Montana Science Content Standards and Resources

Science Instructional Coordinator: Michelle McCarthy| 406-444-3537
Return to the K-12 Content Standards home page.
 

 

Announcements and Opportunities

2023

This September, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will be hosting its first annual Bear Aware Month. The goal is to educate the public about bear presence, conservation, and safety across Montana to keep both bears and people safe, (see classroom opportunities for more information)!
 
Carnegie Corporation on the Call to Action
ICYMI: BOSE, NASEM: Taking Stock of Science Standards Implementation Summit recording

 

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Grant or Paid Opportunities

Grant or Paid Opportunities

  • Humanities Montananot just for social studies, has started their new grant openings!  Check it out and see if you could combine science standards to meet those goals!

  • OPI INDIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL (IEFA) EVENTS & PD

    Indian Education and Computing for All | 1 evening per month Sept 2023 - May 2024 | Zoom

  • A curriculum and professional development project designed to bring together social studies, IEFA, and computing content standards for middle school students.
  • 18 hours of online PD | $1000 stipend | Earn up to 40 PD Units
  • Educator Academy in the Amazon Rainforest 

    Dates: July 1-11, 2024 (door to door) 

    The Educator Academy in the Amazon Rainforest provides powerful professional development designed to transform student learning. Immersed in the Peruvian Amazon, teachers learn about this key global ecosystem while building their ability to engage students in scientific research, engineering design, cross-cultural connections, and stewardship projects. Field workshops support NGSS 3D learning, STEM, 5E and more.  With specialized tracks for elementary, middle, and HS/AP educators, participants will:  

    • Work side-by-side with scientists and researchers on citizen science projects and field studies on the ACTS Rainforest Canopy Walkway in one of the world’s most biologically diverse environments.  
    • Explore conservation and sustainability via hands-on workshops with indigenous communities.
    • Spend a day in an Amazon village and explore the role of education in creating a sustainable future for Amazon children.
    • Work in grade-level cohorts to develop strategies for using the Amazon as a vehicle for incorporating standards-based inquiry, STEM, and sustainability education into the classroom. 
    • Academy Fee of $3250 includes a pre-departure prep course, resource kit, on-site workshops & in-country land costs (air is not included). 

      ~ Submission deadline is December 15, 2023.  Space is limited to 26 educators.  Get the details and download a syllabus and scholarship application at: www.morphoinstitute.org/educator-academy

  • 21st Century Community Learning Center Competitive Grant Update  The 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant provides funds to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs). Grantees are awarded a minimum of $50,000 each year for 5 years. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers provide opportunities for academic enrichment during out-of-school time in a community learning center environment.  Services reinforce and complement regular academic programs and offer literacy and educational development to students and families. You can apply, see the timeline learn a little more on the website

  • CSX Community Service Grants (includes schools) with suggested ranges from $1,000 to $5,000

  • Aldrin Family Foundation Map Package Grant Application Aldrin Family Foundation has worked with donors to make Giant Mars and Moon Map packages available for distribution to individual schools, school districts, and informal education organizations throughout the country in areas where we believe they can do the most good, especially in under-served communities.

Challenges and Competitions

Challenges and Competitions

  • It's that time of year again, please nominate someone for the NABT Outstanding Biology Teaching Award. MT is one of the few states which consistently has a winner because we have outstanding teachers!! This is your chance to nominate someone to be recognized for their hard work. You can send me a name or two or nominate directly at this link: https://nabt.org/Awards-NABT-Award-Nomination-Form

  • Power to Explore Student Challenge

    Audience: Students in grades K-12

    Entry Deadline: Jan. 26, 2024

    Contact: support@futureengineers.org

    The Power to Explore Student Challenge invites K-12 students to dream up a new space mission powered by a Radioisotope Power System (RPS) to a destination with limited light. The writing contest is open to individual students attending U.S. public, private, charter, or home schools – including those in U.S. territories and schools operated by the U.S. for American personnel overseas. Forty-five semifinalists will receive an RPS prize pack, nine finalists will receive an exclusive virtual session with a NASA expert, and three winners will be awarded a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

  • Hypersonic Horizons: The High Speed Video Challenge

    Hypersonics has potential to revolutionize travel around our world & beyond- tell us how!

    Hypersonics is a critical research area for our country. By creating a video, you have the opportunity to join this community, help solve hypersonics challenges, and possibly inspire someone else!

