The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) separate the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) from the Cross Cutting Concepts (CCCs) and from the Science content known as the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs). Those three distinctions, the DCIs, CCCs, and SEPs are what the NGSS refer to as the three dimensions of Science. It is our job as instructors of Science to incorporate all three dimensions into the work our students do. There are some great tools to support teachers in making their classroom tasks three dimensional.
Two weeks ago I shared the STEM Teaching Tools website for teachers to find PD-type resources.
I’ve also written about the SEPs as the way for us teachers to get our students doing Science.
I also wrote a post about helping our students learn about Science and Engineering in the real world.
If you need more Engineering ideas/resources, I shared the Teach Engineering website.
There are resources for teaching NGSS three dimensional Science and for teaching Engineering, which the NGSS made sure to incorporate in current Science instruction. But what if you’re like me and you never studied any type of Engineering? How do you know what the difference is between Science and Engineering? At some point I came across the PDF document below, see image to the left (click on it to see it enlarged), and it’s a great way to learn how Science and Engineer are both similar and different. The differences, sometimes quite subtle, are very important and some of the projects we do can focus on the Science and Engineering when students are asked to design and create prototype solutions to the problems they discover or uncover via Science. (Click here if you don’t see a document below.)
When thinking of writing this blog post I searched the web for the above PDF to give proper credit to where I got it from. I couldn’t find it anywhere! If anyone knows where the above document came from, please leave a comment to let me know so that I can properly credit it.
A Google search didn’t yield the exact PDF document. I did find this cool webpage: Differentiating Between Science and Engineering.
Then I checked NSTA’s NGSS website, a great resource if you don’t know of it, and looked all over. I was sure that was where it came from, after searching the actual NGSS website. Take some time to look through the NSTA’s NGSS website because they have a lot of great resources and lessons!
So there are many great resources out there and the PDF document I shared here is a great way for those of us who are not engineers to get an idea of how Science and Engineering are different so that we can ensure our students get exposed to both. And hopefully someone will tell us where that document came from! lol
