The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that phenomena and/or problems are connected to grade-band Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs). Across each instructional sequence, the materials consistently provide opportunities for students to engage with grade-band appropriate DCIs through the lens of a unit-level phenomenon or problem. 

The materials for high school are presented through four units of study, which are each anchored by a unit-level phenomenon or problem. In each of these cases, the phenomenon or problem is presented within the first lesson of its respective unit. As students initially engage with each phenomenon or problem they do not engage with any grade-band DCIs, but the phenomena or problem does require student use of DCIs in the subsequent learning opportunities. In nearly all successive lessons of each unit, students are presented with at least one DCI with which to engage. In some cases, lessons may initially engage students in elements of DCIs below grade-band and then build to more complex understanding of high school-level DCIs over the course of the lesson or successive lessons.

Examples of phenomena and problems that are connected to grade-band DCIs:

• In Unit 1: How can bacteria cause infections?, the phenomenon is that Zach, a healthy 11-year old, develops a life-threatening infection.

  • In Chapter 1, Lesson 3: What do bacteria need to live and grow?, students observe bacterial growth via timelapse video and simulate bacterial growth at varying temperatures in order to compare the effect of environmental conditions on population size. Students work with the idea of how the availability of resources (heat energy) will limit the carrying capacity of an ecosystem (DCI-LS2.A-H1) as they make sense of the phenomenon.  

  • In Chapter 2, Lesson 7: How do we know when we are sick?, students relate the range in variability of human health indicators to the out-of-range condition of a critically ill patient. Students work with the idea of the need for the internal conditions of a living system to remain within a functional range in order for that system to remain alive (DCI-LS1.A-H4) as they make sense of the phenomenon.

• In Unit 2: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the phenomenon is a 45-year old woman who dies suddenly from a heart attack and other cases of patients with different levels of risk for heart disease.

  • In Chapter 5, Lesson 8: How can two siblings have very different genotypes and outcomes?, students analyze the pedigrees of human siblings and observe that the siblings possess different sets of alleles for traits affecting risk factors for heart disease. Additionally, students read about and diagram the process of meiosis. Students work with the idea of processes by which, in sexual reproduction, parental chromosomes can swap sections during cell division, leading to new genetic combinations (DCI-LS3.B-H1) as they make sense of the phenomenon. 

  • In Chapter 6, Lesson 11: How can people with similar genes have very different health outcomes?, students make observations using medical data from sets of identical twins. Students compare the health outcomes between sets of identical and fraternal twins and consider how environmental factors can account for different health outcomes in nearly genetically identical patients. Students work with the idea of the effect of environmental factors on the expression of traits within an organism and the probability of the occurrences of traits within a population (DCI-LS3.B-H2) as they make sense of the phenomenon.

• In Unit 3: How can we use scientific and social understandings of nutrition and natural resources to improve a food system?, the problem is to design a plan to meet the nutritional requirements of a population while reducing the impact on natural resources.

  • In Chapter 7, Lesson 2: What is food and what happens to food when we eat it?, students analyze food labels to look for patterns in substances that make up food. Additionally, students investigate how food molecules become part of the body when eaten. Students work with the idea of food as a source of matter that provides the chemical elements that are recombined in different ways to form different products (DCI-LS1.C-H3) as they solve the problem.

  • In Chapter 8, Lesson 7: Why do plant-based foods tend to require less land to produce?, students examine how plants use photosynthesis to increase their mass and to drive system energy flows in order to construct an argument to explain why consumers need more land than producers. Students work with the idea of energy transfer and loss during cellular respiration (DCS-LS1.C-H4) as they solve the problem.

• In Unit 4: Why are so many species declining now while a few seem to be expanding, and why does it matter?, the phenomenon is that coyote populations are increasing while other species are experiencing population decline.

  • In Chapter 11, Lesson 6: What explains why sometimes more species go extinct than are forming?, students evaluate data about extinctions over time, consider competing arguments for why the total number of Earth’s species has increased, and examine the effects of environmental change on populations. Students work with the idea of how physical changes in the environment have contributed to the expansion of some species, emergence of new species, and the decline–and sometimes extinction–of some species (DCI-LS4.C-H4) as they make sense of the phenomenon. 

  • In Chapter 12, Lesson 14: How can human activity promote ecosystem health and resilience?, students discuss solutions that will promote ecosystem health and examine two case studies that propose solutions for the mitigation of biodiversity loss. Students work with the idea of how the complex set of interactions within an ecosystem, once disrupted, can lead to extreme fluctuations in conditions and population size (DCI-LS2.C-H1) as they make sense of the phenomenon.

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that phenomena and/or problems are presented to students as directly as possible. Within the materials, a unit-level phenomenon or problem is presented within the first lesson of each of the four units. 

In all cases, phenomena in the materials begin with the examination of a real-world case study presented via informational text or video, which is followed by an opportunity for students to consider an ancillary or related dataset. While these presentations do not provide first-hand experiences, they are presented as directly as possible with respect to student safety, scale, or geographical access. The material’s design problem is presented through a situational simulation. In this instance the materials present a global issue in terms of a local concern. Presentation of the problem is as direct as possible as students engage in a hands-on hypothetical exercise from the perspective of a local community planner. 

Examples of phenomena and problems that are presented as directly as possible:

• In Unit 1: How can bacteria cause infections?, the phenomenon is Zach, a healthy 11-year old, who develops a life-threatening infection. The phenomenon is presented to students through a video clip detailing Zach’s story. As they view the 25-minute video, students process a timeline of Zach’s infection and develop questions about infection as they engage in discussions at indicated pausing points. This phenomenon provides all students with a shared experience or common point of entry into understanding Zach’s situation.

• In Unit 2: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the phenomenon is a 45-year old woman who dies suddenly from a heart attack and other cases of patients with different levels of risk for heart disease. The phenomenon is presented to students through a short story that details the death of Coach Sampson, an otherwise healthy 45-year-old woman, and 34 patient medical histories. As they read and annotate the story of Coach Sampson and then examine the medical records and charts of additional patients, students generate questions about factors associated with heart disease. This phenomenon provides all students with a shared experience or common point of entry into understanding the death of Coach Sampson.

• In Unit 3: How can we use scientific and social understandings of nutrition and natural resources to improve a food system?, the problem is to design a plan to meet the nutritional requirements of a population while reducing the impact on natural resources. The problem is presented to students through a menu building activity where students generate a menu for a community event from a limited list of food options. As they sort through the provided food cards, students consider the constraints associated with feeding a community a healthy diet. This problem provides all students with a shared experience or common point of entry into designing a menu.

• In Unit 4: Why are so many species declining now while a few seem to be expanding, and why does it matter?, the phenomenon is that coyote populations are increasing while other species are experiencing population decline. The phenomenon is presented to students through a series of news headlines related to species decline and extinction and student analysis of population data for ten species collected over time. As students evaluate the news items, they compare environmental trends and population change. This phenomenon provides all students with a shared experience or common point of entry into understanding the coyote population.

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that phenomena and/or problems drive individual lessons or activities using key elements of all three dimensions. 

Across the materials, individual lessons are consistently in service of, or connected to, designing solutions or constructing explanations for unit-level problems or phenomena presented in the anchor lesson at the beginning of each unit. The materials consistently support student engagement with unit-level problems and phenomena through guided use of driving question boards (DQBs) and model trackers. DQBs present targeted questions as well as student wonderings and are frequently revisited throughout each unit. The model tracker is used to capture students’ evolving ideas with respect to phenomena and problems. It is largely consensus driven and frequently updated to address new learning. In some instances, questions present in the materials and initial student questions that are connected to the unit-level problem or phenomenon motivate the learning in those lessons.  

The materials consistently provide students with opportunities to engage with a variety of elements of all three dimensions to explain phenomena or solve problems. While most lessons engage students in some aspect of the SEP of modeling, student learning is nearly always supported by additional practices. Students are frequently presented with opportunities to ask questions, engage with informational texts and data, defend arguments, and develop explanations and/or solutions. The materials consistently provide opportunities for students to engage with a variety of CCC elements connected to systems and system models.

Examples where phenomena or problems drive individual lessons using all three dimensions:

• In Unit 1, Chapter 2, Lesson 7: How do we know when we are sick?, the phenomenon–Zach, a healthy 11-year old, who develops a life-threatening infection–drives instruction as students consider Zach’s symptoms as they investigate fevers as a symptom of illness. Within the lesson, students evaluate how data that illustrates what happens when a body’s feedback systems (DCI-LS1.A-H4) can no longer maintain stable parameters (CCC-SC-H1) impacts their explanation of how illness occurs (SEP-DATA-H5). 

• In Unit 1, Chapter 3, Lesson 11: Why aren’t antibiotics working as well as they used to?, the phenomenon–Zach, a healthy 11-year old, who develops a life-threatening infection–drives instruction as students consider Zach’s response to interventions as they investigate antibiotic resistance. Within the lesson, students generate questions (SEP-AQDP-H1) about antibiotic resistance in response to data that illustrates the causal relationship (CCC-CE-H2) between antibiotic use and an increase in antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria (DCI-LS4.B-H2).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 3: How does some matter from our food become part of our bodies?, the problem–to design a plan to meet the nutritional requirements of a population while reducing the impact on natural resources–drives instruction as students investigate how the nutrients in foods are used in the human body as they consider what food items to include in their meal plan. Within the lesson, students use informational text, diagrams, and experimental data (SEP-INFO-H2) to construct an explanation (SEP-CEDS-H2) to describe how babies are able to consume all of their nutrients from milk alone (DCI-LS1.C-H3, CCC-EM-H2). 

