Section 1: What are InnerOrbit's SEP Practice Problems?

Supporting students' Science and Engineering (SEP) mastery requires varied exposure and practice. InnerOrbit's SEP Practice Problems provides educators with interesting phenomena and questions aimed at the NGSS SEP K-12 Progressions - meaning these questions JUST focus on the SEP and do not require student knowledge of the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) or understanding of the Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs).

Just like you can do a full body workout, or just focus on one muscle group, InnerOrbit's SEP Practice Problems supports students' growth on just this one dimension.

Section 2: How can I use them in my classroom?

Option 1: "Unit 0" Beginning/End of Year Activities

When building out lessons for the beginning of the school year as an introduction to your class, these SEP Practice Problems are a great way to introduce "lab skills". Use the SEP Practice Problems from the prior grade band as a mini-diagnostic to see what students can do!
When building out lessons for the end of the school year or before a break, these SEP Practice Problems are a great way to keep the learning going in a low-stakes, no content knowledge required way.

Option 2: Pre/Post Lab Exploration

If you have an upcoming lab or activity that heavily focuses on a specific SEP, use these SEP Practice Problems to pre-teach the skills required. You could also use them as a follow-up from the lab or activity to see students transfer their new SEP skills to a different situation.

Option 3: Whole Group Reteaching

Do you see a gap in your class on a specific SEP? Use the SEP Practice Problems for whole group discussion and practice. Unpack the phenomena together, model how you would approach a couple of questions, then have student pairs tackle more questions and share their answers and processes.

Option 4: Small Group Support

Needing to support a specific group of students who are struggling with a specific SEP? The SEP Practice Problems can support a teacher-led small group discussion to focus on building up a single SEP through guidance and group discussion.

Option 5: Station Work / When Done Activities

The SEP Practice Problems are great resources for differentiated student work in stations. Assign or print a few sets of SEP Practice Problems for students to choose from during independent or group work times. Even just having a couple ready for students who are "done" with your classwork for the day is helpful!

Option 6: Sub Plans

Looking for emergency sub-plan activities that involve little-to-no prep? Assign a couple sets of SEP Practice Problems to your students on InnerOrbit ahead of time. Then, your sub plans are simply: have students login to InnerOrbit and complete some awesome SEP Practice!

Be sure to check out the following support articles if you have further questions on implementing any of these ideas in your own classroom:

Section 3: How do I know which SEP Practice Problems to choose?

Depending on how you are using InnerOrbit's SEP Practice Problems in your classroom, you can select questions depending on:

Your curriculum/standards scope and sequence
Student interest
Student need

We recommend using the SEP data you gather in InnerOrbit's Reports to help you select which SEP Practice Problems to choose! Check out the quick video below to hear a think aloud of a teacher going through this process.

Want to chat more about implementing SEP Practice Problems in your context? Schedule Office Hours with InnerOrbit!