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Teaching Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Engineering Design Through Media is a collection of activities and professional development resources drawn from programs such as WGBH's Design Squad Nation and the Engineering is Elementary® project at the Museum of Science, Boston. Add your description and what you like/why you chose this resource. How would you use it?

This is a full lesson and activity provided by TeachersPayTeachers and it costs $3.00. The lesson and activity is aligned with NGSS-2-LS2-1. First the lesson will be taught to explain the importance of sunlight and water to plants. After the lesson is taught, the class will conduct an experiment to test what we just learned. I will have 3 plants. One will receive water and sun everyday. One will be in the closet and only receive water. The last one will just be in the window receiving sunlight. Since purchasing the lesson from TeachesPayTeachers you will also receive a lab journal for students to be able to write their predictions and record their observations. I chose lesson/activity because I thought it went well together. I like that is starts with the lesson then has a follow up activity for students to do. The science journal is something they can do throughout the week, also. I would use this lesson to introduce the topic of "Do plants need water and sunlight to grow" and have the activity has a follow up and something that could expand their knowledge throughout the week.

This website is an interactive website that looks at climate through videos, games and articles. It focuses on how climate and weather affect land, water, and animals. I chose this website because there were a lot of cool pictures and activities I thought would be fun for my students. It also has a section that helps educators build lesson plans that align with NGSS, which I think is a valuable asset. It stated that it was geared toward upper elementary, but while looking through it I felt any student, Kindergarten and up, would benefit.

The Field Museum is a science centered museum located in Chicago, IL. This specific tour allows students to investigate how DNA analysis has changed our understanding of the relatedness of life on Earth through hands on activities. The students will be able to extract DNA in a lab and interview scientists. This field trip supports NGSS MS-LS4-2. I chose this location for a field trip because it engages students' learning and furthers their knowledge of DNA through hands on activity. I would take the students to participate in this DNA extraction after we finished our lesson on DNA. This way, they would be able to be even further engaged with questioning and answering with the scientists and apply our textbook knowledge to the activity.

This activity is a great introduction or addition to learning about the rock cycle. By using chocolate, you can show students the difference between weathered, heated, cooled, and compressed rock. The students can use bars of chocolate to create "sedimentary," "metamorphic," and "igneous" chocolate. This is a simple way to effectively show students the difference between the types of rock. The hands-on approach will aid in the students seeing firsthand what the differences look like. It aligns with NGSS focused on the rock formation and cycle, as well as, the geosphere.

How sweet is this activity? It's an introduction to the rock cycle using chocolate! Chocolate can be ground into small particles (weathered), heated, cooled, and compressed - just like rocks. Unlike rocks, chocolate can undergo these processes safely and at reasonable temperatures. Use your chocolate to create "sedimentary," "metamorphic," and "igneous" chocolate. I chose this lesson because it is a great way to get the class focused during a not so exciting topic, not to mention chocolate is my favorite thing on the entire world. I think the chocolate creations are perfect representations of the changing rock, and would allow students to understand the rock changing process easily by using visuals. I would introduce this lesson in an earth science unit as a good tool to show the three stages of rock, and to get the class hooked and ready to discuss the different phases. I would also enjoy making these three phases at home because I am sure there would be lots of left overs!

In this lesson, you are asking the students to compare the ways in which animals move: which body parts they use, how quickly, etc. The students then compare as a class and in small groups. The lesson asks you to take them outside or to bring animals into your classroom to observe them, but that is not necessarily an option, so I would alter the lesson by pulling up videos of animals for them. If multiple computers are available, one could have a different animal video going at different spots around the room for the different groups to go to. This lesson could be very fun for the students. I really think they'd enjoy actually seeing the animals move as opposed to simply talking about it.

Students from all over our community participate in guided field trip tours at the Museum each year. The Museum's educators, all certified teachers, facilitate experiences that support 21st-century skills and core academics as well as creative problem solving and critical thinking. This seems like an amazing field trip opportunity that would keep the students interested as well as the adults and teachers. Just by reading through the descriptions it sounded as though they had something for whichever area peeked your interest, especially in science. They have several activities dedicated to science and what makes this even more attractive to teachers is that they actually have the NGSS standard underneath the individual activity. A few examples of what they offer are: science detectives, recycling, electricity and magnetism. Although, the older students could benefit from each of these if I were teaching between K-2 I would not focus on the science detectives as much as the others. However, pertaining to recycling I could then have an assortment of trash and have the students separate the items into what is recyclable and what isn't. In the end, this would be a beneficial experience for any age.