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8, Lesson 9: What affects how we can use land to produce food?, the problem–to design a plan to meet the nutritional requirements of a population while reducing the impact on natural resources–drives instruction as students investigate how growing food affects the land where it is grown as they consider the environmental impact of food items in their meal plan. Within the lesson, students investigate how agriculture impacts energy and matter flows in soil ecosystems (CCC-EM-H2), and how the carrying capacity of soil ecosystems (DCI-LS2.A-H1) limits agricultural output to revise a model that illustrates the relationship between human, plant, and soil systems (SEP-MOD-H3). 

• In Unit 4, Chapter 10, Lesson 4: Why might a species start to live in totally new areas?, the phenomenon–coyote populations are increasing while other species are experiencing population decline–drives instruction as students consider observed changes in the coyote population as they investigate carrying capacity and human land use. Within the lesson, students read and analyze texts (SEP-INFO-H1) that describe the distribution of coyote populations and investigate the impacts of human land use on coyote ranges to explain why coyote populations are changing (DCI-LS4.C-H4, CCC-SC-H1). 

• In Unit 4, Chapter 11, Lesson 9: When there is an environmental change, what conditions make adaptation or extinction more likely in a population?, the phenomenon–coyote populations are increasing while other species are experiencing population decline–drives instruction as students consider the relationship of coyotes to wolves as they investigate the relationship between adaptation and speciation. Within the lesson, students draw upon patterns observed in multiple case studies (CCC-PAT-H1) to make and defend a claim (SEP-ARG-H5) to describe the conditions under which speciation is likely to occur (DCI-LS4.C-H4).

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they embed phenomena or problems across multiple lessons for students to use and build knowledge of all three dimensions. 

Within the materials, an instructional sequence, or chapter, comprises five connected lessons designed to answer a question pertinent to resolving a unit-level problem or phenomenon. Across the materials, chapters consistently provide students with opportunities to engage with Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) as they ask questions, critically read scientific literature, develop and revise models, and construct and defend arguments. Additionally, the materials consistently incorporate elements of the Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) as students frequently work to understand and describe cause and effect relationships, investigate and describe systems, and make sense of the movement of matter and flow of energy through a system.

Most lessons provide student discourse opportunities. Incidents of discourse frequently begin with a partner turn-and-talk activity or small group discussion followed by a whole-class discussion, in which consensus models are developed, evaluated, and revised. Other common discourse routines include Scientists’ Circles for generating class-wide ideas and the I² (Interpret and Identify) Strategy, a protocol for helping students to make sense of graphical or case information. In the materials, Synthesize Lessons provide targeted opportunities for students to engage in discourse as they take stock of what they figured out relative to the unit-level phenomena or problem, and build consensus around co-constructed explanatory models. 

Examples of phenomena or problems embedded across multiple lessons for students to use and build knowledge of all three dimensions:

• In Unit 1: How can bacteria cause infections?, the phenomenon is Zach, a healthy 11-year old, who develops a life-threatening infection.

  • In Chapter 2: How does the body respond to infections? (Lessons 6 - 10), the phenomenon drives student learning across multiple lessons as students build understanding of infection types and symptoms and the human body’s immune response to infection as they make sense of Zach’s illness. Across the learning sequence, students develop and revise a model (SEP-MOD-H3) of the human body’s immune response as they examine the cause and effect relationships present (CCC-CE-H2) in the feedback mechanisms responsible for maintaining the internal conditions of a living system (DCI-LS1.A-H3, DCI-LS1.A-H4). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to evaluate symptoms and evidence of infection, develop an explanation of what symptoms reveal about immune system responses, and seek consensus to explain Zach’s illness. 

  • In Chapter 3: What explains the increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections? (Lessons 11-16), the phenomena drives student learning across multiple lessons as students build understanding of antibiotic use, bacterial variation, the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and responsible antibiotic use as they make sense of Zach’s illness. Across the learning sequence, students use a simulated model (SEP-MOD-H3) of genetic variation in bacterial populations to demonstrate how antibiotic resistance increases in the population over time (DCI-LS4.B-H1, DCI-LS4.B-H2). Students then construct a new model to define the conditions that exist that allow a bacterial population to display changes in trait distribution (CCC-SYS-H2). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to identify connections between changes in antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use, identify components and assumptions of proposed models of antibiotic resistance, and seek consensus to explain Zach’s response to antibiotics.

• In Unit 2: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the phenomenon is a 45-year old woman who dies suddenly from a heart attack and other cases of patients with different levels of risk for heart disease.

  • In Chapter 5: What other genetic factors could contribute to our risk of heart disease and what determines which ones we get? (Lessons 6-10), the phenomenon drives student learning across multiple lessons as students build understanding of how family history, genetic mutation, and genetic variation impact the occurrence of heart disease. Across the learning sequence, students obtain scientific evidence from multiple adapted literary texts (SEP-INFO-H1) to describe the structure of chromosomes and their relation to phenotype (DCI.LS3.A-H1) as well as how reproduction contributes to genetic variation and possible mutation (DCI.LS3.B-H1). As students construct models (SEP-MOD-H3) to explain the occurrence of heart disease, they consider the interactions of multiple systems that generate genetic variation and their inputs and outputs (CCC-SYS-H2). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to examine evidence of the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease, determine the cause of high LDL cholesterol, identify components and assumptions of proposed models of heart disease, and seek consensus to explain how genetics contribute to heart disease risk.

  • In Chapter 6: What contributes to heart disease and other complex diseases and how much influence do we have over outcomes? (Lessons 11-16), the phenomenon drives student learning across multiple lessons as students build understanding of how the influence of environmental factors can increase variation in the occurrence of heart disease. Across the learning sequence, students integrate evidence from multiple formats (SEP-INFO-H2) to identify cause and effect relationships between different environmental risk factors and heart disease (DCI-LS3.B-H2) as they develop an explanation for the occurrence of heart disease in a patient (CCC-CE-H2). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to examine genetic and environmental characteristics of a set of identical twins, predict the likelihood that environmental factors and behavior will impact health, make claims regarding diet and health, and seek consensus to explain how environmental factors contribute to the risk of heart disease.

• In Unit 3: How can we use scientific and social understandings of nutrition and natural resources to improve a food system?, the problem is to design a plan to meet the nutritional requirements of a population while reducing the impact on natural resources.

  • In Chapter 7: What do we need from food? (Lessons 1-5), the problem drives student learning across multiple lessons as students consider the matter and energy needs of human bodies with respect to designing a plan to feed a human. Across the learning sequence, students develop a model to illustrate (SEP-MOD-H3) the energy flows in, out of, and within an organism (CCC-EM-H2) as they develop their understanding of how cellular respiration provides energy for life’s processes and the macromolecules used to form new cells (DCI-LS1.C-H2, DCI-LS1.C-H4). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to share and respond to feedback for students’ initial meal plan solutions, identify components and assumptions of proposed models for dietary requirements, and seek consensus to identify what human bodies need from food in order to design a nutritional meal plan.

  • In Chapter 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others? (Lesson 6-10), the problem drives student learning across multiple lessons as students consider where food comes from and why some food requires more resources than others with respect to identifying the amount of land needed to produce the food humans need to survive. Across the learning sequence, students revise a model to illustrate (SEP-MOD-H3) the energy flows in, out of, and within a food web (CCC-EM-H2) as they develop their understanding of the inefficiency of matter and energy transfer from lower to higher trophic levels within a food web and the resulting abundance of organisms within an ecosystem (DCI-LS2.B-H2). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to identify the impact of food choices on natural resource consumption as well as to define components and interactions within food systems to be investigated.

• In Unit 4: Why are so many species declining now while a few seem to be expanding, and why does it matter?, the phenomenon is that coyote populations are increasing while other species are experiencing population decline.

  • In Chapter 11: What explains why scientists are concerned we are experiencing a 6th mass extinction? (Lessons 6-10), the phenomenon drives student learning across multiple lessons as students examine the case of the now extinct North American dire wolf in order to make sense of the relative success of contemporary coyote populations. Across the learning sequence, students examine patterns of decline and adaptation in coyote, wolf, and direwolf populations through multiple case studies (CCC-PAT-H5) to identify evidence of adaptation, speciation, and extinction occurring as a result of changing conditions (DCI-LS4.C-H3, DCI-LS4.C-H4) in order to compare and evaluate competing ideas to explain why species, like coyotes, are expanding while others, like wolves, are contracting and others, like direwolves, have gone extinct (SEP-ARG-H1). The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to consider patterns of extinction and adaptation and evaluate competing arguments to explain changes in global biodiversity over time, brainstorm possible sources of genetic variation, and establish ideas about what makes a species a species. 

  • In Chapter 12: How are changes to biodiversity affecting ecosystems (and us as part of ecosystems) and why does it matter? (Lessons 11-16), the phenomenon drives student learning across multiple lessons as students build understanding of human dependance of biodiversity, the impact of human activities on biodiversity, and how stewardship of biodiversity can minimize those impacts in order to make sense of observed changes to coyote populations. Across the learning sequence, students examine how biodiversity impacts the stability of ecosystems (DCI-LS4.D-H1, DCI-LS4.D-H2) and then develop a model to illustrate (SEP-MOD-H3) the destabilizing effect of biodiversity loss on the health of ecosystems (CCC-SC-H3) in order to explain the expansion of coyote populations as a function of a destabilized ecosystem. The materials provide multiple opportunities for discourse through small-group and whole-class discussions to analyze patterns in habitat conservation and make predictions about habitat loss, evaluate human attempts at stewardship, and consider how changes in biodiversity affect ecosystems.

