Flexible, blended program
Amplify Science integrates technology thoughtfully and intentionally, not in a “tech for tech’s sake” fashion, but in ways that reflect how 21st-century scientists and engineers use technology to enable their investigations and explorations. If we want to teach students to think and act like real scientists and engineers today, we need to empower them with the opportunity to use state-of-the-art digital tools in addition to reading scientific texts, writing and discussing scientific arguments, and engaging in hands-on learning.
Student-facing technology
Kindergarten–grade 3
Student use of technology gradually increases over the course of the Amplify Science K–8 program. In kindergarten and grade 1, students observe various types of media (videos, images, etc.) through projections. In these grade levels, however, there is no expectation that students are managing the digital experience. In grade 2, some student-facing technology is introduced. Students in grades 2–3 use digital tools about once per week, with lessons assuming that students are sharing devices (although one device per student is supported). The digital tools used at these grade levels help students with modeling, graphing, and sorting information. For example, in the grade 2 unit Properties of Materials, students gather evidence about which ingredients might make a strong glue. They complete “strength tests” on the glue ingredients and then use the digital Data Tool to graph the results of their tests:
Student-facing technology
Grades 4–5
In grades 4–5, students experience a slight increase in their use of technology, with lessons calling for the use of digital tools roughly 2–3 times per week for 15–20 minutes at a time (again with students sharing devices or each having their own). Digital tools and Simulations (Sims) at these grade levels are slightly more complex and serve as venues of exploration and a means for collecting data and evidence, while also presenting students with opportunities to make observations and manipulate variables of key scientific processes and mechanisms. Sims allow students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Much like real scientists do, students of Amplify Science will use these computer Simulations to gain insight into processes that occur on the microscopic scale, or to speed up processes that might otherwise take thousands or millions of years to observe. For example, in the first chapter of the grade 4 unit Vision and Light, students explore their own senses by carrying out hands-on activities, then read a book about investigating animal senses to figure out the key concept that animals need light for vision, and that this light provides information about the environment. In the next chapter, students use a digital Simulation that actually allows them to observe the movement of light and discover how light allows animals to see—something they would otherwise be unable to visualize without the help of technology. In the grade 5 Modeling Matter unit, students use the Modeling Matter Simulation to explore why certain substances form mixtures and other substances do not by observing molecular attraction and repulsion and the effect of introducing emulsifiers into a mixture.
As in grades 2 and 3, the exploration and use of digital tools like this one is done in pairs or groups, which serves the dual purposes of providing scaffolding for students, and making it feasible to implement in classrooms that have fewer devices available.