Science: Best Practices
Michelle Potter
Science for ALL Americans
- Students to experience science as an intriguing, exciting, active search for meaning and understanding of their world. (Project 2061).
- Learning the disciplines (physical, life, earth, and space sciences) via a few fundamental, unifying science concepts in the context of inquiry, technology, personal and social perspectives, and the history and nature of science.
- Adding engineering.
(Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2012, p. 196-197)
PRACTICES
- Asking questions
- Develop & use models
- Plan & carry out investigations
- Analyze & interpret data
- Use mathematics & computational thinking
- Construct explanations
- Engage in arguments from evidence
- Obtain, evaluate & communicate information
(Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2012, p. 198-200)
CROSS-CUTTING ELEMENTS
- Patterns
- Cause & effect: mechanism & explanation
- Scale, proportion, & quantity
- Systems & system models
- Energy & matter: flows, cycles & conservation
- Structure & function
- Stability & change
CORE CONTENT IN SCIENTIFIC DOMAINS
- Physical Science
- Life Sciences
- Earth & Space Sciences
- Engineering, Technology, & the Application of Science
Four Strands of Proficiency
- Knowing, using, and interpreting scientific explanations of the natural world.
- Generating and evaluating scientific evidence and explanations.
- Understanding the nature and development of scientific knowledge.
- Participating productively in scientific practices and discourse.
(Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2012, p. 202)
Qualities of Best Practice in Teaching Science
- Build on students' innate curiosity about the natural forces of the world.
- Do more than merely cover topics; help students immerse themselves in doing science.
- Enable students to know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world.
- Enable students to generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations.
- Enable students to understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge.
- Enable students to participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.
- Integrate engineering and science so that students have experience with the knowledge and practices of both areas.
- Build on students' prior knowledge, while recognizing the different types of conceptual change that may be needed.
- Balance individual learning and collaborative group work.
- Help students become increasingly self-directed in their learning.
- Use meaningful assessment of students' learning in science to promote inquiry.
(Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2012, p. 201-207)
Best Practice
Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., Hyde, A. (2012). Best Practice: Bringing Standards to Life in America's Classroom (4th Edition). Heinemann.
ISBN 978-0-325-04354-8
ISBN 978-0-325-04354-8