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SECTION 1: THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM This chapter presents and explores the science curriculum, K-12. I've divided the chapter into sections on the science standards and curriculum, as well as separate sections on elementary, middle and high school science, and finally a section on science curriculum in Australia, Chile, China, Ghana, Japan, and Russia. This chapter can be used as an inquiry into science teaching at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Even if you are working with students who are high school students, there is a great deal of validity in having them explore science teaching at the middle and high school levels, and we could say the same of prospective and professional middle school science teachers. The Science Standards and the School Science Curriclum Here you will find a brief overview of the National Science Education Standards which were introduced in the last chapter. You might want to demonstrate going to the Standards Online to show your students:
You will find a discussion of the Standards as they relate to elementary, middle and high school science in the sections that follows. Inquiry Activities There are two inquiry activities that you can use to organize the content of the chapter. In the first inquiry students do an investigation of state and local school district curriculum patterns; in the second inquiry, students examine two or more science textbooks and evaluate them against a set of criteria. Inquiry Activity 4.1: Science Curriculum Patterns In the inquiry (pp. 130-131) students are asked to compare two different school district curriculum patterns. If you are working with pre-service teachers, you might select districts that you are using in the field-based component of your program. You can obtain the districts' curriculum guides from the curriculum department, or online at the districts website. Here for example is one districts framework online. If you are working with a graduate level or in-service group of science teachers, have them bring to class their curriculum guides for this inquiry. You can follow the procedures outlined in the inquiry, or you might want to have your students compare one district's science curriculum to the state standards, or to the national standards. Inquiry Activity 4.2: Exploring Science Curriculum Materials The charts on this page list the influential and exemplary science projects for elementary, middle and high school. Use these projects as the data base for designing this inquiry activity (pp. 136-137). Be selective, and try and make the activity relevant to your students' prior and new experiences. If you use a team approach, you might assign one team the task of looking at elementary science texts, another middle school science, and the third team high school science. Science Curriculum: A Global Perspective (pp. 140- 154)
The science education community extends beyond the boarders of any country and is an active force throughout the world. We live on a planet that some describe as a global community. Computers, satellites, FAX machines, telephones and television bring educators together from countries as far apart as Australia and the Russia. What is the education of students in other countries about? When do students begin studying science in other nations? What is the nature of the science curriculum in other countries? I asked colleagues from other countries to write brief descriptions describing the curriculum and teaching issues in Australia, Chile, China, Ghana, Japan and Russia. As science educators, we are members of a community of practice that is worldwide. What the issues in other countries, and how do these help inform us about our own issues? The authors of these international pieces have based their writing on personal experiences with the culture. In most cases the authors were born, educated and taught in the country they described. This section can be a reading experience followed by a discussion of similarities and differences in science curriculum among these countries. You might assign a team to each country, and then ask each team to prepare a short report and a visual of some kind which will be used in a conference on science education in other countries. This section is also an opportunity to ask students in your class who were born and educated in an other country to share their experiences, and ask them to identify differences in their experiences. You will find some links to websites that will provide additional information. Australia by Roger Cross.
See the Government
Education Portal of
Australia. Chile by Claudia Rose.
See the Ministery
of Education of Chile
site. China by Ronald Price.
See the China
Online Ministry of Education of
China. Ghana by Charles
Hutchison. See the Official
Ghana Education Home
Page. Japan by Shigehiko
Tsukahara. See the Ministry
of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology. Russia by Sergei Tolstikov. See
the Ministry
of Education of the Russian
Federation.
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The Elementary Science Curriculum (pp.116-119) In each of the sections on elementary, middle and high school science curriculum, some results on the character of teaching from a study by I. R. Weiss (Report of the 2000 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education) are followed by focus on influential or reform projects, standards for that level, and exemplary projects. The figure below shows these foci.
What do students do in an elementary science classroom? You might want to check out the part of Weiss's report on the status of elementary science. Here for your observation is a chart that I created based on data from Table 4.5 Science Classes Where Teachers Reported That Students Take Part in Various Instructional Activities at Least Once a Week.
Elementary Science Standards. You might want to have students look at the NSES elementary science standards, and use them as they examine elementary science curriuculum past and present. Influential Elementary
Projects Exemplary Elementary Science
Projects Science--A Process Approach
(SAPA) Elementary Science Study
(ESS) Science Currciulum Improvement
Study (SCIS) Marine Science Project: For
Sea Great Explorations in Science
(GEMS) Science for Life and
Living The Middle School Science Curriculum (pp. 119 - 127) Standards for middle school science, like the elementary curriculum focus on science as inquiry. Projects that influenced middle school science highlighted inquiry. Contemporary middle science projects put emphasis not only on inquiry but on the application of science. Influential Middle School
Projects Exemplary Middle Science
Projects Introductory Physical Science
(IPS) Earth Science Curriculum Project
(ESCP) Intermediate Science Curriculum
Study (ISCS) Middle School Science and
Technology Geology Is Investigating Earth
Systems Sci-Math Informal Science Study
(ISS) The High School Science Curriculum (pp. 127 - 140) You might have your students compare high school curriculum patterns (Table 4.12) with the middle school patterns (Table 4.10). Each table is based on data gathered by Weiss in the year 2000 study of K-12 school science and mathematics (link to the status of middle school science and high school science--links to high school earth science, biology, chemistry and physics). What do students predict students do in middle school vs. high school? Why do they think this? What are their ideas after seeing the Weiss data? Influential High School
Projects Exemplary High School Science
Projects PSSC Physics Project Physics CHEM Study BSCS Biology Biology: A Community of
Practice Insights in Biology Active Chemistry Active Physics Conceptual Physics SECTION 2: THE SCIENCE TEACHER GAZETTE Think Pieces The Think Pieces (p. 154)for this chapter deal with the advantages and disadvantages of the present models of curriculum, and ask students to reflect on what they think the goals should be for science education. Case Study: Unified Science In this case (p.155), should the science curriculum move toward the pole of a unified science approach. This is a good case to discuss the ongoing notion of "curriculum change." Case Study: The Science Proficiency Race In this case (p. 155) a professor presents data from a recent international study showing US students lagging behind their counterparts in many other countries. Are these results valid for cross-national comparisons? Research Matters: Using Textbooks for Meaningful Learning in Science by Sarah L. Ulerick Textbooks are the mainstay of the science curriculum. This article (pp. 155-159) is powerful in that it looks at how science texts can be used in ways that contribute to meaningful learning. You might have student brainstorm how they think texts could be used to motivate students and make learning meaningful. Then have them read the Ulerick article, followed by a discussion comparing their initial suggestions and the ideas in the article. Science-Teaching Literature: The Middle School Student by Steven J. Rakow Written by an outstanding science educator, Rakow shows how important it is to deal with the "whole" student, p. 159 Problems and Extensions The P & E contain good examples of follow up exercises that will extend students' understanding of the science curriculum. For example, P & E #1 on page 160 asks students to make recommendations describing goals and currciulum for a middle school. Readings You will find a number of resources on curriculum on page 162. One you might look at is Paul DeHart's "Transfroming Middle School Science Education," a powerful statement on revamping the middle school science curriculum. On the Web Search the five links for chapter 4 related to the science curriculum. One in particular that is quite useful is the Education Development Center's curriculum library.
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