Elementary School Curriculum
Currently being field tested by hundreds of teachers and thousands of students, our elementary curriculum will give you the tools to create a science classroom experience that captivates and inspires your K-5 students.
In the fall of 2022, OpenSciEd launched the development of an elementary science program designed to support teachers in engaging students’ natural curiosities and interests about the world. The complete (grades K-5) program will meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and include ELA/literacy and math integrations. It will be freely available by spring 2026. Units will be released as they are completed starting in late 2024 or early 2025.
Northwestern University leads our developers consortium which includes BSCS Science Learning, Carolina Biological Supply Company, Horizon Research, Inc., Michigan State University, Oakland University, and The University of Texas at Austin. The consortium is creating, field-testing, revising, and publicly releasing units from 2022-2026. The consortium will also provide professional learning opportunities and open source resources to address the pressing needs of elementary teachers and support their effective implementation of the science materials.
To get information about the progress of our elementary development, register on this page.
Design of the Elementary Materials
While the elementary materials are still in development, much about their design is already defined by our Design Specifications and our Instructional Model. The Design Specifications describe what we want science learning to look like for every student, and therefore guide our materials development process and implementation support. And the Instructional Model is how we aim to bring those specifications to life in the classroom. Both the Specifications and the Instructional Model are based on A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards, including the emphasis on three-dimensional learning that integrates science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas.
The elementary materials will utilize the OpenSciEd Instructional Model.
This webinar with Dr. Brian Reiser unpacks the instructional model and provides examples of it in action.
