Our Teacher Curriculum Institute (TCI) program is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and focuses on three units of study. Each unit consists of eight lessons lasting 45 minutes to an hour in length with experiments embedded within each of the lessons.​

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The three units we'll be covering are: 

• Unit 1 - Plant and Animal Survival 

• Unit 2 - Materials and Their Uses 

• Unit 3 - Earth’s Surface

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Below you will find a breakdown of the program: 

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Anchoring Phenomena and Storylines:

Unit-level phenomena encourage students to make connections with the world around them.  Each phenomenon is introduced with an embedded video as shown in the example. Students then further explore the phenomenon at the end of the unit during the Performance Assessments.

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Lesson-Level Phenomena

Each lesson begins with an investigative phenomenon to pique students’ interest and drive instruction throughout the investigation. This lesson-level phenomenon is linked back to the unit-level phenomenon.

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Three-Dimensional Lesson Investigations

Hands-on investigations in every lesson provide students with opportunities to practice all three dimensions.

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Engineering Challenges

Engineering Challenges and investigations encourage students to design solutions to problems directly relating to Disciplinary Core Ideas.

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Lesson-level Assessment

NGSS has changed how students are assessed!

Lesson Assessments include a variety of selected response and constructed response questions that incorporate the three dimensions: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and crosscutting concepts. 

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Lastly, during the month of September, we will be taking a field trip to the Morton Arboretum to learn about Animal Homes.