Watch the 1-minute video below for a quick guide to reviewing your science materials, then explore how our approach shapes Cincinnati students into scientists and engineers.
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Our approach
To investigate these phenomena, students collect evidence from multiple sources and through a variety of modalities. They move back and forth from firsthand investigation to secondhand analysis and synthesis, formulating an increasingly complex explanation of the target phenomenon. Each unit also provides students with opportunities to apply what they have learned to solve new problems in different contexts. This enables students to demonstrate a deep understanding of phenomena and practices.
And it works.
Amplify Science is backed by gold-standard research.
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, the authors behind Amplify Science, developed the Do-Talk-Read-Write-Visualize approach, and gold-standard research shows that this type of 5E instructional model works. Our own efficacy research is pretty exciting, too.
Learning progressions
Students using the Do-Talk-Read-Write approach saw clear growth along learning progressions from pre-unit assessments to end-of-unit assessments.
Science vocabulary
Students using the Do-Talk-Read-Write method achieved higher mastery of science vocabulary terms than their peers.
Science content knowledge
Students using the Do-Talk-Read-Write approach saw their science content knowledge grow more than their peers using the business-as-usual approach.
Hands-on investigations
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science.
Hands-on learning is integrated into every unit through hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals and deepening Cincinnati students’ understanding of the unit phenomena.
See Amplify Science hands-on investigation videos in action.
As part of Amplify Science’s Populations and Resources unit, students take on the role of ecologists to figure out what caused the size of the moon jelly population in Glacier Sea to increase. In this video featuring Lesson 2.2, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are conducting a hands-on investigation involving yeast to test the effects of the availability of food on the size of a population.
Literacy-rich science instruction
Let's immerse Cincinnati students in reading, writing, and arguing like real scientists and engineers.
We love Cincinnati’s core belief that building background knowledge is integral to literacy instruction—we believe it, too. Middle school students should build on what they have learned in the elementary grades by using a variety of strategies to make sense of increasingly complex science texts. Active Reading situates students—their personal ideas, questions, and curiosity about what they read—at the center of science reading instruction.
Student Investigation Notebooks
In the Student Investigation Notebooks, students record data and observations, make drawings, and complete writing tasks. Each notebook also includes scaffolding supports for reading and writing activities.
Science articles
Each Amplify Science unit includes multiple student articles, which are custom-written by the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Powerful digital tools
We take care of science that's too small, large, slow, distant, dangerous, or difficult to see or manipulate directly.
Developed exclusively for Amplify Science, digital simulations are interactive, virtual worlds that allow students to discover and construct understanding of science concepts and phenomena. Sims provide opportunities to explore scientific phenomena that might otherwise be challenging to investigate.
Middle School Sims
Powerful digital simulations for every unit.
Key differentiators
What sets Amplify Science apart for CPS
- 1. Built from the ground up for three-dimensional learning
- 2. Students take on the role of scientists and engineers to investigate real-world phenomena
- 3. Active reading engages students in complex science texts
- 4. Powerful digital modeling tools and simulations