Standards & FOSS Kit Analysis 2nd Edition

This alignment of the FOSS science kits and the Washington State Science Standards started in 2009 with science lead teachers, science kit instructors and the science coordinator from ESD112 analyzing each kit investigation and comparing it to the revised science standards to determine if the investigation as described in the kit would lead students to an understanding of the standards.

In the first edition the analysis looked at the "investigation" level and then returned the document to the field for feedback. This second edition reflects the following feedback from the field.

• "Identify the one standard that best fits each part of each investigation, and not 'how many different' standards could be met."
• "Identify the best opportunities to emphasize the cross cutting EALR’s, Systems, Inquiry and Application, [and highlight them]."
• "Match the investigations with the formative assessment resources, Uncovering Student Ideas in Science."
• "Suggest a focus question for each investigation that links the investigation with the standard."
• "If possible fit on one page."

Added Investigations

ESD112 made some strategic additions to several kits to address standards that students did not have an opportunity to encounter in the existing investigations. These additions focused on the Big Idea of Earth History and fossil evidence and on the Big Idea of Earth in Space the apparent motion of the Sun and Earth. We note that there are other ways that teachers and districts could address these standards and this is just one strategy for extending the FOSS kit investigations to better meet the standards.

Science Stories

FOSS Science Stories often add important reinforcement for the standards or sometimes unique opportunities to address a particular science standard. Although they are listed at the end of the document the stories are meant to be integrated with the investigations to get the most value out of the reading. We did not however consider reading one story sufficient opportunity for a student to achieve mastery of a science standard.

Quick Glance Format

The teachers in our region emphasized that a multiple page document would be less likely to be used, so this is a quick glance format that uses the standards code and short phrase to represent the standard. Teachers need to become familiar with the full text of each standard to use this document effectively.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary was drawn from the italicized words from the Washington Standards. FOSS provides an additional vocabulary list that is specific for each kit and can be accessed at fossweb.com. There is a set of "test" words in the Test and Item Specifications document at OSPI.