Submission period:

Open until 01/17/24 09:59 PM MST

Challenge types: Creative (multimedia & design); Video competition for K-12 and undergraduates

Total cash prizes:  $31,000

Application open, and for more information see Challenge.Gov

  • Montana Envirothon Competition:   Event dates are April 22 & 23, 2024 in Great Falls for students in grades 9-12 Teams of five members from the same school/organization, or association, with no more than two teams from the same place.  The topic is "Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future."  

  • The Montana Science Olympiad State Tournament will be held at MSU-Bozeman on Friday, April 19, 2024.     

    Middle and high school students from across Montana will compete in 28 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) events including Anatomy & Physiology, Fossils, Optics, Wind Power, Wheeled Vehicle, Codebusters, and more. 

    In addition to enhancing STEM knowledge, the Science Olympiad is a great opportunity for students to learn resilience, problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership.  For many, the tournament is a lens into campus life, with events held in MSU labs and classrooms, and students engaging with event supervisors and volunteers who are MSU faculty, researchers, and students. A free STEM event for all Science Olympiad teams will be hosted at the Museum of the Rockies on the evening before the tournament (Thursday, April 18). 

    The deadline to register a team is Feb. 3, 2024, but we encourage coaches (especially those who are new to Science Olympiad) to register early. The Montana Science Olympiad team will offer monthly online office hours for coaches and are also available to answer any questions you may have. 

    Please reach out at mtscioly@montana.edu or (406) 994-7476, or visit the Montana Science Olympiad website [montana.edu]. We hope to see you at MSU-Bozeman this April! 

  • Lemonson-MIT Invention Challenges, sign up for their Newsletter.  

  • Ongoing Challenges: Inspired Classroom offers many challenges throughout the school year.  To learn more go to their FAQs webpage

  • Ongoing Challenges Big Sky Film Institute

  • NASA always has some challenge going on!  Subscribe to the NASA Express newsletter to find more NASA opportunities.

 

Student and Classroom opportunities

Student and Classroom Opportunities

K-12

  •  Careers in Coding with NASA & Minecraft Experts

    Thursday, December 7

    11:00 AM Mountain Time

    Honor Computer Science Education Week and join robotics technologist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Kamak Ebadi, as he shares his story working with the renowned space agency and the power of coding in shaping future careers with Minecraft's Artemis Missions games, developed in collaboration with NASA.

National Girls Collaborative Project

The Moonshot has launched a nationwide search for the 2024 Flight Crew - a group of youth advocates promoting the value of out-of-school STEM learning and equity in STEM for young people across the nation. 

Encourage girls, non-binary or cis-gender youth, ages 13-18, with experience in afterschool and summer STEM learning, to apply!

If you have any questions reach out to heather@mtafterschoolalliance.org

  • The Achievery, a free online digital learning platform has free cybersecurity practices lessons.

  • Air Quality Flag Program. This program is funded by the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Flags, onsite training, and educational materials are free.  If you would like to get involved, contact mac.nollde@ontanahphc.org, (406) 763-1006.
  • Bugs, bugs, bugs!  Field trips, Classroom visits, Distance Learning, all available through Missoula Butterfly House, scholarships are available.
  • Coding: CS Ed Week, Computer Science for Educators-resources
  • EPA Region 8 (Mountains and Plains) offers virtual presentations to the general public, teachers and students on a variety of environmental topics. Presentations can be tailored for any age group and are offered during the school week. EPA also has lesson plans, activity books, pre-recorded presentations and games available.  EPA Region 8 offers informal mentorships to young people who are interested in finding out more about environmental/conservation issues, projects and careers. Students are matched with a subject matter expert who can discuss with the students their environmental questions or career paths. Mentorships can be one-time visits, a phone call, virtual meetings or last a few months depending on the student’s needs/interests. Mentees can be of any age. Teachers or parents interested in finding out more about these offerings should contact Wendy Dew at dew.wendy@epa.govor 303-877-0428
NASA:

When scientists and engineers want to communicate with spacecraft in deep space, they turn to the Deep Space Network, NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas. Next month marks the 60th anniversary of this communication network, and you can celebrate in your classroom with these new STEM resources.

Decoding Space Images

Grades 4-9

Exploring the Doppler Effect

Grades 9-12

Learn more about the Deep Space Network with STEM Lessons for Educators  and Activities for Students.