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they are designed to integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEP), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) into student learning opportunities. The materials consistently integrate the three dimensions in at least one activity per lesson. 

Integration of the three dimensions generally occurs through several SEP-focused learning routines that integrate revolving elements of DCIs and CCCs, and in many instances, additional elements of SEPs. These learning routines: Driving Question Board, Model Tracker, and Argument Tool, are frequently revisited across the lessons of each chapter, providing students with multiple opportunities to ask questions, develop models, and construct arguments through the lens of a variety of DCIs and CCCs. In some instances, the materials present learning opportunities that do not integrate elements of a DCI with CCCs or SEPs. Rather, the materials integrate content from Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science (ETS) elements with elements of the SEPs and CCCs.

Examples of learning opportunities in which elements of all three dimensions are integrated:

• In Unit 1, Chapter 2, Lesson 7: How do we know when we’re sick?, students engage in a learning opportunity to investigate how body conditions can indicate illness when they are out of range.  Students use graphs of body temperature over time to define what it means when a body goes “out of range”. Students collect, graph, and analyze data related to normal body temperature (DCI-LS1.A-H4), fluctuations, and fevers (SEP-DATA-M4) to revise a model to account for observed (SEP-MOD-H3) variations in body temperature (CCC-SC-H1).

• In Unit 1, Chapter 3, Lesson 11: Why aren’t antibiotics working as well as they used to?, students engage in a learning opportunity to investigate antibiotic resistance and how antibiotics are used. Students discuss the role of antibiotics in the treatment of infection, analyze the change in antibiotic resistance over time (DCI-LS4.B-H1, DCI-LS4.C-H1), and examine the cause and effect relationship between antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance (CCC-CE-H2) in order to generate questions (SEP-AQDP-H1) about antibiotic resistance. 

• In Unit 2, Chapter 5, Lesson 6: What explains why some people have a family history of high cholesterol, but no LDLR mutation?, students engage in a learning opportunity to investigate genetic mutations that create disruptions to protein function causing high LDL cholesterol. Students examine the medical charts of multiple patients for evidence of a family history of high cholesterol but lack the LDLR mutation. Students use their understanding of the effect of mutation on (DCI-LS3.A-H1) structure and function as they refine an argument (SEP-ARG-H4) to account for the cause and effect mechanism of gene mutation and LDL receptor function (CCC-CE-H2).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 2: What is food and what happens to food when we eat it?, students engage in a learning opportunity to investigate how atoms move from being the components of a food source to becoming part of the body. Students examine how an isotope changes as it moves into, out of, and/or through the body of a rat (DCI-LS1.C-H3) to develop a model to track the movement of atoms into, out of, and through the body system (SEP-MOD-H3, CCC-SYS-H3). 

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8, Lesson 7: Why do plant-based foods tend to require less land to produce?, students engage in a learning opportunity to determine how many organisms are needed to support another organism’s life. Students integrate their understanding of the concept of energy transfer in a simple food chain (DCI-LS2.B-H2) to determine how many organisms chickens and humans consume in one lifetime (SEP-MOD-H3, CCC-EM-H2).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 9, Lesson 15: How can we design effective solutions that improve food systems?, students engage in a learning opportunity to develop a model to illustrate (SEP-MOD-H3) how societal criteria and constraints (DCI-ETS1.A-H1) impact the effort to create a sustainable food system (DCI-ESS3.C-H2, DCI-ETS1.A-H2, CCC-SYS-H1). 

• In Unit 4, Chapter 12, Lesson 12: How do we rely on and benefit from biodiversity?, students engage in a learning opportunity to investigate human reliance on functioning ecosystems and the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning. Students use a text about the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning (DCI-LS2.C-H1, DCI-LS4.D-H2, SEP-INFO-H1) to model the cause and effect relationships that organisms have on each other in an ecosystem (SEP-MOD-H3, CCC-CE-H2).

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they consistently support meaningful student sensemaking with the three dimensions. 

The materials provide lesson-level learning opportunities for students to engage in the intentional use of the three dimensions within and across sequences of learning through repeated use of structured learning routines in which elements of SEPs and CCCs support sensemaking with elements of DCIs. 

The structure of sensemaking within the materials follows a five lesson progression, which is repeated in each chapter.  In most instances, the first four lessons of a chapter present learning opportunities that are designed to engage students in three-dimensional learning. Within these opportunities, students frequently access new information through close reading, discussion, laboratory simulation, analyzing case studies, and evaluating data. In most instances, within the fifth and final lesson of each chapter, student sensemaking activities conclude with the construction and revision of consensus-driven models and/or evidence-based arguments. In general, the rigor and depth of sensemaking increases across each chapter as students are provided with multiple opportunities to synthesize new learning with prior understanding. 

The SEPs asking questions, developing and using models, and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information are the most common practices employed in sensemaking processes and occur in predictable patterns throughout each unit, chapter, and lesson. The materials use a range of CCCs within activities and frequently through the lens of a practice, most often modeling. The CCCs often serve as focal points for how the DCIs are represented through developed student and whole-class models. 

Examples of learning sequences in which elements of the three dimensions are integrated with meaningful student sensemaking:

• In Unit 1, Chapter 1: How can bacteria cause infections?, students engage in a series of lessons to make sense of what bacteria are and how they differ from other life forms. Across the lessons in this chapter, students use and build the SEPs and CCCs with DCIs as they develop an explanation for how bacteria cause infection. Examples of learning opportunities within this sequence that display students’ sensemaking of the three dimensions include:

  • In Lesson 3: What do bacteria need to live and grow?, students make sense of the conditions that support bacterial growth as they use a simulation to analyze (SEP-MATH-H2) and identify interactions within the bacterial environment (CCC-CE-H2) that impact bacterial growth (DCI-LS2.A-H1).

  • In Lesson 4: Why do some bacteria cause us problems?, students make sense of how bacteria interfere with our cells’ ability to operate as they critically read (SEP-INFO-H1) and engage with four case studies detailing instances of interactions between bacterial populations and human cells and how these interactions can cause changes in human systems (CCC-CE-H2, DCI-LS1.A-H1).

• In Unit 2, Chapter 4: What is cholesterol and what could cause it to be high?, students engage in a series of lessons to make sense of how the structure and resulting function of proteins can be a major contributor of high cholesterol for some individuals. Across the lessons in this chapter, students use and build the SEPs, and CCCs with DCIs as they develop an explanation for why a person could have high cholesterol and how high cholesterol relates to the risk of heart disease. Examples of learning opportunities within this sequence that display students’ sensemaking of the three dimensions include:

  • In Lesson 1: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, students make sense of factors, such as diet, that correlate with heart disease as they evaluate several case studies for factors that correlate with heart disease risk (CCC-CE-H2) alongside a dataset detailing national heart disease rates (SEP-DATA-M4) in order to develop a mechanistic model for the cause of heart disease (SEP-MOD-H4).

  • In Lesson 3: What might cause someone’s cholesterol to be high?, students make sense of how proteins and amino acids impact cholesterol levels as they develop a model (SEP-MOD-H4) to represent the role of proteins and amino acids involved in cholesterol metabolism (CCC-CE-H2, DCI-LS1.A-H2).

  • In Lesson 5: What other genetic factors could contribute to our risk of heart disease and what determines which ones we get?, students make sense of the correlation between high cholesterol and heart disease as they develop a model (SEP-MOD-H3) and construct arguments (SEP-ARG-H5) to explain the relationship between cholesterol and the risk of heart disease (SEP-CEDS-H3).

• In Unit 2, Chapter 6: What contributes to heart disease and other complex diseases and how much influence do we have over outcomes?, students engage in a series of lessons to make sense of how genetic and environmental interactions can contribute to the risk of heart disease in individuals and communities. Across the lessons in this chapter, students use and build the SEPs, and CCCs with DCIs as they develop an explanation of how some risk factors are within our control and others are not with respect to the risk of disease. Examples of learning opportunities within this sequence that display students’ sensemaking of the three dimensions include:

  • In Lesson 11: How can people with similar genes have very different health outcomes?, students make sense of how environmental factors contribute to the development of disease as they analyze the medical history of a set of twins, they ask questions (SEP-AQPD-H1) about what environmental factors might cause the twins to have different health outcomes (CCC-CE-H2) despite having nearly identical genes (DCI-LS1.B-H2).

  • In Lesson 13: How do environmental factors affect risk of heart disease and how do those factors interact with genetics?, students make sense of how environmental factors can exacerbate genetic predisposition to disease as they analyze a data set summarizing studies that examined dietary patterns and genes (SEP-DATA-H5) as they consider different environmental factors that interact with genes to cause observable variations in traits (DCI-LS3.B-H2) and establish connections between specific risk factors like smoking and heart disease (CCC-CE-H2).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, students engage with a series of lessons to make sense of how different eating patterns require differing amounts of land due to the trophic levels of the organisms consumed. Across the lessons in this chapter, students use and build the SEPs, and CCCs with DCIs as they develop an explanation for how different trophic levels require different levels of energy and matter resources. Examples of learning opportunities within this sequence that display students’ sensemaking of the three dimensions include:

• In Lesson 9: What affects how we can use land to produce food?, student make sense of the mechanisms behind the movement of matter and energy between organisms as they use atomic, food chain, and food web models (SEP-MOD-H3) to demonstrate the flows of matter and energy (CCC-EM-H2) due to photosynthesis and cellular respiration (DCI-LS2.B-H3).

