This document was prepared for people who are interested in reading selected passages of the science framework and seeing the comments of others. The goal is to provide information. The information is arranged to follow the format of the Framework.
Very few comments have been submitted on-line so far. We hope you will add your comments on-line. The deadline is February 15th.
- Comments from Celeste Royer have double boxes ( •• ).
- Comments from George Stratman are labeled
- Direct sections from the Framework are in italic.
- Chapter titles are linked to the PDF documents on the CDE website.
•• Page 2, line 39: Request a greater amount of time be spent teaching science through hands-on instruction, including field based instruction and environmental education. Instruction should enable students to connect science concepts taught in the classroom to real world examples. Reference can be made to Gardner’s eight Multiple Intelligences, especially Bodily/Kinesthetic and Naturalist.
•• Page 3, line 23: Science, technology, and societal issues are strongly linked to environmental issues such as population growth, conservation of natural resources, environmental quality, etc. Students should understand the relationship between the science content in the standards to local, regional, national, and global impacts to be fully environmentally literate and science literate.
Purpose, Overview and Audience
Chapter 1 provides a description of the nature of science. It highlights the central importance of science today, its methods, practices and ethics, and the relationship to technology and societal impacts. A quality science education program should lead to student knowledge and understanding of the nature of science. Students should graduate from high school skilled and experienced in the scientific method. The chapter acknowledges those socially sensitive issues that teachers, together with their students, face in the science classroom, such as evolution, animal dissection and others. Curriculum and instruction aligned to the content standards should be designed to ensure that students understand the nature of science and are able use their science knowledge to inform their views on societal impacts.
Chapter 2 introduces the basic philosophy of the Science Framework, the benefits of standards-based education and the essential components of an effective science education program. The essential message is that science education is for all California students, and that it should be for every student every year. Science education programs should be academically rigorous, and should motivate students to learn more science and to relate it to their lives. Elementary school administrators and teachers will need to structure science programs to ensure proper time for all core subjects and time for all students to learn essential reading and math skills. Making connections across the curriculum through science teaching can facilitate achieving these goals.
Introduction Chapter 3 . . . Introductions to each of these grade spans provide an opportunity to communicate science education program considerations unique to the span and consistent with the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child at these grade levels.
Explicit instruction in every one of the standards sets is recommended. Students should have at least one, and preferably several, opportunities to learn and demonstrate knowledge of all the concepts, principles and theories called for in each standard set.
Chapter 4, Assessment Strategies, provides an understanding of the purpose of various assessments.
Introduction
Chapter 5, Universal Access, recognizes that California’s diverse student population encompasses a wide range of needs.
Chapter 6, Professional Development, discusses the rationale and responsibility for providing qualified teachers for every student at every grade. Almost all teachers need to have a greater understanding of the concepts, principles and theories called for in the science standards.
Professional development in science education must take a variety of forms to addresses the full range of teacher needs. It will need to be ongoing and integral to school sites, and to draw upon the resources of partners such as science and technology centers and science research centers.
Chapter 7, Teaching with Technology
Chapter 8 contains the State Board of Education approved criteria for the selection and adoption of instructional materials in science.
Science is the study of Nature at all levels, from the infinite to the infinitesimal. It is the asking and answering of questions about natural processes or phenomena that can be directly observed or indirectly inferred.
In a democratic society such as ours, public policy is the critical nexus between science and technology. Individuals and entire societies are faced with choices created by the advances in science and technology. These choices require knowledge and understanding of science and its methods to make wise decisions. Issues such as managing the environment and ecosystems, efficiently utilizing energy resources, and regulating the Internet or the biotechnology industry all have local and global implications that cut across politics, economics and culture.
Science education for all students has taken on new levels of importance around the world as a result of the growth and impact of science in our lives. For this reason, a basic understanding of science, its methods and practices, and how it ties in with not only technological developments, but other aspects of society as well, is an essential part of a K-12 education.
Ultimately, the scientific method allows for the formulation of scientific theories. Learning about these theories and how to apply them to the study of natural events are the primary goals of a science education.
The Scientific Method
Ultimately, the scientific method allows for the formulation of scientific theories. Learning about these theories and how to apply them to the study of natural events are the primary goals of a science education.
