Dear Traditional Science… It’s Not You, It’s Me
I guess it’s only fair to tell you that Traditional Science and I finally decided to call it quits. We had a good run, but it was time to admit we wanted different things, we were drifting apart, and we were no longer bringing out the best in each other.
The year was 2022. It was a sunny day in June. I was attending my first professional development as a district curriculum writer. I was happy, excited, and certainly not expecting to meet “the one.” But you know how these stories go: the best things always show up when you’re not looking.
There I was, minding my own business, surrounded by chart paper, smelly markers, and Post-it notes, when sensemaking came along with qualities of instruction that I didn’t even know I was looking for. I have to admit, it was love at first sight. 🤩
Sensemaking was the whole package:
- Curious. Always asking questions, always wondering what’s really going on.
- Thoughtful. Focusing on making sense of ideas instead of rushing to the “right answer.”
- Patient. Giving kids time and space to explore, try ideas, and revise their thinking.
- Honest. Relying on evidence and observations, not guess-and-check or memorizing.
- Flexible. Allowing learning to unfold naturally based on student ideas and questions.
- Connected. Helping kids notice patterns and relationships across science concepts.
- Supportive. Encouraging kids to talk, draw, model, and explain as part of learning.
- Long-term focused. Building understanding over time instead of treating lessons like one-and-done activities.
Traditional science kept most of the thinking with the teacher. Students were told what to see and how things work as they memorized facts and vocabulary and followed step-by-step labs. No wonder we drifted apart. I was doing all the work in the relationship!
Sensemaking put thinking back into students’ hands, right where it belongs, and somewhere between the phenomenon, the questions, the models, and those little “ohhh!” moments, I knew I was done for. Sensemaking had me at hello. And like every great love story, I soon realized it was part of something much bigger. It wasn’t just charming - it had structure, purpose, and a name: NGSS. Once I saw how it all fit together, there was no going back to Traditional Science.
So what is NGSS, really?
Back in 2011, a group of states, scientists, researchers, and educators came together to rethink what great K–12 science learning should look like. Their work became known as A Framework for K–12 Science Education. Two years later, in 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards were finalized.
More than twenty states use NGSS directly, and many others have built their own standards using the same three-dimensional approach. Even states like Texas, which did not adopt NGSS by name, leaned on this framework when revising the Science TEKS in 2021. That is why the new TEKS include Scientific and Engineering Practices and Recurring Themes and Concepts. They reflect the same big ideas, even if the labels look a little different.
NGSS tells us:
✔️ What students should know.
✔️ What they should be able to do.
✔️ And how those ideas connect so kids actually make sense of the world.
That’s it.
Not scary.
Not extra.
Just powerful science thinking.
The Heart of NGSS: Three Dimensional Learning
1. Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)
This is the content. It's what we want students to learn.
2. Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)
This is what students do to learn science: Asking questions, planning investigations, analyzing data, building models, talking about evidence, explaining their thinking.
3. Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs)
This is how students think about science: Patterns, cause and effect, systems, structure and function, and more.
When these three pieces come together, something powerful happens:
Kids don’t just do activities.
They build understanding.
They connect ideas.
They figure things out.
Students become scientists in your classroom and science becomes more than a checklist of topics.
Kids make sense of phenomena.
They learn to explain things.
They look for patterns.
They see cause and effect.
They connect ideas across units.
They carry understanding with them instead of forgetting it next week.
This is the kind of science classroom we all want. And it is exactly what NGSS supports, whether your state uses the name or not.
The Next Chapter
Now that we have the big picture of NGSS, we will start digging into the parts that bring sensemaking to life in real classrooms. In upcoming posts, we will explore the Science and Engineering Practices and the Crosscutting Concepts. Every great love story has its supporting cast, and in this one, the SEPs and CCCs are the characters you’ll definitely want to get to know. 😏
Want More?
If this post got you excited about sensemaking, you might enjoy a few earlier favorites.
✨ Walking Water - a simple investigation turned sensemaking routine.
✨ Don’t Kill the Ants - a way to help kids notice, wonder, and stay curious.
✨ Don't Steal the Wonder - the inspiration and reasoning behind how I teach scientific thinking.
And if you want to start building these habits tomorrow, you can grab my “I Notice / I Wonder” Journal Pages (Freebie/Whole Set) on Teachers Pay Teachers to make this routine part of your daily science block.