  • In Lesson 10: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, students make sense of how energy and mass move between trophic levels and cycle through ecosystems as they develop a model to explain (SEP-MOD-H3) how energy and matter move and cycle through trophic levels (CCC-EM-H2) impacting the carrying capacity of land and thereby what the land is used for (CCC-SYS-H2, DCI-LS2.A-H1). 

• In Unit 4, Chapter 12: How are changes to biodiversity affecting ecosystems (and us as part of ecosystems) and why does it matter?, students engage in a series of lessons to make sense of how mitigation strategies can impact the biodiversity of disrupted and/or destabilized ecosystems. Across the lessons in this chapter, students use and build the SEPs, and CCCs with DCIs as they develop an explanation for how losses in biodiversity impact ecosystems. Examples of learning opportunities within this sequence that display students’ sensemaking of the three dimensions include:

  • In Lesson 12: How do we rely on and benefit from biodiversity?, students make sense of why biodiversity matters as they compare information from multiple sources (SEP-INFO-H1) as they investigate how humans have altered ecosystems and the resulting decline in biodiversity as they compare information across multiple long-term research studies (DCI-LS2.C-H1, SEP-DATA-H1, SEP-INFO-H1) to figure out that there are ecological patterns that repeat in the long-term and in the short-term across ecosystems (CCC-SC-H4, CCC-PAT-H5). 

  • In Lesson 14: How can human activity promote ecosystem health and resilience?, students make sense of how losses to biodiversity can be halted or slowed through human behavior as they analyze two case studies of solutions that were implemented to mitigate biodiversity loss and evaluate how well the solutions meet the desired criteria and constraints of the problem (DCI-LS4.D-H2) as they construct an argument, supported by evidence (SEP-ARG-H5, CCC-PAT-H3), to suggest improvements to the proposed systems.

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they consistently provide element-level three-dimensional learning objectives and consistently provide opportunities for students to use and develop the respective three dimensions. 

Overall, the materials present lesson-level learning objectives that are three dimensional and closely aligned to the activities presented. In nearly every instance, there is a direct connection between the learning objective and what students are asked to do. 

Of note, are some lessons in which content learned in prior lessons is included in the lessons’ learning objectives. In these cases, students are either reviewing content previously learned or the lesson focus is on SEPs and/or CCCs accessed through the lens of prior learning. In one instance, a learning objective is present that is three dimensional, but addresses content that is outside the assessment boundary for any element of a DCI. In another lesson, a three-dimensional learning target is present; however, the identified DCI element is not fully addressed until the following lesson.

The materials denote learning objectives as Lesson Learning Goals. These single-sentence objectives are identified at the start of each lesson within the material’s Teacher Edition. Each lesson presents one and in rare cases two Learning Goals. The text of the Lesson Learning Goals are color-coded to indicate which dimension is addressed by each phrase within the goal.

Each program lesson includes a Standards Alignment Table located at the beginning of the lesson following the Lesson Snapshot. In the online Teacher Edition this table is referred to as the Lesson NGSS Alignment and is accessed as a pop-up window from an embedded link. This table presents the variety of elements of the three dimensions in which students are engaged throughout lesson activities. While these elements are inclusive of the elements present in the stated lesson learning objectives, they also include multiple additional elements that are not present in the lesson learning objectives.

Example of learning objectives that represent elements of all three dimensions:

• In Unit 1, Chapter 3, Lesson 15: What explains the increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections?, the learning objective, “Develop and revise a class consensus model to explain how increased use of antibiotics can result in increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and how stewardship practices can result in decreased incidence of antibiotic resistant infections”, is three dimensional. In the lesson, students develop a model to explain the increasing incidence of antibiotic resistant infections. Students collaborate with their classmates to develop a class consensus model to illustrate how bacteria have become antibiotic resistant (DCI-LS4.B-H2, SEP-MOD-H3) due to the overuse of antibiotics (CCC-CE-H2).

• In Unit 2, Chapter 4, Lesson 2: Why is high cholesterol an indicator of heart disease?, the learning objective, “Obtain different types and sources of information and communicate to connect the causal relationships between elevated cholesterol levels and system disruptions that lead to coronary artery disease”, is three dimensional. In the lesson students use nutritional labels and patient cases to explain how high cholesterol can influence the risk for heart disease. Students analyze food labels to determine sources of cholesterol and evaluate patient data and graphs that illustrate cholesterol flows through the body (DCI-LS1.A-H3, DCI-LS1.A-H4, SEP-INFO-H1) to determine how cholesterol levels affect the risk of heart disease (CCC-CE-H2, SEP-ARG-H4).

• In Unit 2, Chapter 5, Lesson 6: What explains why some people have a family history of high cholesterol, but no LDLR mutation?, the learning objective, “Ask questions based on unexpected results regarding the cause and effect relationship between family history and high LDL cholesterol”, is three dimensional. In the lesson, students review patient data that conflicts with previously constructed arguments. Students generate a series of questions for investigation (SEP-AQDP-H1) after considering that there may be more than one chromosome/protein/mutation that can cause (CCC-CE-H2) high LDL cholesterol levels (DCI-LS1.A-H2) and concluding that some patients’ LDL cholesterol levels cannot be explained by the cause and effect mechanism of gene mutation and protein receptor function (DCI-LS3.A-H1).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 2: What is food and what happens to food when we eat it?, the learning objective, “Develop a model of the system of interactions of molecules from food, the atoms of which are recombined to form molecules that make up our bodies or leave the body as waste”, is three dimensional. In the lesson, students examine food labels, the structure of macromolecules, and the movement of a protein through an organism. Students identify how molecules in food are taken up by the organisms that consume them (DCI-LS1.C-H3), generate predictions for the movement of a consumed isotope through an organism (SEP-MOD-H3), and simulate the inputs and outputs associated with consuming food (CCC-SYS-H3).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8, Lesson 7: Why do plant-based foods tend to require less land to produce?, the learning objective, “Develop a model to represent the matter and energy transfer into and out of organisms at different levels in a food chain and use the model to explain why certain foods take more land resources to produce than others”, is three dimensional. In the lesson, students consider the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration as they examine land use and trophic energy transfer. Students examine the loss of biomass between trophic levels and within individual organisms (DCI-LS2.B-H2) and develop a model to explain this loss as a function of cellular respiration (SEP-MOD-H3, CCC-EM-H2).

• In Unit 4, Chapter 11, Lesson 7: When there is an environmental change, what conditions make adaptations or extinction more likely in a population?, the learning objective, “Critically read and summarize case study text about different populations experiencing environmental changes in order to determine patterns in what makes a population more likely to adapt or go extinct”, is three dimensional. In the lesson, students investigate the environmental conditions that can lead to speciation and/or extinction events. Students collect information from case studies about populations that have either adapted or gone extinct (SEP-INFO-H2) and use this information to identify patterns (CCC-PAT-H5) in rates of environmental change and genetic variation (DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5).

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they are designed to elicit direct, observable evidence of three-dimensional learning in the instructional materials.

At the chapter level, the materials consistently present one or two explicitly stated three-dimensional learning objectives (Chapter Learning Goals). At the unit level, the materials do not provide specific learning objectives. Rather, different unit-level learning objectives are noted within Alignment to NGSS documentation, as Performance Expectations, and within the materials for each unit assessment, as objectives tailored to specific assessment prompts. The summation of chapter-level learning objectives present in each unit constitute each unit’s goals.

The Alignment to NGSS documentation at the chapter level includes a table that lists focal SEPs and CCCs, as well as full and limited elements of DCIs that are claimed within the chapter and represent the breadth of elements of the three dimensions with which students engage as they experience program activities. These activities frequently engage students with multiple elements of the three dimensions that are not fully captured within the chapter learning objectives but are addressed in the Alignment to NGSS table. Alignment documentation for chapter assessments detail full and limited elements of CCCs, SEPs, and DCIs claimed in these assessments. Elements of the three dimensions claimed in chapter learning objectives are consistently present within the alignment documentation and assessed as claimed. In some cases, elements present in the broader alignment documentation, but not reflected in the chapter objectives, are also assessed.

Examples where chapter summative tasks are designed to measure student achievements of the targeted three-dimensional learning objectives:

• In Unit 2, Chapter 4: What is cholesterol and what could cause it to be high?, the chapter learning objective is, “Obtain information to develop  a model that explains how differences in DNA structure can cause differences in protein structure that may lead to coronary artery disease.” Elements claimed in this objective are consistent with elements claimed in the Assessment Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table for the chapter and are fully assessed, as claimed, within the assessment items. The chapter summative assessment consists of two three-dimensional assessment items.

  • In Item 1, students are presented with a scenario about cystic fibrosis. This item is presented in five parts. In parts 1a and 1b, students make and defend a claim (SEP-ARG-H5) to explain (SEP-CEDS-H3) why or how a mutation in a gene could lead to a person developing a disease (CCC-CE-H2, DCI-LS1.A-H2, DCI-LS3.B-H2). In parts 1c-1e, students evaluate three different models to determine which would be best for explaining protein function, structure and shape (SEP-MOD-H4).

