April 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released. The NGSS are rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally-benchmarked science education. They were developed collaboratively with states and other stakeholders in science, science education, higher education and industry.
In collaboration with the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence California (COSEE CA), scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps) have worked with a group of three middle school science teachers to teach students how marine natural products research at Scripps connects and contributes to the clinical drug discovery process. The participating San Diego Unified School District 7th grade life science teachers routinely teach a unit on drug discovery to approximately 300 students each year, and enrich the instruction by providing students the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with marine scientists through an interactive videoconference.