Does the idea of a new curriculum make you want to scream?

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Essential StandardsK-12 Science

November 8, 2011Lee County Schools

2009 NC Science Essential Standards

Common Core State Standards NC Essential Standards 2011 Summer Institute

2009 NC Science Essential Standards

Adopted in February 2010Implemented and Assessed during the 2012-

2013 School YearStructured as Essential Standards with

Clarifying ObjectivesDifferent than the 2004 SCOS which are

structured as “Goals/Objectives”

Clarifying Common Core & Science

No COMMON CORE Standards for SCIENCE ONLY Math and ELAELA Common Core addresses LITERACY

for Science.LEA’s will self-select how Science Literacy

standards from the Common Core will be addressed by teachers

What Has Changed Grade Levels? Hand- Out

For some light reading later . . . Check out the vertical alignment plan for all grade levels.

Vertical Alignment K-12

Revised Bloom’s TaxonomyProvides the

framework used for all NC Science Essential Standards

Common language used for all curriculum areas

Two-Dimensional Taxonomy: Cognitive Process and Knowledge Dimension

Literacy Standards & Tech StandardsLiteracy Standards

Tech Standards 6-8

Tech Standards 9-12

These will be layered into the Science Curriculum.

Strands of the Information and Technology Essential Standards

Sources of InformationInformational Text (K-5)Research Process Technology as a ToolSafety and Ethics

What is Science Literacy?Familiarity with the natural world and respect for its

unityAwareness of important ways in which mathematics,

technology, and the sciences depend upon one another

Key concepts and principles of scienceCapacity for scientific ways of thinkingKnowing that science, mathematics, and technology

are human enterprises and what that implies about their strengths and limitations

Ability to use scientific knowledge and ways of thinking for personal and social purposes

Ensuring a full, rich inquiry experience….

For the 21ST Century Critical Thinking Classroom

NC Science Essential Standards:…from theory to practice

Science is built of facts

the way a house is built

of bricks;

But… an

accumulation of facts is no

more science…

…than a pile of

bricks is a house. 

Henri Poincaré

Themes, Strands and Organizational Structure

Domains and Strands K-12The standards are based on three

domains of science: physical, earth and life sciences.

Within these 3 domains there are 10 topic strands.

• Physical Sciences - Forces and Motion; Matter: Properties and Change; Energy: Conservation and Transfer; Interactions of Matter & Energy (Chemistry and Physics only)

• Earth Sciences – Earth in the Universe; Earth: Systems, Structures and Processes; Earth History

• Life Sciences – Structures and Functions of Living Organisms; Ecosystems; Evolution and Genetics; Molecular Biology

Essential Standards . . .Within these topic strands

essential standards are mastered as students engage in a vertical progression of

steps along the K-12 journey in science education.

STRAND

P- Physical Science E-Earth Science L-Life Science

6 : Grade 6P: Strand Physical Science2: Essential Standard Number3: Clarifying Objective Number

Crosswalks

Pacing Guides . . . Where do we begin? 1. Join Essentially Science WikiEssentially Science Wiki SpaceEssentially Science Web Page 2.Fill in pacing guide templates with objective,

learning targets, vocabulary and essential questions3.Compile Science activities to support objectives 4.Start looking at ways to incorporate formative

assessment 5.More detailed look at Bloom’s Taxonomy and review

activities as a group6.Layer Literacy and Technology Standards into Pacing

Guides