Teacher enactment of the crosscutting concepts in next generation science classrooms

The release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012) provides the basis for the next generation of science standards. This article first describes that foundation for the life sciences; it then presents a draft standard for natural selection and evolution. Finally, there is a discussion of the implications of the new standards for biology programs in general and curriculum, instruction, and assessment in particular.

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Using Storyboarding to Model Gene Expression

The American Biology Teacher ◽

10.1525/abt.2015.77.6.452 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 77 (6) ◽

pp. 452-457

Author(s):

Michele Korb ◽

Shannon Colton ◽

Gina Vogt

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Performance Assessment ◽

Content Knowledge ◽

Structure And Function ◽

Next Generation Science Standards ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Next Generation ◽

Science Standards ◽

And Function ◽

Crosscutting Concepts

Students often find it challenging to create images of complex, abstract biological processes. Using modified storyboards, which contain predrawn images, students can visualize the process and anchor ideas from activities, labs, and lectures. Storyboards are useful in assessing students’ understanding of content in larger contexts. They enable students to use models to construct explanations, with evidence to support hypotheses – practices emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Storyboards provide an opportunity for performance assessment of students’ content knowledge against a backdrop of observing patterns, determining scale, and establishing relationships between structure and function – crosscutting concepts within the NGSS framework.

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Using Next Generation Science Standards’ Crosscutting Concepts as a Tool for Climate Change and Citizenship Education 1

Teaching and Learning About Climate Change ◽

10.4324/9781315629841-13 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 181-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hannah K. Miller ◽

Charles W. Anderson

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Citizenship Education ◽

Next Generation Science Standards ◽

Next Generation ◽

Science Standards ◽

Crosscutting Concepts

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How Might the Next Generation Science Standards Support Styles of Scientific Reasoning in Biology?

The American Biology Teacher ◽

10.1525/abt.2020.82.9.579 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 82 (9) ◽

pp. 579-583

Author(s):

Stephanie Rafanelli ◽

Jonathan Osborne

Keyword(s):

Scientific Reasoning ◽

Next Generation Science Standards ◽

Next Generation ◽

Science Standards ◽

Biology Teachers ◽

New Approach ◽

Performance Expectation ◽

K 12 ◽

Biology Curriculum ◽

Crosscutting Concepts

In this article, we put forward a new approach to the teaching of scientific reasoning in biology with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). We argue that a framework based on the idea of six styles of scientific reasoning provides the best guide for biology teachers to the nature of scientific reasoning in biology and how it might be taught. The current framework of the crosscutting concepts fails to provide a narrative for what makes biology distinctive and how biological scientists reason. By contrast, a framework of styles of scientific reasoning does offer a coherent argument for the biology curriculum in grades K–12, a justification for each performance expectation, and a vision of how each standard might support the development of scientific reasoning in biology. Examples and implications for curriculum designers and educators are discussed.

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