Each module is built around an engaging storyline that places the phenomena and problems in real-world contexts. For example, in Grade 1 Module 1, students curate their own Museum of Leafology to explore why some plants are different and others are the same.

In Grade 3 Module 1, they make sense of how objects are pushed or pulled by designing their own Ultimate Playground. While in Grade 5 Module 2, students go undercover at Yellowstone National Park to figure out how matter and energy move through an ecosystem. At the start of each module, students are shown a movie-style trailer video, which captivates their imagination for the challenge ahead.

Grade 3 Module 1 The Ultimate Playground Trailer video

Grade 5 Module 2 Yellowstone: Uncovered Trailer video

Every module is broken down into chapters called Driving Questions, which students complete in a sequence. These are identified at the start of every Teacher Edition in the Module Contents (TE pp.ii–iii). The phenomena and problems that students investigate in each DQ scaffolds their acquisition of the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs that are required to master the Module Phenomenon or Investigative Problem.

In addition, each module is complemented with a magazine-style Leveled Reader (available in four levels, plus Spanish) that provides additional exposure to relevant phenomena/problems, as well as interviews with scientists and engineers from diverse backgrounds. Packed with stunning images, cartoons, and jokes, they are designed to appeal to students from a diverse range of learning abilities.

Strengths

Evidence

Every module in Twig Science has an overarching Module Phenomenon or Investigative Problem that drives student learning.

In the Student Edition (called the Twig Book , the “I can” statements for each Driving Question explain the three dimensions in student-friendly language.

Across each full grade, the class creates their own Science Tools poster, which tracks when students first use a SEP and when they later apply it to different contexts. By the time they have completed the last module in the grade, students will have used the SEPs explicitly many times. This metacognitive activity helps students think about the practices they are using and how they help them make sense of phenomena and solve problems.

The SEPs the students use in each learning activity are labeled at point of use in the Student Edition (called the Twig Book), in grade-appropriate language.

Strengths

Evidence

Students are supported to use the three dimensions with increasing sophistication to make sense of the Module Phenomenon, answer the Driving Questions, and complete the learning activities. Every DCI, SEP, and CCC that is addressed in each lesson is clearly identified in the Teacher Edition at the start of the lesson, as are the 3-D Learning Objectives.

The cover also contains the grade-specific Scope and Sequence, which clearly identifies the sequence of the modules, as well as the three dimensions that each module targets. Cross-curricular connections are also included.

The Module Contents of each Teacher Edition (pp.ii–iii) clearly identifies which Performance Expectations are addressed in each Driving Question, and how the three dimensions build on each other.

The Performance Expectation Progressions table in the back cover of every Teacher Edition highlights prior experience of the three dimensions in earlier grades, as well as future exposure in later grades.

An Overview of every Driving Question provided in the Teacher Edition briefly explains how the student experience of the three dimensions progresses across the lessons of that Driving Question.

In addition, every lesson starts with an Overview that adds detail for how the three dimensions build across the five sections of each lesson.

Spark: An engaging “hook” activity, which motivates students for the investigations ahead.

Investigate: Students think like scientists and design like engineers, through hands-on, digital, video, and informational text Investigations.

Report: Students articulate what they’ve learned today, citing evidence and their use of the three dimensions.

Connect: Students make connections to the Driving Questions and Module Investigative Problem, while building knowledge of CCCs and SEPs.

Reflect: Students use different means to think about what they have

Strengths

Evidence

The front cover of every Teacher Edition contains the CA NGSS Framework Alignment. It sets out a clear and logical sequence for the Performance Expectations across the Twig Science K–6 modules. It also illustrates how the 29 K–6 modules align directly to the 29 K–6 CA Framework Segments.