  • In Item 2, students are presented with a scenario about pigeon feathers. This item is presented in four parts. In part 2a, students create a model (SEP-MOD-H3) to explain how instructions in DNA encode for the formation of proteins (DCI-LS1.A-H2). In parts 2b and 2c, students use their model to make and defend a claim (SEP-ARG-H5) about the differences in amino acids based on the nucleotide sequence, which may cause differences in the amino acid sequence and the structure and function of a protein (DCI-LS1.A-H2, DCI-LS3.A-H1). In part 2d, students make predictions about how a DNA mutation (DCI-LS3.B-H1) would affect (CCC-CE-H2) the amino acid sequence and explain why or why not changes would occur to amino acid synthesis (CCC-SF-H2, SEP-CEDS-H2).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, the chapter learning objective is, “Argue from evidence for how matter and energy transfer across trophic levels can help explain differences in the land required to produce different foods.” Elements claimed in this objective are consistent with elements claimed in the Assessment Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table for the chapter and are fully assessed, as claimed, within the assessment items. The chapter summative assessment consists of two three-dimensional assessment items.  

  • In Item 1, students are presented with a scenario about how much carbon in human hair comes from corn. Students are asked to explain where the carbon atoms came from, how they entered the corn (DCI-LS1.C-H1) and how these same atoms became part of the corn (DCI-LS1.C-H2) by drawing a model that focuses on the components needed (SEP-MOD-H3) to explain this process (SEP-MOD-H4). Students are specifically prompted to include relevant system boundaries, initial conditions, inputs, and outputs  (CCC-EM-H2, CCC-SYS-H2).

  • In Item 2, students are presented with a scenario about how to raise pigs as a food crop with the lowest land use requirements possible. This item is presented in nine parts. In part 2a, students consider the fractions of land use for a single pig compared to the amount of land needed to provide the food required to grow the pig to its full adult size (CCC-SPQ-H1) and argue from this evidence (SEP-ARG-H3) as to why this ratio exists (DCI-LS1.C-H3). In parts 2b and 2c, students consider three factors that contribute to land use for raising pigs and explain which factor they would target when designing a solution (SEP-AQDP-H8) to reduce the environmental impact of raising pigs (DCI-ETS-H3). Students consider an alternative source of pig food and identify the strengths and limitations (DCI-ETS-H3) of the proposed solution. In parts 2d-2i students are presented with an argument for an alternative solution to grow algae as pigs food (DCI-LS2.B-H1, DCI-LS2.B-H2) and are tasked to evaluate the argument in terms of evidence strength, amount of evidence, possible biases in evidence, limitations of evidence, and whether the argument actually supports the claim (SEP-ARG-H4).

• In Unit 4, Chapter 10: Why are some species, like coyotes, expanding while most others are contracting?, the chapter learning objective is, “Develop and use models based on a species’s characteristics and interaction to predict and explain changes to its population and/or range in response to disturbances.” Elements claimed in this objective are consistent with elements claimed in the Assessment Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table for the chapter and are fully assessed, as claimed, within the assessment items. The chapter summative assessment consists of two three-dimensional assessment items.  

  • In Item 1, students are presented with a scenario about skipjack tuna. This item is presented in three parts. In part 1a, after reading about the lives and habits of skipjack tuna, students evaluate maps of the range of skipjack tuna and one of its predators (SEP-INFO-H2, SEP-INFO-H3). Students are then tasked to create a model (SEP-MOD-H3) to simulate a change to the skipjack’s ecosystem. In part 1b, students use their models to predict how changes would impact the ecosystem (DCI-LS2.A-H1, DCI-LS2.C-H1). In part 1c, students are tasked to identify information or factors that would impact the certainty of their predictions (SEP-MOD-H3, SEP-SYS-H4).

  • In Item 2, students are presented with the scenario that populations of certain antelope species decrease as rainfall decreases. This item is presented in five parts. In parts 2a-2b, students read information about the species, evaluate graphs of rainfall and the populations of three different animals, record observations, and annotate the graphs, and note evidence of stability and change (SEP-INFO-H2, CCC-SC-H2). In parts 2c and 2d, students propose explanations for why environmental changes affected an antelope population (DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5, CCC-SYS-H3). In part 2e, students consider how changes to the frequency of data collection might impact the data collected (CCC-SYS-H4).

Examples where unit summative tasks are designed to measure student achievements of the targeted three-dimensional learning objectives:

• In Unit 2: Why do some People get Heart Disease and not others, and What can we do to Prevent it?, the combined chapter learning objectives for Chapters 4-6 claim elements of the three dimensions that are consistent with elements claimed in the Assessment Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table for Unit 2 and are fully assessed, as claimed, within the assessment prompts. The unit summative assessment presents students with the scenario that a young woman who has a gene mutation is at higher risk for blood clots. The assessment consists of six prompts.

  • In Prompt 1, students engage with elements of all three dimensions as they develop and use a model (SEP-MOD-H3) that describes the series of cause and effect relationships (CCC-CE-H2) to explain how mutated alleles (DCI-LS3.B-H1) can cause changes to the inputs and outputs of a system and lead to adverse health events (CCC-SYS-H2).

  • In Prompt 2, students engage with elements of two dimensions as they examine a set of environmental factors to determine which factors could increase the risk of a disease (DCI-LS3.B, CCC-CE-H2).

  • In Prompt 3, students engage with elements of all three dimensions as they interpret and consider limitations of data analysis (SEP-DATA-H3) to determine how the cause and effect relationships (CCC-CE-H2) between factors that lead to combined effects of genetic and environmental factors (DCI-LS3.B-H2).

  • In Prompt 4, students engage with elements of one dimension as they describe how the process of independent assortment impacts the likelihood of mutated alleles on different chromosomes being inherited together (DCI-LS3.A-H1).

  • In Prompt 5, students engage with elements of two dimensions as they analyze recommendations considering the cause and effect relationships (CCC-CE-H2) between and the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors (DCI-LS3.B-H2) to determine how genetic and environmental factors could affect people and their everyday lives.

  • In Prompt 6, students engage with elements of two dimensions as they evaluate information from multiple sources to assess the evidence and usefulness of each source (SEP-INFO-H3) to determine how people should respond in the face of a health risk from combined genetic and environmental factors (DCI-LS3.B-H2).

• In Unit 4: Why are so many species declining now while a few seem to be expanding, and why does it matter?, the combined chapter learning objectives for Chapters 10-12 claim elements of the three dimensions that are consistent with elements claimed in the Assessment Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table for Unit 4 and are fully assessed, as claimed, within the assessment prompts. The unit summative assessment presents students with the scenario that the American peregrine falcon population declined and recovered from the brink of extinction over a span of sixty years. The assessment consists of four prompts.

  • In Prompt 1, students engage with elements of all three dimensions as they use models to predict (SEP-MOD-H3) which organism would experience the greatest negative impacts from the chemical DDT (DCI-LS2.B-H2, DCI-LS2.C-H1, DCI-LS2.C-H2) and how those effects would cascade through the system (CCC-PAT-H1). 

  • In Prompt 2, students engage with elements of two dimensions as they refer to a prior phenomenon (SEP-INFO-H1, DCI-LS4.A-H1, DCI-LS4.B-H1) and compare it to the peregrine falcon and DDT (DCI-LS4.C-H1, DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5).

  • In Prompt 3, students engage with elements of two dimensions as they write a claim (SEP-ARG-H5) about pesticide policy based on historical examples and new scientific information (SEP-INFO-H1, CCC-SPQ-H1, CCC-SPQ-H3).

  • In Prompt 4, students engage with elements of all three dimensions as they evaluate multiple sources of information (SEP-INFO-H1) detailing the rebound of the American peregrine falcon population (DCI-LS2.A-H1) and identifying driving factors of the rebound (CCC-SC-H1).

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they consistently provide performance tasks that are focused on figuring out uncertain phenomena or problems and tasks are two- or three-dimensional in nature.

Summative assessments within the materials are presented at the chapter and unit levels and consistently provide opportunities to assess students’ understanding of the three dimensions. While structured differently, chapter assessments address multiple novel scenarios and/or phenomena and unit assessments address a single novel phenomenon or problem, both assessments reflect the learning targeted in the stated learning objectives and provide students with opportunities to read new information, evaluate new data, develop models, and write arguments. Assessment tasks frequently encourage students to access learning routines and strategies, such as the I² strategy or the  Science Close Read Protocol, as they construct their responses. In some cases, students are asked to embed the learning from the chapter or unit into their explanations and, at times, compare novel assessment content to specific lesson and chapter content.

Examples of chapter performance tasks that are focused on figuring out uncertain phenomena or problems and support the use of the three dimensions:

• In Unit 4, Chapter 10: Why are some species, like coyotes, expanding while most others are contracting?, the chapter assessment consists of two performance tasks that elicit learning of targeted elements of the three dimensions.

• In Item 1, students are introduced to the phenomenon that populations of skipjack tuna are susceptible to changing environmental conditions. This task integrates elements of all three dimensions as students read about the lives and habits of skipjack tuna, evaluate maps of the range of skipjack tuna and one of their predators (SEP-INFO-H2, SEP-INFO-H3), create a model (SEP-MOD-H3) to predict how environmental changes might affect the skipjack’s habitat, and then use their model to respond to specific changes (DCI-LS2.A-H1, DCI-LS2.C-H1).

• In Item 2, students are introduced to the phenomenon that changes in annual rainfall in the Waterberg National Park in Namibia affect different species differently. This task integrates elements of all three dimensions as students evaluate and record observations from graphs of rainfall and the populations of three different animals, noting aspects of stability and change (SEP-INFO-H2, CCC-SC-H2), propose explanations for why environmental changes affect populations (DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5, CCC-SYS-H3), and consider how changes to the frequency of data collection might impact the data collected (CCC-SYS-H4).

