How can thinking be used to support sense-making in KnowAtom science lessons?

Teachers using KnowAtom often ask a very practical question: How does student thinking actually show up during science lessons? In many classrooms the word think is used frequently, yet students and teachers may have very different ideas about what mental actions are expected. Ron Ritchhart points out that if we believe learning is a product of thinking, we must be clear about the kinds of mental activity we want to encourage. Teachers often ask students to think without ever stepping back to identify the specific thinking they value. This lack of clarity can result in compliance – students focus on finishing tasks or recalling facts – rather than curiosity and sense-making.

KnowAtom embeds thinking into the work of science. The curriculum organizes lessons around phenomena that require students to question, model, test, revise and discuss. Ritchhart’s research at Harvard’s Project Zero identified eight thinking moves—observing, explaining, reasoning, connecting, considering different viewpoints, capturing the heart, wondering and uncovering complexity—that describe how learners make sense of new ideas. These moves are not question stems or slides; they are the mental actions students use as they investigate phenomena. KnowAtom operationalizes them inside NGSS-aligned science lessons so that thinking is not an add-on – it is the lesson.

In the sections that follow, we explore the research behind these moves, practical strategies for cultivating them, and detailed examples of how each move is operationalized in KnowAtom classrooms. The goal is to help teachers envision themselves in the moment, engaging students in thinking moves during actual lessons.

Background: Why thinking moves and teacher facilitation matter

Research on learning shows that understanding develops when students engage actively with ideas, not when they complete tasks or memorize information. Ritchhart and colleagues observed that teachers often tell students to think without specifying the mental actions they expect. Without explicit guidance, students may equate thinking with guessing a correct answer quickly or completing a worksheet. The Making Thinking Visible project distilled a set of high-leverage thinking moves integral to understanding. When lessons are built around these moves, students become sense-makers rather than passive receivers.

In tandem, Ritchhart’s Cultures of Thinking research emphasizes that learning is a consequence of thinking and that teachers are facilitators rather than information gatekeepers. KnowAtom’s curriculum reinforces this by embedding routines that position teachers as facilitators or lab managers and students as the primary thinkers. When teachers give students agency to use the moves, it signals trust and supports the development of thinking dispositions.

Building a thinking culture in science

For students to adopt the eight thinking moves as habits of mind, teachers must make thinking visible and provide structures for practice. The following strategies illustrate how to integrate thinking moves into everyday lessons without reducing them to scripts. Each example draws on actual KnowAtom contexts so teachers can picture themselves in the moment:

1. Anchor the moves in your classroom space. Create an anchor chart or bulletin board that names the eight moves and pairs each with a simple icon. During a Making Things Move lesson, you might point to the “Reason with evidence” icon and ask a student to identify how they used data from their marble-run tests. Over time students begin to reference the chart themselves, reinforcing that thinking is an action, not a vague directive.
2. Model your own mental work. When introducing a phenomenon, verbalize what you notice and how you’re thinking about it. For example, in a Weather in Our World investigation, say, “I’m noticing that the black foam board feels warmer than the white tile after five minutes in the sun. I wonder if color affects how materials warm.” By sharing your observations and questions aloud, you show students how to begin with noticing and move toward wondering.
3. Provide language supports. Offer sentence starters that align to the moves—I notice…, This makes me think…, One reason is…, Another way to see it is…, I’m curious about…. In a Land and Water lesson, hand each table a card with these stems. As students pour water over their clay landscape models, remind them to use the stems when describing how hills and valleys change shape. Gradually phase out the cards as students internalize the language.
4. Build in reflection opportunities. After an investigation, ask students to jot down which thinking moves they used and how those moves helped them understand. In a Balancing Boats engineering challenge, provide a reflection sheet with columns for “Thinking move used” and “How it helped.” A student might write, “Observing closely helped me see that the boat tipped when the weight was on one side.” These reflections help students become metacognitive about their thinking.
5. Use thinking moves in feedback and assessment. When you comment on student work, identify which moves are present and which could deepen understanding. In a Matter and Electricity lab report, you might write, “You made strong connections between circuit components and brightness. Next time, consider another perspective: How might increasing the number of bulbs affect resistance?” This signals that assessments value thinking, not just right answers.

These strategies are supports, not prescriptive steps. As Ritchhart notes, posting the moves helps draw students’ attention to what they will be doing, but the ultimate goal is for students to take over the moves themselves. When students start asking peers for evidence or inviting another viewpoint without teacher prompts, thinking has become part of the culture.

