Welcome, Washoe Science Reviewers!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Science for grades 6–8. On this site, you’ll find all the resources you need to learn more about this engaging and robust NGSS program. Plus, we make it easy to experience our program firsthand with a live demo account that features our interactive learning platform.
Review Materials
Teacher Reference Guides
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides. Before you panic, rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Digital Lessons: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Read this help article to learn more.
Hands-on kits
Every unit of our program includes a dedicated hands-on materials kit. Due to the amount of materials involved, we provided your committee two sample kits per grade level. Our unit-specific kits make material management easy for teachers—they grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease. Plus, items needed for multiple units are duplicated and found in each tub.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give you enough non-consumable materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Overview
Developed by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a more complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Cohesive units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Hands-on investigations
Literacy integration
Simulations and modeling tools
Classroom discussions
EdReports All-Green
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, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon. It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS in fewer days than other programs.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
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Grade 6
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Grade 7
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Grade 8
Access program
Watch the video to the right plus the ones below showing you how to navigate our digital platform. When you’re ready, follow the instructions below to log into our live demo account.
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- To explore as a teacher, enter this username (t1.washoemssci@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password ( Amplify1-washoemssci).
- To explore as a student, enter this username (s1.washoemssci@demo.tryamplify.net) and this password ( Amplify1-washoemssci).
- Choose your grade level from the drop-down menu.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 1)
This Part 1 video demonstrates how Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Navigating an Engineering Internship (Part 2)
This Part 2 video demonstrates how to use the Futura Workspace to manage the immersive experience of the Engineering Internship units. This includes guidance on how to create student groups, how to review student work, and how to send students targeted feedback on their designs.
Navigating our reporting tools
Teachers of Amplify Science grades 6–8 have access to a feature called Reporting. When unit assessments are administered digitally, the Reporting tool enables teachers to analyze student performance on the unit assessments.
Differentiation post-assessment
Every core unit of Amplify Science 6–8 features a formal formative assessment opportunity at the mid-way point, or “Critical Juncture,” of the unit, which provides an important opportunity for differentiation.
Resources
Overview
Course structure for 6–8
Take a closer look at how the program is organized.
Overview
Unit phenomena for 6–8
Take a closer look at the middle school unit phenomena featured in each grade le...
Hands-on
Investigations for 6–8
Explore the types of investigations that take place in middle school classrooms....
Hands-on
Kit-provided components for 6–8
See what components come in our materials kits!
Teacher-provided components for 6–8
See a list of typical classroom items provided by teachers.
Digital simulations
Sims for 4–8
Take a closer look at the digital Simulations included at each grade level.
Literacy
Active reading in 6–8
Learn how we support students in learning how to interact with scientific texts....
Assessment
Approaches to assessment in 6–8
Learn about our middle school embedded assessments.