Key takeaways
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Science Techbook is a phenomena-driven, 3D elementary science curriculum built on the 5E inquiry model and aligned to the NGSS
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Lessons come in ready-to-teach, editable slideshow format with embedded teacher guidance at point of use, reducing prep time while allowing easy customization
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Literacy and math skills are intentionally included in science instruction: students read, write, analyze data, and communicate while doing real science
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Flexible pacing and pathways help districts and teachers fit rigorous science into packed schedules without sacrificing instructional quality or coherence
Access all on-demand Engage K鈥�12 sessions.
The fourth session of our Engage K鈥�12 webinar series introduced the brand new Science Techbook, which is due to launch in the 2026鈥�2027 school year! It鈥檚 a three-dimensional elementary science curriculum that engages students through phenomena-driven inquiry and incorporates literacy and math instruction as well. Lance Rougeux, SVP Curriculum Instruction & Student Engagement at 扒哥黑料, explained that educator and leader input on their must-haves helped shape its development. Requests included:
- Alignment to standards based on the Framework for K鈥�12 Science Education
- Helping students do real science in hands-on experiences
- Embedded teacher guidance
- Connections across disciplines that don鈥檛 require extra work from teachers
Designed for Today鈥檚 Science Classroom
The new Science Techbook reflects the current demands on science instruction, in which students are expected to investigate, explain, model, and make sense of the world. Districts are expected to demonstrate impact on students, accelerate academic recovery, and make smart curriculum decisions. Any technology involved must be intentional to prevent digital fatigue, integrate literacy and math development, and align tightly to standards and assessments while fitting into packed instructional schedules.
Jennifer Elliott, Senior Director of Product Management, pointed out that 扒哥黑料鈥檚 challenge was to make three-dimensional science clear, practical, and sustainable for elementary classrooms. This happens through:
- Phenomena-driven storylines that pique interest and keep students curious and invested as their understanding grows
- Requiring learners to read and write, communicate, model, and analyze data while doing science, which serves to reinforce core skills with meaningful context
- Slideshow format lessons that are editable and include guidance at point of use to reduce prep time, keep pacing clear, and increase consistency
With Science Techbook, districts get effective instructional materials that they can scale to meet their needs and teachers get greater confidence and clarity.
The Vision of Science Techbook
The elementary science experience is fundamentally different now versus what we might remember from our time as students. Rather than sitting through isolated lessons, students return to a real-world phenomenon repeatedly throughout each concept.
Hailey Adams, Director, Curriculum, Instruction & Student Engagement, explained, 鈥淓ach investigation, discussion, and model adds another layer of understanding, so students aren鈥檛 just learning what happens, they鈥檙e trying to figure out why it happens.鈥� With Science Techbook, learners ask questions and make predictions, collect and analyze data, build and revise models, make evidence-supported claims, and refine their thinking via peer communication鈥攋ust like real scientists! Science isn鈥檛 a spectator activity but is instead sense-making.
Educator Support
Educators get instructional support at point of use that allows them to focus on listening to their students, responding to their ideas, and pushing their learning forward. Science Techbook lessons are in ready-to-teach slideshow format accompanied by clear instructional purposes. Teachers also get:
- Suggested pacing and time estimates
- Talk prompts and discussion cues
- Guidance for facilitating hands-on investigations
- Indicators and reminders about where critical three-dimensional learning is taking place
Because lessons are editable, educators can easily adapt them to student needs or their own instructional style without losing standard alignment or coherence. Plus, flexible pathways within Teacher Resources ensure that districts and teachers can make science fit their schedule without sacrificing instructional integrity.
Building Core Skills Through Science
Since students using Science Techbook get to act like real scientists, they actively strengthen literacy and math skills as they progress through lessons. Examples include reading complex texts after hands-on experiences, writing scientific explanations of phenomena, collecting data, and creating graphs or other models.
An Inside Look at Science Techbook
Moving from vision to reality, Science Subject Matter Expert Jennifer Fine noted, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to take a look at what teachers see, what students experience, and how this supports 3D instruction in both usable and teacher-friendly ways.鈥� Each grade level offers four units organized into concepts, which are aligned to the NGSS. Each concept is built on the 5E inquiry model, so there are Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate lessons. And throughout each concept, students stop to reflect, explain, and revise their thinking.
Engage Lessons
These introduce a real-world phenomenon that students will return to throughout the concept, giving them a purpose for learning and investigating. They can experience the phenomenon through an image, dataset, hands-on activity, or video.
Access all on-demand Engage K鈥�12 sessions.
Explore Lessons
Students begin exploring a phenomenon through hands-on activity, interactive, video, or literacy lessons. Exploring involves making observations, testing ideas, and collecting evidence to support explanations of what they observe鈥�step one of sense-making.
Explain Lessons
Two different Explain lessons built into the flow of instruction give educators real-time insight into what students are thinking and ways to help them in their sense-making as their understanding evolves. One lesson asks students to explain the phenomenon, and another asks students to explain the science ideas using a claim, evidence, and reasoning protocol.
Elaborate Lessons
These lessons help students build upon the science ideas they鈥檝e been learning as they explore a STEAM career role and complete an engaging, hands-on STEAM project.
Evaluate Lessons
Next, students move to lessons that sum up the learning and let them demonstrate understanding of core ideas using assessments chosen by the teacher. One option is the Concept Summative Assessment, a tech-enhanced assessment that feeds directly into the Dashboard, and the other is Record It, Perform It, Find It, which allows students to choose how they deliver their answer.
Formative Assessments
Built鈥慽n formative assessment prompts throughout Explore and Elaborate lessons and the two Explain lessons themselves help teachers quickly check understanding and adjust instruction.
Integrated Literacy and Science
Literacy development is intentional and seamless with Science Techbook. For example, students set purposes for reading and make connections to their prior knowledge. They also benefit from activities that draw from the Science of Reading to build comprehension, vocabulary, word analysis, and more. This means they’re not simply reading in isolation.
Interactive Glossary
Science Techbook鈥檚 interactive glossary supports vocabulary development using visuals, animations, and videos to deepen understanding, so students aren鈥檛 just memorizing the definitions of scientific terms.
Immersive Reader
Get language and literacy support for differentiation directly within core instruction and translate lessons into over 100 different languages with the Immersive Reader.
Teacher Guidance and Options
Ms. Fine noted a huge benefit to using Science Techbook over other programs: Instead of needing to flip between teacher editions, lesson plans, and slides, teachers can find instructional support exactly where it needs to be, at point of use. When opening a lesson, they鈥檒l see it鈥檚 fully built out with teacher notes on each slide. Teacher notes contain tips on supporting a variety of learners and teaching three-dimensionally. Video and reading lessons provide before, during, and after reading strategies. And because lessons are fully editable, they can be easily adapted to student needs or local context.
Conclusion
Mr. Rougeux closed out the presentation by stressing that the new Science Techbook is about making high-quality science instruction 鈥渆asier, clearer, and more impactful from day one,鈥� not adding more to teachers鈥� plates. To summarize, you get:
- Three-dimensional learning that’s practical to implement
- Phenomena-driven instruction that truly engages students
- Integrated literacy and math to make every instructional minute count
- Ready-to-teach lessons that save teachers time
扒哥黑料 Host and Presenters
Lance Rougeux, SVP Curriculum Instruction & Student Engagement
Jennifer Elliott, Senior Director of Product Management
Hailey Adams, Director, Curriculum, Instruction & Student Engagement
Jennifer Fine, Science Subject Matter Expert
