NRC Science Education Standards

Project 2061 Benchmarks

(www.npa.edu)

Content Standard: Unifying Concepts & Processes (pp. 115-119)

Fundamental concepts that underlie Evidence, Models, and Explanation include:

• Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations.
• Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and that have explanatory power.
• Models help scientists and engineers understand how things work.
• Models take many forms, including physical objects, plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer simulations.

Fundamental concepts that underlie Constancy, Change, & Measurement include:

• Evidence for interactions and subsequent change and the formulation of scientific explanations are often clarified through quantitative distinctions-measurement.
• Mathematics is essential for accurately measuring change.
• Different systems of measurement are used for different purposes.
• An important part of measurement is knowing when to use which system.
• Scale includes understanding that different characteristics, properties, or relationships within a system might change as its dimensions are increased or decreased.

Content Standard A: Science as Inquiry (pp. 173-176)

Fundamental concepts that underlie the Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry include:

• Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
• Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
• Communicate and defend a scientific argument.

Fundamental concepts that underlie the Understandings about Scientific Inquiry include:

• Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.
• New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science.
• The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.
• Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry. Mathematical tools and models guide and improve the posing of questions, gathering data, constructing explanations and communicating results.

Content Standard E: Science and Technology (pp. 190-193)

Fundamental concepts that underlie the Abilities of Technological Design Include:

• Identify a problem or design an opportunity.
• Propose designs & choose between alternative solutions.
• Implement a proposed solution.
• Evaluate the solution and its consequences.
• Communicate the problem, process, and solution.

Fundamental concepts that underlie Understandings About Science & Technology include:

• Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support their explanations.
• Many scientific investigations require the contributions of individuals from different disciplines, including engineering.
• Science often advances with the introduction of new technologies. Solving technological problems often results in new scientific knowledge.
• New technologies often extend the current levels of scientific understanding and introduce new areas of research.

Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science (pp. 200 & 201)

Fundamental concepts that underlie Science as a Human Endeavor include:

• Individuals and teams have contributed and will continue to contribute to the scientific enterprise
• Doing science or engineering can be as simple as an individual conducting field studies or as complex as hundreds of people working on a major scientific question or technological problem
• Pursuing science as a career or as a hobby can be both fascinating and intellectually rewarding
• Scientists have ethical traditions. Scientists value peer review, truthful reporting about the methods and outcomes of investigations, and making public the results of work. Violations of such norms do occur, but scientists responsible for such violations are censured by their peers.

Fundamental concepts that underlie Nature of Scientific Knowledge include:

• Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing and from other bodies of knowledge through the use of empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism, as scientists strive for the best possible explanations about the natural world
• Scientific explanations must meet certain criteria. First and foremost, they must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence about nature, and must make accurate predictions, when appropriate, about systems being studied
• Scientific explanations should also be logical, respect the rules of evidence, be open to criticism, report methods and procedures, and make knowledge public.

Content Standard: Chapter 11, Common Themes

11B Models:

• The basic idea of mathematical modeling is to find a mathematical relationship that behaves in the same ways as the objects or processes under investigation.
• Computers have greatly improved the power and use of mathematical models by performing computations that are very long, very complicated, or repetitive.
• The graphic capabilities of computers make them useful in the design and testing of devices and structures and in the simulation of complicated processes.
• The usefulness of a model can be tested by comparing its predictions to actual observations in the real world.

11D Scale:

• Because different properties are not affected to the same degree by changes in scale, large changes in scale typically change the way that things work in physical, biological, or social systems.

Content Standard: Chapter 1, The Nature of Science

1B Scientific Inquiry:

• Investigations are conducted for different reasons, including to explore new phenomena, to check on previous results, to test how well a theory predicts, and to compare different theories.
• Hypotheses are widely used in science for choosing what data to pay attention to and what additional data to seek, and for guiding the interpretation of the data (both new and previously available).

1C The Scientific Enterprise:

• Many problems are studied by scientists using information and skills from many disciplines.
• Disciplines do not have fixed boundaries, and it happens that new scientific disciplines are being formed where existing ones meet and that some subdisciplines spin off to become new disciplines in their own right.

Content Standard: Chapter 8, The Designed World

8E Information Processing:

• Computer modeling explores the logical consequences of a set of instructions and a set of data. The instructions and data input of a computer model try to represent the real world so the computer can show what would actually happen. In this way, computers assist people in making decisions by simulating the consequences of different possible decisions.
• Miniaturization of information-processing hardware can increase processing speed and portability, reduce energy use, and lower cost.

Content Standard: Chapter 12, Habits of Mind

12B Computation and Estimation:

• Use ratios and proportions, including constant rates, in appropriate problems.
• Find answers to problems by substituting numerical values in simple algebraic formulas and judge whether the answer is reasonable by reviewing the process and checking against typical values.
• Make up and write out simple algorithms for solving problems that take several steps.
• Use computer spreadsheet, graphing, and database programs to assist in quantitative analysis.
• Compare data for two groups by representing their averages and spreads graphically.
• Express and compare very small and very large numbers using powers-of-ten notation.
• Trace the source of any large disparity between an estimate and the calculated answer.
• Consider the possible effects of measurement errors on calculations.

12C Manipulation and Observation:

• Learn quickly the proper use of new instruments by following instructions in manuals or by taking instructions from an experienced user.
• Use computers for producing tables and graphs and for making spreadsheet calculations.

12D Communication Skills:

• Make and interpret scale drawings.
• Write clear, step-by-step instructions for conducting investigations, operating something, or following a procedure.
• Choose appropriate summary statistics to describe group differences, always indicating the spread of the data as well as the data's central tendencies.
• Describe spatial relationships in geometric terms such as perpendicular, parallel, tangent, similar, congruent, and symmetrical.
• Use and correctly interpret relational terms such as if . . . then . . . , and, or, sufficient, necessary, some, every, not, correlates with, and causes.
• Participate in group discussions on scientific topics by restating or summarizing accurately what others have said, asking for clarification or elaboration, and expressing alternative positions.
• Use tables, charts, and graphs in making arguments and claims in oral and written presentations.

12E Critical-Response Skills:

• Notice and criticize arguments based on the faulty, incomplete, or misleading use of numbers, such as in instances when:

1. Average results are reported, but not the amount of variation around the average
2. Check graphs to see that they do not misrepresent results by using inappropriate scales or by failing to specify the axes clearly.
3. Wonder how likely it is that some event of interest might have occurred just by chance.
4. Insist that the critical assumptions behind any line of reasoning be made explicit so that the validity of the position being taken-whether one's own or that of others-can be judged.
5. Be aware, when considering claims, that when people try to prove a point, they may select only the data that support it and ignore any that would contradict it.