Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, their understanding gradually builds and deepens, ultimately leading to their ability to develop and refine increasingly complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science California to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our K–2 program to address 100% of the California NGSS in just 66 days.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, their understanding gradually builds and deepens, ultimately leading to their ability to develop and refine increasingly complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

 

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to teach less, but achieve more. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our K–2 program to address 100% of the NGSS in just 66 days.

 

Scope and sequence

Every year of our K–2 consists of 3 units and 66 total lessons. Said another way, each unit contains 20 lessons plus two dedicated assessment days (a Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment).

 

Lessons at grades K–1 are written for a minimum of 45-minutes, and grade 2 lessons are written for a minimum of 60-minutes—though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.

Unit types

While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.

In each grade K–2:

  • One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
  • One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.

Investigation Units

Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.

Modeling Units

Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.

Engineering Design Units

Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.

Units at a glance

Mariposa en vuelo sobre plantas en macetas sobre una mesa, con una oruga en un tallo frondoso cerca, una regadera roja a la izquierda y un paisaje brillante al fondo.

Needs of Plants and Animals

Domains: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Scientists

Phenomenon: There are no monarch caterpillars in the Mariposa Grove community garden since vegetables were planted. 
Una mano tirando de una cuerda atada a una bola blanca, que interactúa con un tablero de madera con varias clavijas y bandas elásticas.

Pushes and Pulls

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Pinball engineers

Phenomenon: Pinball machines allow people to control the direction and strength of forces on a ball. 
Silueta de una estructura de parque infantil contra un cielo azul con nubes y tres soles amarillos.

Sunlight and Weather

Domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Weather scientists

Phenomenon: Students at Carver Elementary School are too cold during morning recess, while students at Woodland Elementary School are too hot during afternoon recess. 
Una ilustración de una tortuga marina nadando bajo el agua, acompañada por una tortuga más pequeña, una tortuga más grande y un tiburón distante. Al fondo se ven algas.

Animal and Plant Defenses

Domain: Life Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Marine scientists

Phenomenon: Spruce the Sea Turtle lives in an aquarium and will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite ocean predators. 
Dos manos sosteniendo un papel con un dibujo de pirámide y árbol, iluminado por una linterna, proyectando otra sombra de la imagen en la pared.

Light and Sound

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Light and sound engineers

Phenomenon: A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows. 
Ilustración que muestra un paisaje urbano dividido en noche a la izquierda con una luna y estrellas, y día a la derecha con un sol, nubes y un avión.

Spinning Earth

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Sky scientists

Phenomenon: The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone. 
Un elefante se encuentra debajo de un árbol y usa su trompa para arrancar un trozo de fruta.

Plant and Animal Relationships

Domains: Life Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Investigation

Student role: Plant scientists

Phenomenon: No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India. 
Una mano sostiene un frijol rojo sobre una mesa, mientras un palo de madera esparce pegamento blanco y frijoles esparcidos. Sobre la mesa también hay una taza blanca y una pluma amarilla.

Properties of Materials

Domains: Physical Science, Engineering Design

Unit type: Engineering design

Student role: Glue engineers

Phenomenon: Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties. 
Ilustración de una costa con acantilados, un edificio de centro recreativo con un techo rojo y un letrero, árboles de hoja perenne, una bandera azul y una playa de arena debajo.

Changing Landforms

Domain: Earth and Space Science

Unit type: Modeling

Student role: Geologists

Phenomenon: The cliff that Oceanside Recreation Center is situated on appears to be receding over time. 

Resources

Una mujer adulta está ayudando a un niño con sus tareas escolares en un escritorio en un salón de clases.

Pilot support brochure for K–2

Unit phenomena for K–5

Take a closer look at the unit phenomena featured in each grade level.

Classroom Slides for K–5

Meet your new hands-free TG! These PowerPoints for every lesson make teaching science even easier.

What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?

Learn actionable strategies that will help you implement 3-D teaching and learning.

Literacy-rich science instruction in K–5

Scientists read and write with purpose too.

Student Books in K–5

Read a summary of each of our Student Books.
Four children gather around a table engaged in a group activity with papers and a board game, in a classroom setting decorated with colorful charts.

Investigations for K–5

Explore the types of hands-on investigations that take place in K–5 classrooms.
Two students in a classroom examine a cup of water held by one student. Both are focused on the experiment at their desk.

The CER model for K–5

Learn how we integrate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) into daily instruction.
Un maestro se encuentra al frente de un salón de clases, explicando una lección que se muestra en una pantalla. Los estudiantes se sientan en sus escritorios y algunos levantan la mano.

Approaches to assessment in K–5

Learn about our embedded assessments.