It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 26: Cross-Cutting Concepts and Sense-Making Discussions

About this episode

Tom Racine discusses cross-cutting concepts and sense-making in science education with Dr. Samantha Messier and Leslie Lausten.

It's Time for Science, and it's time to talk about cross cutting concepts and sense-making discussions! Tom talks with Dr. Samantha Messier and professional learning specialist Leslie Lausten about those deep fundamental ideas that span across all science disciplines and how to facilitate students making sense of the data they collect while engaging with phenomena and cross-cutting concepts. Dr. Samantha Messier is a retired educator and biologist from Boulder, Colorado. She served as Director of Standards and Instructional Support for the Colorado Department of Education and in multiple roles for the Boulder Valley School District, including Science Director and Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services and Equity. Her Ph.D. research was on the evolutionary ecology and behavior of termites. Tom begins the discussion with Dr. Messier on cross-cutting concepts (CCC) and making sense of data, with discussing how one of the most critical components of a science-learning experience for a student is making sense of what they've experienced in the classroom. Tom and Dr. Messier talk about how, as educators, we often think of aiming towards a specific performance expectation…

People in this episode

Host: Tom Racine

Guests: Dr. Samantha Messier, Leslie Lausten

Topics covered

• cross-cutting concepts
• sense-making discussions
• science education
• data interpretation
• educational strategies

Keywords

• cross-cutting concepts
• sense-making
• science education
• data collection
• educational practices
• performance expectations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Colorado Department of Education, Boulder Valley School District

Places: Boulder, Colorado

More episodes of It's Time for Science

• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 29: English Language Development and Translanguaging · November 11, 2025 · 32 min
• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 28: Science Communication · October 17, 2025 · 38 min
• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 27: Back to School: Student Collaboration, Academic Vocabulary, and More! · September 30, 2025 · 24 min
• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 25: A Multimodal Approach to Science Education through Noticing, Wondering, and Connections Routines · July 15, 2025 · 42 min
• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 24: student-centered learning and successful implementation · June 24, 2025 · 36 min
• It's Time for Science Podcast Episode 23: STEM for All Students and Technology Integration · May 14, 2025 · 49 min