Keep your district happy. Actually teach science.
OpenSciEd as written works for zero teachers. Every teacher who sticks with it spends years rebuilding it from scratch. Almanack does that work in minutes — preserving the phenomena, storylines, and unit structure your admin wants to see, while adding the content, assessments, and rigor your students need.
Sound familiar?
Same phenomena. Every. Unit.
"If I see another stickleback fish, I'm going to scream."
All skills, zero content
"My 'chemistry' class is mostly Earth science. We haven't learned an atom in 3 months."
Impossible pacing
"6,240 pages of teacher materials. Nobody teaches all 6 units."
Assessments you can't grade
"OSE has no way to measure failure. There's no measurable content — just fluff and discussion."
Punished for adapting
"First year we tried. Second year we modified. This year we just tag it in the lesson plans."
No support for gifted, IEP, or ELL
"IEP modifications are impossible. Everything is so vague I don't even know where to begin."
What Almanack does for OpenSciEd
Five tools built around the exact adaptations every OSE teacher ends up doing manually — now available in minutes, not months.
Assessment Generator
NGSS-aligned assessments that map to letter grades and connect to your OSE unit structure. Standards-faithful, gradebook-ready, and rewritten for clarity — so you always have defensible evidence for report cards.
Preserves: OSE unit phenomena and DQBs
Lesson Rebuilder
Take any OSE unit and produce a version that actually teaches the content. Real vocabulary, direct instruction woven into the inquiry model, proper pacing. The OSE skeleton stays; the substance fits your students.
Preserves: Storylines, phenomena, 3D structure
Background Knowledge Scaffolding
The pre-reading, vocabulary instruction, and foundational content that OSE assumes but never provides — especially for ELL, below-grade-level, and low-SES students who can't carry a discussion they have no context for.
Preserves: OSE phenomena as the hook
Differentiation Engine
One lesson, automatically rebuilt in multiple versions: IEP accommodations, gifted extension, and ELL scaffolding — all aligned to the same OSE standard. No more 'the modifications feel impossible on this curriculum.'
Preserves: OSE unit learning goals
Pacing Optimizer
Which of the 6 units do you cut? What do you keep inside each unit? Almanack maps your curriculum against your real calendar, surfaces the trade-offs, and helps you make informed cuts — not desperate ones.
Preserves: OSE storyline continuity
The universal adaptation workflow, automated
Every single teacher who sticks with OpenSciEd — from the biggest defenders to the angriest critics — ends up doing the same thing:
"Year 1: attempt fidelity. Year 2: modify heavily. Year 3: teach your own curriculum with OSE labels." Almanack gives you the Year 3 curriculum on Day 1.
What every OSE teacher rebuilds manually — and Almanack automates:
- Custom slides that replace OSE's unclear originals
- Rewritten assessments with defensible letter grades
- Added vocabulary and background knowledge OSE skips
- Cutting units down to a teachable length
- IEP and gifted modifications for every activity
- State-test-aligned questions alongside OSE's inquiry tasks
- Pre-reading materials for ELL and below-grade-level students
What teachers are saying about OpenSciEd
These aren't cherry-picked complaints. They represent the near-universal experience of OSE teachers across 15 subreddit threads.
“We said the word mitosis once and then moved on. Never referenced it again. She could tell me why wildebeests migrate, but she couldn't piece together how the 10% Rule works.”
— AP Biology teacher, r/ScienceTeachers, 2024
“First year, we tried. Second year, we modified. This year, we are just tagging it in the lesson plans.”
— 3rd-year OSE teacher, r/Teachers, 2026
“Other teachers are like 'just modify everything' but like during what time? It takes ages just to read all the documents for each lesson.”
— Science teacher, r/ScienceTeachers, 2025
Free access. Real impact. We need your feedback.
What you get
- Free access to all five OSE tools during the beta
- Direct line to the team to shape what we build next
- Early access to new features before general release
- Priority support throughout the beta period
What we ask
- One optional 20-minute conversation with our team
- Honest feedback on what's working and what isn't
We're accepting a limited first cohort. Requests are reviewed in the order they arrive.
Request a beta invite
Tell us about your OSE context. We use this to prioritize the cohort and make sure Almanack fits your situation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Almanack a replacement for OpenSciEd?
No. Almanack works alongside OSE, preserving the phenomena, storylines, and unit structure your district requires. We give you the adaptation layer that OSE doesn't provide — better assessments, scaffolded content, differentiated activities — while keeping the OSE framework intact for compliance.
What grade bands and subjects does the beta cover?
We're building for middle school (6–8) first, with high school (biology, chemistry, physics) following closely behind. Elementary (K–5) is on the roadmap. Tell us your grade band in the form and we'll prioritize accordingly.
Do I need buy-in from my department or admin?
No. Almanack is a teacher tool — you can use it on your own. The output aligns with OSE unit labels and structure, so your modifications will pass any fidelity review. That said, the more teachers using it in a department, the better the results.
Is our data shared with OpenSciEd, the Gates Foundation, or any curriculum body?
Never. Your data is yours. We do not share, sell, or license any teacher or student information to OpenSciEd or any third party. See our full privacy policy at almanack.ai/privacy.
How long does the beta run?
We expect the beta to run for approximately 8–12 weeks. Beta participants get free access throughout and will be given the option to continue at a discounted rate when the beta closes.
I already use Almanack. Can I still join?
Absolutely — the OSE tools are being built as a dedicated integration on top of your existing Almanack account. Existing users will get priority in the cohort.
Stop rebuilding OSE alone.
You're already doing the work. Let Almanack do it in minutes.
Request a beta invite