Disciplinary Core Ideas

Like all enthusiastic teachers, you want your students to see the connections between important science concepts so they can grasp how the world works now―and maybe even make it work better in the future. But how exactly do you help them learn and apply these core ideas? Just as its subtitle says, this important book aims to reshape your approach to teaching and your students’ way of learning. Building on the foundation provided by A Framework for K–12 Science Education, which informed the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, the book’s four sections cover these broad areas: 1. Physical science core ideas explain phenomena as diverse as why water freezes and how information can be sent around the world wirelessly. 2. Life science core ideas explore phenomena such as why children look similar but not identical to their parents and how human behavior affects global ecosystems. 3. Earth and space sciences core ideas focus on complex interactions in the Earth system and examine phenomena as varied as the big bang and global climate change. 4. Engineering, technology, and applications of science core ideas highlight engineering design and how it can contribute innovative solutions to society’s problems. Disciplinary Core Ideas can make your science lessons more coherent and memorable, regardless of what subject matter you cover and what grade you teach. Think of it as a conceptual tool kit you can use to help your students learn important and useful science now―and continue learning throughout their lives.

Ravit Golan Duncan is an associate professor of science education with a joint appointment in the Graduate School of Education and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University. She received her PhD in learning sciences from Northwestern University. She currently has two main research strands: (1) the design and study of inquiry based learning environments in life sciences that engage students with modeling and argumentation and (2) the study of learning progressions in science education, specifically in genetics. She is the recipient of three early career awards from the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation. In addition, Duncan also coordinates and teaches in the Certification Program in Life Sciences at Rutgers University and has studied the development of preservice teachers’ knowledge and beliefs. Duncan is the recipient of several federal grants that involve the design of instructional materials that support student (and teacher) engagement with scientific inquiry. She has published in both education research journals such as the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) practitioner journals The Science Teacher, Science Scope, and Science and Children. Duncan was also one of the reviewers of A Framework for K–12 Science Education and has facilitated several NSTA professional development workshops and webinars about the Next Generation Science Standards disciplinary core ideas and science practices over the past few years.

Joseph Krajcik serves as director of the CREATE for STEM Institute and is the Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education at Michigan State University. His work focuses in improving the teaching and learning of science, kindergarten through college by engaging in innovation and research. Throughout his career, Joe has focused on working with science teachers to design and test learning environments to reform science teaching practices and to research student learning and engagement in project-based learning environments. He has authored and co-authored books, over 100 manuscripts and curriculum materials. Joe received many professional awards and recognitions for his contributions to the science education thought the years: George G. Mallinson Award from Michigan Science Teachers’ Association in 2014, Distinguished Professorship from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, South Korea in 2009, Guest Professorships from Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China in 2002 and 2018, and the Weston Visiting Professor of Science Education from Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel in 2005. In 2020, Joe was elected to the National Academy of Education and received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Pre-K-12 Education in recognition for your many accomplishments and contributions to transforming education. He was an ISDDE Price for Excellence in Education Design winner in 2021.

Ann E. Rivet is Associate Professor of Science Education and Associate Director of the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College Columbia University. Between 2016-2019 she served as a program officer in the Directorate for STEM Education at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Rivet’s research explores how students develop deep and meaningful understandings of Earth and environmental science concepts by examining the intersections of scientific reasoning, instructional design, and assessment primarily at the middle and secondary school levels. Her current work investigates the ways that crosscutting scientific concepts are related to and influence students’ understandings of core disciplinary ideas, and how phenomena-based instructional approaches can support students’ understand large-scale Earth systems. Dr. Rivet is actively involved with current efforts to support the adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) at both the policy and practitioner levels, including the development of free open source high quality curriculum materials for middle and high school science. Her work has been published in leading journals including Science, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and the American Education Research Journal, and she has presented her work in multiple national and international settings. She earned her bachelors degree in physics from Brown University, and doctoral degree in science education from the University of Michigan.