How each thinking move is operationalized in KnowAtom classrooms

Below, each thinking move is paired with a description of how it appears in KnowAtom lessons and examples across grade spans. These examples illustrate how teachers initially facilitate the move and then release responsibility to students, allowing the move to become a student habit of mind.

Observing closely and describing what is there

What this move means: Careful noticing before explanation. In science, close observation is the foundation of sense-making; it slows the mind down and helps students attend to parts and patterns.

In KnowAtom lessons: Investigations begin with hands-on or visual experiences—examining materials, models, images or phenomena. Teachers model how to describe without interpreting, then encourage students to prompt each other. For example:

• Kindergarten: In Weather in Our World, students observe how sunlight warms different surfaces outdoors. They discuss what they see and feel before anyone proposes why some surfaces warm faster.
• Grades 1–2: In Land and Water, students build miniature landscapes, carefully describing hills, valleys and water flow before identifying patterns.
• Grades 3–5: In Sound Waves, students observe water waves and slinky models, noting what moves and what stays in place. Over time students start asking peers, “What did you notice?” without waiting for a teacher cue.
• Grades 6–8: In Atoms and Molecules, students explore physical models of atoms and track particle arrangements before naming structures.

Shifting agency: Initially the teacher prompts observation (“Describe what you see”), but the goal is for students to initiate careful noticing and to remind peers to slow down. When students ask one another to observe more closely, the habit is taking hold.

Building explanations and interpretations

What this move means: Making meaning by proposing and revising explanations. Understanding grows through conjectures that change with new evidence.

In KnowAtom lessons: Students are expected to offer explanations early and revisit them. Teachers present explanations as provisional and model how to revise them. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: In Making Things Move, students explain why a marble slows down on carpet versus tile based on what they observed.
• Grades 1–2: In Matter All Around Us, students interpret why some materials bounce higher after testing balls made of different substances.
• Grades 3–5: In Plant and Animal Structures, students explain how specific structures help organisms survive in their environments.
• Grades 6–8: In From Molecules to Organisms, students build explanations for how organelles work together to support life functions.

Shifting agency: Teachers initially invite explanations and highlight when evidence prompts revision. Over time, students begin to revise their own explanations publicly and encourage peers to do the same.

Reasoning with evidence

What this move means: Supporting claims with data, observations or models rather than opinion. Evidence-based reasoning anchors science discourse.

In KnowAtom lessons: Students routinely justify claims using measurements, observations and models generated during investigations. Teachers model pressing for evidence and gradually students take up this role. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: In Living Things Change, students use drawings and recorded observations as evidence when explaining what plants need to grow.
• Grades 1–2: In Engineering Homes, students justify design choices using test results from material investigations.
• Grades 3–5: In Matter and Electricity, students use circuit data to support claims about conductivity.
• Grades 6–8: In Climate and Human Activity, students use temperature and salinity data to support explanations about climate patterns.

Shifting agency: At first the teacher asks, “What makes you think that?” to elicit evidence. As students internalize the habit, they start asking each other, “Where is your evidence?”

Making connections

What this move means: Linking new ideas to prior knowledge, other investigations or real-world contexts. Connections help new information become meaningful.

In KnowAtom lessons: Students revisit concept maps, prior investigations and earlier phenomena to make connections. Teachers reference shared class artifacts, but students increasingly initiate the connections. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: Students connect daily weather observations over weeks to identify seasonal patterns.
• Grades 1–2: In Changing Seasons, students link daylight patterns to temperature changes.
• Grades 3–5: In Water on Earth, students connect evaporation investigations to hurricanes.
• Grades 6–8: In Changing Environments, students connect food-web models to the impact of invasive species.

Shifting agency: Teachers point students back to previous work (“Remember when we…”) early on. Later, students spontaneously reference earlier investigations to support current reasoning.

Considering different viewpoints and perspectives

What this move means: Listening to and weighing multiple interpretations or explanations. Awareness of different perspectives leads to more robust understanding.

In KnowAtom lessons: Lessons deliberately surface competing ideas and encourage respectful dialogue. Teachers facilitate initial discussions, but students gradually take responsibility for comparing ideas. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: Students compare ideas about what makes something living or non-living.
• Grades 1–2: Students listen to different explanations of landform models and ask clarifying questions.
• Grades 3–5: In Energy Transfers, students compare competing launcher designs and their performance.
• Grades 6–8: In Human Genetics, students consider multiple interpretations of genetic data.