Devising ways to test existing theories or thinking up new theories requires creativity as well as knowledge. It is this opportunity to discover through creative experiments that attracts many young people into science careers. As with all endeavors, however, practice, experience, and the opportunity to watch others engaged in similar efforts can be highly beneficial.
•• Page 11, line 28: The framework should also ensure that students are environmentally literate which can be accomplished by strong environmental education programs connected to science content standards.
•• Page 17, line 4: Inquiry-based teaching methods can include the use of local resources such as school site environments and nearby natural areas.
•• Page 19, line 30: Field trips to local natural areas can be cross-curricular. Teachers can cover the standards from several content areas. When thought through carefully, field based environmental education can actually be a wise use of instructional time. It also provides an opportunity to see and experience science in action.
•• Page 20, line 16: Add a paragraph that states: An effective science program uses hands-on, field based, inquiry and discovery-based opportunities that provide students with a connection between the myriad of science concepts taught in the classroom and the natural environment. The natural world is “life” and it is one in which students can truly understand how many things work.
•• Page 21, line 16: Another place to recommend greater than 25% of hands-on instruction.
•• Page 22, line 32: Environmental education is a better fit with science than all the subjects listed. Add EE to the idea of cross-curricular instruction.
•• Page 27, line 32: School site gardens are an excellent place for kindergartners to study the structures of plants and seeds as well as care for them.
•• Page 34, line 1: Differences in animals can be seen in the local wildlife from in California’s diverse habitats.
•• Page 34, line 34: The care of animals can also be accomplished by taking on the role of stewards of the local environment near a school. In addition to visiting an area, students who regularly visit one place will assume the responsibility for making sure the animals that live there have a good habitat.
•• Page 35, line 5: Here is another great opportunity to recommend that the teacher take students outdoors to a nearby environment to study animal and plant interdependence. Students will develop a greater understanding of the concept of interdependence when they see it in “real life.”
•• Page 59, line 28: Greatly expand on this idea. Teachers should be referred to the CREEC website, etc. for local resources available to them. Numerous groups offer free or low cost programs for students that enable them to see plant and animal adaptations in a variety of habitats. Again, these field based experiences can be cross-curricular with an easy link to instruction of the science standards.
•• Page 60, line 13: Most schools will have a location nearby that has undergone some change. Students can study this area over the course of the school year to observe and record the
changes that occur.
•• Page 60, line 34: Add the study of endangered species found in California and particularly in the local region of the school. Students can study the factors that lead to an organism being considered endangered as well studying those that are extinct.
•• Page 69, line 33: To enhance of the understanding of food webs and pyramids, teachers can take students out into the natural environment to find various animals that the students could then use to diagram a food web. This way students know what lives nearby and little by little will take care of their local habitats.
•• Page 70, line 25: This is an excellent place to suggest vermiculture for the classroom.
•• Students love studying worms. They can really understand the concept of decomposition by having worm bins at their school. Cafeteria waste programs can be developed to reduce solid waste at the school as well.
•• Page 71, line 22: Here is another good opportunity for students to select a local area to study over time.
•• Page 74, line 25: A visit to any local landform can yield a discussion about erosion,
weathering, and water transport of sediments.
George Stratman: Fourth Grade - Standard 2 - "All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow." Write & perform a play that includes all of the components of photosynthesis. Include in the plot, the importance of photosynthesis to green plants and all life. Investigate some of the popular "food chain" activities from Project Wild, Project Learning Tree, etc. (such as "Oh Deer!") Go on a "Food Chain Scavenger Hunt." Have your students go out in the school yard and look for & collect evidence of organisms eating plants or other organisms (a nibbled leaf, insect parts, wood that has been chewed by insects, etc.) Have students chart these clues on a food web.
George Stratman: Fourth Grade - Standard 5 - "Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and Reshape the Earth's land surface." Visit a nearby stream, lake, pond or seashore. Look for evidence of earth-shaping forces. Have students bring in rocks that show evidence of shaping by the above mentioned forces. Students should be prepared to tell where they collected the rocks and what they observed. Many National Parks are places of beauty that have been carved out by these earth-shaping forces. Have students bring pictures of a beautiful area they have visited that has been shaped by these forces.
