Kentucky Atlas User Guide

Welcome! This user guide is a companion to the Kentucky Atlas of Phenomenon (KAP) and is intended to support teachers’ use of the tool to develop their own understanding of core science ideas and bundling them around phenomena. First, this guide outlines what the KAP is (and is not) and how to use the bundles in your teaching setting. Secondly, the guide provides a glossary of key terms that are used throughout the bundle and are intended to support teachers’ understandings of these terms.

What is the Kentucky Atlas of Phenomenon?

The Kentucky Atlas of Phenomena (KAP) was developed by Kentucky educators for Kentucky educators. It is a resource to support science teachers throughout Kentucky to develop their own understanding of various natural world phenomena that are common to Kentucky and the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) needed to explain those phenomena.

It is also important to point out what the KAP is not. The KAP is not a curriculum or an instructional tool, and the questions in the Atlas are not the only questions a person can ask about the natural world. For example, we may ask different questions about why certain plants, such as cattail, grow near wetland areas as opposed to upland areas. The Atlas shows some of the questions Kentucky educators generated while you may have other questions! The table below summarizes what the KAP is and what it does.

What the KAP is	What the KAP does
It is based in the Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (KAS for Science) and uses a “three-dimension of science (3-D) model” of learning (the 3-Ds including science and engineering practices (SEP), disciplinary core ideas (DCI), and crosscutting concepts (CCC)).	Helps teachers start to see connections between disciplinary core ideas, both within a grade level and as a progression from kindergarten through high school.
It is specific to placed-based natural world phenomena that are common to Kentucky.	Gives teachers an entry point in to bundled learning and supports to grow their own understanding of disciplinary core ideas.
A resource and tool for teacher professional learning that is intended to help teachers conceptualize how to use 3-D Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning to develop their own understandings of scientific ideas and phenomena.	It is for teachers to start identifying how DCIs are needed to explain different phenomena and further their own understanding so they can support their students.
A tool to explore connections other Kentucky teachers have made.
A process for exploring connections between local phenomena and the KAS for Science.
Scaffolded for basic, intermediate, and advanced understandings.

How do you use the Kentucky Atlas of Phenomenon?

Each contribution to the atlas contains a phenomenon that has ties directly to Kentucky and may represent a specific location in Kentucky or be observable state-wide. Shown with each image is one of the questions our team of educators asked while observing the phenomena along with 2 or 3 Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) components someone needs to understand in order to start answering that question. Questions have all been developed through the lens of the crosscutting concepts and are organized to help teachers progress from basic, to intermediate, to advanced levels of understanding.

The intent is to use the phenomenon to provide a conceptual approach to understanding science. The images were selected to bring focus while the questions were developed to lead the learner to deeper understanding. It is expected and encouraged that additional questions may be generated from the images. These questions are a means to transfer ideas between individuals as well as opportunities to achieve deeper applications and understanding of content.

Figure X: Example of a bundle for “advanced” understanding