Frequently Asked Questions
Our mission is to make the world a better place! How? By teaching children to be effective questioners and compassionate evidence based
decision makers.
Beth is a Nationally Board Certified teacher, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and is a published author. She has a degree in Human Ecology. Curtis has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology/earth sciences, Master’s degree in environmental science and economics, and a Juris Doctorate. He has published six research articles in peer reviewed journals on paleontology.
Yes! Beth has 25 years of classroom experience. Curtis is not a classroom teacher, but loves kids and doing presentations in schools.
Beth’s use of the methods we are sharing via Go2Science routinely helped her students achieve the highest literacy and math performance in her district even though they usually entered among the lowest. Our band of edu-rockstars, extensive research, and positive outcomes in Go2Science classrooms confirm that what we offer supports maximum learning!
We provide lessons for PreK through fifth grade classrooms. The core activity for most lessons works across the K-5 continuum, however, the complexity students bring to that work increases as they gain skills. Additionally, we provide NGSS aligned formative assessment rubrics for each grade level to help structure conversation to support learning specific skills. We also provide grade level appropriate integrations for reading, writing, and math as part of each lesson. Pre-K lessons are developmentally appropriate and play-based.
Our K-5 lessons are designed to meet national and state learning standards. The Family Fun activities are based on the lessons but do not focus on standards and tend to require less materials and time to complete.
We feature three diverse research missions each year. We do one mission in the fall, winter, and spring. Each mission has a unique research focus and location. However, you do not have to do the three Featured Missions. You can do any of our missions asynchronously on your own schedule. Missions done asynchronously do not have "live" livestream events.
No. We work with a range of scientists and science topics.
We decided where to go based on what we think will be highly engaging for kids while showing them diverse
geography and cultures.
Yes! Each year we feature three different missions; one in the fall, winter, and spring. Below is the current schedule for the 2022 - 23 school year:
Each mission is designed to last at least six weeks but you can do them asynchronously (not following along with us) at your own pace! If you are doing a missions asynchronously, you
can speed the mission up or slow down it to fit your needs. All livestream events associated with that mission will be archived so you can watch those at your own pace too.
Yes! While we try to keep them simple and often have a pretty good idea of what evidence we’ll find, each mission has a real hypothesis from a real scientist. It’s all about the process.
Absolutely! We catalog all our field missions and lessons for you so you can easily go back to missed episodes or activities. We even save a livestream from each day so you can re-create the experience for your students.
No! You are in charge of the content you deliver to your learners! You could choose to do every lesson or pick the ones that fit your goals. With our extensions and integration opportunities, you’ve got lots of flexibility!
We’ve got your back! We record a livestream event from each livestream day and make it available on our website.
Our lessons/activities are designed collaboratively! We work with a team of award-winning teachers and published scientists to produce super fun content that engages a wide range of learners while keeping focused learning front and center.
Yes! Every lesson incorporates the three dimensional framework of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). We provide formative assessment rubrics aligned to each performance indicator. We show you how to integrate CCSS literacy and math standards into
every lesson. This lets you choose the focus since you know what your students need most! The Family Fun activities do not meet NGSS/CCSS standards.
Our K-5 lessons lead with objectives and a NGSS connection. We highlight base knowledge, misconceptions, and vocabulary. We provide a list of simple materials and step-by-step directions for the hands-on portion of the lesson. Finally we show you how to take the learning further by integrating with literacy, math, the arts, and real world connections. In some cases there are game cards, journal pages, or maps you can print.
Yes! We provide formative assessments aligned to NGSS standards that focus on building a growth mindset!
No! You do not need to do any of the lessons to help us figure out if the hypothesis is true or false. The lessons are designed to enrich your experience and meet standards. Remember we are your resource and YOU are in control.
Each lesson provides support in integrating at least one or two standards each for literacy and math. You can use them to adapt, replace, or extend any lesson in existing curriculum. As you select the lessons you want to do for each mission, you can pinpoint the needs of your learners to give extra practice in specific content areas too.
Absolutely! We play well with others (see above). We also have handy Standards Spreadsheets that show you which lessons address which standards.
