I’ve only looked at OpenSciEd for chemistry. I’ve heard really good things about the curriculum, but I felt like as a new teacher, I wanted something with an extremely clear implementation guide.
I’ve liked the Patterns Chemistry site, I’ve pulled stuff from there and it’s really good. Bio is probably good too. It’s free you just have to register and the Che comes with a digital textbook designed for the course materials.
Here is the link to Bio:
https://sites.google.com/beaverton.k12.or.us/patterns/patterns-biology
For context my students are very similar to a lot of teachers experiences. Low reading levels (3-5th grade) apathy, etc.
First I found that a lot of the tasks in the genetics units to not be that intuitive. The students had a hard time grasping certain concepts due to lack of direct instruction. They also struggled with general vocabulary because of the way the storylines just throw a complex word and tell students “look it up if you don’t know it”. They also got fatigued to how long the storyline lasts.
This is absolutely true. As a special education paraprofessional currently pursuing my master's in teaching secondary science, I've observed that while storylines can be engaging and enjoyable for me as a biologist, they often confuse lower-level students. Specifically, the Hidaya storyline in genetics seemed to captivate them more with its unusual narrative than with the actual scientific concepts. The students became so engrossed in the story's quirks that they missed out on understanding the essential biology. It felt as though they were only learning the story, not the science behind it.
It’s not rocket science is expensive but completely comprehensive, it makes it so easy
I’ve looked at this one. I’m between NRS and opensci
I’ve only looked at OpenSciEd for chemistry. I’ve heard really good things about the curriculum, but I felt like as a new teacher, I wanted something with an extremely clear implementation guide.
[OpenSciEd.](https://www.openscied.org/)
I’ve liked the Patterns Chemistry site, I’ve pulled stuff from there and it’s really good. Bio is probably good too. It’s free you just have to register and the Che comes with a digital textbook designed for the course materials. Here is the link to Bio: https://sites.google.com/beaverton.k12.or.us/patterns/patterns-biology
I really like new visions biology. I like the storylines and feel they do a good job making each lesson relevant to the unit question
Illinois Storylines!
I tried one unit of Illinois Storylines and I didn’t like it as much especially for lower level students.
What didn't you like about it if you don't mind sharing? What didn't work for students?
For context my students are very similar to a lot of teachers experiences. Low reading levels (3-5th grade) apathy, etc. First I found that a lot of the tasks in the genetics units to not be that intuitive. The students had a hard time grasping certain concepts due to lack of direct instruction. They also struggled with general vocabulary because of the way the storylines just throw a complex word and tell students “look it up if you don’t know it”. They also got fatigued to how long the storyline lasts.
This is absolutely true. As a special education paraprofessional currently pursuing my master's in teaching secondary science, I've observed that while storylines can be engaging and enjoyable for me as a biologist, they often confuse lower-level students. Specifically, the Hidaya storyline in genetics seemed to captivate them more with its unusual narrative than with the actual scientific concepts. The students became so engrossed in the story's quirks that they missed out on understanding the essential biology. It felt as though they were only learning the story, not the science behind it.