OpenSciEd

About OpenSciEd

OpenSciEd provides a phenomenon-based, three-dimensional science curriculum that engages students in doing the work of real scientists and engineers. Designed around the Next Generation Science Standards and grounded in decades of learning research, OpenSciEd invites students to investigate compelling real-world phenomena, ask meaningful questions, and build explanatory models through hands-on exploration. For a charter school like Pinnacle, this curriculum strengthens our competency-based approach by giving students multiple pathways to demonstrate mastery through experiments, engineering design challenges, and evidence-based reasoning. Its emphasis on sense-making, collaboration, and sustained inquiry ensures that learners of all backgrounds—including those who may have struggled in traditional lecture-based science classes—develop the scientific literacy, problem-solving abilities, and curiosity needed for advanced STEM pathways and 21st-century careers.