Dimension 3: Disciplinary Core Ideas

Dimension 3: Disciplinary Core Ideas

Disciplinary core ideas have the power to focus K–12 science curriculum, instruction and assessments on the most important aspects of science. To be considered core, the ideas should should meet at least two of the following criteria and ideally all four:

Have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering disciplines or be a key organizing concept of a single discipline; Provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems;Relate to the interests and life experiences of students or be connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technological knowledge;Be teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication.


Disciplinary ideas are grouped in four domains: the physical sciences; the life sciences; the earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology and applications of science.



Check out these free resources about the new Next Generation Science Standards for K-12 science education:

1. Watch a 3-minute video about why NGSS matters.

2. Download the Next Generation Science Standards for K-12 science education.

3. See the NRC Framework vision for K-12 science education from the National Academy of Sciences.

4. Review NSTA’s online learning resources related to the new vision and standards.