NGSS lesson screening- Destiny

NGSS SHIFTS

A. Explaining Phenomena or Designing Solutions: The lesson focuses on supporting students to make sense of a phenomenon or design solutions to a problem.

Evidence: The entire process of EE1, including the pre, post, and at MOXI field trip helps the students to work on making sense of the phenomenon of forces.  The pre-activity, CE1, helps students to visualize the idea of surface area, the force of gravity form the Earth, and how they interact. In the actual activity at MOXI, CE2, students use the ideas they observed from CE1 to construct something to solve the real world issue presented. For example, the observations of how the different sized parachutes behave may affect how they design and construct their contraption that hovers in the wind column.

Improvements: The only suggestion I have is to help visualize the phenomenon and to tie the real-life issue we are working towards. If we continue to use the fire and smoke real life scenario then I think there should be some sort of attachment on the wind column exhibit to visualize the fire with tissue paper.
This could help the students to know where the fire is.




FEATURES OF QUALITY DESIGN

E. Student Ideas: The lesson provides opportunities for students to express, clarify, justify, interpret, and represent their ideas (i.e., making thinking visible) and to respond to peer and teacher feedback.

Evidence: In the CE1 I do not think that there are many opportunities for students to actually represent their ideas because they are limited to making a parachute that matches the example with the only variation being a different precut canopy size. HOWEVER, CE2 at MOXI allows the students to design and construct a contraption, test, make changes, and reflect with few constraints. For example, students could use the idea of having more surface area when they get to MOXI and then construct their pennyship that is a flat piece of paper. They test it and then change it according to how it acts in the wind columns. Since I have not seen CE3 I think that it will allow the students to reflect, justify, and provide feedback from their peers and their teacher based on their experiences as well

Improvements: I think that the process allows a lot of reflection and trial and error. The only thing I can think of would be to have the older students document their observation and changes on each test. For example, the students can design their first contraption on paper, build, then have a worksheet that involves documenting each trial with observations of how their pennyship acts in the wind columns and their changes before their next trial. That way they can track their logic of design during reflection.