MUSD Will Begin New K-5 Science Curriculum in the Fall

 

Nathan Inouye, Moorpark Unified’s assistant director of instructional services, far left, stands with the team of elementary teachers who worked together for the past 18 months to help select the new science materials for MUSD’s K-5 students. 

(Moorpark, California) February 23, 2024—Nathan Inouye smiles when congratulated about the recent adoption of the new science curriculum for Moorpark Unified School District’s kindergarten to fifth-grade students.

The process of choosing new science materials began in fall 2022 and Inouye, the assistant director of instructional services, and a team of nine elementary teachers have worked the last 18 months to select, test and pilot the best curriculum for MUSD to meet the state’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Starting in the fall, K-5 teachers will use the “Bring Science Alive!” science curriculum by California-based Teachers’ Curriculum Institute.

The new science materials were approved 5-0 by the Moorpark Board of Education during its February 13 meeting.

Board members Ute Van Dam and Amy Adams helped oversee the selection process.

“District staff and the team of teachers who piloted this series did an extensive and thorough job of including our school community in the selection process of this new curriculum,” Van Dam said. “‘Bring Science Alive!’ was the front runner amongst students, teachers and parents.  I am confident this new science curriculum will be successful.”

Adams said she was impressed by the thoroughness and rigor of the selection process for the new science curriculum.

“Many people were involved in making sure that the most educationally engaging materials were selected for our students,” Adams said.

The committee met nearly 20 times and hosted two public meetings in December for parents to review the material.

Positive feedback throughout the pilot program from the elementary students who used “Bring Science Alive!” was a leading factor in selecting the science materials, Inouye said.

From the first meeting, when the team created its vision and mission statements, Inouye said their goal was to introduce a curriculum that inspired students to be critical thinkers.

“This material is going to be hands-on, engaging and meaningful science learning,” he said “We want to inspire curiosity, and we want students to maintain that curiosity not only in science, but in all subjects.”

Inouye said what makes the new science material so engaging for students is the focus on phenomena-based problems.

He said, for example, by exploring the distinct characteristics exhibited by individual animals within a species—such as a hummingbird’s beak—students can gain valuable insights into the factors influencing their survival, adaptation and how hummingbirds affect an ecosystem.

This approach, Inouye said, not only fosters a deeper understanding of the environment but also encourages exploration of evolutionary processes and the crucial role played by genetic diversity in shaping life on Earth.

“In order to do that, you have to make the material interesting,” he said. “You have to make it that students want to ask the questions and learn more about how to solve that problem or explore that subject matter.”

The “Bring Science Alive!” curriculum is structured to create a cyclical approach in which a hands-on or observable problem is presented, students offer logical theories, then test those theories in order to observe new outcomes which begin a new cycle of assessments and ongoing deductive reasoning.

Elementary school teachers will be introduced to the new science material over the summer before next school year, Inouye said, adding that the curriculum offers flexibility for teachers. 

“The learning was very meaningful for the students,” he said. “It was hands-on and engaging. But more than that, it led to some great critical thinking, and that’s really what makes this new science curriculum so fantastic.”