 

K-5

4-8

  • Registration is now open for Montana's own Code Girls United’s free after-school programs starting on Monday, Sept. 12. In addition to in-person programs at more than 20 locations across the state, there will also be two online options held on Mondays from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:15 p.m. Code Girls United teaches girls from grades 4-8 how to code and create apps while also instilling the lifelong skills of teamwork and self-confidence. The girls also have the opportunity to participate in the NW Regional App Challenge with the chance to win team scholarship prizes of $5000, $2500, or $1000, as well as the International Technovation Challenge and the Congressional App Challenge. To see the variety of programs Code Girls United offers and to find an after-school program near you, visit www.codegirlsunited.org. If you would like to bring one of Code Girls United’s programs to your school, library, or after school organization please contact Brenda Reiter, program director, at b.reiter@codegirlsunited.org. Code Girls United provides training, curriculum in a Google Classroom, support, a stipend for teachers, and OPI renewal credits.

6-12

9-12

  • SD Pathways [solardecathlon.gov] is back this year, with more opportunities to bring a STEM in-person or virtual career talk into your high school classroom, club, or other student group. SD Pathways aligns with the following career clusters: Architecture & Construction, Information Technology, Manufacturing, and STEM fields. Sign up here to get a presenter in your classroom this Fall!

    There are a few great things about our program:

    • Students will be introduced to career and education paths they might not have known about before
    • SD Pathways also includes option pre or post activities
    • Our presenters go through training on how to work with high school students, as well as presentation slides and school visit guidance

We worked with over 1,000 students last year and are ready to work with yours too. Sign up here [forms.office.com] to get started, and then a team member will reach out to you to schedule a STEM career talk.

  • Now:  Big Sky Documentary Youth Fellowship Applications Are Open!  Every year Big Sky Film Institute invites up to six promising high school students the opportunity to create their own short documentary film under the guidance of seasoned documentarians.  Starting in October, students meet once a week with a big Sky artist-in-resident to learn the ropes of documentary filmmaking, from the history and theories of the medium to the hands-on craft of the visual art form.  Once the films are completed students will receive an All-Access Pass to the 20th annual festival, allowing them to attend our slate of films, panels and workshops.  
  • NASA Future Temperature Projections Unit
  • High School, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) offers free, innovative classroom products. These online learning resources form the foundation of a global civics curriculum, empowering young people with the essential knowledge, skills, and perspective to be responsible citizens, take on the challenges of global competition, and steer through partisan rhetoric and disinformation.  Review their resources that could be used in a science classroom.  For more information contact Lori Matza, lmatza@cfr.org.
  • BioInteractive: High School Science Curricular Materials 

Teachers

 

Conferences and PD

Conferences and Professional Learning

  • Veiw Full American buffalo Film for Credit: In the month of November, teachers can watch The American Buffalo online for free and earn 5 OPI credits for completing a reflection activity about the experience. This is a limited time opportunity since free on demand streaming will only be available until November 30.  PBS Registration is open!

    • PBS also has other free asynchronous PD videos available for teachers 

      Teachers can earn OPI credit for watching Montana PBS and PBS films! Explore our menu of film options and pick the films that would help you build your content knowledge and inspire you to create engaging lessons for students. After watching the film you can complete a reflection activity for Montana PBS sharing your thoughts about the film and how you could use it with students. We have a catalog of films covering content areas such as Social Studies, Math, Science, English Language Arts and Indian Educaiton for All!

      There are no deadlines and you can watch as many films as you'd like! Check out the catalog and fill out our form to sign up!

  • Interested in becoming part of "Green Schools?"  Subscribe to the Dept. of Ed and choose the newsletters that will help you!

  • Miami University’s Project Dragonfly is accepting applications for 2024 Earth Expeditions graduate courses that offer extraordinary experiences at global field sites in 15 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. http://EarthExpeditions.MiamiOH.edu [earthexpeditions.miamioh.edu]

    Earth Expeditions can build toward the Global Field Program (GFP), a master's degree that combines summer field courses worldwide with web learning communities so that students can complete the GFP master's part-time from anywhere in the United States or abroad. Applications are now being accepted until January 28. Courses begin in May 2024. http://GFP.MiamiOH.edu [gfp.miamioh.edu]

    Project Dragonfly also offers the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) master's degree that combines web instruction from Miami University with face-to-face experiential learning and field study through several AIP sites in the U.S. Applications for Miami's 2024 cohorts are being now being accepted until February 28, with place-based experiences provided at zoos and botanical gardens in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, New York, San Diego, and St. Louis. http://AIP.MiamiOH.edu [aip.miamioh.edu]