Introduction
Grade 5 students can be introduced to the principles and models of the structure of matter, extending their understanding from previous years. Students are familiar with physical changes in matter and should recognize changes in phase (solid, liquid, and gas). Students learn about chemical reactions and discover the special (and shared) properties of metallic elements. They distinguish clearly between molecules and atoms, chemical compounds and mixtures, and learn about the organization of atoms on the Periodic Table of the Elements. Having been introduced to these concepts, students can then be shown how the specific chemical reactions, such as photosynthesis and respiration, drive the physiological processes of living cells.
Students learn how plants move water and minerals from the roots to the leaves, and transport sugar generated during photosynthesis from leaves to the other parts of the plant.
The hydrologic cycle (water cycle) is the process by which water moves between the land and the oceans. In grade 5 students learn that cooling in the atmosphere returns water vapor to a liquid or solid state as rain, hail, sleet or snow. Students have observed, measured, and predicted weather phenomena and now are presented with factors that control clouds, precipitation, and other weather phenomena. Students learn how the hydrologic cycle influences the distribution of weather related precipitation and, as a consequence, types and rates of erosion. Student knowledge of the solar system includes a descriptive understanding of the relative motions of the planets, and in grade 5 students learn about the composition of the Sun and discover that the solar system includes smaller asteroids and comets in addition to the Sun, nine planets, and moons. They learn the relationship between gravity and planetary orbits.
•• Page 83, 24: Elaborate on the possibilities that a school site garden can provide, including photosynthesis, plant structure, and stewardship.
•• Page 84, line 21: Get students to the ocean whenever possible. Not just to study the water cycle but all the ways human are linked to oceans. Even students who live near the coast do not necessarily understand the role the ocean plays in the environment.
•• Page 85, line 20: Students should know their local watershed and have opportunities to visit the head waters of creeks and streams whenever possible. Drinking water often comes from more than one watershed. There is a tremendous amount of material available on water from a variety of government agencies and local organizations. The CREEC data base will assist the teacher in finding these resources.
George Stratman: Teachers may wish to attend a residential outdoor science school. As the curriculum at all accredited outdoor science schools is aligned with the State Science Standards and Framework, such a trip will reinforce, in a hands-on way, the concepts being taught in the classroom. Here students will have a first hand look at a variety of ecosystems and be given opportunities for investigation and experimentation. The outdoor setting is an ideal place to examine the physiology of vascular plants and study photosynthesis. Such a program is also an ideal setting to study the water cycle (Standard Set 3), study weather (Standard Set 4), examine objects within our visible solar system (Standard Set 5) and to examine the properties of elements in their various forms (Standard Set 1).
In the three middle grades science content sections teachers will find detailed descriptions of the science embedded in the standards. The middle grades of 6-8 are a time when students transition from self-contained classrooms to a departmental school structure. Students experience two profound changes at the same time; first in the size and organization of the school, and second in the biological, behavioral, and social changes that accompany young adolescence. Neither the organization of a school nor its curriculum can be detached from the educational needs and unique developmental features of the students it serves. As students to move from concrete to more abstract thinking, they gradually gain the ability to understand more complex problems. This is developmental time that, used wisely, can open the paths to productive and successful educational opportunities in high school and college.
INTRODUCTION:
Sixth graders can be active and inquisitive; they like the outdoors and are fascinated with powerful events like earthquakes, volcanoes and floods. Their active imaginations make the movement of continents fun to visualize. They are beginning to become environmentally aware and are ready to go beyond a descriptive treatment of ecology. These early adolescents know that Earth’s natural and urban environments are impacted by pollution. They are ready to learn about the need for appropriate ways to develop and utilize natural resources and the societal impacts and trade offs. Grade 6 is the one place in the science curricula for K-8 where earth sciences are particularly emphasized.
George Stratman: ...we recommend adding the following: “Many of the standards here can be addressed through field work. By observing the Earth’s topography, students can clearly make connections from theory to reality. Such observations can be made from the school yard or on field trips to natural areas.”
•• Page 92, line 5: A strong statement should be made to support the attendance by every California 5th or 6th grader to a COSA certified residential outdoor science school for a one week program. Outdoor schools have correlated their curriculum to the content standards and the experiential philosophy of these programs helps student retain the concept presented. The week long program is academic and creates life long positive experiences about the natural environment.
