Science

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As always, please contact me with your questions, ideas and concerns. Thank you for all you do for our students of Missouri!

Continuing Science Education: A Playbook to Continuing Three-Dimensional Instruction in Various Learning Environments

The guidance and resources provided in this document are not meant to be a directive or limitation, but rather a tool that will continue to evolve as more resources are available. Additional guidance about the planning educators may undertake as they continue to plan for instruction this school year can be found in Teaching and Learning in a Virtual Environment 

Susan German
Director, Science
573-751-4445
Susan German

Assessment Development Recruitment

As a part of the assessment development cycle, DESE Assessment invites Missouri educators to participate in the process to help provide expertise. Missouri is always looking for educators to participate in these meetings. If you wish to be considered for participation for any future development meetings, please complete the online submission form at https://dese.mo.gov/form/assessment-meetings-interest. Once finished, you will receive an email to the personal email address provided to confirm your submission.

Assessment Resources

Test Blueprints

Grade-level  |  End-of-course 
 

Sample Assessment Tasks

Grade-Level End-of-Course

Grade 5 Extended Task

Grade 8 Short Task

Biology Short Task

 

Practice Forms

Grade-Level

Practice Forms can also be accessed via eDirect.

Content Paper/Pencil Large Print
5th Grade
8th Grade

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.

Performance Level Descriptors

Implementation

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.

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

Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade
3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade
6-8 Life Science 6-8 Engineering, Technology, and Application of Science 6-8 Earth and Space Science
6-8 Physical Science 9-12 Life Science 9-12 Engineering, Technology, and Application of Science
9-12 Earth and Space Science 9-12 Physical Science

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

Item Specs
Kindergarten (Updated 10/31/19) 6-8 Earth/Space (Updated 02/20/20)
1st grade    6-8 Life (Updated 01/14/21)
2nd grade 6-8 Physical (Updated 02/20/20)
3rd grade (Updated 02/10/20) 9-12 Earth/Space (Updated 04/19/19)
4th grade (Updated 12/19/19) 9-12 Life (Updated 10/2021)
5th grade (Updated 01/05/21) 9-12 Physical (Updated 10/2021)
Professional Learning

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

 

City

Science Contact

Email

S Central RPDC

Rolla

Janet Crafton

jcrafton@mst.edu

NE RPDC

Kirksville

Myra Collins

mcollins@truman.edu

NW RPDC

St. Joseph

Deb Korell

korell@nwmissouri.edu

SW RPDC

Springfield

 

 

Heart of Missouri

Columbia

Gena McCluskey

mccluskeyg@missouri.edu

SE RPDC

Cape Girardeau

Linda Null

lnull@semo.edu

Central RPDC

Warrensburg

Julie Blaine

blaine@ucmo.edu

St. Louis

 

 

 

Kansas City

 

Cathy Battles

battlesc@umkc.edu
Programs

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 –

Publications And Related Links

Science Teachers of America

Publications

National Curriculum Research in Science Education Resources

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)