The California Science Center Professional Development team is committed to helping educators grow in awareness and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards. Our workshops infuse your practice with innovative ideas and strategies to engage students in science learning! Explore activities and materials designed to inspire student-driven inquiry and critical thinking. Deepen your own science knowledge and expand your teaching practices by participating in one of our workshops today!
Professional Development
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The California Science Center Foundation is offering an intensive, interactive partnership program that supports the implementation of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for elementary schools, middle schools, or districts/networks of schools. The program will help schools increase familiarity with the NGSS and provide a basis for planning instruction around the new standards. Choose three of our ten available modules to meet your needs.
The presenters were fabulous, and they really understand what it is to be an elementary teacher being pulled in all kinds of directions. They are a great resource that I will most likely contact again!!
Second Grade Teacher
For more information, or to inquire about a customized program for your school or district, email Professional Development at [email protected]
Available Modules
Each module involves six hours of training and resources tailored to each grade span, plus planning time.
NGSS 101 View Details
This introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) covers all the basics of the “new” standards. Engage in hands-on, minds-on activities to learn about the three dimensions of the NGSS - Science & Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. More importantly, experience the pedagogical and instructional shifts that make the NGSS so different from traditional methods of teaching and learning science.
Phenomenon-Based Learning View Details
Phenomena play a critical role in igniting students’ curiosity and have great potential to drive student learning. Science lessons that are anchored in compelling and relatable phenomena can be the key to reaching all students, but how do we know we’ve chosen a good one? Explore K-8 grade-specific phenomena while learning about the different ways to use and plan instruction around them.
Assessment & the CAST View Details
Teaching science at all grade levels has never been more important. The California Science Test (CAST) includes test items that are based on Kindergarten through 5th grade concepts and standards. Learn about the CAST assessment through its sample questions and blueprint, as well as current resources and tools at various grade levels to support student achievement. Utilize strategies that can be implemented to check for student understanding throughout a unit. Let’s set our students on the right trajectory to CAST success!
Discourse & Argumentation View Details
What’s going on in Hope Valley? Figure out the mysterious happenings in the fictional town through science experimentation, observation, and data analysis. Use speaking and listening strategies to engage in meaningful scientific discussions and construct arguments using evidence to show how science can help this small town!
Environmental Principles & Concepts View Details
Did you know that the California NGSS has a focus on the deep relationship between humans and the natural world? The Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) address our changing world and the impact we humans have upon it. Learn how the NGSS has embedded the EP&Cs to help learners of all ages understand their impact on the environment while encouraging hope. The hands-on activities and rich discussions in this training will leave you feeling inspired to address environmental literacy!
Social-Emotional Learning & Culturally Responsive Teaching in Science View Details
Putting students’ emotional well-being and cultures at the center of learning is critical for their success, and it’s no different when teaching science and engineering. Engage in fun, hands-on activities that will introduce and provide examples of social-emotional learning and culturally responsive practices. Learn more about how to tend to the whole child when teaching K-5 science and engineering. Walk away with strategies and examples to bring this important element to your science teaching!
Instructional Materials Adoption Support View Details
District curriculum adoptions can be stressful, and it’s no different when choosing NGSS materials. Let us help you weed out and narrow down the options with the state-recommended Toolkit for Instructional Materials Evaluation (TIME). The time-consuming process can be overwhelming, but with scaffolding and explanation, you will feel confident and reassured that your adoption committee has adequately vetted potential materials.
Interactive Science Notebooks View Details
Interactive science notebooks are a piece of the integration puzzle and the perfect tool for sensemaking and metacognition. Empower students to take ownership of their science learning as they demonstrate understanding in this unique sensemaking tool that is backed by brain research. Hands-on science experiences converge with reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills through interactive science notebooks.
Math Meets Science View Details
From Math Talks to data analysis to classifying, science can be a great vehicle to stimulate the use of mathematical practices. Put on your math and science caps as we go through a series of activities to help Lynne decide whether or not to help a lost whale, experiencing various science, engineering, and math practices along the way. Grade-specific examples that align with math Common Core standards and NGSS will be shared.
Art & Science: Blending the Boundaries View Details
Art and science are complementary! Experience art techniques in different disciplines of art and access science practices firsthand to understand the mutual benefits that integration can bring to your classroom. Allow young scientists to tap into the artists inside them as they process and demonstrate science understanding through art. Encourage creativity while engaging students in scientific discovery.
Program Components
- Administrator Overview & Needs Assessment
- Professional Development & Coaching
- Administrative Support and Training
- Evaluation
- Additional Opportunities with the California Science Center
- IMAX tickets
- Special exhibit experiences
- Fees
- The base fee for the program is $25,000 per school, per year. Pricing models for districts and/or networks of schools will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Thank you to the great presenters. Not only were the presenters knowledgeable, but they made the trainings engaging, kept us focused, and made me think about becoming a science teacher. Best training I’ve attended, ever!
Middle School Teacher
TK-5 Grade Level Resources
Kindergarten View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Earth and Human Activity Lesson Sequence - With this nine-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, you can teach kindergarteners what humans need to survive and how that affects planet Earth. Kindergarteners can save the world, too! Embedded within this document, you will find links to all the digital resources you’ll need to teach this sequence in your classroom.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
1st Grade View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Sound Lesson Sequence - With this eleven-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, you can engage first graders in learning about sounds through a compelling phenomenon about mysterious sounds heard all around the world. Embedded within this document, you will find links to all the digital resources you’ll need to teach this sequence in your classroom.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations 1-PS4-1, 1-PS4-4, 1-LS1-2) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
2nd Grade View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Properties of Materials Lesson Sequence - In this ten-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, second grade engineers will consider the properties of materials when used for specific purposes. Knowledge of matter and testing of properties will guide students as they engineer a structure at the end of this lesson sequence. Embedded within this document, you will find links to all the digital resources you’ll need to teach this sequence in your classroom.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations 2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-2) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
3rd Grade View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Changing Environments Lesson Sequence - In this nine-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, involve third graders in figuring out why high numbers of dead barn owls were found along a certain stretch of highway. Embedded within this document, you will find links to all the digital resources you’ll need to teach this sequence in your classroom. Adapted from the California NGSS Statewide Rollout.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
4th Grade View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Energy Lesson Sequence - In this six-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, fourth graders get hands-on while exploring different kinds of energy and energy transfers. Embedded within this document, you will find links to all the digital resources you’ll need to teach this sequence in your classroom.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations 4-PS3-1, 4-PS3-2, 4-PS3-3, 4-PS3-4) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
5th Grade View Details
- Virtual Field Trip
- Earth's Systems Lesson Sequence - In this eight-lesson, NGSS-aligned lesson sequence, fifth graders think about Earth’s systems and how they interact to affect our landforms, weather, and life in California. Adapted from the California NGSS Statewide Rollout.
(Aligns with NGSS Performance Expectations 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS2-2) - Instructional Segments Resource Alignment spreadsheet - A curated list of resources aligned to the NGSS Performance Expectations for each grade level. Find the tab at the bottom for your grade!
