As our first-grade class was returning to our classroom after recess, a learner directed our attention to our school’s newest retaining wall. He asked, “Why is the wall always falling apart on that side?”

A rich discussion began, and we agreed to add his question to the “Wondering Chart” we had started in our classroom at the beginning of the year. The chart now had quite a few Earth, life, and physical science questions. We had answered some questions, but still needed to answer, investigate, and explore others. A few questions had also been edited for clarity.

The collapsing wall question was the first engineering question on our chart, and I considered using an inquiry approach to answer it. I hoped to create opportunities for learners to investigate engineering design. As the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) states, “Although engineering design is not a lock-step process, it is helpful to think of it in three stages—defining the problem, developing possible solutions, and determining which best solves the problem.”

Our first-grade professional learning community (PLC) had planned to begin an integrated unit on waves that same week. We would approach the NGSS first-grade topic through music, art, poetry, and literature. The students would have an opportunity to plan design some investigations, and would make observations with sound and light waves. We became very involved with the new unit, and learners became involved in exploring light and sound waves.

As the unit progressed, we began to add vocabulary words to our classroom vernacular. First graders discussed vibrations, radiating concentric circles, wavelength, amplitude, and frequency. After examining the famous artwork The Great Wave by the Japanese artist Hokusai, we began to discuss force, tsunamis, and curves.

As the learning facilitator, I was interested in the connections students would make in this new unit. Would first graders successfully access this new information? Would they be able to represent their learning? Would they use this information purposefully? Would the learning be extended?

I discovered the answers during the least structured time of the day: “choice time,” a time deliberately set aside for community collaboration and exploration. Learners choose an activity, whom they want to work with, and what materials they use, and must manage their time accordingly.

Choice time is an extension of the day’s learning that allows for long-term discoveries. Typically engagement is high, and a purposeful intention is present. It is a time for the teacher to serve as observer, assistant, or recorder, not as instructor.

During the wave unit’s choice time, one group was particularly interested in building walls with paper cups. They spent days building together and exploring the cups’ properties. They began to design plans in advance, and wondered about curved walls and straight walls. Noticing the cups’ shape, some students inquired about circles and concentric circles. For an entire month, , wall building was our choice-time activity.

First-grade engineers built high walls, low walls, curved walls, straight walls, walls with waves, and circular walls. Some walls were able to stand; some collapsed. This exploration and investigation was led by learners’ pure curiosity. They were excited to discover which wall wouldn’t collapse, and posed questions when walls did.

At month’s end, one student voiced a conjecture for the original question about the crumbling playground wall. He believed the small curve could not be strong enough. He demonstrated a support system that might be used to enhance the wall. His classmates were enthusiastic about his idea. We posted it on our wonder chart: “Support might help the wall.”

These students defined a problem, experimented with possible solutions, and determined an effective one for the crumbling playground wall. They used their choice time to explore engineering design, and had worked collaboratively. They even used their knowledge of waves to explore wall structure.

By dedicating time for wonder, exploration, and discovery, classroom leaders can provide opportunities for all learners to gain new knowledge.

Susan Koch

Susan Koch is a first grade teacher at Union Elementary School in Montpelier, Vermont. She is a 2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow and in 2016 was named the Vermont Teacher of the Year. Contact her at susank@mpsvt.org or via Twitter: @SusanKochVT

This article was featured in the October issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction. Click here to access other articles from the September issue on assessing three-dimensional learning. Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

Future NSTA Conferences

2017 Fall Conferences

• Milwaukee: Nov. 9–11, 2017
• New Orleans: Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2017

National Conference

• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

Follow NSTA

To support the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Middle School Engineering Design, we have three goals for our students: to define problems accurately, design the best solution using a rigorous process, and evaluate and improve their designs based on evidence. When guiding our students to meet these goals, we first use various video clips, articles, and flow charts to introduce them to the steps of the engineering design process (EDP). 

