This resource is a free, downloadable audio file of short music clips to use for instruction.

Running the Track: Standard 8.F.4 - Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.
This formative assessment exemplar was created by a team of Utah educators to be used as a resource in the classroom. It was reviewed for appropriateness by a Bias and Sensitivity/Special Education team and by state mathematics leaders. While no assessment is perfect, it is intended to be used as a formative tool that enables teachers to obtain evidence of student learning, identify assets and gaps in that learning, and adjust instruction for the two dimensions that are important for mathematical learning experiences (i.e., Standards for Mathematical Practice, Major Work of the Grade).

This is a fourth-grade student science experience tied to SEEd standard 4.3.1. In this experience students use a model of waves to discover regular wave patterns.
These experiences were designed to support students in engaging in science investigations with siblings and/or parents at home and then report back about what was discovered. They were created in a way that is easily adaptable for both online and printed formats. They are formatted to help students wonder about and investigate the science phenomena happening in the world around them. These experiences do not describe how students should write up and return work to their teacher. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to best meet student needs. When individualized by the teacher, a student could be asked to engage in one or more of these experiences a week and report back. This format aligns closely to the vision and expectation of the SEEd standards.

This is a fourth-grade student science experience tied to SEEd standard 4.3.2. In this experience students develop and use a model to describe why visible light waves allow objects to be seen.
These experiences were designed to support students in engaging in science investigations with siblings and/or parents at home and then report back about what was discovered. They were created in a way that is easily adaptable for both online and printed formats. They are formatted to help students wonder about and investigate the science phenomena happening in the world around them. These experiences do not describe how students should write up and return work to their teacher. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to best meet student needs. When individualized by the teacher, a student could be asked to engage in one or more of these experiences a week and report back. This format aligns closely to the vision and expectation of the SEEd standards.

Instructional sequences are more coherent when students investigate compelling natural phenomena (in science) or work on meaningful design problems (in engineering) by engaging in the science and engineering practices. We refer to these phenomena and de

This set of prompts is intended to help teachers elicit student understanding of crosscutting concepts in the context of investigating phenomena or solving problems.

Despite their centrality in science and engineering, phenomena have traditionally been a missing piece in science education, which too often has focused on teaching general knowledge that students can have difficulty applying to real world contexts.

In a phenomena-focused, 3D approach to science learning, students use science practices to consider each other’s ideas based on available interpretations and evidence. To promote deep and equitable learning, plan purposefully to ensure that the various perspectives that students bring to making sense of phenomena are solicited, clarifed, and considered. It is important to support students as they develop a shared understanding of the diferent perspectives in the group.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education poses the idea that students are best positioned to figure out phenomena and solve problems by engaging in science and engineering practices and using the crosscutting concepts as thinking lenses. The crosscutting concepts are a broad set of useful themes that can be applied to any field, including education. By using the crosscutting concepts to approach their own problems and opportunities of practice, teachers can engage in deeper reflection and metacognition—and strengthen their ability to help students use the crosscutting concepts to explain phenomena and design solutions.

In the NRC Framework vision for science education, the crosscutting concepts (CCCs) are a key component of three-dimensional learning, yet many educators and educational leaders remain unclear about their use in science instruction. The CCCs include: patterns; systems and system models; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; energy and matter; structure and function; stability and change. The CCCs are thinking tools that have applications across the sciences (and into other disciplines). Clarity on their instructional use is essential as the CCCs promote integrated understanding and are necessary for a coherent and scientifically based understanding of the universe

Three-dimensional science learning centers on student sensemaking of phenomena. However, finding phenomena that are safe, accessible, culturally relevant, and grounded in the place where students live can be challenging for educators. Nature Journaling (NJ) can provide simple tools and strategies that educators can employ to encourage students’ investigations of local phenomena through deeper observations. In addition, helping students explore phenomena in local outdoor places leverages their interests and supports building relationships and awareness about community and neighborhoods.

STEM in our society allows students to develop critical thinking capabilities to better understand how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), impact the human experience in the past, present, or future. This microcredential represents educators' ability to appropriately use science and engineering practices to engage students with STEM and society. This stack of microcredentials fulfills one of the requirements of the pathway for the Secondary Science Endorsement.

This microcredential is the first in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Mathematics microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #3 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate an ability to identify and distinguish STEM models and identify and describe careers in mathematics and careers that utilize mathematics.

This microcredential is the second in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Mathematics microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #3 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate they have participated in learning experiences through examination, engagement, and implementation of the Utah Core State Standards for Mathematics and can identify and utilize the Standards for Mathematical Practice.

This microcredential is the third in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Mathematics microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #3 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate they have participated in learning experiences to develop pedagogical practices that (a) support student discourse skills needed to authentically communicate in mathematics, (b) use each of the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices, and (c) integrate mathematics with science, engineering, and technology.

This microcredential is the fourth in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Mathematics microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #3 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate the ability to create effective student-centered learning environments and instruction with authentic connections between science and technology, engineering design, and mathematics.

This microcredential is the first in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Science microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #1 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate an ability to identify and distinguish STEM models and identify and describe careers in science and careers that utilize science.

This microcredential is the second in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Science microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #1 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate they have participated in learning experiences through examination, engagement, and implementation of the three dimensions of science instruction, Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Crosscutting concepts (CCCs), including the use of authentic phenomena.

This microcredential is the third in the STEM for Teaching K-6 Science microcredential stack. This stack, when completed, meets Requirement Area #1 of the Elementary STEM Endorsement. Through this microcredential applicants demonstrate the ability to develop pedagogical practices that help students obtain (a) the disciplinary literacy needed to authentically communicate in science and (b) the skills needed to integrate science with other disciplines.