Next Generation Science Standards
The next generation science standards are innately a very helpful tool to allow science teachers across the country to teach their students the same material that all other students are learning.
- “New” standards released in 2013
- Focus on research process
- Goal is for more Americans to become scientists
- Emphasis on ever-changing nature of science and its importance in our society
The problem with NGSS for students and teachers is that standards give little flexibility for teaching and exploring the topics of greatest interest to the students. This is where Girls in STEM comes into play. We do not have to follow a set of standards and therefore can give girls the opportunity to see different sides of science every week in a way that they are unable within the classroom. One study shows that students generally have either a strong preference for one topic within science or another. Therefore, if a unit is being taught in the 4th or 5th grade classroom that is less enjoyable to a certain student, they may be discouraged from science because they simply don’t have access to the topics they find interesting.
4th Grade Topics
- Waves
- Water, ice, wind, and land
- Maps
- Plants and animals
- Energy and motion
- Internal and external structure
5th Grade Topics
- Matter
- Water
- Space
- Engineering
- Ecosystems
Bathgate, M. E., Schunn, C. D., & Correnti, R. (2014). Children’s Motivation Toward Science Across Contexts, Manner of Interaction, and Topic: CHILDREN’S MOTIVATION TOWARD SCIENCE. Science Education, 98(2), 189–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21095
Next Generation Science Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.nextgenscience.org/
