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What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary (2003)

Chapter: Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
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Appendix D
OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENT STANDARDS IN THE NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS

The following tables list the science content standards from the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996, Chapter 6). The content standards outline what students should know, understand, and be able to do in natural science.

The science as inquiry standards are described in terms of activities resulting in student development of certain abilities and in terms of student understanding of inquiry.

TABLE 6.1. SCIENCE AS INQUIRY STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

LEVELS 5-8

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

LEVELS 9-12

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

Standards for science subject matter in physical, life, and earth and space science focus on the science facts, concepts, principles, theories, and models that are important for all students to know, understand, and use.

TABLE 6.2. PHYSICAL SCIENCE STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Properties of objects and materials

Position and motion of objects

Light,heat, electricity, and magnetism

LEVELS 5-8

Properties and changes of properties in matter

Motions and forces

Transfer of energy

LEVELS 9-12

Structure of atoms

Structure and properties of matter

Chemical reactions

Motions and forces

Conservation of energy and increase in disorder

Interactions of energy and matter

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
×

TABLE 6.3. LIFE SCIENCE STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Characteristics of organisms

Life cycles of organisms

Organisms and environments

LEVELS 5-8

Structure and function in living systems

Reproduction and heredity

Regulation and behavior

Populations and ecosystems

Diversity and adaptations of organisms

LEVELS 9-12

The cell

Molecular basis of heredity

Biological evolution

Interdependence of organisms

Matter, energy, and organization in living systems

Behavior of organisms

TABLE 6.4. EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Properties of earth materials

Objects in the sky

Changes in earth and sky

LEVELS 5-8

Structure of the earth system

Earth’s history

Earth in the solar system

LEVELS 9-12

Energy in the earth system

Geochemical cycles

Origin and evolution of the earth system

Origin and evolution of the universe

The science and technology standards establish connections between the natural and designed worlds and provide students with opportunities to develop decision-making abilities. They are not standards for technology education; rather, these standards emphasize abilities associated with the process of design and fundamental understandings about the enterprise of science and its various linkages with technology.

TABLE 6.5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans

Abilities of technological design

Understanding about science and technology

LEVELS 5-8

Abilities of technological design

Understanding about science and technology

LEVELS 9-12

Abilities of technological design

Understanding about science and technology

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
×

An important purpose of science education is to give students a means to understand and act on personal and social issues. The science in personal and social perspectives standards help students develop decision-making skills.

TABLE 6.6. SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES

LEVELS K-4

Personal health

Characteristics and changes in populations

Types of resources

Changes in environments

Science and technology in local challenges

LEVELS 5-8

Personal health

Populations, resources,and environments

Natural hazards

Risks and benefits

Science and technology in society

LEVELS 9-12

Personal and community health

Population growth

Natural resources

Environmental quality

Natural and human-induced hazards

Science and technology in local , national, and global challenges

The standards for the history and nature of science recommend the use of history in school science programs to clarify different aspects of scientific inquiry, the human aspects of science, and the role that science has played in the development of various cultures.

TABLE 6.7. HISTORY AND NATURE OF SCIENCE STANDARDS

LEVELS K-4

Science as a human endeavor

LEVELS 5-8

Science as a human endeavor

Nature of science

History of science

LEVELS 9-12

Science as a human endeavor

Nature of scientific knowledge

Historical perspectives

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
×
Page 31
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
×
Page 32
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Overview of the Content Standards in the National Science Education Standards." National Research Council. 2003. What Is the Influence of the National Science Education Standards?: Reviewing the Evidence, A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10618.
×
Page 33
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In 2001, with support from National Science Foundation, the National Research Council began a review of the evidence concerning whether or not the National Science Education Standards have had an impact on the science education enterprise to date, and if so, what that impact has been. This publication represents the second phase of a three-phase effort by the National Research Council to answer that broad and very important question.

Phase I began in 1999 and was completed in 2001, with publication of Investigating the Influence of Standards: A Framework for Research in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (National Research Council, 2002). That report provided organizing principles for the design, conduct, and interpretation of research regarding the influence of national standards. The Framework developed in Phase I was used to structure the current review of research that is reported here.

Phase II began in mid-2001, involved a thorough search and review of the research literature on the influence of the NSES, and concludes with this publication, which summarizes the proceedings of a workshop conducted on May 10, 2002, in Washington, DC.

Phase III will provide input, collected in 2002, from science educators, administrators at all levels, and other practitioners and policy makers regarding their views of the NSES, the ways and extent to which the NSES are influencing their work and the systems that support science education, and what next steps are needed.

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