Our science department is overhauling the curriculum to align with NGSS science standards. It is a lot of work and during this mid term week we had time to meet. We asked to be off campus to limit distractions. They actually found space at the Four Seasons. Nice. We had a conference room, a person to get our coffee, snacks, and a buffet lunch.
Here is a view from the 70th floor
The pictures of the food look exotic. It was a great brunch but we did a lot of work.
It was worthwhile to go off site where 5 grade levels could hash out a complete overhaul. The curriculum director was there as well. We still have a long way to go but it was nice to feel free to start over rather than try to add engineering standards into an existing curriculum. What works here is that the sciences are integrated in years 6 through 10, meaning that we teach biology, chemistry, and physical science every year.
Part of the process was determining what would be taught at each level and then identifying a phenomenon that would require understanding to explain. For example, with waves we looked at this building in the UK that destroyed objects near it. After ankh the other learning experiences, they will have a project or culminating activity that puts what they have learned together. Here are images about the building and damage it has caused.
We still have a long way to go to finish but really exciting.