Authentic Tasks for Learning and Assessment in Science (ATLAS) is a rich, growing repository of over 1,300 peer-reviewed, NGSS-aligned performance tasks. It is more than just a resource bank; it’s a user-friendly, intuitive platform built to support phenomena-based instruction and assessment. Teachers can easily find tasks, create personalized collections of resources, and share them with peers, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment.
The NGSS asks teachers and students to shift how we teach, learn, and assess science. This shift requires students to engage in authentic work—performance tasks—for both learning and assessment. ATLAS includes tasks for every grade level, disciplinary core idea, science and engineering practice, and cross-cutting concept. ATLAS is designed to ensure every teacher can find something useful that will help them integrate more authentic tasks into their practice.
Created With Teachers, For Teachers: ATLAS is a teacher-centered platform created with teachers involved in every phase of the design. The tasks in ATLAS are peer-reviewed to ensure they genuinely empower educators and facilitate the transformation of teaching through real-world science engagement.
Free and Relevant Resources That Bring Science to Life: The library of performance tasks is not only vast but also teacher-tested, engaging, and directly relevant to the classroom. The platform focuses on authentic, experiential tasks that foster curiosity, collaboration, and durable skills essential for success, such as problem-solving and scientific communication. This shifts instruction away from rote facts and toward deep engagement with scientific practices and conceptual understanding.
Supportive and Collaborative: ATLAS provides opportunities for educators to share their experience teaching these tasks to help their peers and grow their practice together. Educators can even create and join groups to collaborate and discuss their teaching directly in the ATLAS platform.
“ATLAS could save me hours of hunting for solid digital activities and let me spend more time differentiating and planning deeper discussions, meaning more consistent, engaging lessons that give me real-time data on student thinking without all the prep hassle.”
“This tool really is a game changer. It saves time searching and the ability to edit the tasks for my students is fantastic. It is easy to navigate, find relevant tasks, and utilize them with students without needing a lot of prep.”
“I can incorporate more rigor into science lessons and choose to integrate ATLAS tasks without being intimidated or feeling overwhelmed. I will be prone to make science more of a priority in general because of the nature of success I have already experienced.”
While ATLAS was commissioned by the California Department of Education to support statewide implementation of NGSS, the platform is free and open for all science teachers everywhere to find and use NGSS-aligned tasks. Launching ATLAS has been a collaborative effort with organizations like the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Digital Promise, Education First, and the CA NGSS Collaborative leading development, while more than 200 California educators informed the design with invaluable input.
We encourage you to visit ngss-atlas.com to experience this powerful, free tool designed to bring the next generation of science to life in your classroom.