These are hands-on, screen-free activities inspired by our field videos and lessons. They are designed to be fun, to keep learning going, and support human interactions. They are not designed to meet every NGSS or CCSS standard.
You select your own screen name when you begin your subscription. Your screen name will be visible to others in our Go2Science community if you use our livestream chat or publishing features.
If you forgot your password, click “forgot password” to email us and we’ll reset it.
All your account information can be edited by clicking on your screen name in the upper right corner of your screen revealing a drop down menu. Select "Edit Profile."
No. Only adults are allowed to create accounts. We do this for a number of reasons but mostly to protect the privacy of young learners and to encourage classroom-wide/family discussions.
No. We do not collect or store any personal information about our learners. When you post work on our webpage,
it is your responsibility to ensure there is no personally identifiable information regarding the learner.
For schools and homeschools, we offer Basic and Full membership rates. The Basic level provides access to all of our features except livestream events, voting, and publishing. The Full level includes everything in Basic, plus livestream events, voting, publishing, personalized professional development, free accounts for tech integrators and other support personnel.
We also have a Lite membership that only provides access to the hypothesis video, field videos, and Family Fun activities associated with the "live" or current mission.
Yes, please contact us if you are interested in purchasing for a district at curious@go2science.com with the subject line “district pricing” to discuss your options.
Yes! We are happy to work with you so Go2Science can be a part of your summer school/camp. Please contact us as soon as possible at curious@go2science.com to get the ball rolling!
No, but if you request it, we will provide a personal tour of our website and all that we offer.
Yes! We try to find scientists who represent not only a variety of fields of study, but also a variety of ages, ethnicities, and genders.
Sure! We’d love to hear from you. Email your suggestions to us at curious@go2science.com with the subject line “Mission Idea.”
We use Go-Pros, DSLR cameras, and cell phones. While we usually just film each other, occasionally we have an extra person lend a hand.
We produce twelve, 5-6 minute field videos per mission.
Yes! Feel free to watch them at any time. Pause. Re-wind. Re-play to your heart’s content.
You can watch the videos at any time. They will also be featured in our livestream sessions that happen at specified times.
Our field videos are super adaptable! View them before a livestream to help your learners brainstorm outstanding questions. Watch them in their entirety or for just a few seconds to set the stage for our lessons. Use them as a hook before a writing workshop or math lesson. Pause the video for shared reading and concepts of print lessons. If you are projecting onto a white board surface, learners can mark up the text slides to circle words, letters, or punctuation. You can even play word games. For example, everyone stands up when they see a specific vocabulary word.
You can find field videos on the Field Videos & Lessons page and the Field Video Collection page.
Livestream events are only available to those who have a Full membership. Livestream events are accessed by clicking on the time of your choice in "Livestream Events" box. Once on the Livestream page, click the play arrow to join the livestream event. Dates and times for livestream events are posted on our website and in our Calendar.
We do regular livestream events each Tuesday and Thursday during the active phase of a current mission. We have multiple times available each
day, so you can join the sessions that best fits your schedule. We occasional do additional livestream events for other purposes. Please see our Calendar for livestream event dates and times.
No! You can click in and join a livestream event at anytime.
Not much! All it takes is a computer connected to the internet with a screen your learners can see and audio they can hear. If you have slow download speeds you may experience some buffering.
No. This is a one way connection. You can see and hear us but we cannot see or hear you. People joining us during a livestream cannot hear or see each other either. The only way you interact with us and others during a livestream event is via the chat feature when you send us messages.
Yes, but only the livestream video feed pauses. The chat box does not pause so once you've paused the livestream video, the chat will be out of sync with it.
Unfortunately, this may happen but it can be an excellent teachable moment. If it happens, use it as an opportunity to model flexible thinking and problem solving to your learners. Ask them what might have happened and how to solve the problem. Is your internet down? Did a storm knock out the connection from headquarters? Next, decide what to do. You can show the field video from the Field Videos & Lessons page. You can join another livestream event. You can watch a recorded livestream event the next day. You can whip out your Go2Science journals and write about what you think happened! Rest assured, if the problem is at headquarters we’re on it with our best flexible thinking, too.
