SC 1.1.1  Unifying Concepts and Processes (National Science Education Standards [NSES])
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons which clearly explain the following:

• Systems, order, and organization
• Evidence, models, and explanations
• Constancy, change, and measurement
• Evolution and equilibrium
• Form and function

SC 1.1.2 Physical Science (NSES)
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons which clearly explain the following:

• Structure of atoms
• Structure and properties of matter
• Chemical reactions
• Motions and forces
• Conservation of energy and increase in disorder
• Interactions of energy and matter

SC 1.1.3 Life Science (NSES)
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons which clearly explain the following:

• Cells
• Molecular basis of heredity
• Biological evolution
• Interdependence of organisms
• Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
• Behavior of organisms

SC 1.1.4 Earth and Space Science (NSES)
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons which clearly explain the following:

• Energy in the earth system
• Geochemical cycles
• Origin and evolution of the earth system
• Origin and evolution of the universe

SC 1.2.1 Nature of Scientific Knowledge (NSES)
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons and activities that help students gain an understanding of the following:

• Science is a distinct form of knowledge that privileges the use of empirical evidence, logic, and skepticism in trying to explain the natural world.
• A scientific explanation must be consistent with empirical evidence, be able to make accurate predictions, and should be logical.
• All scientific knowledge is subject to change when new evidence arises.

SC 1.2.2 Science as a Human Endeavor
Set appropriate learning goals and design lessons and activities that help students gain an understanding of the following:

• Science advances due to the work of individuals and teams.
• Science has ethical traditions that include valuing peer review, honesty when reporting methods and results of investigations, and making public the results of work.
• Scientists are influenced by the culture in which they live. Science is not separate from society but is a part of that society including the culture, beliefs, and norms.

SC 1.3 Connections between Science, Technology, and Society

• Introduce the human dimension of science to students through narratives of important scientists and major events or discoveries.
• Present students with important previous intellectual problems faced by scientists.
• Help students develop a rich historical picture of science including contributions of early civilizations.
• Engage students in thinking critically about the interaction of technological change and society including analysis of benefits and draw backs of technological advances and ethical consideration.

SC 1.4 Connecting Science to Other Subject Areas and Student Lives

• Invite students to explore relationship between disciplines of science rather than adhering strictly to disciplinary boundaries.
• Design lessons that actively push students to connect science and math, language arts, and social studies.
• Design learning opportunities that build upon students’ interest and understanding to make science content meaningful to students.
• Place science in the context of the real world.

SC 2.1 Asking Scientific Questions

• Provide students with scientifically answerable questions and allow students to choose between or clarify questions that guide their investigations.
• Guide students in writing investigable questions that connect to science content standards, can be investigated empirically, and lead to data collection procedures that are age- and context-appropriate.

SC 2.2 Conducting Scientific Investigations

• Instruct students on the application of principles for investigations including the need for accurate and detailed observations, “fair testing,” and the control of variables when appropriate.
• Provide multiple scaffolded opportunities for students to collect and analyze data ranging from providing data and analysis procedures to allow students to collect and analyze with little assistance.
• Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended, hands-on investigations.
• Provide guidance for students in choosing tools and techniques, in addition to their senses, that allow for answering of scientific questions.
• Provide necessary equipment and support in order to help students collect appropriate data.
• Emphasize the importance of accuracy and verification of data through repeated measures and confirmation by others.

SC 2.3 Formulating Scientific Explanations from Evidence

• Model the construction of scientific explanations that propose cause-effect relationships that are consistent with the evidence.
• Provide students with a range of appropriate support needed to make an explanation including providing students with the necessary evidence, suggesting possible ways to use evidence, and guiding students in the process of forming an explanation .
• Encourage students to consider alternative explanations for phenomena in light of the evidence and the current understanding of the scientific community.

SC 2.4 Communicating and Justifying Scientific Explanations

• Model the communication of explanations to others by clearly articulating questions, procedures, evidence, proposed explanation, and alternative explanations so that others can appropriately critique and review the work.
• Structure the sharing of students’ explanations with others in order to facilitate the asking of questions, examining of evidence, and critiquing of explanations.

SC 2.5 Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind

• Model and support scientific habits of mind that are essential to the practice of science, which include the following: objectivity, persistence, curiosity, skepticism, and reliance on evidence for inquiry.

SC 3.1  Use of Curricular and Instructional Materials

• Understand and use national, state, and district standards documents to select science content for their classrooms and develop long- and short-term learning goals for their students.
• Adopt, modify, and adapt curricular materials in order to meet the learning needs of their students

SC 3.2  Use of Variety of Instructional Practices

• Select a variety of metaphors, analogies, models, and/or instructional representations in order to help explain scientific concepts.
• Choose different ways of presenting materials including lecture, readings, videos, web-based instruction, and hands-on activities, based on what is appropriate for a particular lesson.
• Use a variety of grouping strategies that promote student learning and interaction.
• Access students’ prior knowledge and make connections to that knowledge in their instruction.
• Provide feedback to their students regularly and structure activities that allows students to get feedback from other students as well as reflect on their own progress.

SC 4.1 Incorporating Quality Trade Books in Instruction

• Establish classroom libraries that include a substantial amount of informational science books.
• Make principled and careful decisions about which science trade books are included in instruction.

SC 4.2 Using Writing for Learning and Communicating Ideas

• Ask students to write descriptions about what they observe, what they do, and how they interpret their observations as well as what they have read and discussed.
• Teach students to develop the skills of writing in science in order to clearly communicate the full extent of their ideas, knowledge and understanding.
  
  

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