The Nextgenscience.org site continues to highlight exemplars of NGSS-based instructional units with their Quality NGSS Units. One of the latest is a 1st grade unit– which is great because many of the initial science units to arise have tended to be middle school and upper elementary.

How Does Light Help Me See Things and Communicate with Others? is a 1st grade unit from the Next Generation Science Storylines group. (If you are not aware of this resource you need to check it out NOW!) The unit contains:

• Skeleton (short overview of unit)
• Full Storyline
• Teacher Guides
• Student Activity Sheets
• Zip File to easily download everything at once

These units are excellent as objects of study in professional development or in science methods courses. Because the idea of 3D science instruction based on a thoughtful storyline is new for many folks (and definitely different than the science instruction that most of us adults experienced as learners ourselves) we need to see multiple examples of the “target”. This unit provides a great example of primary teachers of science.