3 Dimensional Learning: What it Looks Like in a Classroom

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Education
Edward Hessler

You may know that the Minnesota Academic Standards in Science will be revised in 2018-2019. Indeed, the process is already underway.

Development of Minnesota science standards includes assumptions to guide the work of the standards committee. Among them is this one: "The standards will be informed by A Framework for K-12 Science Education and include the dimensions of the scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas." This framework can be viewed and downloaded in its entirety or in sections in which you have particular interest.

Briefly, practices are (a) what scientists employ as they investigate, and build models and ultimately theories about the world and (b) engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build.

Crosscutting concepts have application across the sciences.

Disciplinary core ideas have broad importance in science or engineering and are teachable and learnable over multiple grades. They are grouped into the physical sciences, the life sciences, the earth and space sciences, and engineering, technology and applications of science.

Here is what three dimensional learning looks like in a classroom.  The life sciences and the earth and space sciences include opportunities in both classroom and out-of-classroom teaching and learning. This video includes both and also focuses on the behavior of a familiar bird, a bird I like and look forward to seeing each spring: the red-wing blackboard. 

This page from the Minnesota Department of Education describes the development process for science standards, including a time line, the assumptions and access to the standards published in 2009.

I think there is a lot to notice and think about in this video so it could be used for a discussion on learning and teaching.