Akan-rooted
Learning values community, memory, responsibility, wisdom, creativity, and relationships across generations.
Curriculum foundation
Inclusive by design
Students receive explicit teaching, accessible materials, purposeful repetition, multiple representations, and multiple ways to demonstrate learning.
Restorative and humane
Reflection, dialogue, repair, collaboration, and growth replace fear-based discipline and unnecessary high-stakes testing.
Enduring learning goals
01
Explain major patterns and structures in the universe
02
Use scale, models, mathematics, and evidence in astronomy
03
Investigate stars, planets, galaxies, and conditions for life
04
Apply engineering design to space-based problems
05
Distinguish scientific possibility from unsupported claims
06
Connect space exploration to ethics, culture, and human responsibility
9 weeks
Observing the Sky & Measuring the Universe
Essential question: How can observation reveal objects we cannot reach?
Core learning: Sky patterns; light; telescopes; scale; scientific models
Culminating demonstration
Create a sky-observation portfolio and a scale model explaining distance.
Create a sky-observation portfolio and a scale model explaining distance.
9 weeks
The Solar System as a System
Essential question: Why are worlds so different from one another?
Core learning: Gravity; orbits; planets; moons; small bodies; comparison
Culminating demonstration
Design a comparative planetary field guide supported by evidence.
Design a comparative planetary field guide supported by evidence.
9 weeks
Stars, Elements & Cosmic Life Cycles
Essential question: How are stars connected to the matter around us?
Core learning: Stellar formation; fusion; star life cycles; elements; spectra
Culminating demonstration
Build and narrate a scientifically accurate stellar life-cycle model.
Build and narrate a scientifically accurate stellar life-cycle model.
9 weeks
Mission Design: Living Beyond Earth
Essential question: What would humans need to survive responsibly beyond Earth?
Core learning: Life support; energy; food; radiation; teamwork; engineering design
Culminating demonstration
Develop and defend a habitat or mission plan with constraints and test results.
Develop and defend a habitat or mission plan with constraints and test results.
9 weeks
Galaxies, Gravity & the Expanding Universe
Essential question: How do scientists investigate the universe at its largest scales?
Core learning: Galaxies; gravity; redshift; expansion; models; evidence
Culminating demonstration
Create a visual explanation of cosmic structure and expansion using appropriate limits.
Create a visual explanation of cosmic structure and expansion using appropriate limits.
9 weeks
Exoplanets & Astrobiology
Essential question: What evidence would make a world potentially habitable?
Core learning: Exoplanet detection; habitable zones; chemistry; biosignatures; uncertainty
Culminating demonstration
Evaluate fictional or real candidate worlds using a student-built habitability rubric.
Evaluate fictional or real candidate worlds using a student-built habitability rubric.
9 weeks
Interstellar Travel: Possibility & Constraint
Essential question: What does known science allow, limit, or leave unanswered?
Core learning: Relativity concepts; propulsion; energy; distance; time; communication
Culminating demonstration
Compare propulsion concepts and communicate which claims are plausible, speculative, or unsupported.
Compare propulsion concepts and communicate which claims are plausible, speculative, or unsupported.
9 weeks
First Contact, Ethics & Capstone Futures
Essential question: How should humanity act when exploration affects others?
Core learning: Scientific communication; planetary protection; ethics; culture; systems design
Culminating demonstration
Present an interstellar mission or first-contact protocol integrating science, ethics, and design.
Present an interstellar mission or first-contact protocol integrating science, ethics, and design.
Weekly instructional cycle
ConnectActivate background knowledge and establish purpose.
ModelTeacher demonstrates the skill with clear thinking aloud.
PracticeStudents rehearse with scaffolds, feedback, and repetition.
ApplyStudents use the learning in a meaningful task or problem.
ReflectStudents explain growth, revise work, and plan a next step.
Daily practice: Lessons may combine mini-lessons, movement, music, visuals, discussion, hands-on materials, small groups, independent work, and teacher conferencing. Pacing changes when student evidence shows that reteaching or extension is needed.
Signature learning experiences
Scale model of the solar system or stellar neighborhood
Students plan, create, revise, explain, and share a product that demonstrates both content learning and communication.
Planetary field guide
Students plan, create, revise, explain, and share a product that demonstrates both content learning and communication.
Engineered habitat or mission prototype
Students plan, create, revise, explain, and share a product that demonstrates both content learning and communication.
Astrobiology or interstellar futures capstone
Students plan, create, revise, explain, and share a product that demonstrates both content learning and communication.
Assessment without high-stakes testing
Frequent evidence
- Conferences and observation
- Exit responses and retrieval practice
- Notebook, portfolio, or model checks
- Short performances and explanations
Culminating evidence
- Unit projects and demonstrations
- Presentations, exhibitions, or performances
- Student reflection and revision
- Standards-aligned teacher rubrics
Reporting progress
Progress reports describe what a student understands, can do independently, can do with support, and should learn next. Grades never stand alone without feedback.
Reteaching and reassessment
Students receive another pathway to learn and another reasonable opportunity to demonstrate growth after feedback and practice.
Inclusive supports
Tactile and visual scale models
Simulations paired with plain-language explanations
Chunked calculations and unit supports
Science-fiction comparisons labeled as fact or speculation
Collaborative engineering roles
Choice of physical, digital, oral, or written products
Individualization: Teachers follow each student’s IEP and use present-level data, accommodations, assistive technology, and specially designed instruction. Supports provide access without lowering the intellectual dignity of the work.
Family and community connection
Each semester includes at least one opportunity for students to connect learning to family knowledge, New Orleans, Akan or African diasporic culture, a community concern, or a public audience. Participation options protect privacy and respect different family circumstances.
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