    Graduate tuition for all programs is greatly reduced because of support from Miami University. NEW for 2024 Applicants: To help make a Miami education more accessible and affordable, the Miami University Graduate School will waive the $50 application fee for those who attend an Information Session preceding the fee payment step of the application process. https://miamioh.edu/cas/graduate-studies/project-dragonfly/highlights-and-digital-media/informational-webinars.html [miamioh.edu]

    Project Dragonfly reaches millions of people each year through inquiry-driven learning media, public exhibits, and graduate programs worldwide. Project Dragonfly is based in the biology department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Established as a state university in 1809, Miami is one of the eight original Public Ivies and has a distinguished record of excellence in research and teaching in science and science education.

  • Supercharge Your Classroom

    Supercharge Your Classroom with Montana Field Science Data is a free, self-paced course for educators that consists of five modules. Through these modules, educators will learn to incorporate datasets from authentic Montana research projects into their own classroom.  The Supercharge Your Classroom course is sponsored by Montana NSF EPSCoR and was originally taught by Montana Partnership with Regions for Excellence in STEM (MPRES) educators Chris Pavlovich and Bill Stockton through the Montana Office of Public Instruction's (OPI)  Teacher Learning Hub

    Getting Started:  The Supercharge Your Classroom course takes educators through research-based approaches to complete an applicable product, a unit or lesson, for their classroom. Each topic is composed of a building background knowledge portion and an inquiry portion. These steps are designed to mimic best practices in the classroom of inquiry and explicit instruction. By progressing through the modules below, educators will deepen their understanding of Montana research and better refine their end product. Simply click each module title below to access content. 

    • After you have completed this course, please share your feedback and we will send you a free STEM kit for your class! If you'd like your survey responses to be anonymous, please email smrc@montana.edu to let us know you have completed it; otherwise, you can include your name, email and shipping address on the survey. Thank you!  Give us your feedback here

  • Interested in teaching about Climate Change?  Climate Generation is a nonprofit providing interdisciplinary climate change educator professional development.  Register for their newsletter and learn more!
  • Ecology Project International (EPI) presents the “Montana Science Teaching Institute Workshop Series.” Ecology Project International (EPI) is excited to announce the launch of the Montana Science Teaching Institute (MSTI), a free online professional development workshop series specifically for Montana middle and high school science teachers. Over the course of four 90-minute workshops, you'll collaborate with teachers across the state, exploring a variety of online tools and models that will support you in guiding student inquiry into the science behind anthropogenic impacts on the environment. The resources shared in these workshops are easy to access, classroom-ready, and aligned with the NGSS and Montana Science Content Standards.  APPLY FOR THE INSTITUTE TODAY! 
    • Oct  19 & 20th Educators Conference, Billings, MT
  • More Self-Paced Science Courses:
    • Place-based Education: Your Local Watershed  STEM inquiry will guide you through problem-based learning with real-world authentic data. Engage your students in their community and see an exemplar curriculum that meets standards!*

    • Exploring NASA with Inquiry:  Earth and Space Science lessons and activities reinforced with NASA website!*

    • "Backpack Science" Inquiry Activities: Mapping:  Hands-on mapping activities and resources that can be integrated into science class, as well as, other disciplines!

    • Science Fair 101: Using Science Fair Projects in your Classroom:  Using Science Fairs in the classroom to meet MT Standards and 3 Dimensional learning!

    • New Montana Science Assessment This course presents an overview of the New Montana Science Assessment that was implemented in 2022 and provides guidance on how to best prepare your students for the science assessment by teaching you how to access and administer preparatory materials in your classroom. There are many opportunities for you to engage with the content and actually test out the practice questions before you introduce them to your students. Student-facing videos are included.