Examples of unit performance tasks that are focused on figuring out uncertain phenomena or problems and support the use of the three dimensions:

• In Unit 1: How can bacterial infections make us so sick?, the unit assessment consists of one performance task that elicits learning of targeted elements of the three dimensions. In this performance task students are introduced to the phenomenon that Colorado potato beetles have become resistant to pesticides over time. This task integrates elements of all three dimensions as students read about Colorado potato beetles (SEP-INFO-H2), create a model (SEP-MOD-H3) to describe nerve cell function, evaluate feedback mechanisms (DCI-LS1.A-H4) and cause and effect relationships (CCC-CE-H2), analyze graphical data (SEP-ARG-H5) about the potato beetle and generate claims that they support with evidence (SEP-CEDS-H4), use evidence to construct an explanation (SEP-CEDS-H4, SEP-ARG-H5) for why potato beetles with less variation would cause the population to be less likely to develop resistance to pesticides (DCI-LS4.B-H1, DCI-LS4.C-H1,DCI-LS4.C-H2, DCI-LS4.C-H3), and collect evidence from an informational text (SEP-INFO-H2) to construct a evidence-supported claim (SEP-ARG-H5, SEP-CEDS-H4) to explain how pesticide use can impact the efficacy of the pesticide (CCC-CE-H2, DCI-LS4.C-H2, DCI-LS4.B-H2, DCI-LS4.C-H3).

• In Unit 3: How can we use scientific and social understandings of nutritions and natural resources to improve a food system?, the unit assessment consists of one performance task that elicits learning of targeted elements of the three dimensions. In this performance task students are introduced to the problem that weeds that interfere with agriculture are difficult to kill. This task integrates elements of all three dimensions as students evaluate the scale of soybean and corn crops in the U.S. (CCC-SPQ-H1), explain the rise in soy production for feeding animals intended for human consumption (DCI-LS2.B-H2, SEP-CEDS-H3), define the problem with weeds and soybean plants (SEP-AQDP-H8), and construct an argument (SEP-ARG-H6) for the best solution regarding the use of pesticides given a set of criteria (DCI-ETS-H1).

• In Unit 4: Why are so many species declining now while a few seem to be expanding, and why does it matter?, the unit assessment consists of one performance task that elicits learning of targeted elements of the three dimensions. In this performance task students are introduced to the phenomenon that the American peregrine falcon population declined and recovered from the brink of extinction over a span of sixty years. This task integrates elements of all three dimensions as students use models to predict (SEP-MOD-H3) which organism would experience the greatest negative impacts from the chemical DDT (DCI-LS2.B-H2, DCI-LS2.C-H1, DCI-LS2.C-H2) and how those effects would cascade through the system (CCC-PAT-H1), refer to a prior phenomenon from the Unit 1 assessment (SEP-INFO-H1, DCI-LS4.A-H1, DCI-LS4.B-H1) and compare it to the peregrine falcon’s relationship with DDT (DCI-LS4.C-H1, DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5), write a claim (SEP-ARG-H5) about pesticide policy based upon historical examples and new scientific information (SEP-INFO-H1, CCC-SPQ-H1, CCC-SPQ-H3), and evaluate multiple sources of information (SEP-INFO-H1) detailing the rebound of the American peregrine falcon population (DCI-LS2.A-H1) and identify driving factors of the rebound (CCC-SC-H1).

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for providing teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials, with specific attention to engaging students in figuring out phenomena and solving problems.

Each unit includes specific information for planning and implementing lessons in the Unit Storyline, Lesson Snapshot, and Lesson Narrative in the Teacher Edition. At the start of each lesson there is a summary page that summarizes the previous lesson, this lesson, and the next lesson along with boundaries, student ideas to look for, and literacy strategies. At the start of each lesson is a lesson snapshot that provides details about the individual lesson, including timeframes, materials lists/preparation, and minute-by-minute planning. Embedded throughout the lesson are teacher prompts, sample student responses, and call out boxes with suggestions for developing the practices, developing the crosscutting concepts, as well as attending to equity, and attending to student ideas. Finally, most lessons include a sample representation for the model tracker that students work individually to model the important ideas they figured out. 

Examples of guidance to assist the teacher in presenting the student material and/or ancillary materials:

Each Unit Storyline includes key activities, what we figure out, key ideas, and a timeframe for instruction. The beginning of each lesson includes the time for the lesson, a summary of the previous lesson, this lesson, and the next lesson. Support for the teacher is also provided in sections titled Where are we not going yet, Boundaries, Relevant Common Student Ideas, and Key Literacy and Sensemaking Strategies.

• In Unit 1, Chapter 1, Lesson 2: What are bacteria and where are they?, information is provided about what was accomplished in the previous lesson, what students are doing in the current lesson, and what they will be doing in the next lesson.

  • “PREVIOUS LESSON |After learning about Zach and his severe illness, we generated and organized questions that could be investigated and decided what we wanted to figure out first: What are bacteria and where are they?”

  • “THIS LESSON | By observing growth in petri dishes, we investigate places and conditions in which bacteria exist and compare bacteria, viruses, and human cells. This leaves us wondering how bacteria grow.”

  • “NEXT LESSON | We will investigate what bacteria need to live and how they grow. That will leave us wondering why sometimes bacterial growth can cause us problems.”

• In Unit 1, Chapter 2, Lesson 8: Why are all these changes happening in the body?, the Key Literacy and Sensemaking Strategies are listed with teacher guidance: 

  • “Science Reading Annotation Stems - Students should be familiar with the Science Reading Annotation Stems from previous lessons.” 

  • “Argument tool -  Students use the Argument Tool for the first time in the unit; it will be important to foreground how we determine relevant evidence when answering a question.”

• In Unit 2, Chapter 6, Lesson 12: If our cells have the same DNA, how can they do such different things?, a list of relevant common student ideas along with the scientifically accurate ideas in parentheses is provided. 

  • “Each cell type has DNA with just the genes it needs; i.e., skin cells have DNA with the genes for skin proteins, muscle cells have DNA with the genes for muscle proteins, etc. (All cells in an organism have DNA with the same information; i.e., all cells carry all of the genes in an organism.)”

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 3: How does some matter from our food become part of our bodies?, the ‘What we are not expecting’ section includes the ‘Where we are not going yet section’ which states: We are not yet investigating how different macromolecules are used to meet the body’s need for energy. It also includes a ‘Boundaries’ section which states: We do not expect students to figure out specific chemical reactions that underlie biosynthesis.

Examples of guidance that is useful for planning instruction:

Each unit has a Unit Skeleton that allows teachers an at-a-glance look at the phenomenon, societal issue, unit question, and big idea as well as the title of each lesson, a 1-2 sentence summary, and an icon that shows the type of lesson. The chapter questions and big ideas are situated above each set of lessons.

• In Unit 2; Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the Unit Skeleton graphic shows a pathway connecting all the lessons for Chapters 4-6. Next to Lesson 3 is a magnifying glass icon, indicating it is an investigation lesson.

A course-level pacing guide, located on the digital materials main menu, is available for long-term planning that displays the length of units in days and weeks, and each chapter by days.

In the digital materials, there is a sidebar that appears on the right hand side of the screen for each lesson. There are clickable buttons titled: Alignment to NGSS, Materials and Preparation, Words We Earn, Student Reference Readings, and Assessment. The results are specific to the lesson the teacher is browsing and is a quick reference for planning. The Materials and Preparation section pulls up a single page with clickable links to resources the teacher will need including student sheets and keys and other materials for the lesson. Alignment to the NGSS contains the three-dimensional elements addressed in the lesson and a summary of how and when students use them. Words We Earn has a table with the vocabulary words students “earn” in each lesson. Student Reference Readings include digital versions of the reference readings in the student edition. The Assessment tab includes a quick reference to the assessments in the lesson. 

Each lesson also includes a Lesson Snapshot which includes icons that can be used to identify routines, descriptions of each activity in the lesson, time, materials needed, and the purpose of the lesson.

• In Unit 4, Chapter 11, Lesson 8: What causes some populations to have an increase or decrease in their genetic variation? Part 2 of the Investigate Lesson Snapshot is the Gather Evidence Routine, it is listed as taking 35 minutes. The description includes, “Using a simulation: Students orient to a simulation using a set of assumptions that will allow them to explore scenarios that could increase or decrease genetic variation in a population. Purpose: to ground students in a model that will later be useful for exploring scenarios that could explain differences in genetic diversity in different populations, as observed in Lesson 7.” Slides F-V are used and Student Sheet 4.8A is listed as the material. In the online Teacher Edition, materials are also linked.

• In Unit 4, Chapter 11, Lesson 9: How can adaptation lead to new species?, the Investigate Lesson Snapshot indicates the lesson will take three days. Day 1 has five parts ranging from 5-20 minutes, Day 2 has four parts that range in time from 5-20 minutes, and Day 3 has three parts that range in time from 5-30 minutes. A Lesson Materials section and Additional Content Background For The Teacher are also included.

Examples of suggestions about instructional strategies and guidance for presenting the content, including identifying and addressing student naive conceptions:

Various call out boxes are present in the Teacher Edition that provide suggestions and support around the following topics as related to that particular unit: Attending to Equity, Attending to Student Ideas, Developing the Practices, and Developing the Crosscutting Concepts.

• In Unit 1, Chapter 3, Lesson 13: Why do antibiotics sometimes not work?, the Developing Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect call out box states “Students participate in a physical simulation and take on the role of their individual bacteria living in a patient’s body. Students use the results of the simulation to justify predicted results of each doctor action, noticing how small scale change can lead to changes in the larger population. Students will continue building on this in Lesson 14.”

