Themes, big ideas, unifying concepts—as the editor of Science Scope writes, the idea of crosscutting concepts in science is not a new one. (See the guest editorial Interdisciplinary Science: A Fresh Approach From the Past in Science Scope) But what is new in the NGSS is how the concepts integrate with science/engineering practices and disciplinary core ideas and also transcend grade levels and traditional subject areas. Many of us teachers are (or have been) challenged to connect these three dimensions in a planned and purposeful way. Fortunately for us, the NSTA journals each month provide examples and suggestions.

Science Scope—Embedding Crosscutting Concepts

“Engineering inspired by nature is just one approach you can use to incorporate the NGSS crosscutting concept of Structure and Function into your science curriculum.”

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Bringing Historical Scientific Arguments Back to Life: The Case of Continental Drift  [SciLinks: Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics]
• Why Theories Do Not Turn Into Laws [SciLinks: Inference]
• For the Love of Infographics  [SciLinks: Natural Selection, Adaptations of Animals, Adaptations of Plants]
• Understanding the Art in Science and the Science in Art Through Crosscutting Concepts  [SciLinks:
• The Surprising Patterns of Health and Disease  [SciLinks: Blood Type, Health Hazards]
• Everyday Engineering: Budding Sound Engineers: Listening to Speakers and Earbuds [SciLinks: Sound]

Science & Children—Structure and Function

As the editor suggests, this crosscutting concept is at the heart of engineering projects, including those that elementary students enjoy doing–building things and taking things apart. But structure and function are also  important when studying other topics such as plants, animals, and the structure of the earth. 

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Inviting Engineering Into the Science Lab [SciLinks: States of Matter, Sound]
• Our Garden Plot Thickens [SciLinks: Soil Types]
• Blade Structure and Wind Turbine Function and Engineering Encounters: Am I Really Teaching Engineering to Elementary Students? [SciLinks: Wind Currents, Wind Energy]
• Bringing Your Classroom to Life [SciLinks: Characteristics of Living Things]
• Inventing Mystery Machines [SciLinks: Motion-Speed Relationship, Simple Machines]
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Every Part Has a Purpose [SciLinks: Design, Inventors]
• The Early Years: Getting Messy With Matter [SciLinks: Matter]
• Formative Assessment Probes: Soil and Dirt: The Same or Different? [SciLinks: Exploring Soil, What is soil?]
• Methods and Strategies: Bringing the Outside In [SciLinks: Plants]

The Science Teacher—Energy

Energy is not just a content topic in physics. It truly is a crosscutting concept across all disciplines—life sciences (photosynthesis, respiration, ecosystems), chemistry, and Earth science (plate tectonics, earthquakes, ocean currents, weather).

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Finding the CO2 Culprit [SciLinks: Climate Change, Volcanic Eruptions, Natural Hazards and Disasters]
• Policy, Literacy, and Energy [SciLinks: Energy Transformations, Energy Conservation, Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy, Sources of Energy]
• Sampling in the Snow [SciLinks: Snowflakes, Albedo, Insulation]
• Our Town [SciLinks: Alternative Energy Sources, Alternative Fuels]
• Fields of Fuel [SciLinks: Sustainable Agriculture]