We then use a template we developed and have the students complete it as they work through the EDP during a project. The template divides the EDP into seven steps: identify the problem, gather information (including scientific principles, criteria, and constraints), brainstorm possible solutions, select the best solution, make a model, test and evaluate, and refine and release (see diagram). We use the same student template for all of our middle school design projects to provide consistency for our students. 

Our goal is to give our students opportunities to practice engineering skills like engineers do in the real world. Real engineers collaborate with other engineers, scientists, and architects to develop, test, and refine their designs. Since the EDP depends on successful collaboration and communication, our students always work in groups to develop their design solutions.

We use many different types of data to form student groups based on students’ needs. In our seventh- and eighth-grade science classes, we used reading and math MAP data, pre-test data, behavior data, and formative assessment data to group students for the engineering design projects. This process sets the groups up for success. Sometimes we create homogenous groups, and sometimes heterogenous groups, depending on student needs. In one of the eighth-grade design units, we used heterogenous grouping, which allowed each group to have a high-achieving, high-medium, medium-low, and low-achieving student participant. During the unit, students were engaged, communicating, and making progress on the student template while coaching one another through the different steps of the EDP (see picture above).

During a unit on forces and interactions, seventh-grade students applied Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects. Students had to solve the problem of increased traffic injuries due to vehicle collisions. The challenge was to protect a passenger (a raw egg) that rolled down a steep ramp and collided into a wall.

We gave the students wheels and axles; some basic materials like cardboard, rubber bands, and cotton balls; and tools to use, like hot glue guns and utility knives. We also enforced some regulations to ensure a real-life engineering experience and realistic design solutions. For example, the students could not use kits, and all materials had to be modified. The egg had to be able to “see” where it’s going and easily enter and exit the vehicle like a real driver would. The students were very excited about building their vehicles, which is why the student template was necessary to ensure they completed each step of the EDP thoroughly.

During the project, the students determined the importance of the problem, applied the science of Newton’s Third Law to their solution, identified criteria and constraints, and evaluated possible solutions. While the students were building their prototypes, they used the ramp and wall to test their solutions and refined their designs as they worked. Once their prototype was finished, the teacher conducted an official crash test, and the students evaluated their solution based on the results.

During a unit on human impacts , eighth-grade students worked together to apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. Each group chose one of the six major human impacts as their focus: climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, overpopulation, pollution, and overexploitation of resources. As a group, they identified the problem and those affected by it, and the reason it is important to solve or minimize.

The groups communicated about the effects on the environment and the needs of society. They researched how humans have contributed to the problem and its effect on resource availability. They also identified the criteria and constraints relevant to their problem. While the students were brainstorming possible solutions, they showed real creativity and ingenuity. In this particular unit, the students didn’t actually build a prototype, but instead developed a blueprint diagram that allowed them to be as creative as possible without limitations.

The students enjoyed the flexibility and freedom that this project offered, and it was a wonderful experience for us because we were able to see our students successfully draw, explain, and act out their solutions. After completing their blueprint, they identified the strengths and weaknesses of their solution and designed ways to improve and refine it. When teaching the NGSS, teachers have many opportunities that allow for student choice and ownership of their learning. The students’ finished designs are a true testament to the success of the NGSS in the classroom (see pictures below).

Sean Gormley has been teaching science for 15 years in the Chicago area. Cathy Boland is a fifth-year middle school science teacher in Skokie, Illinois. Together they have presented their expertise with NGSS at both the Skokie district and Niles Township inservices and at the Illinois Science Teacher Association, Northern Illinois Science Educators, and Illinois Science Educators conferences. Both serve on their district NGSS Leadership Team, which was showcased in the district newsletter for NGSS implementation. Gormley serves as Science Department Chair for his district, and Boland is very active on Twitter, sharing resources and moderating NGSS science teacher accounts (@MsBoland_SD735).

This article was featured in the October issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction. Click here to access other articles from the September issue on assessing three-dimensional learning. Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

Future NSTA Conferences

2017 Fall Conferences

• Milwaukee: Nov. 9–11, 2017
• New Orleans: Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2017

National Conference

• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

Follow NSTA