Intermediate Level Science Core Curriculum Grades 5-8

Intermediate

Level Science

Core Curriculum

Grades 5-8

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT



THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Regents of The University

CARL T. HAYDEN, Chancellor, A.B., J.D. ......................................................................Elmira

DIANE O'NEILL MCGIVERN, Vice Chancellor, B.S.N., M.A., Ph.D. ............................Bayside

J. EDWARD MEYER, B.A., LL.B. ....................................................................................Chappaqua

R. CARLOS CARBALLADA, Chancellor Emeritus, B.S. ....................................................Rochester

ADELAIDE L. SANFORD, B.A., M.A., P.D. ......................................................................Hollis

SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. ...............................................................................New Rochelle

JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. ..................................................................Peru

ROBERT M. BENNETT, B.A., M.S. ..................................................................................Tonawanda

ROBERT M. JOHNSON, B.S., J.D. ...................................................................................Lloyd Harbor

PETER M. PRYOR, B.A., LL.B., J.D., LL.D. ..................................................................Albany

ANTHONY S. BOTTAR, B.A., J.D. ...................................................................................Syracuse

MERRYL H. TISCH, B.A., M.A. ......................................................................................New York

HAROLD O. LEVY, B.S., M.A. (Oxon.), J.D. ..................................................................New York

ENA L. FARLEY, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. ................................................................................Brockport

GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ...................................................................Belle Harbor

RICARDO E. OQUENDO, B.A., J.D. .................................................................................Bronx

President of The University and Commissioner of Education RICHARD P. MILLS

Chief Operating Officer RICHARD H. CATE

Deputy Commissioner for Elementary, Middle, Secondary, and Continuing Education

JAMES A. KADAMUS

Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction ROSEANNE DEFABIO

The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, dis ability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier sta tus, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services, and activities. Portions of this publica tion can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department's Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 152, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv

Core Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7: Expanded Process Skills . .4

Process Skills Based on Standard 4 . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Standard 4: The Living Environment . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Standard 4: The Physical Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Appendix A:

Intermediate Level Science Examination

Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Appendix B:

Examples of Activities to Build Skills to Support

Standards 1 and 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Intermediate Science

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The State Education Department acknowledges the assistance of teachers and school administrators from across New York State. In particular, the State Education Department would like to thank:

Gioia B. Aldrich John Bartsch Bonnie Bourdage Karen Brownell John-Michael Caldaro Patrick Chierichella Edward Denecke Stacy Douglas Clifford Fee Raune Anne Hamilton Molly Heatherington Nicholas J. Hejaily Wilford Hemans Elaine Jetty Michelle Kopp Valentina Krauss Sandra Latourelle Mary Marcinkowski Lynn Ocorr James Overhiser Odille Santiago Arnold Serotsky Ida Swenson Ann Tebbutt Joan Wagner

Syosset Central School District, Syosset

Amsterdam High School, Amsterdam

Johanna Perrin Middle School, Fairport

Wilbur H. Lynch Middle School, Amsterdam

Shenendehowa Junior High Schools, Clifton Park

Seneca Junior High School, Sachem

Multidisciplinary Resources Center, NYC

Community School District 6, NYC

Multidisciplinary Resources Center, NYC

AuSable Valley Central School, AuSable Valley

Ross Middle School, Henrietta

Williamsville Central Schools, Williamsville

Middle School 143, Bronx

Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District

Van Antwerp Middle School, Niskayuna

Van Antwerp Middle School, Niskayuna

SUNY Plattsburgh and Clinton Community College

Niagara Falls Central School District, Niagara Fall

Canandaigua Academy, Canandaigua

Groton Central School, Groton

Community School District 6, NYC

Greece-Athena Middle School, Rochester

East Middle School, Binghamton

Sagamore Junior High School, Sachem

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School, Burnt Hills

Additionally, thanks to our Intermediate level editors:

Dennis DeSain (retired) Averill Park High School, Averill Park

John Kuzma

Sand Creek Middle School, South Colonie

Michael Mosall

Greenville Jr/Sr High School, Greenville

Fran Pilato

Rensselaer Jr/Sr High School, Rensselaer

The project manager for the development of the Intermediate Level Science Core Curriculum was Diana K. Harding, Associate in Science Education, with content and assessment support provided by Judy Pinsonnault, Associate in Educational Testing; Elise Russo, Associate in Science Education; and the Intermediate Science Assessment Liasons and their project managers Rod Doran and Doug Reynolds. Special thanks go to Jan Christman for technical expertise.

iv

Intermediate Science

Intermediate

Level Science

Core Curriculum

Grades 5-8

2

Intermediate Sciencee

PREFACE

This Intermediate Level Science Core Curriculum has been written to assist teachers and supervisors as they prepare curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the intermediate level (grades 5, 6, 7, and 8) content of Standards 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. The Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology identify Key Ideas and Performance Indicators. Key Ideas are broad, unifying, general statements of what students need to know. The Performance Indicators for each Key Idea are statements of what students should be able to do to provide evidence that they understand the Key Idea. As part of this continuum, this Core Curriculum guide presents Major Understandings that give more specific detail to the concepts underlying each Performance Indicator.

