Piqua City Schools Science curriculum will be in a state of transition over the course of this year. Because of a change in the curriculum director position, the science instruction for the 2013-14 school year will based on the 2010 Revised Science Ohio Academic Content Standards as was directed this past spring. An Excel document below contains sequencing and pacing for each grade level K-6 and can be viewed or downloaded as needed. Note: Click on the down arrow in the bottom right corner of this page to download the attached document.
Many teachers attended a week long PD session led by myself where we discussed the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Piqua will incorporate the NGSS into the science curriculum in the future. However, because I could not communicate to every teacher in the district before the beginning of the school year, we will go with the plan set forth last spring. Those who developed lessons based on the NGSS can go ahead and utilize them this school year, as they will be used in the future. Many topics are common between the Ohio science standards and the NGSS. See the attachment K-5TopicCompareSciStand.pdf below for the comparison.
I will conduct several PD opportunities to help teachers understand the 3 dimensions of the NGSS that we will begin to incorporate into Piqua's science curriculum. I encourage you to explore the resources for both the Ohio standards and the NGSS on the Curriculum Pow Wow.
I realize this is not an ideal situation and there will be many questions. However, I feel by focusing on the dimensions of the NGSS, our students will be much better prepared in science and it also help prepare them for the future science assessments in 2014-15. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions.
Have a great year!
Dave Shellhaas
