National Science Education Standards (NSES)

SCIENCE TEACHING STANDARDS:

NSES Teaching Standard A: Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students. In doing this, teachers:

• Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, ability, and experiences of students.
  “..teachers also consider their own strengths and interests and take into account available resources in the local community.”
• Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.
  “Science is often a collaborative endeavor, and all science depends on the ultimate sharing and debating of ideas.”

NSES Teaching Standard B: Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers:

• Focus and support inquiries while interacting with students.
• Organize discourse among students about science ideas.
• Challenge students to accept and share responsibility for their own learning.

NSES Teaching Standard C: Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student learning. In doing this, teachers:

• Use multiple methods and systematically gather data about student understanding.
• Guide students in self-assessment.

NSES Teaching Standard D: Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. In doing this, teachers:

• Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations.
• Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.
• Make the available science tools, materials, media, and technological resources accessible to students.
• Identify and use resources outside the school.
• Engage students in designing the learning environment.

NSES Teaching Standard E: Teachers of science develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values conducive to science learning. In doing this, teachers:

• Display and demand respect for the diverse ideas, skills and experiences of all students.
• Enable students to have a significant voice in decisions about the content and context of their work and require students to take responsibility for the learning of all members of the community..
• Nurture collaboration among students.
• Model and emphasize the skills, attitudes, and values of scientific inquiry.

ASSESSMENT STANDARDS FOR SCIENCE:

NSES Assessment Standard A: Assessments must be consistent with the decisions they are designed to inform.

NSES Assessment Standard D: Assessment practices must be fair.

• Assessment tasks must be set in a variety of contexts, be engaging to students with different interests and experiences, and must not assume the perspective or experience of a particular gender, racial, or ethnic group.

SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS (Grades 9-12):

Science as Inquiry (Content Standard A)

Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry:

• Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
  • Design and conduct scientific investigations.
  • Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications
  • Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
  • Communicate and defend a scientific argument.

Understanding About Scientific Inquiry:

• Scientists inquire about how physical, living, or designed systems function.
• Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.
• Mathematics is essential to scientific inquiry.

Physical Science (Content Standard B)

Motions and Forces:

• Objects change their motion only when a net force is applied. Laws of motion are used to calculate precisely the effects of forces on objects.

Conservation of Energy and Tendency toward Disorder:

• All energy can be considered either kinetic or potential.
• Systems have a natural tendency towards disorder.

Science and Technology (Content Standard E)

Abilities of Technological Design:

• Identify a problem or design an opportunity
• Propose designs and choose between alternative solutions.
• Implement a proposed solution.
• Evaluate the solution and its consequences.
• Communicate the problem, process, and solution

Understandings About Science and Technology:

• Science often advances with the introduction of new technologies
• Creativity, knowledge, and imagination are all important in the work of science and engineering.
• Technological knowledge is not always made public because of patents and financial considerations

Conservation of Energy and Tendency toward Disorder:

• All energy can be considered either kinetic or potential.
• Systems have a natural tendency towards disorder.