A phenomenon is very simply put an observable event. Some natural phenomena we see are rainbows, lightning, and geysers. These phenomena make us even as adults wonder and ask questions. Can you imagine the questions going through a child’s head as they watch a geyser erupt? Or when they see a huge thunderstorm roll into their neighborhood? We want to encourage these questions, these wonders, these ideas. This is exactly what we want our students to be doing in our classroom! So, why not bring these amazing occurrences into our classrooms to help teach our science curriculum? Below you’ll learn about teaching using phenomena-based science.
Bringing phenomena-based science into your science block
Many teachers have asked me about the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the changes in curriculum. They often ask what I think of the changes as well. I can tell you here and now I think the changes to science instruction are great! One of the biggest changes I see is the use of phenomena to get students interested in science topics and asking questions about the natural world around them. I want my students to be excited to get to our science block and these changes are definitely going to make that happen! We want to build upon the sense of wonder all children are born with.
What is phenomena-based science?
I know many teachers look at these words and think it must be a very challenging way of teaching, but really I find it quite the opposite. This way of teaching science is simply taking a question like How can observing clouds help us predict the weather? and creating a unit to help students answer this question. We want students to investigate the question and by using gathering evidence from multiple sources, including their own investigations. We want them exploring the world around them.
Why use phenomena-based science?
We all know as educators that change is necessary to help our students to achieve amazing things once they leave school. As our world changes around us, we see science at the forefront of it all. We are living in a more complex and scientific world and we see science as a leader in innovation and the creation of jobs in the future. Even if you do not have students who are looking into college or STEM careers we still want all of our students to have a high-quality science education.
Phenomena-based science changes some of the old ways of teaching. Students are no longer being lectured about a topic or reading a textbook and answering the questions for each lesson. Now, students are investigating a topic by using information from the natural world and other resources. It poses each phenomenon in question form and students use unique resources to explore, inquire, and find evidence which helps them answer this question.
Having students engaged in different topics will gain more traction and we won’t have students zoned out as a teacher lectures in the front of the class. We all know that happens a lot! Students in the classroom want to be challenged; they want to use their own knowledge and own ways of thinking to come to a solution. We want to lead them to the solution using well planned and thoughtful investigations.
It can all seem very overwhelming, and I totally get that! But don’t worry. I have studied NGSS and the ideas behind phenomena-based science and have started a line of resources to get you started on this journey.
My phenomena-based science resources for NGSS
Like I said above, the entire process of creating a phenomena-based unit can seem like a lot of work! Teachers often tell me how getting together the materials, ideas, and resources to develop a science lesson takes a lot of time and prep that teachers rarely have time for. I just started putting together my phenomena-based resources. (Be on the lookout for more to come!) These resources are full of amazing things to help implement phenomena-based science into your science block. I broke each unit into different sections following the 5E Model.
These sections will help get students excited to answer the phenomena-based question posed at the beginning of the investigation. I give rationale for each unit and provide you with the reason this unit fits in with phenomena-based learning. Here is an example of my Plants Unit.
Phenomena-based learning: This lesson will help you anchor student learning about plant needs. Rather than learning facts about plants, students figure out what plants need to survive.
Question: Do plants need air, water, and soil?
Notice the big differences between how we taught and how we are need to teach now. We no longer want students to just learn facts about plants (parts of the plant, what plants need etc). We want them to FIGURE OUT what plants need to survive. We want them to investigate and focus on the actual learning process instead of just listening to the teacher.
Phenomena-based science is a great way to get students looking at the world around them. To get them asking and answering questions and to help guide them to use real world skills.
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Phenomena-based Science Units:
Plants Unit Supports NGSS 5-LS1-1 Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Clouds and Weather Supports NGSS 3-ESS2-1 Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
Fungi Supports NGSS 5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
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