This Core Curriculum is not a syllabus. It addresses only the content and skills to be tested by the Intermediate Level Science Assessment. The Core Curriculum has been prepared with the assumption that the content and skills as outlined in the Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology at the elementary level have been taught previously. This is a guide for the preparation of intermediate level curriculum, instruction, and assessment, the middle stage in a K-12 continuum of science education. The lack of detail in the document should not be seen as a shortcoming. Rather, the focus on conceptual understanding in the guide is consistent with the approaches recommended in the National Science Education Standards and Benchmarks of Science Literacy: Project 2061.

It is essential that instruction focus on understanding important relationships, processes, mechanisms, and applications of concepts. Less important is the memorization of specialized terminology and technical details. Future assessments will test students' ability to explain, analyze, and interpret scientific processes and phenomena more than their ability to recall specific facts. It is hoped that the general nature of these statements will encourage the teaching of science for understanding, instead of for memorization. The question has been asked for each Key Idea: What do students

need to know to have science literacy within that broad theme? The general nature of the Major Understandings in this guide will also permit teachers more flexibility in instruction and greater variation in assessment than would a more explicit syllabus.

The order of presentation and numbering of all statements in this guide are not meant to indicate any recommended sequence of instruction. For example, in the Living Environment section, teachers may decide to deal with the concepts in Key Idea 4 before Key Ideas 2 and 3. Major Understandings have not been prioritized, nor have they been organized in any manner to indicate time allotments. Teachers are encouraged to find and elaborate for students the conceptual cross-linkages that interconnect many of the Key Ideas to each other and to other mathematics, science, and technology learning standards.

The courses designed using this Core Curriculum will hopefully prepare our students to explain, both accurately and with appropriate depth, the most important ideas about our physical setting and our living environment. Students, in attaining science literacy, ought to be able to give these explanations, in their own words, by the time they graduate and long after they have completed their high school education. The science educators throughout New York State who collaborated on the writing of this guide fervently hope that this goal is realized in the years ahead.

Laboratory Recommendations: Critical to understanding science concepts is the use of scientific inquiry to develop explanations of natural phenomena. Therefore, it is recommended that students have the opportunity to develop their skills of analysis, inquiry, and design through active laboratory work on a regular basis in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Prior to the written portion of the Intermediate Level Science Assessment, students will be required to complete a laboratory performance test during which concepts and skills from Standards 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 will be assessed.

Intermediate Science

3

STANDARDS 1, 2, 6, AND 7: EXPANDED PROCESS SKILLS

Science process skills should be based on a series of discoveries. Students learn most effectively when they have a central role in the discovery process. To that end, Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7 incorporate in the Intermediate Core Curriculum a studentcentered, problem-solving approach to intermediate science. The following is an expanded version of the skills found in Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. This list is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the content or skills that teachers are expected to incorporate into their curriculum. It should be a goal of the instructor to encourage science process skills that will provide students with background and curiosity sufficient to prompt investigation of important issues in the world around them.

STANDARD 1--Analysis, Inquiry, and Design Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

STANDARD 1

Key Idea 1:

Analysis, Inquiry,

Abstraction and symbolic representation are used to communicate mathematically.

and Design

M1.1 Extend mathematical notation and symbolism to include variables and algebraic

expressions in order to describe and compare quantities and express mathematical

MATHEMATICAL

relationships.

ANALYSIS:

M1.1a identify independent and dependent variables

M1.1b identify relationships among variables including: direct, indirect, cyclic,

constant; identify non-related material

M1.1c apply mathematical equations to describe relationships among variables in

the natural world

Key Idea 2: Deductive and inductive reasoning are used to reach mathematical conclusions.

M2.1 Use inductive reasoning to construct, evaluate, and validate conjectures and arguments, recognizing that patterns and relationships can assist in explaining and extending mathematical phenomena. M2.1a interpolate and extrapolate from data M2.1b quantify patterns and trends

Key Idea 3: Critical thinking skills are used in the solution of mathematical problems.

M3.1 Apply mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems and problems that arise from the investigation of mathematical ideas, using representations such as pictures, charts, and tables. M3.1a use appropriate scientific tools to solve problems about the natural world

STANDARD 1 Key Idea 1:

Analysis, Inquiry, The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena

and Design

in a continuing, creative process.

S1.1 Formulate questions independently with the aid of references appropriate for

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY:

guiding the search for explanations of everyday observations.

S1.1a formulate questions about natural phenomena

S1.1b identify appropriate references to investigate a question

S1.1c refine and clarify questions so that they are subject to scientific investigation

S1.2 Construct explanations independently for natural phenomena, especially by

proposing preliminary visual models of phenomena.

4

Intermediate Science

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download