Program components

Unit-level overview and reference resources

Every unit of Amplify Science has a host of teacher-facing overview documentation, including Planning for the Unit, Teacher References, and Printable Resources. These documents aim to quickly familiarize the teacher with the unit’s content and structure, materials, and many other helpful insights. It is highly recommended that all teachers who are using a unit for the first time read through the Planning for the Unit documents, and consult the Teacher References as necessary throughout the unit. Unit-level resources include:

Teacher references

  • Lesson Overview Compilation: 1–2 pages on each lesson in the unit, facilitating planning and explaining the logic behind lesson sequencing.
  • Assessment System: An in-depth explanation of the assessments within that unit, including how they work together to help teachers monitor progress.
  • Embedded Formative Assessments: An organized table of information identifying which lessons in the unit contain Critical Juncture and On-the-Fly assessments, and what content each one assesses.
  • Apps in This Unit: A description of all the simulations and other digital tools included in the unit, as well as a step-by-step tutorial on using them.
  • Books in This Unit (grades K–5): A brief description of all the books included in the unit.
  • Articles in This Unit (grades 6-8): A brief description of all the readings included in the unit.

Printable resources

  • Coherence Flowcharts: These help teachers visualize how all of the different parts of a chapter (e.g. questions that drive students’ experiences, the evidence they gather, the ideas they figure out, the new questions that those ideas generate, etc.) connect and flow into one another so that students are able to figure out a nuanced, sophisticated understanding of the unit phenomena.
  • Investigation Notebook: A downloadable PDF that contains all lesson instructions and essential activities for a given unit. For grades 6–8, students have the ability to access the same content online. Pre-printed and bound Investigation Notebooks are also available for purchase from Amplify.
  • Article compilation (grades 6–8): This downloadable PDF compiles all of the unit’s science articles into one document.
  • Copymaster Compilation: Some lessons call for printed handouts. This PDF compiles all of those “copymasters” in one place, enabling teachers to download them all at once, rather than individually from each respective lesson, if desired.
  • Print Materials: A digital copy of the Print Materials included in the Unit Kit, in case replacement of any of those materials becomes necessary.