  • Are you missing Walt's Science eBlast?  I know I have been, and was so glad to see it back up and running as of January 2022!  However, in order to get back on the list please follow these steps:
  1. Go to NSTA (nsta.org)

  2. If you have an account, login and skip to step 9

  3. Click "Join" in the top right

  4. Scroll down and click "Create a Free NSTA User Account"

  5. Click "Continue and Complete Your Profile to Get Started"

  6. Enter our Name, Email and Password, click "Continue"

  7. Complete the form, click "Continue"

  8. Select your Areas on Interest, click "Get Started"

  9. In the top right click "menu" and then "My Account"

  10. Click "Manage Subscriptions"

  11. Select the "Montana Science Matters Listserve" is the one you want to subscribe to, click "Save"

NASEM: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering

NASEM Opportunities/Information

Subscribe to the NASEM Climate Resources at the National Academies Newsletter

Subscribe to the NASEM Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Other News:

Past Coffee Talk Recordings:
Coffee Talk #1:  A Review of the Numbers
Watch the first in the series as Sean Smith from Horizon Research, Inc. provides an overview of the landscape of implementation described in a number of reports produced by Horizon. 
Watch the archived video

Coffee Talk #2:  Rural Science Standards Implementation
The second webinar in the series, moderated by Tom Keller, hones in on implementation efforts within rural communities. A panel discussion with small group think time was used to allow the science education community to reflect on and discuss how to best support rural science standards implementation efforts.
Watch the archived video


Coffee Talk #3:  Informal Ed Science Implementation
The third webinar in the series, moderated by Elizabeth Mulkerrin, includes panel discussion to consider the opportunities that exist within informal education spaces.
Watch the archived video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEM Community

Vetted Curriculum

Finally some curriculum that "Meets Expectations" from EdReports  for MS & HS


Amplify 6-8 Science Curriculum Meets Standard Alignment, Meets Usability per EdReports

OpenSciEd 6-8 Curriculum meets standard alignment and meets usability per Ed Reports
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BSCS Biology Life High School meets EdReports on aligning with standards and usability

 

Approved Montana Distance Learning Providers

Curriculum Case Study: A Massachusetts Town Boosts Students’ STEM Learning by Letting the Students Do the Talking, ‘It’s Real Life’

Can you believe it?!  Free science curriculum from OpenSciEd.  Currently they have middle school curriculum available and the High School curriculum is currently being piloted.  They are also scheduled to have an EdReports review.  When this data becomes available, it will be reflected here.

To be completely transparent, below is a response to my questions about this curriculum from Casandra Gonzalez, Science Content Support Specialist from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education where they have been using OpenSciEd for over two years in middle schools:

"OpenSciEd is an NGSS-designed curriculum where students use the science and engineering practices to figure out a scientific phenomena. There is a big emphasis on discussion, use of evidence, and what I have heard called “minds-on” learning. So the students do lab activities and experiments in each unit, but they are very much connected to the overall themes that they are figuring out. They don’t necessarily do a lab every day – some days are more dedicated to discussion or making sense of data. There is a lot of writing as well.

The biggest shifts are pedagogical. The content is usually well within the wheelhouse of the teachers. But it’s a shift from starting each class with “ok, this is what we’re going to talk about today” to “hey, who can tell me what we figured out in our last class? And what questions will still have to answer about our anchoring phenomenon?” The students are really co-piloting the unit.

The biggest challenges we have run into are – 1-the first time around, teachers take a longer time than estimated to do the unit. It usually stresses them out a bit. But by the second time around it is much easier and smoother. And 2-the students are often not used to the teacher really turning around on them and saying “no, I’m not going to tell you the answer, you tell me what the evidence says”, but if the teacher sticks to it and really makes it a classroom expectation, the students do rise to the occasion.

It is critical to have the PD along with the curriculum, and OpenSciEd has certified providers that do it. I also strongly recommend that whenever possible, building administrators or whoever is in charge of evaluating teachers also attend the PD, so that they know what to expect and are on board with the changes. OpenSciEd classrooms are not necessarily going to be quiet and orderly, so admin need to know that is not a bad thing.

One legitimate critique of the curriculum is that, in appealing to a national audience, there may not be locally/culturally relevant phenomena or connections for every place in the country. I think this is an important concern. My recommendation would be that if the teachers & students feel this way, they spend the first year trying to teach the curriculum “out of the box” so that they get used to the pedagogical shifts, which are critical and important. Then spend some time, maybe in PLCs or with support from experts on culturally relevant teaching, thinking about how they could modify the phenomena, the transfer tasks, or other components of the units to make them more relevant, but still staying true to the rigor and coherence of the units. I do also know that the middle school student materials are available in Spanish. I am hopeful that they will add more languages soon."