Yes! We archive one event for each livestream day. You can find them in the Livestream Events section of our website by clicking the Recorded Sessions button. Of course, the chat feature won’t be live, but it is a great way to keep the flow going if you miss a day for any reason.
Technically, no, BUT we strongly encourage you to ask just a few high quality questions. This is an excellent opportunity work with your learners to understand what makes an outstanding question. We suggest that before you join a livestream event, you watch the associated field video and work with your learners to develop questions that dig deeper into the topic.
Anyone! However, depending on the number and type of question we get, we may be unable to address every question. So, we encourage working with learners to come up with a couple of high quality questions for each livestream so we have a better chance of answering all of them!
Yes! We see every post but others do not see those posts until we approve it. That slows the rate of questions to an age appropriate stream and ensures only relevant and safe content appears on screen.
No, but if you’ve made an unfortunate typo no one will see it except the moderator. We won’t approve anything that would be embarrassing or offensive to our community.
Yes! You can scroll up and down during a live session. Once the session ends, users are directed to the next livestream session.
You can cast your vote on our Vote page. Read and discuss the ballot question with your learners and then click on one of the listed options to cast your vote.
When the Vote feature is available, ballot questions are open from Monday morning through Thursday afternoon as 4 pm Eastern time.
No, once your vote is submitted it is final.
You may submit one vote for each question.
Yes. Votes are tabulated in real time.
We sure do! You can use the data for graphing activities. Use the process to discuss voting and civic responsibility.
Build collaboration skills by working together to get a consensus.
Simply snap a photo of the work you wish to share and follow the steps on the “Publish It!” page. You can create a post with one or multiple photos.
Click on the publication that you posted and wish to remove. There is a red button labeled "Delete Your Publication" on the right side of the page just below the image banner. Click it to remove the publication. This button deletes all images and comments on a publication.
That’s up to you. You can either share their work with the whole Go2Science community (recommended) for comment and peer review or just your class/family (a great way for kids who have special privacy concerns to still feel included).
You’ll be prompted to select a sharing level as part of the publication process.
Avoid personal identifiers when posting pictures and text. Use a nick name instead of real names.
On the Publish It! page, you’ll find thumbnail previews of uploaded work. Click on the thumbnail to expand the image and reveal a comment box.
The comics are aimed at three reading stages within each document. The sounds effects (pop, pip, zoom) are geared to pre-readers. (Fountas & Pinnell Levels A-C, DRA Levels A-3) The speech and thought bubbles are for beginning readers. (Fountas & Pinnell Levels D-G, DRA Levels 4-12) While the text panels are targeted to early and established readers. (Fountas & Pinnell Levels H-M+, DRA Levels 14-28+) At the beginning of the year, we aim towards the lower end of each stage and increase in complexity as the year progresses. We use multiple tools to help determine levels, including Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score, comparison to anchor texts, and of course, experienced teacher smarts!
That all depends on what your learners need! If they need to work on medial vowel substitutions call their attention
to the sound effects. Have them make up their own variations. If you need materials for small group instruction,
distribute the comic in booklet form and have your groups read the text appropriate for their level. If you have
a wide range of readers in your class/family, assign roles and have them work together to read the projected version
as a choral reader’s theater! Teaching tips are posted on the comic page.
We use a 3D scanner to make 3D files of objects we see in the field. Then we make the files available to you on our website. If you have a 3D printer, you can print those files so your learners can hold 3D versions of the objects we showed them in our field videos! Cool!
The 3D scanner uses lasers to capture an object’s shape and digitizes that shape a computer can use it. The 3D printer works with the computer to turn the digital shape made by the 3D scanner into an object you can hold again.
Yes! Our musical master, Kate, writes and performs all our music. No matter what topic Curtis throws her, Kate comes up with something catchy! Beth produces the lyric videos.
We appreciate your help keeping our community safe and productive. If you see something that is not supporting those goals please email us the link to the page and a screen shot (if possible) at curious@go2science.com with the subject line “Misuse.” Thanks!