Mapping Energy in the Boston Public Schools Curriculum
Energy is a cross-cutting concept that can be used to integrate all scientific disciplines. However, most curricula are not organized, taught, or learned from this integrated energy perspective. As science becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, K-8 science teachers often teach all scientific disciplines, and many scientific concepts are taught repeatedly in different curricula, we hypothesize that using an integrated energy approach allows for more efficient learning of science as a whole. This idea is consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards being introduced in the United States with a major cross-cutting concept being Matter and Energy. To examine how energy pervades the Boston Public Schools (BPS) curriculum, grades 1–12, the Boston Energy in Science Teaching (BEST) project gathered 12 teacher leaders (one representing each grade) to identify where energy was most prominent in the curriculum they teach and how these energy ideas, activities, and examples were connected horizontally across science disciplines and vertically across grade bands. After 3 days of an Energy Institute devoted to this task, the teachers’ inputs resulted in a matrix of 162 connections among the 105 curriculum units (grades 1–12) that featured energy most prominently. Identified energy ideas were consistent with four energy subthemes: Forms and Transformation, Systems, Conservation of Energy, and Energy Resources. The most critical energy ideas and activities were identified and crossed all disciplines and grade bands equally. Challenges remain in aligning the energy map in BPS with energy learning progressions and making the energy content map more generalizable for use across many districts as the Next Generation Science Standards are adopted.
Vertically Articulated Professional Learning Communities Building Collaboration and Practice amongst K-12 Science Teachers
This article is based on a presentation given at the International Week Conference, held at Pädagogische Hochschule Niederösterreich, Baden, on June 1, 2016. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) represent a major shift in the way that science is taught and learned in schools. One major part of this shift is the emphasis on a progression of scientific knowledge from K-12. We examine professional learning communities that are orientated to align with the vertical progressions of scientific knowledge emphasized in NGSS. Using qualitative methodology embedded in a constructivist theoretical framework, we describe our use of vertically aligned groups of science teachers constructed around a particular content area (earth science, biology, chemistry or physics). We present an overview of several emergent themes that we have identified from our data analysis.
The Soviet Home Front, 1941-1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II
List of tables and maps Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations and technical terms Part 1: On the Eve 1. Building Socialism 2. The Great Patriotic War 3. The State in Wartime Part 2: Soviet Society at War 4. Mobilisation 5. Subsistence and Survival 6. The Social Order Part 3: The Productive Effort 7. Fortress of the Rear 8. Labour: The 'Ultimate Bottleneck' 9. 'In Labour as in Combat' 10. Production: The Power of Victory 11. Planning: 'The Military-Economic Staff' Epilogue Tables Important dates References Maps Index