4 national science standards

Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer with what scientists already know about the world. Beginning in grades K-4, teachers should build on students' natural inclinations to ask questions and investigate their world.
Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer. Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting)
Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations
Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.
Scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists' work.

Physical Science

CONTENT STANDARD B

All students should develop an understanding of

Properties of objects and materials
Position and motion of objects
Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism

ABILITIES OF TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN

IDENTIFY A SIMPLE PROBLEM. In problem identification, children should develop the ability to explain a problem in their own words and identify a specific task and solution related to the problem.

PROPOSE A SOLUTION. Students should make proposals to build something or get something to work better; they should be able to describe and communicate their ideas. Students should recognize that designing a solution might have constraints, such as cost, materials, time, space, or safety.

IMPLEMENTING PROPOSED SOLUTIONS. Children should develop abilities to work individually and collaboratively and to use suitable tools, techniques, and quantitative measurements when appropriate. Students should demonstrate the ability to balance simple constraints in problem solving.

EVALUATE A PRODUCT OR DESIGN. Students should evaluate their own results or solutions to problems, as well as those of other children, by considering how well a product or design met the challenge to solve a problem. When possible, students should use measurements and include constraints and other criteria in their evaluations. They should modify designs based on the results of evaluations.

COMMUNICATE A PROBLEM, DESIGN, AND SOLUTION. Student abilities should include oral, written, and pictorial communication of the design process and product. The communication might be show and tell, group discussions, short written reports, or pictures, depending on the students' abilities and the design project.

GRADES 5-8

Students in grades 5-8 can begin to recognize the relationship between explanation and evidence.

GUIDE TO THE CONTENT STANDARD

Fundamental abilities and concepts that underlie this standard include

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations
Design and conduct a scientific investigation
Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations

Fundamental concepts and principles that underlie this standard include

PROPERTIES AND CHANGES OF PROPERTIES IN MATTER

A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.
Substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form new substances (compounds) with different characteristic properties. In chemical reactions, the total mass is conserved. Substances often are placed in categories or groups if they react in similar ways; metals is an example of such a group.
Chemical elements do not break down during normal laboratory reactions involving such treatments as heating, exposure to electric current, or reaction with acids. There are more than 100 known elements that combine in a multitude of ways to produce compounds, which account for the living and nonliving substances that we encounter.

MOTIONS AND FORCES

The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. That motion can be measured and represented on a graph.
An object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line.
If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. Unbalanced forces will cause changes in the speed or direction of an object's motion.

In the middle-school years, students' work with scientific investigations can be complemented by activities that are meant to meet a human need, solve a human problem, or develop a product...

History and Nature of Science

CONTENT STANDARD G:
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of

Science as a human endeavor
Nature of science
History of science

NOTE:

Not all of these are included in every presentation. As the shows are a constant work in progress,

parts of the standards not listed that may be included.

The standards can be found in full at

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/

(212) 794 - 9654

information@sciencetrix.com rfriedhoffer@gc.cuny.edu

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