Shifting agency: Initially teachers remind students to listen and respond to ideas, not individuals. Over time students invite alternative viewpoints and use them to refine their own thinking.

Capturing the heart and forming conclusions

What this move means: Identifying the essence or core of an idea, pattern or phenomenon. This helps learners synthesize and communicate their understanding.

In KnowAtom lessons: Students regularly step back to articulate the big idea they have figured out so far. Teachers support synthesis without dominating the language. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: Students summarize what plants need to survive using shared class language.
• Grades 1–2: Students state the main pattern they noticed about water flow and land shape.
• Grades 3–5: Students articulate how energy moves through a system in Ecosystem Interactions.
• Grades 6–8: Students synthesize multiple pieces of evidence to explain climate trends.

Shifting agency: Initially teachers lead consensus‐building discussions. As students gain confidence, they propose conclusions and collectively check them against evidence.

Wondering and asking questions

What this move means: Curiosity drives investigations. Questions indicate the edges of understanding and propel learning.

In KnowAtom lessons: Questions arise from observations, disagreements and incomplete explanations. Teachers model curiosity early on, but students increasingly generate and pursue their own questions. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: Students ask what will happen if sunlight is blocked or if plants receive no water.
• Grades 1–2: Students ask why some materials work better than others in engineering challenges.
• Grades 3–5: In Magnetism and Electricity, students ask what affects magnetic strength.
• Grades 6–8: In Biodiversity, students ask how fossil evidence supports evolutionary relationships.

Shifting agency: Teachers initially seed investigations with open‐ended questions. Over time students’ own questions guide experiments, and the teacher helps them design ways to investigate.

Uncovering complexity and going below the surface

What this move means: Recognizing that phenomena often resist simple explanations and require deeper exploration.

In KnowAtom lessons: Phenomena are deliberately complex. Teachers resist rushing to closure and encourage students to sit with uncertainty. Students learn to appreciate nuance and revise explanations. Examples include:

• Kindergarten: Students discover that not all living things look or behave the same, prompting refinement of their ideas about life.
• Grades 1–2: Students uncover that water exists in many forms and locations—not just rivers and lakes.
• Grades 3–5: In Shaping Earth’s Surface, students recognize that multiple processes (erosion, deposition, tectonics) shape landforms.
• Grades 6–8: In Atoms and Molecules, students explore how invisible particles explain visible changes, leading to more sophisticated particle models.

Shifting agency: Initially the teacher normalizes uncertainty (“It’s okay that we don’t know yet”) and models revision. Gradually, students embrace complexity, hold competing ideas and revise without feeling pressure to “finish” quickly.

Making expectations explicit

Students may initially equate “thinking” with producing a correct answer quickly or following directions. To shift this mindset, teachers need to clarify what mental work they expect. Ritchhart observes that teachers often ask students to think without articulating the specific thinking they value. By naming the eight moves and modeling them in context, teachers give students concrete actions to take.

For example, instead of saying, “Think about why the boat tipped,” you might prompt, “Describe what you notice about how the boat leaned when we added weight to one side. What evidence from your observations supports your explanation?” This guidance connects the act of thinking to the moves of observing and reasoning with evidence. As students become familiar with the language of the moves, they internalize them and begin to prompt one another.

Ultimately, a classroom culture of thinking emerges from routines, language and expectations that empower students to use the moves themselves. In KnowAtom, the teacher’s role aligns with Ritchhart’s mindset that learning is a consequence of thinking: teachers act as facilitators or lab manager. They set up investigations, listen closely, and provide just enough support for students to persevere. When students begin to prompt peers to observe closely, justify claims with evidence, invite alternative viewpoints, wonder aloud and revise explanations, the thinking moves have become habits of mind.

References

• Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. Jossey-Bass. (see the discussion about teachers frequently using the word think without clarifying mental actions, and the identification of high-leverage thinking move).
• Ritchhart, R. (2020). Cultures of Thinking in Action: 10 Mindsets to Transform Our Teaching and Students’ Learning. Jossey-Bass. (emphasizes the mindset that learning is a consequence of thinking and positions teachers as facilitators or lab managers who release responsibility to students).