Inquisitive is a PreK-5 science curriculum adopted by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education. This article explains the adoption, how Inquisitive aligns to Hawaiʻi standards, and where to find reference documents.
Adoption status
Inquisitive was adopted by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education in 2026 as a Science Comprehensive Instructional Program, following an independent review by the American Institute of Research. The review covered coherence and scope, teacher supports, assessment, student supports, and intentional design.
The Hawaiʻi Content Standards Science Crosswalk shows full alignment of Inquisitive lessons to the NGSS performance expectations adopted by Hawaiʻi.
Crosswalk and supporting documents
What are the Next Generation Science Standards for Hawaiʻi?
Hawaiʻi adopted the Next Generation Science Standards in 2013. The Hawaiʻi NGSS set out what students should know and do in science from Kindergarten through high school.
The standards are built around three dimensions that students use together in every lesson:
Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs): core science concepts across Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Engineering and Design.
Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs): the practices scientists and engineers use, such as asking questions, carrying out investigations, analyzing data, constructing explanations, and arguing from evidence.
Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs): ideas that connect across science areas, such as patterns, cause and effect, energy and matter, structure and function, and systems.
How Inquisitive aligns to Hawaiʻi's NGSS
Every Inquisitive lesson is built around a real-world phenomenon. Each lesson combines all three dimensions: students build understanding of core science ideas, use science and engineering practices, and connect their learning to crosscutting concepts.
When Inquisitive lessons were mapped against the Hawaiʻi NGSS, the crosswalk confirmed:
Coverage across all four Disciplinary Core Idea domains, at every grade
All eight Science and Engineering Practices represented across lessons
All seven Crosscutting Concepts represented across the curriculum
Each lesson lists its NGSS Performance Expectation (PE) and Inquisitive learning target for reference
Inquisitive supports classrooms with individual devices, shared classroom technology, or limited screen time.
With technology:
Interactive digital lessons with embedded stimuli
Individual student logins and Google Classroom integration
Real-time student responses
Built-in assessments and a digital gradebook
With little to no technology:
Mix of digital and print resources
Printable student activity sheets, available in 50+ language
Investigations using everyday classroom materials
Discussions and collaborative learning without student devices
Accessibility and language support
Designed using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.
Multimodal content includes printables, eBooks, interactives, and videos.
Differentiated pathways (core, deeper, and challenging) use Green Circle, Blue Square, and Black Diamond indicators.
Available in 50+ languages in print, digital, and text-to-speech. Key languages for Hawaiʻi include Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Samoan, Vietnamese, Thai, and Maori.
WCAG-compliant design.
Students can demonstrate understanding through drawings, models, oral explanations, and written responses.
How Inquisitive meets Hawaiʻi's review criteria
Coherence and scope
Units revisit and extend prior learning through related phenomena, shared practices, and recurring crosscutting concepts.
Anchor Maps connect each lesson's phenomenon to the unit phenomenon for a coherent sequence.
Content prioritizes depth over breadth, staying within grade-level DCIs while covering all grade-level SEPs and all seven CCCs.
Teacher supports
Every lesson includes a Teaching and Learning Sequence with step-by-step notes, adult-level background science, standards correlations including ELA and mathematics connections, science safety guidance, and a supply list.
Instruction is grounded in the 5E model.
Assessment
Assessment is integrated into instruction, so teachers can see which standards are assessed, when, and through which tasks.
Includes formative checkpoints at the end of every lesson, 3-dimensional performance tasks, auto-graded end-of-unit assessments, and a digital gradebook.
Accommodations such as text-to-speech, translation, and multimodal responses let students demonstrate mastery without changing the content.
Student supports
Built-in scaffolds, sentence stems, visual supports, and tiered tasks help special populations and multilingual learners participate fully in grade-level science.
Black Diamond tasks and grade-level Engineering Design lessons (Ask, Learn and Imagine, Create, Improve) extend learning at greater depth.
Flexible grouping strategies support intervention, collaboration, and independent work.
Intentional design
Real-time Student Responses make thinking visible.
Virtual simulations let students manipulate variables and observe processes that are hard to see in person.
A consistent visual design keeps attention on evidence, explanation, and discussion.
Technology, digital, and AI literacy
Inquisitive also includes a technology subject covering digital literacy, AI literacy, and computational thinking:
Builds digital literacy and AI understanding
Develops problem solving and critical thinking
Focuses on safe, ethical technology use
Uses real-world, age-appropriate tasks
Aligned to ISTE standards
Professional learning and implementation support
Professional development options include:
Virtual training
Specialized sessions, including Making Science 3D, the 5E Model, and Visible Thinking Routines
Ongoing support