• Unit 2, Chapter 5, Lesson 8: How can two siblings have very different genotypes and outcomes?, teachers are guided to use the prompts below to elicit students’ prior understanding about the mechanisms of variation in reproduction. For each prompt there is a naive response and an informed response to listen for. Based on student responses, teachers can gauge whether to engage fully with the entire lesson, or which parts of the rest of the lesson to focus on. For example:

  • “If cells have 2 copies of each chromosome, and cells from each parent combine to make an offspring, wouldn’t the offspring have 4 copies of each chromosome in their cells?” Naive response: I guess so, but that won’t work because humans have only 2 copies of each chromosome in their cells. Informed response: “The process of meiosis results in gametes with just one copy of each chromosome. The gametes are the cells that combine.”

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 4: If food is so useful for building our bodies, why do some atoms from food leave our bodies?, the Developing Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data call out box states “While students analyze the muscle movement data, they uncover that more oxygen is being taken up by the muscles over time. This is a new input that needs to be added to their two-column chart. Identifying both of these inputs is important as the reaction of food with oxygen is what transfers energy to our body systems. Oxygen is often overlooked by students.”

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for containing adult-level explanations and examples of the more complex grade/course-level concepts and concepts beyond the current course so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject. 

Each unit includes a Teacher Background section where teachers are provided with adult-level explanations of the unit phenomenon and a Unit Overview section where teachers are provided with an explanation of the expected student practices related to course-level concepts that will be used throughout the unit. At the lesson level, an Additional Background section and Reference section are included that provide adult-level explanations to develop the teachers’ understanding beyond the current course.

Examples of supports provided for teachers to develop their own understanding of more advanced, grade-level concepts and expected student practices:

• In Unit 1: How can bacterial infections make us so sick?, teachers are provided adult-level explanations of the more complex concepts of the difficulty with treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. In the Teacher Background section, teachers are provided adult-level explanations for developing their own understanding of the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the societal issue of the increased prevalence of potentially fatal antibiotic-resistant infections. 

• In Unit 1: How can bacterial infections make us so sick?, teachers are provided support for developing their own understanding of practices that students will use to investigate the immune system, population growth, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic awareness. In the Unit Overview section, teachers are provided a summary of how students will analyze results of medical tests to understand and predict the aspects of the body’s response to infection. 

Examples of supports provided for teachers to develop their own understanding of concepts beyond the current course:

• In Unit 2: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the Teacher Background section provides teachers with background about genetics education that summarizes the history and future of genetics education and the idea of building contemporary genomic understanding for the science community which is a concept that is beyond the current course content. 

• In Unit 2, Chapter 4, Lesson 2: Why is high cholesterol an indicator of heart disease?, the Reference section provides teachers with a primary source reference to the Harvard Health Publishing article, “How It’s Made: Cholesterol Production in Your Body.” The reference section also includes a specific linkage to the student sheet for which the reference applies.

• In Unit 4, Chapter 10, Lesson 1: Why are some species, like coyotes, expanding while most others are contracting?, the Additional Content Background section provides teachers with background content that is beyond the current course content regarding extinction trends related to geologic time and the impact of extinctions on biodiversity.

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for providing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies. 

Each Unit, Chapter, and Lesson follow a very similar pattern across the program. Because of this pattern, instructional approaches are described in the Teacher Handbook, a separate resource material. The Teacher Handbook contains a section titled Instructional Approach that provides an explanation of the two major components of the Instructional Approach: Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) and a focus on socioscientific issues. 

The goals of the AIL model include:

• “Motivate students to learn through compelling phenomena or problems (anchor).

• Engage them in productive learning activities (inquiry) to use science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to figure out science ideas.

• Enable them to organize and reinforce their learning to support future use (application, metacognitive moments to reflect).”

The goals and student experience of the instructional approach are shaped by question-driven, collaborative and social, coherent, and model-based features. The materials explain that the unit-level phenomena and problems and case studies throughout the curriculum are accompanied by connections to socioscientific issues. The materials explain how the lesson sequences contribute to AIL with the pattern of the following stages: Anchor, Investigate, Synthesize, Gap Analysis, and Culminating Task. Information is also provided around the AIL routines used in each lesson type and the purposes for each. Additionally, there are no field experiences recommended by these materials and laboratory experiences are rare. Students do analyze data from simulations and other sources, and engage in various forms of model building and consensus conversations to work toward an explanation of a phenomenon or toward solving a problem.

In the Goals section of the Teacher Handbook is a chart that lists several features of the program and how each feature is implemented, including but not limited to three-dimensional learning, collaborative investigations, and model-based features. The Teacher Edition also lists key literacy and sensemaking strategies, which include Science Notebooks, Turn and Talk, Notice and Wonder, Scientists Circle, Consensus Models, and a Driving Question Board. Research to support the strategies is provided for the Discussion Question Boards (Weizman, 2010 and Nordine, 2013) but does not appear to be present for the other strategies. 

At the end of the Teacher Handbook is a list of the research that contributes to the design of the lessons and the strategies present. Research is present on supporting English Learners, socioscientific issues in science education, Driving Question Boards, inquiry, and more. The research connections cited are often founded upon the key documents: Next Generation Science Standards and A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for including a comprehensive list of supplies needed to support the instructional activities. 

The materials include a list of supplies, both at the unit level and the lesson level. There is no mention of a kit for purchase, and many of the supplies needed would be considered general school supplies or items that are readily available locally.

A comprehensive materials list is included in the Teacher Edition at the beginning of each unit in the print materials. The materials list is also included in the digital materials, as a Unit Materials page in each unit. Additionally, materials for all units are listed in one location as a link on the program homepage. All representations of the table include whether the materials are consumable or not, which lesson they are intended for, and the quantity needed.  

Additionally there is a Lesson Materials page for each lesson within each chapter that includes materials, supplies, copies needed, and teacher preparation notes.

The instructional materials reviewed for High School meet expectations that they provide clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students across the instructional materials. 

Safety guidelines are embedded in lessons and units when appropriate. Safety guidelines are found in the Student Edition, where necessary, using a yellow triangle icon with an exclamation point and a call-out box. These safety guidelines are incorporated into the lesson demonstrations as part of the narrative in the Teacher Edition, and provide safety and procedural details in the narrative that teachers are prompted to emphasize. Teachers are also provided guidance in the narrative on how to lead a class discussion on safety specific procedures. The materials also indicate when safety equipment is needed for a lesson in the Materials List section of each lesson. Safety guidelines are also included in the additional content background section when appropriate. When needed, the unit storyline indicates the observance of lab safety procedures as a key activity. It is important to note that teachers should always locate and adhere to local policies and regulations related to science safety in the classroom.

Examples where the materials embed clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students:

• In Unit 1, Chapter 1, Lesson 2: What are bacteria and where are they?, the Student Edition provides safety guidelines for students to appropriately handle a petri dish and emphasizes this safety guideline with the safety symbol (yellow triangle with exclamation point inside). The specific safety guideline reminds students to “always keep your petri dish closed until you are ready to add bacteria to it (we don’t want to catch other things from the air in our petri dish).”

• In Unit 1, Chapter 1, Lesson 2: What are bacteria and where are they?, the Additional Content Background section provides teachers with additional content and lab safety background regarding American Society of Microbiology (ASM) regulations for handling bacteria and culturing unknown bacteria. Additionally, the Lesson Snapshot provides teachers with a summary of the investigation activity which states that “a class discussion reviews safety procedures, and a lab group safety protocol check prepares students for the investigation”.

• In Unit 1: How can bacterial infections make us so sick?, the storyline notes that observing lab safety procedures is a key activity for completion of Chapter 1, Lesson 2: What are bacteria and where are they?

• In Unit 3, Chapter 7, Lesson 4: If food is so useful for building our bodies why do some atoms from food leave our bodies?, the narrative in the Teacher Edition prompts the teacher to emphasize safety and procedural details through statements such as, “safety glasses must be worn by both partners”.

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8, Lesson 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, the Materials List section indicates when safety equipment is needed for a lesson. Safety goggles are listed in the lesson materials along other items that students will need to successfully engage in and meet the lesson objectives.

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for providing assessment information to indicate which standards are assessed.

Formal assessments include chapter- and unit-level assessments. At the beginning of each unit is an Alignment to NGSS chart with a section that describes how the unit builds toward a list of Performance Expectations and specific DCI elements. Focal SEPs and CCCs are also listed. Some of the listed DCI elements have a note such as “(Partially addressed; continued in Unit 4)” when DCI elements build across multiple units. In later units, these dimensions have a note at the end saying, for example, “(Continued from Units 1 and 2; students should fully meet by the end of Unit 4.)”. Some portions of the DCI elements are in bold text and some portions are in normal text. The bolded parts are there to distinguish that those are the parts of the elements that will be assessed. For example, on the Unit 1 chart, one element  reads, “Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.” At the end of the unit, in the unit-level assessment, the Alignment to NGSS table appears again. 

The unit-level assessment also contains an Alignment to NGSS Dimensions chart that lists specific three-dimensional elements as well as which prompts from the assessment are aligned to each element. Most of the elements listed on the Alignment to NGSS table are present in the Alignment to NGSS Dimensions chart that connects elements to particular prompts for the unit-level assessment.

At the beginning of each chapter is an Alignment to NGSS table. It is similar to the one provided at the beginning of each unit but does not include information about PEs. 

