U-46 changing the way students learn science

How does a change in temperature affect an earthworm's pulse rate? Do earthworms like wet soil or dry sand?

Rather than finding answers on Google or in a biology book, students in Frankie Valenzia's seventh-grade science classroom at Kenyon Woods Middle School get their hands dirty to investigate the bodily functions of these creepy crawlers.

"I enjoy it because it's more hands-on," said Aliyah Johnson, 12, of Elgin, who wants to be a biologist. "I like learning about things ... how they work."

Valenzia and other middle school science teachers at Kenyon Woods are among the first to implement a new science curriculum that no longer focuses on rote memorization of facts, but offers students more opportunities to learn through hands-on experiments and investigation.

Elgin Area School District U-46 will be rolling out this new curriculum across its 40 elementary schools starting in the 2017-18 school year, and eventually its eight middle schools to better align with the state's new Next Generation Science Standards.

"It outlines what kids should know and be able to do by the end of certain grade levels," said Marc Hans, U-46 coordinator of K-12 science and planetarium. "These new standards are very student-centered and they are focused on action. They are focused on having kids do science, not just learn about science. It's about students performing key practices to uncover scientific content."

Science teachers and experts from 26 states, including Illinois, developed the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) based on the National Research Council's framework for K-12 science education. The standards emphasize deep understanding of scientific concepts, asking students to engage in scientific inquiry and create their own theories for how and why things work.

Illinois formally adopted new science standards based on NGSS in February 2014, but school districts aren't required to implement the new standards until the 2016-17 school year, Hans said.

The standards set performance expectations and are aimed at holding students accountable for what they should know at each grade level.

"We are asking them to prove how they know it ... engaging in argument from evidence," Hans said. "We don't want them just getting the definition on day one. We want them going through a series of investigations to understand how (it) works. It's more meaningful. It's not just about a lesson. It's about an experience. Students can physically, cognitively, emotionally engage with a challenge."

Elementary school science teachers typically also have to teach math, reading, and social studies as part of their classes. Those teachers will be getting new classroom instructional materials and lab kits allowing students to read and write about, as well as design scientific investigations as part of the curriculum shift.

Early implementers within U-46 will have another year to test out the new curriculum with the new materials before districtwide rollout.

"When students are engaging in science, they have to read, write, calculate and compute, and reason mathematically," Hans said. "It is a dynamic change and it's going to take some time."