 

NextGen Science, NGSS, and Edreports release on, "Critical Features of Instructional Materials Design for Today's Science Standards: A Resource for Science Curriculum Developers and the Educations Field"  Released July 2021

NSTA's Daily Do Playlists are suggested instructional sequences of NSTA Lessons that can be used to help students coherently build science ideas over time.
 

Grant Funded NGSS Aligned 9th Grade Curriculum

  • Physics and Chemistry Course, The Montana Office of Public Instruction worked in conjunction with Washington, Idaho, and Oregon in the Northwest Earth and Space Science Pipeline (NESSP) grant that was sponsored by NASA.  One product to be shared among the states (if you so choose), is the following:
  • High School Integrated

                      High School Integrated Physics and Chemistry Course

                   Overview

                    The High School Integrated Conceptual Science Program (ICSP) is a NGSS-aligned curriculum that utilizes the conceptual progressions model for bundling of the NGSS, High School Conceptual Model Course 1 and strategies from Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) to focus on teaching practices needed to engage students in science discourse and learning. 

                    Course 1 is the High School Integrated Physics and Chemistry Course.   The goal of these units is to encourage students to continue in STEM by providing engaging and aligned curriculum. The focus of this year long course is on the first year of high school (freshman).  While the course is designed to be taught as a collection of  the units, each unit could be taught as a separate unit in a science course.  

                    A video about the new course shared its unique approach to learning and teaching. Wenatchee School District, one of the participating districts, wanted a way to share the program with the community. https://youtu.be/9AGk19YUi2o

                    Course 1 of the ICSP development was funded by Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline (NESSP) which is funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate and housed with Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium at the University of Washington.

 

Article:

 

2024

 

Name & Link

Dates

Participating Grade Levels

Registration

Montana Tech Sci & Engineering Fair

Mar 2, 2023

9-12

Division 1: 9-12 Registration OPEN

MSU-Billings Science Expo

March 3 & 4, 2023

Elem, 6-8, 9-12

Elem & Middle School Registration

High School Registration

U of M

Apr 4 & 5 2024

6-12

Open Jan 23, 2024

Great Falls College MSU Elementary School Science Fair

Mar 5, 2024

K-5

OPEN

Flathead County

Set up Mar 6,

Fair Mar 7, 2024

3-12

Open January 2024

Great Falls College MSU 6- 8 & 9-12 Science Fair

Mar 7, 2024

6-8 & 9-12

OPEN

Big Sky High Regional School Science Bowl

Mar 8, 2024

6-12

October 2, 2023

Intermountain Science and Humanities Symposium

TBD

9-12

Deadline for Applications is January 31, 2024

Application Page

Montana Science Olympiad

April 19, 2024

6-12

OPEN

National Science Bowl

National Finals

April 25 – 29, 2024

6-8 & 9-12

 

March 2024

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

Montana Tech Regional Science & Engineering Fair Grades 9-12

3

MSU-Billings Science Expo

4

MSU-Billings Science Expo

5

Great Falls College Elementary School Science Fair

6

Flathead County Science Fair: Set up

Grades 3 through 12

7

Flathead County Science Fair: Set up

Grades 3 through 12

 

Great Falls College 6-8 & 9-12  Science Fair

 

8

Big Sky High Regional School Science Bowl

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2024

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

U of M Montana Science Fair MS grades 6-8 (Division II) and HS Division I

5

U of M Montana Science Fair MS grades 6-8 (Division II) and HS Division I

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Montana Science Olympiad

20

21

22

23

24

25

National Science Bowl: 6-8 and 9-12

26

National Science Bowl: 6-8 and 9-12

27

National Science Bowl: 6-8 and 9-12

28

National Science Bowl: 6-8 and 9-12

29

National Science Bowl: 6-8 and 9-12

30

 

2023

     Please notify me if I have neglected to mention a science competition in Montana!

Place

Dates

Participating Grade Levels

Registration and more information

U of M Adams Center

April 3 & 4

6-8 and 9-12

https://www.umt.edu/montana-science-fair/

Intermountain Science and Humanities Symposium

Mar 2 & 3

9-12

https://jshs.org/region/intermountain/

Mont Tech Sci & Engineering Fair

March 3

9-12

https://institute.mtech.edu/science-fair/

Flathead County Fairgrounds

March 9

6-12

https://www.flatheadcountysciencefair.org/

Great Falls Coll MSU Science & Engineering Fair

March 7

Elementary

https://www.gfcmsu.edu/sciencefair/

Great Falls Coll MSU Science & Engineering Fair

March 9

6-12

https://www.gfcmsu.edu/sciencefair/

MSU Billings Science Expo

March 3 & 4

1-12

https://www.msubillings.edu/scienceexpo/

Science Olympiad MSU Bozeman

March 8

6-12

https://www.montana.edu/smrc/mtso/school_teams.html

National Science Bowl

April 27 – May 1

6-12

https://science.osti.gov/wdts/nsb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful Resources

