• Physical Science Reference Sheet 
• Grade Level Item Types with Examples 
• End-of-Course Item Type Examples 
   

Test Blueprints

Grade-level  |  End-of-course 
 

Sample Assessment Tasks

Practice Forms

Grade-Level

Practice Forms can also be accessed via eDirect.

End-of-Course

Practice forms aligned to the new MLS Expectations will be available online through the EOC Secure Browser and here for students who need a paper assessment.

• Biology
  • mRNA Codon Wheel
  • Periodic Table 
  • Biology Scoring Guide Rubric for Constructed Response 
• Physical Science
  • Periodic Table 
  • Physical Science Scoring Guide Rubric for Constructed Response 
     

Performance Level Descriptors

• Grades K-2 PLD (not assessed)
• Grade 5 PLD
• Grade 8 PLD
• Biology PLD
• Physical Science PLD
• Earth and Space Science PLD (not assessed)

These implementation resources are designed to provide support to educators at various stages of implementation of Missouri’s Learning Standards for Science, while building capacity within all grades.  These resources have the sole purpose to help guide implementation and in no way are the only ways of implementing the standards.

• Implementation Toolkit Overview 
• MO Implementation Plan 
• Bundling the Science MLS 
• MS and HS Course Suggestions 
  *Updated 3-4-19

MLS Support Documents

Missouri Learning Standards Science Expectations

K-5  |  6-12 

Missouri Learning Standards Science Progressions

Science & Engineering Practices | Disciplinary Core Ideas | Crosscutting Concepts

Missouri Learning Standards Science Expanded Expectations

*Connections to other Missouri Learning Standards, such as ELA and Math, can be found within the expanded expectations.

Content Meetings

DESE’s Office of College and Career Readiness has scheduled free professional development opportunities for Missouri K-12 educators in the arts, English language arts, English language development, health/physical education, math, science and social studies. Register using the links below on the Curriculum Calendar.

Interface 2024

Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in cooperation with the MU Conference Office  

RPDC Science Contact Info

Science Resources for Teachers

Missouri Department of Conservation – "Discover Nature Schools"

Missouri Department of Conservation coordinated with Missouri educators to develop an engaging, ecology-based curriculum aligned with our new science MLS expectations. The units are free resources that cover pre-k through high school content using inquiry-based methods. Below are flyers for each of the five units as well as crosswalks to the science MLS and NGSS. Teachers may visit the Conservation Department’s teacher portal to learn more about Discover Nature Schools, receive the free materials, and learn about additional grants.
 

USA Biolympiad

The USABO is a competition for high school students who are passionate about biology. Your students who participate in the USABO will have the opportunity for this life changing experience by sharing their passion for biology with like-minded students nationally and internationally and establishing lifelong relationships that extend into their future careers. *For individuals to compete in this program: schools, teachers, or administrators must register as a school and a $95 payment will be collected.

National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)

• NABT resource page has links to all things biology including instructional materials, videos, student resources, articles and videos.

Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA)

• MEEA has an excellent array of resources for teachers and districts to utilize. Lessons, assessments, training, links to parks and conservation areas across Missouri.

STOM   

• Science Teachers of Missouri provides an array of science resources to benefit teachers and students in classroom, lesson planning and professional development.  

Missouri River Relief

• Looking for resources for teaching about the Missouri River, examples of river action projects, or ways to take learning outside? You’ve come to the right place. You're just a little early.

Science Friday

• Science Friday offers free STEM activities, lessons, and resources for parents and educators.     

The Concord Consortium

• We're a non-profit educational technology laboratory for science, mathematics and engineering. Our pioneering work brings technology's promise into reality for education.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

• The teacher resources link provides pages of resources to assist teachers and districts with implementing science expectations.

NSTA – NGSS Hub

• National Science Teachers Association provides resources for classrooms, implementation and professional development.

University of California -  Berkley(link is external)

• Lesson plans, videos, articles, “resource database”

MetEd

• MetEd is a free collection of hundreds of training resources intended for the geoscience community. Whether you're an experienced meteorologist honing existing skills or a student looking for new geoscience topics of interest, we have something for you.

Liberty School District Curriculum and Instruction –

Science Teachers of America

Publications

• Alerts to Student Difficulties and Misconceptions in Science
• Science Safety Manual - Elementary
• Science Safety Manual - Secondary (to be updated)
• Glossary
• Science Learning Experiences using the 5-E Learning Cycle

National Curriculum Research in Science Education Resources

• National Science Education Standards, National Research Council
• AAAS Project 2061: Benchmarks for Science Literacy
• AAAS Project 2061: Atlas of Science Literacy
• How students learn science, National Research Council
• Making sense of secondary science: Research into children's ideas (Driver, R., Squires, A., Rushworth, P., Wood-Robinson, V., 1994).
• Targeting students’ science misconceptions. FL: Idea Factory (Routledge Stepans, J., 1994)
• Understanding models in earth space science. Arlington, VA: NSTA (Gilbert, Steven, & Ireton, Shirley, 2003)

Resources for Learning Cycle, Inquiry, and Questioning

• Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for teaching and learning (Cothran, Julia H., Giese, Ronald N., Rezba, Richard J.(2000))
• Students and research: Practical strategies for science classrooms and competitions (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt)
• Doing good science in middle school: a practical guide to inquiry-based instruction (Jorgenson, O., Cleveland, J., Vanosdall, R. (2004) Arlington, VA: NSTApress)
• Inquire within: Implementing inquiry-based science standards (Llewellyn, Douglas (2002) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.)
• Teaching high school science through inquiry (Llewellyn, Douglas. (2005) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.)
• Quality questioning: Research-based practice to engage every learner (Walsh, J. A., Sattes, B. D. (2005) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.)

Resources for Reading and Writing in Science

• Science notebooks: Writing about inquiry (Campbell, Brian, Fulton, Lori. (2003) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.)
• Teaching reading in science: A supplement to the second edition of Teaching reading in the content areas teacher's manual (Barton, M. L., Jordan, D. L. (2001) Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning)
• Reading, writing, and thinking like a scientist(Saul, E.W., Reardon, J., Pearce, C., Dieckman, D., Neutze, D. (2002) Science workshop: Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann)