Blog # 4 Exploration of Science Education standards

   Activity # 4 Exploration of Science Education Standards 

A. (Science connections) 

A.4.5 When studying a science-related problem, decide what changes over time are occurring or have occurred......(freezing boiling and room temp water)

B  (Nature of Science)  
B.4.2 Acquire information about people who have contributed to the development of major ideas in the sciences and learn about the cultures in which these people lived and worked.
We learned about the following people during our first few class periods of the year:




The information came from Chemistry for Changing Times 12th Edition. Specifically chapter 1 titled Chemistry: A science for All Seasons

    C The Wisconsin substandard I choose to look into was Science Inquiry. The following is the standard I'm choosing to focus on. C.4.6 Communicate the results of their investigations in ways their audiences will understand by using charts, graphs, drawings, written descriptions, and various other means, to display their answers. This standard has been fulfilled in this chemistry class specifically when we were assigned to blog activity #2 on atoms and atom structure. We had to use common items found around the house to demonstrate our understanding of our favorite elements. I learned the information and applied it in order to make a 3D model. I choose to do fluorine  neon, and potassium. We recorded the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for each element. I was able to show how many protons and neutron could be found in each nucleus and how how many electrons were in each specific element. The model was a various way to display my answer. The pictures below are from the assignment. 


D (Physical Science)
D.4.3. Understand that substances can exist in different states-solid, liquid, gas
D.4.4 Observe and describe changes in form, temperature, color, speed, and direction of objects and construct explanations for the changes
The Blog Activity # 6

E (Earth and Space Science)

F (Life and Environmental Science)

F.4.3 Illustrate* the different ways that organisms grow through life stages and survive to produce new members of their type

ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT.....

I had done an activity in Elementary school that involved Caterpillars. We made observations everyday and recorded them in our science notebooks. We watched it go through all stages until it became a butterfly.

G (Science Applications)
G.4.1 Identify* the technology used by someone employed in a job or position in Wisconsin and explain* how the technology helps

H (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives)

1. What do you see are big changes compared to previous standards?
"A significant difference in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is the integration of engineering and technology into the structure of science education by raising engineering design to the same level as scientific inquiry in classroom instruction when teaching science disciplines at all levels, and by giving core ideas of engineering and technology the same status as those in other major science disciplines." The idea to do this is not new but it is rather the attention that will be given to combined engineering and technology that is the most obvious change. There are also two different positions for why these changes are being made. One position is aspirational and the other is practical.
         Another change is the use of models to collect data or to predict phenomena.  There are three changes that have been made within modeling that need to be understood and considered or practiced. 
  1) to represent or describe, 2) to collect data, or 3) to predict.  


2. How are these standards connected to other displines such as math and literacy? 
These standards are connected to The NGSS are aligned with the CCSS to help the students to keep a balanced pace in all learning areas. The different sets of standards for math, literacy and science overlap which can help students  ensure a symbiotic pace of learning in all content areas.  The three sets of standards overlap in meaningful and substantive 
ways and offer an opportunity to give all students equitable access to learning standards.

3. What do you see will be challenges for teachers when considering some of the changes in the proposed science standards?
I think one of the challenges for the teachers would be to obtain resources for all student in the technology area needed for engineering design. Many students do not have access to a computer at home due to economic status. Many schools do not have lap tops or IPads for each classroom. Current technology maybe in the form of a mobile lab and this would limit access and time needed to complete tasks related to this standard. Modeling may also  prove to need additional resources. With tight school budgets it will be up to the teach to locate low cost materials for the students to use in their modeling



References: http://www.nextgenscience.org