Activity 4: Exploration of Science Education Standards

CHEM 105 not only provides an opportunity for students to learn more about chemistry and science, but it also offers an opportunity for future educators, parents and members of society to understand the expectations society has created for science education standards. In the last four activities (5-8) we will explore science concepts and also relate these to the science standards we will first explore in Activity 4.
For this activity please refer to the Wisconsin Science Standards at this website:
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/sciintro.html

At this site you will find Standards A- H for grades 4, 8 and 12.  Since most of the students in this class are future early childhood educators, I would like for you to focus on the Grade 4 Standards. 

•  A.4.1 has been met by conducting experiments in this chemistry class as well as my biology class that I took last semester. Prior to doing the experiments and/or labs I answer questions involving what will be learned during the lab and I began thinking about how the lab will go and possible questions/hypotheses that come up. During these labs or experiments there is a constant thought process and constant analysis.
• B.4.1 has been met in both of my science classes as well. This chemistry class is predominately through research on the internet. My biology class however also entailed sources including weekly texts, computers, journals, professors, and lab partners to work with. These are all great sources for exploration and gaining scientific knowledge.
• C.4.2 has been met in this class as well as my biology class. A prime example is the first experiment where I had to create my own hypotheses for three questions and then continue to test these hypotheses in my own way that I found fitting. I had to plan, observe, predict, and explain the findings of my experiments.
• D.4.1 was met in this class particularly in the Activity 3 where I researched 20 different molecules, structures, and names; becoming more and more knowledgeable of the elements, how to use the periodic table, and thinking about everyday things that I use and breaking them down into molecular structures. The first activity also dealt with substances in different states - solid, liquid, and gas, as I tested how to change water from a liquid to a solid in the quickest way possible with the tools that I had.
• E.4.1 was met in a lab that I did in my biology class where I did a lab at the Dunnville Bottoms. We investigated, took samples, and recorded what we found both in prairie environments versus forest environments. We took samples of the soil and looked at what grew there and why.
• F.4.2 was met in my biology class where we looked and investigated organisms and how they responded to internal cues and external cues. The class, Plants and People, connected the way that we live to plants in particular and looked at what makes plants the way they are and what makes animals the way they are. We studied in depth the history of how agriculture, evolution, and domestication took hold and made us who we are today.
• G.4.3 was also met in my biology class when we focused on sustainability in our environment. The technology that we have today allows for bigger farms, however to create a more sustainable environment it will be more successful to stop mono cropping and create more nutrient rich soil by adapting more diversity into our local farms. Technology such as genetically modified organisms have helped farmers protect against insects and diseases, but that may not be the best solution, however constant changes arise in science due to technology.
• As I described in my last paragraph about technology, I have also met H.4.1 by learning about technology and the pros and cons of farming. Through technology and genetically engineering plants food has been made that can be produced faster, larger, and round up ready. Sometimes plants are modified to taste better, however sometimes with these modifications they lose their flavor. There are also concerns of plants evolving to reproduce with the genetically modified genes and turning into something unknown and/or invasive.

Here is a link to the sub-standards for Standard A:
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/scia4.html
Also for this activity, you are to explore the Next Generation Science Standards.  These are new standards that are being proposed at the federal level that many states, including Wisconsin, are now in the process of developing adoption plans.
http://www.nextgenscience.org/
As you explore this site, and perhaps others that are related, answer the following three questions.
1. What do you see are big changes compared to the previous standards?

•  Focus on student performance expectations instead of curriculum
• Focus on a deeper understanding and application of content
• Concepts build coherently K-12
• Science and engineering are integrated
• Prepping students for college, careers, and the future
• English and mathematics are aligned as well

• A more "real world" application:
•  K-12 Science Education Should Reflect the Interconnected Nature of Science as it is Practiced and Experienced in the Real World.
  “The framework is designed to help realize a vision for education in the sciences and engineering in which students, over multiple years of school, actively engage in scientific and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of the core ideas in these fields.”

2. How are these standards connected to the other disciplines such as math and literacy?

•  The science standards connect to the core standards of math and literacy to create a comprehensive learning environment.

3. What do you see will be challenges for teachers when considering some of the changes in the proposed science standards?

• As an art education major, I understand the importance of integrating other subjects into my own curriculum, however it is also a challenge to create a curriculum that covers everything necessary in such a short period of time over the school year and to integrate math and literacy, although a good thing, may cut time out of the time spent on science.