Each of the chapter assessments includes a chart titled Alignment to NGSS Dimensions. This chart informs the teacher about which DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs will be assessed in the chapter assessment. The chart lists the specific three-dimensional elements and which items from the assessment are aligned to each element. It is very similar to the Alignment to NGSS Dimensions table that exists in the unit-level assessments.

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for providing an assessment system with multiple opportunities throughout the grade, course, and/or series to determine students' learning and sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up. 

Multiple opportunities for assessment take the form of many small formative assessments throughout the lessons followed by a formal assessment at the end of each chapter and at the end of each unit. The formative assessments are in the form of written arguments, explanations, models, and reviews of the work of peers. The materials provide consistent and sufficient opportunities for interpreting student performance across both formative and summative assessments. In terms of suggestions to teachers for following-up with students, these occur consistently but primarily for the formative Model Tracker assessment opportunities.

Most of the formative assessment opportunities give either look fors or sample student work. In the teacher materials, these appear as Formative Assessment Opportunity callout boxes. While these often have support for interpreting student performance, there are missed opportunities across the majority of these assessments to instruct teachers how to respond to students who do not demonstrate mastery. Based on program design, formative assessments are very informal and spread throughout the materials at the lesson level. Formative assessments include tasks such as argument writing, creation of models, small group discussions, and class discussions. Throughout the Teacher Edition, there are tools for evaluating these formative assessments including charts with “suggested prompt” and “listen for student responses such as …” There are samples of what student work might look like, particularly for the Initial Models and Class Consensus Models. Additionally, there are boxes called Attending to Student Ideas which give suggestions for feedback on pre-conceptions students might have. Occasionally, there are other samples of student work like the Sample Gotta-Have-It Checklist. The Model Tracker is a formative assessment tool that is woven throughout every lesson, chapter, and unit. Teachers are provided a Model Tracker Formative Assessment Tool that has suggestions for responding to student mistakes or omissions in their Model Trackers. Additionally, teachers are encouraged to use this tool to provide feedback and assess readiness for the Synthesize lessons in each chapter. 

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, the Model Tracker Formative Assessment Tool states “After class, review each student’s Model Tracker entries for this chapter using the Model Tracker Formative Assessment Tool available as an online resource. Enter individual feedback into that student’s Model Tracker Self-Assessment and Feedback Tool (attached at the very front page of the notebooks).”

All of the suggestions for follow-up with students are of the same format, “If students struggle to… consider revisiting the following learning opportunities.” There are missed opportunities for specific follow-up advice beyond referring back to the lesson where that topic was addressed. 

• In Unit 2, Chapter 5, Lesson 7: Are there other genes that could affect cholesterol?, the Formative Assessment Opportunity callout box prompts teachers to observe what students are focusing on during their reading protocols and suggests what teachers should look for in students’ claims. There is a missed opportunity to provide suggestions for follow-up.

• In Unit 2, Chapter 6, Lesson 11: What contributes to heart disease and other complex diseases and how much influence do we have over outcomes?, the Formative Assessment Opportunity callout box prompts teachers to use student questions written on sticky notes as a formative assessment and are instructed what to look for. There is a missed opportunity to give advice on how to follow up if students are not meeting the goals of the assessment. 

After each summative assessment prompt in the Teacher Edition, there is some support for interpreting student performance. There is an Item X Scoring Guide that lists all of the things that students need to include in their responses. For example, in Unit 2, Chapter 4 Assessment, the Item 2 Scoring Guide contains a full, detailed explanation of what should be included in students’ models, their claims, their evidence, and their links between evidence and science ideas to support the teacher in interpreting student responses. Each Item Scoring Guide also contains look fors in student responses that would indicate if students are having difficulty. There is a missed opportunity to provide guidance for teachers on how to follow up with students who are struggling. These resources provide sentence stems for students who are mastering English, reminders to use the reading strategies that they learned in the chapter, and some reasons why students might have an incorrect answer.

• In Unit 1, Chapter 1: How can bacteria cause infections?, the Chapter Assessment Item 2 Scoring Guide states "Students may not be familiar with the spleen and may not know what organ system it is a part of or what function it serves."  While guidance is provided about look fors, there is a missed opportunity to give guidance on how to follow up if students are struggling. 

Some guidance does contain tips that teachers can give students to assist them in completing the assessment.

• In Unit 1, Chapter 2: How does the body respond to infections?, the Chapter Assessment Item 1 Scoring Guide states “If students are having difficulty, draw their attention to…“. 

Some guidance has modifications to the question that can be made for students who are struggling.

• In Unit 4, Chapter 10: Why are some species, like coyotes, expanding while most others are contracting?, the Chapter Assessment Item 2 Scoring Guide states “Students may have difficulty interpreting the graphs. Representing the data in a table could be a modification for these students.”

The materials reviewed for High School meet expectations for providing assessment opportunities for students to demonstrate the full intent of grade-level/grade-band standards and elements across the series. 

The materials include a range of assessment opportunities at the lesson, chapter, and unit level. Across both formative and summative assessments, the materials consistently provide opportunities for students to demonstrate multiple practices including argumentation, modeling, and explanation. Summative assessments at the chapter and unit level frequently involve performance tasks and application of learning to a novel situation or phenomenon. In format, these assessments look very much like the instruction supported in the materials, as students are asked to critically read scientific text and examine data in order to engage in the practices of argumentation, modeling, and explanation. Formative assessment opportunities occur at the lesson level and include different types of formats. A central practice of every lesson is the development and revision of a model that helps to explain the studied phenomenon. There are opportunities and a tool for students to self-assess the components of their models and the models are formally assessed at the end of each chapter through the use of the Model Tracker Formative Assessment Tool. Additionally, students are formally assessed throughout the lessons through the use of Literacy and Sensemaking Strategies, such as I² (Identify and Interpret). Most assessments integrate the three dimensions.

Examples of different types of formative assessments:

Students engage in paired and class discussion; I² is a discussion and sensemaking strategy frequently used with data to facilitate students discussing what they saw in a specific piece of information. Students identify what they see and what it means. Teachers are directed to note what students are identifying in these conversations as a means of formative assessment. 

• In Unit 1, Chapter 2, Lesson 7: How do we know when we’re sick?, students use the I² strategy to graph (SEP-DATA-M4) their understanding of body temperature vs. time during infection (DCI-LS1.A-H4) and make statements about what they identify on the graph based on what changes or stays the same (CCC-SC-H1).

Student models grow through each chapter and result from revision and classroom discussion.  Assessment of the student models is supported by the assessment tool at the end of each chapter.

• In Unit 2, Chapter 5, Lesson 9: How well do our models predict genetic variation?, students use feedback from previous models to refine their thinking and answer the lesson question (SEP-MOD-H4).They use the class list of things that they “figured out” to include ways that crossing over increases genetic variation (DCI-LS3.B-H1). Students use multiple models including illustrations to show this concept (CCC-SYS-H4).

Students develop arguments collectively and individually as one way to show their learning. Their work is supported by the Argument Tool that is used throughout the program.

• In Unit 4, Chapter 11, Lesson 10: What explains why scientists are concerned we are experiencing a 6th mass extinction?, students evaluate the merits of two possible claims about how to measure species recovery(DCI-LS4.C-H4, DCI-LS4.C-H5). They choose one claim and write their own individual arguments (SEP-ARG-H1) using the argument tool.

Examples of different types of summative assessments:

Chapter summative assessments require students to analyze new information and to apply what they learned to explain it by developing a model, making a claim, and analyzing cause and effect relationships. Each assessment includes 2-3 items, each with a series of prompts generally requiring a short constructed response which may ask students to make a prediction, state and support a claim, or create a model. Multiple choice questions are very limited, and are only used in Chapters 1 and 2.

•  In Unit 1, Chapter 2: How does the body respond to infections?, Item 1 of the chapter assessment has students describe what happens inside a person that would cause a fever (DCI-LS1.A-H1). Utilizing multiple choice responses, students choose a graph that represents the likely temperature of the person over a ten day period and justify their answer. Students then choose one of three claims to answer the question about whether an increase in temperature always signals a fever and write support for the chosen claim (SEP-ARG-H5).

• In Unit 3, Chapter 8: Why do some eating patterns require more land than others?, Item 1 of the chapter assessment asks students to create a model that shows where carbon atoms that make up corn come from (SEP-MOD-H3, CCC-EM-H2, DCI-LS1.C-H1). In the second item, they are asked to explain (SEP-CEDS-H1) why an animal needs to eat more matter than the amount needed (DCI-LS2.B-H2) to build its body structures and to identify a solution to reduce environmental impact. 

Unit summative assessments are three dimensional and contain multiple prompts that incorporate SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs. In these assessments students use practices such as reading and analyzing information and data to model and explain uncertain phenomena. 

• In Unit 2: Why do some people get heart disease and not others, and what can we do to prevent it?, the Unit Assessment contains six prompts where students engage with a scenario about a young woman who has a gene mutation (DCI-LS3.B-H1) that puts her at higher risk for blood clots (CCC-CE-H2). Students use models (SEP-MOD-H3) and examine environmental factors to explain how the mutation increases her risk. 

• In Unit 3: How can we use scientific and social understandings of nutrition and natural resources to improve a food system?, the Unit Assessment asks students to define a problem (SEP-AQDP-H8) and evaluate solutions (DCI-ETS1.A-H1) concerning weeds that are resistant to herbicides. Impacts on the system and trade-offs of solutions are considered (CCC-SYS-H2).