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Coquille students show hands-on learning as district begins 5th-grade NGSS science
Summary
Coquille Valley Elementary’s new dedicated 5th-grade science class uses NGSS inquiry methods; teacher Casey Peterson and three students demonstrated experiments and described course structure and grading that emphasizes learning from failure.
Coquille Valley Elementary’s 5th-grade science students and their teacher outlined a new, inquiry-based approach to science tied to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
"This is instead a very exploratory way to do science where, the students pose the questions," science teacher Casey Peterson said, describing how students observe phenomena, develop questions and iterate experiments. Peterson said 5th grade will focus broadly on engineering, matter/energy, earth systems and space, with deeper study in later grades.
Three students spoke about projects and what they learned. Abigail Westgard said the experiments are her favorite part of science: "My favorite thing about science are the experiments," and described building balloon-powered cars and learning persistence through multiple tries.
Peterson explained the class’s grading categories—classwork, projects, participation—and said current averages are shown on their slide packet. He emphasized that NGSS-grade practice accepts failure as part of learning: "If they fail an experiment, then what we do is we say, okay. Well, what do we think went wrong?"
