PDF Year 8 Science - Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Year 8 Science

Australian Curriculum in Queensland

April 2013 (amended April 2015)

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Amendments notice: April 2015

Accessing current QCAA resources Resources referred to in this document may have been updated or replaced. Please always check the QCAA website for the most current resources to support the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Science: qcaa.qld.edu.au/13658.html. Summary of amendments, April 2015 ? Section 2.2.1 Year 8 standards elaborations

Table 4: The Year 8 standards elaborations removed; replaced with link to updated standards elaborations on the QCAA website; subsequent tables renumbered. ? Appendix 1: Science standards elaborations terms table removed. Updated term definitions are available as part of the standards elaborations web documents. ? Table of contents updated.

Year 8 Science -- Australian Curriculum in Queensland ? The State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) 2015 Selected materials in this publication are drawn from the Australian Curriculum and are used under a Creative Commons attribution non-commercial share-alike licence. This material is presented in blue text. Queensland Studies Authority Level 7, 154 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane PO Box 307 Spring Hill QLD 4004 Australia Phone: (07) 3864 0299 Fax: (07) 3221 2553 Email: office@qsa.qld.edu.au Website: qsa.qld.edu.au

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Contents

Amendments notice: April 2015 .............................................................................................. ii

1. Overview ................................................................................. 1

1.1 Rationale ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Aims .................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Science in Queensland K?12............................................................................... 2

2. Curriculum .............................................................................. 4

2.1 Australian Curriculum content .............................................................................. 4 2.1.1 Australian Curriculum: Science Year 8 content descriptions............................5 2.1.2 General capabilities...........................................................................................7 2.1.3 Cross-curriculum priorities ..............................................................................12

2.2 Achievement standards ..................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Year 8 standard elaborations ..........................................................................14

2.3 Planning in the Science learning area................................................................ 15 2.3.1 Time allocation ................................................................................................15 2.3.2 Principles for effective planning ......................................................................15 2.3.3 Elements of effective planning for alignment ..................................................16 2.3.4 Identifying curriculum ......................................................................................17 2.3.5 Developing assessment ..................................................................................17 2.3.6 Sequencing teaching and learning..................................................................18 2.3.7 Educational equity ...........................................................................................23

3. Assessment .......................................................................... 24

3.1 Standards-based assessment............................................................................ 24 3.2 School-based assessment ................................................................................. 24 3.3 Developing an assessment program.................................................................. 25 3.4 Year 8 Science assessment folio ....................................................................... 26

3.4.1 Assessment techniques, formats and categories ...........................................27 3.4.2 Assessment conditions....................................................................................31 3.4.3 Developing assessments ................................................................................32 3.5 Making judgments.............................................................................................. 34 3.6 Using feedback .................................................................................................. 35

4. Reporting .............................................................................. 36

4.1 Reporting standards .......................................................................................... 36 4.2 Making an on-balance judgment on a folio......................................................... 38

4.2.1 Making an on-balance judgment for mid-year reporting .................................39 4.2.2 Applying the Australian Curriculum achievement standards ..........................40 4.3 Moderation......................................................................................................... 41

Appendix 1: Glossary .................................................................................... 42

Appendix 2: Principles of assessment ......................................................... 43

1. Overview

Year 8 Science: Australian Curriculum in Queensland provides an overview of the Australian Curriculum learning area within the context of a Kindergarten to Year 12 approach. It supports teachers' capacity by providing clarity about the focus of teaching and learning and the development of assessment to determine the quality of student learning. It maintains flexibility for schools to design curriculum that suits their specific contexts and scope for school authorities and school priorities to inform practice.

This document includes:

Curriculum requirements

Rationale

Aims

Australian Curriculum content

Achievement standards

Requirements are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum: Science (v4.1) developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). This material is presented in blue text. Links to Australian Curriculum support materials are also provided where appropriate.

Advice, guidelines and resources

Planning teaching and learning

Standards elaborations, A to E

Assessment advice and guidelines

Reporting advice and guidelines

Advice, guidelines and resources are based on the Australian Curriculum Year level descriptions and organisation sections. They have been developed by the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) to assist teachers in their planning and assessment and include links to Queensland-developed supporting resources, exemplars and templates.

1.1

Rationale

Science provides an empirical way of answering interesting and important questions about the biological, physical and technological world. The knowledge it produces has proved to be a reliable basis for action in our personal, social and economic lives. Science is a dynamic, collaborative and creative human endeavour arising from our desire to make sense of our world through exploring the unknown, investigating universal mysteries, making predictions and solving problems. Science aims to understand a large number of observations in terms of a much smaller number of broad principles. Science knowledge is contestable and is revised, refined and extended as new evidence arises.

The Australian Curriculum: Science provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of important science concepts and processes, the practices used to develop scientific knowledge, of science's contribution to our culture and society, and its applications in our lives. The curriculum supports students to develop the scientific knowledge, understandings and skills to make informed decisions about local, national and global issues and to participate, if they so wish, in science-related careers.

In addition to its practical applications, learning science is a valuable pursuit in its own right. Students can experience the joy of scientific discovery and nurture their natural curiosity about the world around them. In doing this, they develop critical and creative thinking skills and challenge themselves to identify questions and draw evidence-based conclusions using scientific methods. The wider benefits of this "scientific literacy" are well established, including giving students the capability to investigate the natural world and changes made to it through human activity.

Queensland Studies Authority April 2013 (amended April 2015) | 1

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