Science Unit Planner

Design a science unit anchored in phenomena and driving questions, where students use science practices to investigate, explain, and apply concepts instead of memorizing facts.

ScienceElementary (K–5)Middle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

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When to use this template

  • Planning a multi-week science unit anchored in a real-world phenomenon
  • Teaching to NGSS performance expectations or similar three-dimensional science frameworks
  • When you want students to develop science practices alongside content understanding
  • Building a unit where investigation and explanation connect throughout
  • When you want to move away from chapter-by-chapter content delivery

Template sections

Identify the anchoring phenomenon and write the driving question the unit will answer.

Anchoring phenomenon (observable, interesting, connected to standards):

Driving question:

How will you introduce the phenomenon on day one?

What initial explanations will students offer?

Map the disciplinary core ideas, science practices, and crosscutting concepts this unit develops.

Disciplinary core ideas (NGSS, or equivalent):

Science and engineering practices:

Crosscutting concepts:

Performance expectations:

Map the lesson progression from phenomenon introduction through investigation to explanation.

Day 1–2 (phenomenon introduction and initial explanations):

Days 3–8 (investigation lessons building the explanation):

Days 9–11 (connecting investigations to the phenomenon):

Days 12–13 (student explanation and communication):

Day 14 (assessment)

Plan the hands-on investigations, labs, or data analysis activities in the unit.

Investigation 1 (focus, materials, safety notes):

Investigation 2:

Data analysis activities:

Modeling activities:

Field or outdoor investigations:

Plan Claim-Evidence-Reasoning writing and scientific argumentation activities throughout the unit.

CER practice 1 (lesson and prompt):

CER practice 2:

Argumentation activity (debate, gallery walk, structured academic controversy):

Final explanation task:

Design formative checks and a summative task that asks students to explain the phenomenon.

Formative checks (CER quick writes, exit tickets, lab reports):

Summative task (explain the phenomenon using unit science):

Assessment criteria:

Opportunities for revision:

The Flip Perspective

Science units work when the phenomenon creates a genuine need to learn the underlying concepts, so students are always learning science in the service of explanation, not just memorization. This planner helps you anchor a unit in a real phenomenon, sequence lessons that progressively build students' ability to explain it, and develop science practices alongside content.

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Adapting this Template

For Science

Science Unit pairs well with lab work: the structured phases keep inquiry focused while leaving room for student-driven investigation.

About the Science Unit framework

Effective science unit planning starts with a phenomenon, something observable in the real world that students cannot yet fully explain. The phenomenon creates a genuine need to learn the underlying science, making every lesson purposeful rather than arbitrary.

Phenomenon-centered design: A phenomenon is anything observable that raises questions: why does ice float? Why do earthquakes cluster in certain places? Why does bread rise? The phenomenon anchors the unit because students return to it throughout, building their explanation lesson by lesson as they learn the underlying science.

Three-dimensional learning: Modern science education (grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards and similar frameworks internationally) requires three dimensions: disciplinary core ideas (the content), science and engineering practices (investigation, modeling, argumentation), and crosscutting concepts (patterns, cause and effect, systems). Strong science units develop all three dimensions together.

Driving question: The phenomenon generates the driving question: "Why does X happen?" or "How does X work?" The driving question guides the unit's investigation sequence. Every lesson should connect back to the driving question and build students' ability to explain it.

Science practices: Science is not just content; it is a way of knowing. Science units should include regular opportunities for students to practice: asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, and arguing from evidence. These practices develop scientific thinking.

CER structure: Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) writing is one of the most effective tools in science education. Students write claims about the phenomenon, support them with evidence from their investigations, and explain the reasoning connecting evidence to claim. This template includes space for regular CER practice throughout the unit.

Inquiry Unit

Build a unit around student-generated questions and investigation cycles. Students develop their own lines of inquiry, gather evidence, and construct understanding through structured exploration.

PBL Unit

Design a multi-week unit where students investigate a real problem, produce a meaningful product, and present to an authentic audience: the full arc of project-based learning, from launch to exhibition.

Science Unit

Design a science unit anchored in phenomena and driving questions, where students use science practices to investigate, explain, and apply concepts instead of memorizing facts.

Analytic Rubric

Build an analytic rubric that evaluates student work across multiple criteria with distinct performance levels, giving students specific, actionable feedback on exactly what they did well and what to improve.

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Frequently asked questions

Good phenomena are observable, interesting, connected to standards, and genuinely unexplained at first. Start local: what can students observe in their school, neighborhood, or community? What questions do students ask that connect to the content? News events, local environmental issues, and everyday observations are all productive sources.
Plan investigations in the lesson sequence as specific days, not as add-ons. Each investigation should connect directly to the driving question and include structured data collection and analysis. Safety planning, materials lists, and pre-lab conceptual preparation should all be part of the lesson design.
Content instruction happens in service of explanation. When students encounter a gap (they cannot explain the phenomenon because they lack a key concept), that is when you teach the concept explicitly. Content instruction is just-in-time rather than just-in-case.
Provide access to the same phenomenon and the same driving question for all students, but differentiate how students engage: tiered investigation questions, varied data sets at different complexity levels, graphic organizers for CER writing, and choice in how students present their explanations.
A demonstration is something the teacher shows to illustrate a concept already introduced. A phenomenon is something students observe that creates a question they do not yet know how to answer. The phenomenon comes first, before the explanation, to create a genuine need to know.
Science and active learning are natural partners. Phenomenon-based science already asks students to investigate, model, and argue from evidence. Flip missions take this further by structuring each lesson as a hands-on activity where students design experiments, simulate natural processes, or debate competing scientific explanations collaboratively. Teachers use this planner for the investigation arc and Flip to generate the daily lessons that keep students doing science, not just reading about it.
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