*Covid-19 Toolkit for Montana Child Care & Out of School Programs 

Montana Science Assessment (MSA) and MSA Alt

New Self-paced Hub Course:  New Montana Science Assessment

     The state of Montana implemented the summative Montana Science Assessment (MSA) field test and the Alt MSA that aligns with the current science standards for the first time in the spring of 2022, as a scored test. 

Summative Assessment Preparedness and Resources Available

     The assessments measure the three dimensions of the science standards, the Science and Engineering Practices, the Disciplinary Core Ideas, and the Crosscutting Concepts.  

 

Science Alternate Assessment Information

MONTANA ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT FOR SCIENCE – NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS (NGSS)
ESSENCE STATEMENTS

Purpose of the Alternate Academic Achievement Standards in Science (AAAS)
The Montana Board of Public Education (Board) is responsible for adopting standards of accreditation for Montana schools including challenging academic achievement standards (see §20-2-121 and §20-7-101, MCA). All Montana public and non-public accredited schools are required to follow these standards of accreditation and participate in state assessments (see ARM 10.55.603):
Montana was a member-state of this consortium and leveraged the grant to help design, develop, and deliver the OPI’s Alternate Assessments that assess student proficiency and progress on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AAAS) in mathematics (math), English Language Arts (ELA), science, and English language proficiency (ELP) for students with significant cognitive disabilities (NCSC Brief 1 and ARM 10.53).
The AAAS set expectations of performance that differ in scope and complexity from grade-level achievement standards. In Montana, the AAAS are not adopted separately by the Board because they are the “same but different” standards-based expectations for students with significant cognitive disabilities. For students who, because of their disability, cannot participate in the state’s general assessment, the OPI has constructed and implemented guidelines for participation in the Alternate Assessment, including eligibility criteria (see Appendix A). The OPI meets the requirement of providing Alternate Assessments aligned to the State challenging academic achievement standards through its selection of the state assessments.
The decision to move a special education student to an Alternate Assessment has significant implications for the path that a student will take in their K–12 school career. It means the student is not able to participate in the general education curriculum even when provided with accommodations. A student who participates in an Alternate Assessment requires a modified curriculum. In addition, the IEP team for a student shall determine if the student meets the eligibility criteria for the Alternate Assessment. All students enrolled in accredited schools are expected to take part in state assessments in one of three ways:
1. Participate in the general education assessments without accommodations (ARM 10.56.104(1)).
2. Participate in the general education assessments with accommodations (ARM 10.56.104(1)).
3. Participate in Alternate Assessments when the participation criteria are met (see Appendix A and ARM 10.56.104(2)).

Formative assessment is valuable to teachers in the classroom.  Below are examples of formative assessment that align with the 3 Dimensional science standards. 

What does formative assessment look like in 3D Science?

Want to learn more about…

…how NGSA designed and developed 3-dimensional assessments using evidence-center design?

…how NGSA developed 3-dimensional scoring rubrics for formative assessment tasks?

  • Designing NGSS-aligned Assessment Tasks and Rubrics to Support Classroom-based Formative Assessment. We describe how principles of evidence-centered design inform the development of classroom-based science assessment tasks and rubrics that integrate three dimensions of science proficiency addressed in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The rubric development approach centers on the development of multiple rubric components, each of which corresponds to distinct aspects of proficiency of interest to teachers for classroom assessment.

…the NGSA 3-dimensional tasks?

…how NGSA designed and developed formative assessment tasks to promote equity?

Montana Science Standards

Comparison NGSS to Montana Science Standards

K-12

Standards and Resources

Model Curriculum Guides   

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Grade Level and Grade Band

Tech Directors: To access a machine readable version of the official Montana Content Standards for Science, please visit the 1EdTech CASE Network site.  Create a free login, select Montana Office of Public Instruction, and view or download the standards. The CASE version of the standards can be uploaded to student information systems, curriculum mapping programs, and a variety of other uses. Learn more about the CASE Network CASE Network FAQ