New Science Curriculum Empowers Exploration for K–3 Students

Beginning this year, primary students in the Shaler Area School District will begin to experience a hands-on approach to science that will kindle the curiosity of our youngest learners and equip them with problem-solving skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. 

Pilot K–3 classrooms will begin utilizing Twig science curriculum. According to publishers, Twig is “a phenomena-based core science program that embraces the investigative, hands-on nature of the NGSS [Next Generation Science Standards], presented through award-winning, real-world STEM storylines that inspire and capture students’ imaginations.” 

This approach is part of a broader shift in education away from lecture and rote memorization to hands-on, project-based learning. The goal is not only for students to know the answer, but to understand how they got there, grasping the concept as a whole. Dr. Brian Brown, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, shares, “This method helps students build a sense of why things happen the way they do. We want to empower them to imagine, explore, and investigate. We are teaching kids how to think.”  

A similar approach to math was adopted last year in the school district with great success. Dr. Brown notes, “I’m excited when kids get an opportunity to explore the world around them, to make sense of their own space and their own environment. Kids benefit from hands-on learning. Their excitement is contagious and propels their academic performance now and in the future.”