3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. Lionfish are native to the warm, tropical waters of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Today, many of them can be found off the coast of Florida and nearby in the Caribbean Sea. They were first brought to Florida as an aquarium fish years ago. People thought they looked interesting and wanted to watch them in their fish tanks.  The story goes that a hurricane came through and tipped over → read more

4-PS3-4 Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another As we create informational texts for each of the Next Generation Science Standards, there are tons of amazing, interesting, and just plain weird facts we are learning. I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you, so I hope you enjoy these facts about wind turbines…. and sheep! Wind turbines are usually very large machines: Sometimes as tall as the Statue of Liberty! The larger the turbine blades, the more wind it picks up. This means more → read more

5-ESS1-2 Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky If you are teaching the Next Generation Science Standards and are looking for phenomena ideas, you’ve come to the right place! I like to think about phenomena as lesson starters. They are photos or videos showing an observable event in the universe and are used to get kids thinking, asking questions, and discussing their prior knowledge. For more information about using phenomena, there is a handy printable guide → read more