Vernier Software & Technology is offering new, robust investigations to help middle school teachers engage students in science as they learn in the classroom or they continue to learn from home. Designed with the three-dimensional learning approach in mind, these new investigations will help students work towards meeting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) performance expectations and build a cohesive understanding of science with hands-on investigations.
These resources include seven free downloadable teaching supplements that enhance the digital curricular units available through OpenSciEd, a nonprofit that provides free high-quality open educational resources. Each of the seven units includes more than a dozen ready-to-go investigations that support the three-dimensional learning approach, and the Vernier supplements help teachers incorporate data-collection technology. The free units explore common middle school science topics such as weather, climate, metabolic reactions, forces, and sound waves.
In addition to the OpenSciEd supplements, Vernier just published Middle School Explorations: Chemical Reactions—an e-book containing six engaging investigations that challenge middle school students to use data-collection technology to explore phenomena and engage them in scientific inquiry and collaboration via three-dimensional learning. These investigations help students explore various types of chemical reactions as they build models to explain what goes on at the molecular level during exothermic reactions, precipitate formation, and conservation of mass.
“The new Middle School Explorations: Chemical Reactions e-book helps students achieve a deep understanding of key STEM concepts via three-dimensional learning,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “Teachers now have a variety of engaging, NGSS-aligned investigations that will help their students gain rich data-collection experience no matter where they are learning.”
For teachers who do not use three-dimensional learning in science, Vernier offers a number of lab books appropriate for middle school that span a variety of science disciplines including physical science, life science, Earth science, and renewable energy. These lab books provide teacher-created step-by-step experiments that help students work toward meeting district and state standards and guide students through conducting hands-on experiments in a more structured way.
To learn more about these resources, visit www.vernier.com/middle-school.
The American Consortium for Equity in Education, publisher of the "Equity & Access" journal, celebrates and connects the educators, associations, community partners and industry leaders who are working to solve problems and create a more equitable environment for historically underserved pre K-12 students throughout the United States.
