Next Generation Science Standards prompt change

By Contributor Brandon Chan

A freshman science course at Naperville North High School will be taken out of the curriculum next year due new state standards, said science department instructional coordinator Andy McWhirter.

Dynamic Earth Systems (DES) is being removed from the science curriculum at NNHS. This class was one of the main science track courses, McWhirter said.

“The main reason that we’re going through this change is that the state has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS),” McWhirter said. “And in those science standards are physical science, life science, earth and space science, so all the courses are changing a little bit to incorporate earth science into each of those.”

According to McWhirter, Chemistry and Honors Chemistry will be offered to freshmen starting next school year. Biology and Physics are reserved for sophomores and junior year with science elective choices open to seniors.

DES teacher Kristen Gamble believes this shift to combine earth sciences into other science courses will be beneficial if executed properly.

“I think we need to make sure the integration is good, cut across all three,” Gamble said.

The science curriculum will change slightly for all students as the integration of earth sciences is included on all levels. It will not change the elective choices or the science curriculum path for this year’s freshmen, Gamble said.

With the integration, Gamble hopes that earth sciences will be the connecting factor in all of the science courses.

“I’m hoping that the incoming classes will see the connections and use earth science as the foundation,” Gamble said. “I’m hoping you get that true flow because that’s what NGSS wants.”

The incorporation of earth science classes may create an opportunity for students to explore a huge field that they would otherwise miss out on, unless they took another earth science course in their senior year, Gamble said.

“It’s hard because this is all new,” Gamble said. “But you have a bunch of highly educated people in a room working on it, so I have no doubt we will be successful.”