•• Page 95, line 20: Once again, students should visit local land forms to really see plate tectonics in action. It is much more impressive to see translation, subduction, etc. in the natural environment than to see a model or a picture.
•• Page 97, line 28: Students should visit a local stream or creek to observe the effects of water on the local landscape.
•• Page 105, line 27: Students can study photosynthesis in the plants found near their school. Wherever and whenever possible, connect students to their personal surroundings.
•• Page 106, line 13: Take students into the natural environment to record local animals found and then place animals into a food chain, food pyramid, or food web.
•• Page 107, line 17: Same as previous suggestion. Use actual data from the natural environment to teach this concept.
•• Page 109, line 29: The big picture of recycling all of our renewable resources should be strongly emphasized here. Not only should students know the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, but they should learn how their actions on a daily basis can make a difference to protect and preserve precious resources.
George Stratman: ...we recommend the following activity be included in “instructional strategies:” “Have students analyze their trash at home. Have them weigh it and sort it. Students can make graphs of where the raw materials came from to manufacture each of the items. They can also classify the items as renewable and non-renewable and speculate as to what will happen to these items in the land fill.”
George Stratman: Teachers may wish to attend a residential outdoor science school. As the curriculum at all accredited outdoor science schools is aligned with the State Science Standards and Framework, such a trip will reinforce, in a hands-on way, the concepts being taught in the classroom. Here students will have a first hand look at a variety of ecosystems and be given opportunities for investigation and experimentation. The outdoor setting is an ideal place to observe producers, consumers, decomposers, and all that makes up an active ecosystem. Such first hand observation will help the students to make connections that will bring scientific theory into real life.
•• Page 119, line 29: Students could study the changes in local species of plants and animals found in nearby environments.
•• Page 121, line 23: Students could study local areas to observe different size rocks, layering, and the formation of new sediment.
•• Page 127, line 1: Students can study local plants to see structure.
Chapter 4, Assessment Strategies, provides an understanding of the purpose of various assessments.
•• Page 286, line 24: Good environmental education programs get students to think, to have an understanding of concepts in science and math, and encourage students to enjoy these content areas. As they relate to the ‘real world’, they will assess higher. Reference Gerry Lieberman’s work from Closing the Achievement Gap.
Chapter 5, Universal Access, recognizes that California’s diverse student population encompasses a wide range of needs.
•• Page 289, line 9: The natural environment is a universal language. Science concepts taught in the natural environment can translate across languages. Environmental education can help build the bridge to greater science achievement among our English Language Learners.
•• Page 291, line 40: Outdoor Schools have done a tremendous job at accommodating students with disabilities. These students should also be encouraged to participate in residential outdoor schools whenever possible.
Chapter 6, Professional Development, discusses the rationale and responsibility for providing qualified teachers for every student at every grade. Almost all teachers need to have a greater understanding of the concepts, principles and theories called for in the science standards.
Professional development in science education must take a variety of forms to addresses the full range of teacher needs. It will need to be ongoing and integral to school sites, and to draw upon the resources of partners such as science and technology centers and science research centers.
•• Page 299, line 12: All pre-service teachers should learn how to incorporate environmental education into their instruction of all content areas as a part of their course work. Pre-service teachers should be offered certification in PLT, WET, Wild, ACPE. In-service teachers should also be required to demonstrate proficiencies in EE.
Chapter 8 contains the State Board of Education approved criteria for the selection and adoption of instructional materials in science.
•• Field Review Draft Science Framework by Celeste Royer January 23, 2001
•• Overall evaluation of the framework
The framework clearly lays out what it wants teachers to cover in every grade level. However, the connection to the natural environment where so much science takes place is grossly understated and often omitted. No mention is made of Gardner’s Eight Multiple Intelligences and the importance of presenting concepts and information in a wide variety of ways. A larger percentage of instructional time should be hands-on science and hands-on environmental education.
Students are drawn to the natural environment. The framework should encourage teachers to use environmental education approaches to teaching science as well as other content areas. There is a wealth of EE resources available to teachers and these should be mentioned in general fashion throughout the document. I would suggest mentioning the statewide projects such as CREEC, Project WET, PLT, and Project Wild which could assist teachers in their efforts to cover the standards.
AEOE > Online Articles & Issues > Science Framework Highlight and Review
