Green Science
If you teach life science, the Cool Green Science blog by The Nature Conservancy has lots of fascinating posts that dig into wildlife and biology-related questions. Use this blog for phenomena-finding inspiration!
EnviroLink and Inhabitat
If you’re looking for recent news stories relevant to a topic that you’re teaching, check out the headlines at EnviroLink or Inhabitat. A lot of the news is sobering, but some of it is hopeful… and it’s all going on in our world.
Science Friday
One of my favorite radio programs has a website that is a great resource for finding eye-popping examples of cool science! Check out the collection of free articles at Science Friday! I also suggest trying the Chrome extension Insert Learning to turn the articles into awesome interactive lessons and post them on your Google Classroom.
Pulitzer Center
To find authentic examples of science-based humanitarian issues like water quality, nuclear issues, climate change, and pollution, go to the lesson builder at the Pulitzer Center. Try the advanced search feature and select ‘science’.
Science Journal
If you have iPads in your classroom or you are able to allow your students to use their smart phones to collect data, check out the neat experiments at Science Journal. You can have your students monitor motion, light levels, heart rate and more! They’ll collect information to graph and analyze and they can come to conclusions about the relevant science phenomena behind their empirical data.
National Geographic
National Geographic stole my heart a long time ago and it still delivers in every issue. The website also has a great collection of lessons that will help ground your students’ explorations in real phenomena and events. Search the lesson database by subject to find intriguing ideas!
If you have found other great web resources, please leave the links in the comments section to share!
